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• Australian nut
• Black
• Burgandy
• Chocolate
• Conker
• Dark Green
• Dark Havana
• Hazel
• Light Havana
• London Tan
• Navy...

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A classic Leather belt design using a whole Swage buckle.
My Rochester handmade leather belt uses a swage buckle. These are usually used on horse headcollars but make a perfect buckle for a leather belt. Solid brass is used for this leather belt.
Leather is Oak Bark tanned for a superior, individual finish to your bespoke leather belt. Bridle leather is used as it is one of the finest cuts of the hide, strong, flexible, and resilient. Dark Havana is used for this handmade bridle leather belt.
St...
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A whole swage buckle is used for this leather belt for a classic design and style.
Full grain London Tan bridle leather that is made to measure for the perfect fit. ! 1/4 inches wide is just right for your casual trouser and jeans.
My three lines of Oakside signature stitching is carried out by hand using traditional saddlery skills. Waxed linen thread is used with double hand stitching. This means that each stitch passes completely through the leather before moving on to the next stitch. Each ...
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A solid Brass Swage buckle sets the Rochester Leather belt apart from the rest.
Dark Stain Oak bridle leather from J&FJ Bakers in Devon is used to make your made to order leather belt. Hand cut and finished to your exact size means that you get the best fit for your waist.
Three lines of Oakside's signature hand stitching compliment the Rochester leather belt's equestrian roots. Notice that the stitching runs along the length of the leather? This keeps the strength of the leather by not making ...
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Happy New Year!

To bring in the New Year I have revamped my website. I have lost a few pages, added some more and had a general cleanup. I have changed the style to a more modern look that is responsive to the viewing device. A must I think now days as over 80% of my traffic is from mobile devices. Hopefully this will make it easier for you to find what you are looking for.

A common question I receive is “What colour leather is that?” So I have now moved my leather colours to the side of my...

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The Perth Leather belt

At 3 inches wide, or 76mm, which ever you prefer, is the widest leather belt that I craft. A dress belt designed to be worn over your outfit.

Leather
As with all of my leather belts I use only top quality bridle butt leather. Bridle butt leather is very strong, yet pliable and supple. It ages beautifully and develops an outstanding individuality. Being made to measure ensures that you have the perfect fit.

Buckle
A solid brass London Dee buckle is used for the Perth leather ...

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So you want to buy a Conwy Handmade Leather Belt but you are worried about how to buckle it?
Well check out this post on how the traditional Conway buckle works

Firstly pass one end of the strap through one of the loops. Pass the leather through from the back of the buckle with the grain side out (The nicest side of the leather)

Secondly pass the same point on the belt back through the other loop on the buckle.

Locate one of the three punched holes over the Conway buckle's centre pin and push it ...
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My range of handmade leather camera straps have gradually been increasing. They now include my signature plaited leather camera wrist straps.
Plaited leather still keeps the strength and durability of a leather camera strap, but adds the uniqueness of the plaited leather camera strap. Hand stitched for the ultimate style and individuality as always.
Colours include the standard black; Dark Brown which is referred to as Dark Havana; Australian Nut which as a red hue to it; and Tan which was once...
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A new belt that has just joined the Oakside Saddlery line up. The Hereford handmade leather belt is a wide leather belt with a double or twin pronged buckle and two leather loops.

Buckle

The Hereford has a large double prong West End roller buckle fitted for the ultimate in form and security. The two prongs buckle into matching holes making for a stylish finish to a beautiful hand-crafted leather belt.  This twin pronged buckle is available in two widths; a 50mm (2 inch) wide buckle, and the mo...

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I have a few ideas in my head for some new styles of handmade leather dog collars. I thought I might put these ideas to paper - so to speak.

Patent Stripe
This would be a leather dog collar based on my patent stripe browbands and nosebands. A standard traditional leather dog collar with an inserted piece of patent leather. I can't make a collar entirely from patent leather as it is too thin in substance. Therefore the strength will need to be in the normal bridle butt leather that I make all of...
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Time for a look at one of my new belts. The quick release Oxford handmade leather belt with Marshalsay Buckle.

Leather

As always this Oxford Leather belt uses to grade bridle butt leather from Metropolitan Leather. At between 3.5 – 4 mm it is some of the best leather you can buy. It is very supple but supremely strong. A super smooth finish to the grain making for a true one of a kind leather belt. There are not too many markings on the leather, but that is what makes leather unique.

Buckle

The...

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My standard colours of Bridle Butt Leather
Tan (Foreground)
Black
Dark Havana (Brown)
Australian Nut
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A work in progress for a padded camera neck strap. I've worked out the padded neck part but not sure what to put on the ends to connect to the camera. My thinking has been to stick with what I know and buckle a couple of small bridle cheekpieces to the ends with hook billets to connect to the camera fittings. Or should I stitch webbing straps with standard camera fittings? or something else? Any ideas?
As my photos show I haven't got a clue about cameras!
Si
www.oaksidesaddlery.co.uk


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Personalisation of any item is a good thing! And how better to express this than by ordering handmade.

Colour

The three leather dog collars above are; from left, Dark Havana, Black, and Australian Nut.Dark Havana is a dark brown coloured leather, Australian Nut has a reddish hint to it, and black is, well, black! 

Stitching is carried out by hand and can either blend in or contrast. So above we have brown stitching on a dark Havana collar, Yellow stitching on an Australian Nut collar, and on the...

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3350BC – 3100BC – The Ice Man

This amazing fella was discovered on a mountain in the Otztal Alps, South Tyrol, Italy on 19^th September, 1991 by two hikers. He was partially encased in glacier ice and so well preserved that originally he was thought to be an unfortunate mountain hiker that had met his end. After recovery of the body radiocarbon dating revealed that the iceman lived between 3350 and 3100 BC, making him 5000 years old.

Among the many items of well preserved clothing found...

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What is a running loop?

A running loop is a small loop of leather that is free to move up and down your belt. It is normally the piece that you lose when it falls off!

What does a running loop do?

The reason behind the running loop is that it is there to keep the point of the leather tight against the rest of the belt, and hence, your waist.

Do I need one?

This all depends on the style of your belt. A casual belt, for instance, worn with jeans will not normally require a running loop as the point ...

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One advantage of ordering your leather dog lead from a UK based Cordwainer is that you can ask for that special one-of-a-kind design. That is the case for this heavy-duty, multi-length Slip lead.

At 1 1/2 inches wide the lead is design to fit a giant Boerboel dog.

The rings stitched along the length of the lead allow for adjustments in much the same way as my standard multi-length leads. They are stitched in to place by hand using three lines of hand-stitching at 8 stitches to the inch.

The slip...

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The point when making leather is the part of a belt or strap that passes through the buckle. There are a variety of designs and styles that a Cordwainer can use, and sometimes traditional methods dictate what style of point a strap should have. Nowadays, on leather belts and the like, this is just a case of personal preference.

There are two styles of point that I use and both are traditional designs.

Cathedral Point

The cathedral point, or harness point, is probably the most common point end in...

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What is a Skinny Belt?

A Skinny Belt is usually any belt that is less than 1 inch wide. And although you can buy many printed, cloth, and other fabrics, I am obviously going to look at Leather Skinny Belts.

Many of my belts can be made as a Skinny Belts as many of the buckles that I use are available in these sizes. Check out the following belts which can be less than 1 inch wide.

• Lincoln Leather Belt 

  • ½ inch wide leather belt

  • 5/8 inch wide leather belt

  • ¾ inch wide leather belt

  • 7/8 inch wide leath...

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I am by no means a fashion expert so I may have ‘borrowed’ a lot of these style tips from people who are more in the know!

Essentially Men’s belts can be placed in to two styles; Casual and Formal, with each suited to a particular situation.

The Formal Belt

Should men even wear a belt with their formal wear? I'm going to say yes! That is because it would be pointless of me not to if I want you to read this and then buy one of my belts! So lets forget the ins and outs and look at formal bel...

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The usual reason is that many belt buckles are named after towns. This is more than likely that that style of buckle originated in that town.

If a buckle is not named then my naming convention goes to the town from where my first order for that belt originated.

Simple really!

So if you want to be the first with a belt named after your town, pop over to Oakside’s Custom Belts and design your one=of-a-kind masterpiece!

Si

www.oaksidebelts.co.uk

www.oaksidesaddlery.co.uk

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Measuring your dog for a slip collar

The measurement that I require to make your leather handmade slip collar is not the same as a traditional collar. This is due to the way that a leather slip collar fits on your dog. As a slip collar does not open it needs to be able to pass completely over your dog's head without pinching or rubbing.

To measure you will need;

• A fabric tape measure,

• and your dog of course!

Simply take your tape and measure around the largest part of your dog's head....

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Measuring your dog for a Handmade Leather Dog Collar from Oakside Saddlery couldn't be easier!

Method 2

Using your dogs existing collar to measure for your new handmade Leather Dog Collar. You will need the following items;

• Your dog's collar.

• A fabric tape measure or other ruler.

How To

Before removing your dog's collar check the fit and note which hole that the collar is buckled to.

• Remove the collar and lay it flat.

• Lay your measure alongside the collar.

• Take the measurement from the inside of the o...

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To measure your dog for your new Handmade Leather Dog Collar from Oakside is quite simple really.

Method 1

You will need the following items;

• A fabric tape measure (this can be in inches or centimetres)

• Two fingers

• And your dog

Hopefully you have all three of these otherwise you may have to improvise!

Place the fabric tape around your dogs neck where the collar will go. The tape needs to have enough slack to easily slide two fingers underneath it. This is the size of the collar that you should order...

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How should you look after your handmade leather item from Oakside Saddlery?

Having spent a fair amount of cash on your handmade leather goods it seems only fitting that you should want to take care of it. Most leather if looked after will last many years of hard use. Dog collars, for instance put up with a lot of abuse – from mud, water, baths, sand, and their mate chewing on it!

To keep your leather in good condition and looking like new takes only a little bit of effort. If the leather is r...

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The Sighthound Collar

A sighthound is a type of hound that catches its prey by using shear speed and agility. It uses, as the name would suggest, its keen vision to keep this prey in sight at all times. Sighthounds have a long, lean, and flexible body; long legs and neck, and a deep chest. This all comes together to create the perfect, high-speed, hunter.

Breeds of dog associated with being a Sighthound include;

• Greyhound

• Whippet,

• Lurcher

• Afghan Hound

• Borzoi

• Wolfhound

• Saluki

To name but a few.

Sighthoun...

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My standard dog lead is a traditional leather lead made with practicality in mind.

A simple but useful leather dog lead that does exactly what it is meant to do!

Leather

The leather is my standard bridle leather, very strong and durable, perfect for my leather dog leads. Why have a nice collar and then scrimp on the lead? There are a variety of lengths;

• Short 24 inches (60 cm)

• Medium 36 inches (91 cm)

• Long 48 inches (121 cm)

• Extra Long (152 cm) (I'll cover this one in a later post)

And a variety of w...

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So you have been looking for a handmade leather belt. There are many available from really cheap ones – to really expensive ones, and I mean really expensive, even some made from human skin!

So why would you choose one of my handmade leather belts?

Maybe it is just because you like to support UK small business? Whatever the reason, I would like to think that you choose to buy a leather belt from Oakside because you like the look and quality of my work!

I am trained as a Cordwainer (someone who...

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Plaited collar

My plaited dog collars are made from English Bridle leather, the pre-eminent leather available. It is hard wearing, long-lasting and has an excellent finish. My plaited leather collars are available in either Black, Dark Havana, or Australian Nut Bridle leather with the entire collar made from a single piece of leather, with no joins in the plait.

Buckle

The buckles that I use are either; solid brass roller buckles or stainless steel West End Buckles. I use stainless steel West En...

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So you have an idea for the perfect collar for your dog. And no matter how much you have scoured the web you just can’t find exactly what you are looking for! This is when a Bespoke Cordwainer comes in handy. Give me your ideas and I will see what I can do.

Some of the specific requirements I have been requested to make are listed below

• ·         Extra wide to protect an old injury.
• ·         Brass instead of leather loops.
• ·         Wide boar hound style collar.
• ·         Double pronged buc...

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1. It has good looks and characteristics.

2. It can put up with bad weather.

3. It can put up with a lot of abuse.

4. It is smooth and comfortable when in use.

5. If looked after it can last a lifetime.

6. It is strong and can be stitched well.

Si

www.oaksidesaddlery.co.uk
www.oaksidebelts.co.uk
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Leather Repairs

So your favourite saddle has started to come apart at the seams – quite literally! What are you going to do? Throw it in the bin? Chuck it in the cupboard under the stairs? No! Take it to Oakside Saddlery for repair!

Most leather items can be repaired, especially if the stitching has just worn through. And it is not just saddles that can be repaired; leather boots, bridles, dog collars and leads, bags, motorbike leathers, leather belts, and many other items are repairable. S...

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Dog Collars have been in use by mankind for thousands of years. Images can be found in Ancient Egyptian paintings dating back to 3500BC. These collars were made from leather and had the dogs name on them. The Ancient Greeks used dogs to protect their livestock and used large spiked collars. The Ancient Romans were devoted to their dogs, and collars have been found with with messages in them showing appreciation to their dogs.

Dogs have been used, and sadly abused, by humans for many years; hu...

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You have been looking for a proper leather dog collar, just like you remember having years ago! But no matter how much you look you just can't seem to find one. Well look no more!

My handmade Traditional Leather Collar is made the old Fashioned way using English Bridle Leather which is very strong and long-lasting, solid brass or Stainless steel fittings ensure that there is no rust, and hand stitched with linen thread.

I hand stitch the fittings using an old traditional method which passes two...
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Hi all,

My name is Simon, I am the Cordwainer at Oakside. My two websites are www.oaksidesaddlery.co.uk and www.oaksidebelts.co.uk. I specialise in hand stitching heavy English Bridle leather and making bespoke leather dog collars and leads, horse bridles and hand made leather Belts.

I hope to be able to use this blog to inform you about some of the products that I make, give you an insight into leather and the skills that I use, and to also provide some advice to help you make an informed deci...
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