Albert’s belt

Leather isn’t just ‘one skin fits all’ you know!!

The leather used in my products has generally come from unwanted and unloved sofas, and after many years of warm bottoms sitting on them, by the time they come to me the leather is soft and supple. So tactile you will find yourself petting your F+H bag under the table when you are out for dinner, or passing it round like a new baby so all your friends can ‘have a shot’ and be jealous of how cute it is.

However, there are some disadvantages to working with such a supple material. I have always shied away from making belts, worried that the leather I use just didn’t have the structural rigidity to hold a pair of trousers up. The consequences of the belt failing to do it’s duty, and the subsequent full moon, just don’t bear thinking of. I’m pretty sure that’s not covered in my public liability insurance. But I had a request just before Christmas from a woman who wanted a bit of Albert in belt form for her husband.

Belts are usually made from ‘veg tan’ leather, which is stiffer and more rigid than the ‘chrome tan’ used in sofas so creativity was required. When making bag handles, I sandwich 2 bits of leather together, stitch them, and sand and polish the cut edges and this was my starting point, but I was still concerned any belt made this way might suffer from erectile dysfunction. In the end, I added a firm core of interfacing material between the two layers of leather (dragon heartstring made the belt too heavy and I couldn’t get my hands on unicorn hair at this time of year) et voila. It was a lot more work than the standard method, but Albert thought being a belt was more distinguished and fitting for a sofa of his advancing years.