This is Mike who will be running our introduction to the fundamentals of leather working courses in Wernog Wood.
Mike Reid owns and runs Handcrafted Leather, a small, award winning, professionally run leathercraft business with a worldwide customer base.
Mike began Handcrafted Leather as a result of standing at a cold winter Christmas market, with his work on display for all to see. The feedback and positive comments drove him to want to create bespoke items from this amazing natural, sustainable material for others, just how they see it. With leather the options of what you can create are limited only by your imagination.
Mike is largely self taught with a brief mentorship in Ruthin. He began his trade by buying old leather jackets and restitching them into new things, using simply a nail as an awl and a sharpened fork as a pricking iron to make even stitching holes.
Seven years into his journey now, bespoke artwork on leather is the mainstay of the business. From belts, wallets, hip flasks and luggage tags to custom motorcycle seats, plaques and murals, the enthusiasm for this craft grows with every new piece.
Working mostly to commission with customers from California to New Zealand and everywhere in between, Mike is looking forward to hosting classes with the hope of enthusing others to pick up the awl and thread, to create and to support British owned suppliers that help to keep this rewarding and fascinating craft alive.