Recently, we’ve been working with Roger Massey, the hands behind Terrace Leather Company. Roger has hand crafted a few exclusive items for Lucy Wagtail using leather and tweed such as an A5 Journal Cover, Leather Card Wallets, Valet Trays and Key Fobs. These items are available for sale in (very) limited numbers but if you’d like to pre-order, Roger would be happy to make something specifically for you.
Here’s what Roger has to say about Terrace Leather Company…
“My name’s Roger, and I’m the hands and heart behind the Terrace Leather Company. I’m based in the picturesque village of Whalton in south Northumberland, and I came up with the brand name for two very simple reasons. Pragmatically I live in a row of terraced houses and perhaps more romantically, I liked the idea that the abbreviation was TLC, and who doesn’t need a bit of TLC in their life?
It was belts that got me started working with leather. I needed some new ones, and as I was looking for a new hobby that I could do indoors, where its always warm, I thought why not make them instead of buying them? I’ve still not made those belts, although I do now have the materials, but instead I’ve designed and crafted a variety of items from key rings to wallets, journal covers and phone cases, which have now travelled all over the country. Most of my work is custom, although through this collaboration with Lucy Wagtail, we’re aiming to bring a unique range of handmade items using a combination of Harris Tweeds and luxurious leathers to a wider audience.
Speaking of materials, all my leathers are currently sourced within Europe, but I’m already adopting more from the few remaining tanneries left within the UK. I use a mix of vegetable and chrome tanned leathers, but with veg tanning being a more natural and environmentally friendly process, I try to use those materials wherever possible. There are of course practical pros and cons for both types, but veg tanned leather ages beautifully and it develops a lovely natural patina over time. So the more you use and handle your times, the better they’ll look. The potential to integrate Harris Tweed into my designs raised a few technical challenges, but I think the results speak for themselves as the fantastic colours and textures of the tweed contrast beautifully with the leathers to make some truly unique designs, and with the endless variety of both materials I think there will be an item for everybody, and of course there is always the option for a true custom design!
Apart from the simple joy of making something myself, there’s two, well maybe three things I love about working with leather. The smell has to be the first thing you notice, and there’s nothing better than rummaging through rolls of hides and the off cuts box to get a leather high! The next is the colours. I assumed leather came in black and 50 shades of brown, in fact it comes in everything on a colour wheel and once you start to combine its textures, there’s an endless combination of possibilities. The final thing I love is the tools. There’s a massive array of them, they’re all sharp enough to take a chunk out of something vital, but man they look and feel great, from a Japanese style skiving knife to a delicate edge bevel that will shave leather into angels hair spaghetti, there’s something distinctly satisfying about a well made set of tools, leatherwork has them all, but I don’t, yet!
If you’re interested in a personal and unique item I can be contacted through email at terraceleatherco@gmail.com and please follow me on Instagram at #terraceleather, and of course, if you want a mix of Harris Tweed and fine leathers, look to Lucy Wagtail.”
