https://www.hetleather.com/home daily 1.0 2024-10-09 https://www.hetleather.com/about daily 0.75 2020-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1602414212429-750L36PU6LE397XC4UTR/IMG_4119.JPG About - Craft Matters. There’s no denying that a machine made product can perform its intended function, or even last a long time, when made to high standards. But in today’s world, where mass produced items look and feel homogenous, are rarely produced with longevity in mind, and their origin and sustainability is often obscure or entirely hidden, it’s more important than ever that those with skilled talent and a passion for the products they make, keep traditional crafts alive. Helena trained under a gifted saddler in Hay-on-Wye to do just that. She is committed to ensuring that people can buy products that are handmade with hand tools, using traditional methods, love and attention, and with the intention that they be cherished for a lifetime or more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1602354221611-ZGHJPV89G7H8YVSL4OCA/IMG-1273.jpg About - Buying a handcrafted product is often a conscious choice. Knowing where it came from, exactly who made it, and that care and intent was involved at every stage of its manufacture, can make us feel a greater sense of attachment to the item. In this way, both the quality of the craftsmanship, and the purchaser’s increased sense of ownership and connection to the product, make it more likely that the item will be cared for, cherished, and maintained over its lifetime. With a world that is literally on fire from the over use and unsustainable exploitation of it’s natural resources, this relationship between the craftsperson and the consumer, through the built-to-last products that connect them, is an invaluable means of countering this trend. https://www.hetleather.com/workshops-tutorials daily 0.75 2023-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1579462177885-GQEPSEZF3LAL3CM6CTLB/DSC00020.JPG Workshops & Tutorials https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1602697238669-5BD5EYSXGY4YWIP10GN5/DSC00022.jpg Workshops & Tutorials - Now that’s a proud pooch! Now that’s a proud pooch! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1579462608460-TTN4MW8IYLMY70Y9WD12/DSC00019.JPG Workshops & Tutorials https://www.hetleather.com/contact-us daily 0.75 2024-07-14 https://www.hetleather.com/handcrafted-goods daily 0.75 2020-10-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1602698961116-FDL6SUN9PS4ROKXHCRNT/IMG_4909-2.jpg Handcrafted Goods - Handmade to Order. Check out our online shop for the entire product range available online. All products are handmade to order, with love. Lead times for delivery are given in the product descriptions, and include Royal Mail Tracked 48 delivery. For orders with multiple items in the same purchase, delivery will be grouped and dispatched to the longest lead time. Don’t forget, orders over £50 are eligible for free shipping! Just use discount code FREESHIP at checkout. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1602698164471-G2UOZY1FN7OA66S22U1E/IMG-1321.jpg Handcrafted Goods - One-offs and Experimental Items. While we have a stellar range of items available to order in our online shop, sometimes Helena makes one-off passion projects, or experiments with ideas that don’t quite make it into the regular line-up. But experimental does not mean lower quality! Just because it didn’t quite suit the range we have here online, it’s still made to the highest standard, and it might just be exactly what you were looking for! For these items, we list them on our Etsy store instead. Take a look by clicking here (opens in a new window). https://www.hetleather.com/repair-restoration daily 0.75 2020-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1602421926260-X0NP3OTHK9H6WTQ2HI81/b603a7a6-0f04-494d-a49e-40f21af75f3f.JPG Repair & Restoration - Piece by Piece. The padding inside these antique chairs was horse hair, so a local stable provided the extra horsehair needed to re-pad them. Where leather was missing entirely, replacement pieces, matching the age and colour as closely as possible, are inserted into the gaps. The edges are skived to provide a bonding surface, and are bonded to the underside of the surviving pieces of original leather. To hide the joins, a filler substance was used that utilises a polyurethane base for structure and longevity, but mixed with real leather fibres to provide flexibility and a look that is as close to the original as possible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1602421631168-VG6VMWBC46JREORGO3LA/a10913d6-49f5-4f57-ad52-66965958b2d5.JPG Repair & Restoration - Sympathetic Restoration In a full restoration, to as-new condition, repairing damage like this would be a case of replacing the leather panels of the arms completely. In this case, however, the family were keen to retain all of the original surviving leather, and just wanted to repair the arms of the chairs back to functional, leaving the scars on the other parts where the the structure or integrity of the chairs’ function wasn’t compromised. In this way, they opted for a sympathetic restoration approach, and could retain the original leather within the piece, but the joins would be hidden so that the end result disguised that a repair was ever necessary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1602423217779-GIHO0VYIADSXZACX8950/a8e7ee2b-5c24-48a2-bbcd-7feddacbf0ee.JPG Repair & Restoration - An Artist’s Touch. Next was the colour-pacthing to blend the colour of the arm repairs to match the surviving leather of the rest of the piece. This is effectively an artist painting on a leather canvas, with skill and intuition used to blend new into old. All that was needed after this was performing a complete conditioning to the whole of both armchairs. Scars are worn proudly, but the leather is given a ‘feed’ to help it weather the storm of countless extra bums-on-seats for years and years to come. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1602421584540-YX13F36VTJBGQ8O74GJ5/3bfccc8d-5a9c-430d-9f91-5992b010512e.JPG Repair & Restoration - Sacré Bleu! HET were commissioned to restore two glorious antique French leather armchairs that were beloved family heirlooms, but had become significantly damaged after spending time in storage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1602423727435-HWEVE1YYV1JK5SQJQSW5/7fc99252-3ada-481f-b9c5-e552f8afc271.JPG Repair & Restoration https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1602423755591-HITX03OXEYEVK5ZU7KNE/c3c50ad9-4095-4da9-ac1d-57496259f6ac.JPG Repair & Restoration https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e18e698b774f965a2670c75/1602423769645-T1R90NXF85LCJ15I42WM/d18e36b2-3ed4-4538-b82e-e0ae6c24e388.JPG Repair & Restoration https://www.hetleather.com/shop daily 0.75 2020-10-13 https://www.hetleather.com/shop/accessories monthly 0.5 2020-10-13 https://www.hetleather.com/shop/accessories/bookmarks monthly 0.5 2020-10-13 https://www.hetleather.com/shop/accessories/key-holders monthly 0.5 2020-10-13 https://www.hetleather.com/shop/accessories/keyrings monthly 0.5 2020-10-13 https://www.hetleather.com/shop/bags monthly 0.5 2020-10-13 https://www.hetleather.com/shop/belts monthly 0.5 2020-10-13 https://www.hetleather.com/shop/pets monthly 0.5 2020-10-13 https://www.hetleather.com/shop/pets/collars-large-dog-breeds monthly 0.5 2020-10-13 https://www.hetleather.com/shop/pets/collars-medium-dog-breeds monthly 0.5 2020-10-13 https://www.hetleather.com/shop/pets/collars-small-dog-breeds-cats monthly 0.5 2020-10-13 https://www.hetleather.com/shop/pets/leads monthly 0.5 2020-10-13 https://www.hetleather.com/shop/wallets-purses monthly 0.5 2020-10-13