Wanting - Birkenstock Zurich

With summer right around the corner I find myself looking for a new pair of Birkenstock. Some may not like them, but I'm so hopelessly infatuated by the Japanese aesthetics, that I wear them on all occasions (I'm of course exaggerating). But they go with everything and I'll even go as far as saying, that you can wear these with socks. The quality is good and of course, they are made in Germany and comfy as hell.

I normally go for the Boston model, but this time I'll be buying the Zurich. The "double monkstrap" of sandals.

Unfortunately, I can't get my hands on this Japanese edition.

Or even these customised ones by HTC Company - again, out of Japan. But I could of course have a go at it myself. But I won't.

Topo Designs - Daypack

My quest for a backpack came to an temporary end some weeks ago, when I finally purchased the daypack from Topo Designs. I have long been wanting to buy a backpack because a tote gets hard to carry, if you stuff it, and messenger bags can cause some fatigue, if you don't switch shoulders every now and then. The reason for me choosing Topo is quite simple; they're affordable (or rather cheap, actually), they're sturdy and they look good. But they aren't super good, which is why my search is only temporarily over because I will get another and better backpack, once I have the money and come across the perfect backpack. However I have to say, that you would have a hard time of finding a better product at the price. So this is true value for money.

I field tested the bag, when I went back home for six days, which I'll tell you more about a little later. Here is how it looks, when it is stuffed to maximum capacity.

It's much bigger, than it appears. It has a volume of 22.4 L.

The leather quality could be a bit better, but still it's a very nice detail.

Though I'm usually not too fond of YKK zippers, these are great. They run smoothly and easily.

The camo pattern is quite en mode right now. But I love it despite all the hype.

The hardware is all metal and the webbing seems sturdy. In a perfect world it would have been cotton webbing, however many companies used the same type of webbing in the heyday of hiking back in the 60s and 70s.

What you can't see from these pictures, is that the inside is very thoughtfully put together. It has a space for your laptop and some good pockets, which makes it easy to arrange all of your stuff.

For around $100 plus shipping you can get a well-made (in the US) bag that will last a long time. I think, that's great and Topo deserve every bit of praise.

And it so happens to be, that they just released a short video featuring the very sympathetic owners.

Sewing Machine Porn - Featuring Roy Slaper

Dear God, please give me a workspace like the one Roy has.



I've featured Roy here before, and it doesn't seem like his machines have become less cool, since we last heard of him.

The Gentry Man - The Book

I can't exactly remember, when or how I cam across Gentry Magazine, but I think it was through some Japanese designer. For some time I was thinking about becoming a collector of it. Mostly due to the fact, that the magazine was short lived and only 22 editions were made, but I never really got the collection started and only purchased one edition, which was in poor condition and it got lost while moving at some point. But it was without a doubt a great magazine.

Gentry Magazine was aimed at a upscale market and it covered subjects like fine dining, art, graphic design, history and of course fashion or rather style. It was a quarterly magazine and came with a pricetag of $2 each - making it $8 a year, which was quite a hefty price considering, that it only existed in the 50s and never made it into the 60s. What made the magazine stand out was probably the way the magazine was put together. No expenses were saved using first grade paper, embossing, fold out pages and of course the use of fabric swatches.

The reason for me covering the history of Gentry Magazine is that a book titled "The Gentry Man: A Guide for the Civilized Male" featuring best of Gentry Magazine has just been released in the US and will soon be released in the UK and EU. I've pre-ordered mine through Amazon and it was very reasonably priced, so I suggest, that you all order the book and then you can start collecting the magazines one by one afterwards. That's what I'm planning on doing.

A New Friend - Sergei Sviatchenko

Today I had the absolute pleasure of meeting a man, who I have admired tremendously through the project Close Up and Private. I've mentioned it before and I've even made a post with some pictures, that he took just for this humble blog - you can see them here. Today however we let the Internet be Internet and we met in Person in my backyard to discuss an impending project, and just to have a talk and a cup of coffee.

I was a bit nervous or rather excited about meeting this man, whom I had idolized for his impeccable taste, style and general view on fashion. Here he was in my backyard because he wanted to meet me and talk about, what I do. So I gave him a tour of my small workshop and tried to introduce him to, where I want things to go with After the Denim and my crafts. We also spent some hours talking about other - future - projects, The Doors and ties.

After the initial greetings and small talk Sergei cleared his throat and told me about an Ukrainian custom of thanking someone for being an inspiration or for doing something good and shortly hereafter he handed me a small, rectangular, white box with the words "Close Up and Private - Look" engraved on it. I opened the box and discovered the most beautiful tie wrapped in white silk paper.

This tie was commissioned by Sergei himself and cut and sewn here in Denmark. It's constructed of a very nice silk twill, it's backed with some very nice grosgrain (which my poor pictures don't show) and most importantly the width is just perfect - especially for a four in hand knot.

This amazing present came out of the blue and of course I wasn't prepared at all. Had I known about this, I would have made something out of leather for him, but instead I tried to return the favour by letting Sergei pick from my many vintage ties, which hardly came close to this tie. However I'll come prepared for our next meeting.

So Sergei, thank you very much. The tie is perfect.

Worth a Listen - The Magnetic Fields

I figured, that since it's been a long time, since I posted anything about music.

Here's a classic indie pop band, The Magnetic Fields. Some of you are of course familiar with them already, but if you aren't, you are in for treat. My favourite record is the very conceptual love album called, "69 Love Songs", which is basically the biggest and most eclectic collection of love songs ever made. 

I couldn't figure out which of the 69 songs to highlight, so I decided to go for a song, that isn't from that record. And it may actually be my favourite song of theirs "Strange Powers", which is taken from their album, "Holiday".

Japanese Denim Sewing Factory

Is it just me, that can't get enough these videos, that show how something well-made is put together?

Here is a short, but very nice video - if you don't like the music, just mute it - showing how a pair of Japanese made jeans are put together using fairly old Union Special and Singer sewing machines.

Hopefully I'll one day have a workspace this cool and be able to make jeans, that are just as beautifully made. I'll just have to find the right girl, who'll put up with it or even like the idea, as much as I do.

Now in Stock - Paton's Linen Thread

When you hand sew leather you can use threads made of a lot of different materials. Nowadays most people use nylon or polyester threads because they are more accessible, cheaper and also in some people's opinion stronger or longer lasting. 

I however prefer linen threads. That being said I also use both nylon and polyester thread in some cases, I'm not holier-than-thou. I prefer linen thread because it's a natural material - like leather - and it was the thread of choice for saddlers and leatherworkers for centuries, which is enough for me.

Some time ago I came across a good deal on some thinner to average linen thread, which I couldn't help buying, although I've never really thought about using thread in other colours than white, natural, brown and black. But now I also have red and a blueish grey in the assortment and I have to say, that it's quite nice.

To be honest, I think, it was the nice packaging, that made me buy the thread.  But it is good and it makes very nice stitches.

Nymphenburg Memento Mori Skull

It may seem a bit bizarre wanting this stunning gem, as badly as I do. But it really is a piece of art - though a very small one measuring only 4 cm. It is made of porcelain by Nymphenburg in Germany and was designed by Franz Ignaz Günther around 1756 as a part of a large porcelain crucifix. 

This skulls is still handmade in Nymphenburg's own Bavarian workshops. 

"Memento Mori"

Crafts - Market Tote

It seemed like a natural progression to start making a bag out of leather. I've made a lot of smaller accessories for some time now, but never anything as big as a bag. Mostly due to the fact that I don't own a working leather sewing machine and only sew by hand, which means, that besides cutting the leather and constructing the bag, I would also have to make a couple of thousands stitches by hand - one at the time. As you probably can imagine this is a rather time consuming project. 

However it seemed like a perfect opportunity when a friend of mine came by some time ago and started talking about the need of a "big leather bag", which I turned into "huge leather tote" in my head. As I finally had a couple of days off, I jumped at the opportunity and made that "huge leather tote", that she requested.

There is nothing revolutionary about the design, and that was never the intention. However I think I managed to add some details, that makes the bag stand apart. First of all it's completely hand sewn and besides that the handles are folded and sewn together and it's not just riveted unto the bag, but both sewn and riveted and it has an internal pocket, which is left open for easy access.

As I have tried to illustrate with these pictures, it can contain quite a lot of stuff, and will definitely hold enough stuff for a weekend trip. It was constructed as a one piece construction for durability and simplicity.

The interior is very simple. One pocket without any closing mechanism for easy access.

I couldn't resist the urge to put my name on bag. As you can't punch the football leather, I had to put in a small tag of the same vegetable tanned leather as used on the handles.

As this was a bag intended for a very special person I wanted to monogram it. I decided to use some mil-spec brass stencils, that I had bought from the US some time ago, but never really used before. Of course it's rather reminiscent of naval stencils on marine army wear, but it makes sense in this case, if you happen to know my friend, so I really like this personal detail.

Stitching came out quite nicely. I used a braided nylon thread from Barbour Coats. The thread was only glazed, so I waxed the thread myself using beeswax and paraffin. A rather nice, but also time-consuming, procedure. Unfortunately I can really tell that I need to work on my edge coating skills.

The handles caused some cussing, as it really took some effort to get them right, but in the end they are also, what I like the most about the bag.

There is no padding/backing added to them, but they are made of a 3/4 mm thick vegetable tanned leather, so if they were to collapse a bit, that wouldn't matter. I wanted them to soften with wear making them more comfortable. To add to the comfort I rounded all edges and burnished them with beeswax.

For extra durability I decided to secure the handles using both rivets and stitching.

From experience I know, that solid copper rivets age really well and on top of that they go really well with natural vegetable tanned leather. Perfect combination.

Burnished edges

All the copper rivets were backed using the same leather as the body.

I just can't enough of that grain and from working with this leather I've been thinking about finding some nice pebble grain leather, like the one that a lot of shoemakers use. But I'm yet to find a good source for it.

Most of all I can't wait to see the bag in some time. I put a lot of effort into to this bag and without sounding  like a big cliché I also managed to put in some blood, sweat and tears. I really hope, that it wears well and that it will give the owner a lot of pleasure in the years to come.