My Mom's Rings

My mom is quite creative and quite handy and I sometime hope, that I've inherited some of her skills, but I have my doubts, when I see, how many things she has excelled at, sewing, painting, drawing sculpting, knitting and so on. 

I could show you more stuff, that she has made or designed, but for now I'll stick to a couple of rings, that she had custom made to her specific design some time in the 60's as far as I recall (it could be the 70's, so mom, please forgive me, if I'm wrong). I've had them in a drawer for quite some time because I've been meaning to have them reproduced in my size, albeit I want to have some minor alterations made. 

Somehow I've never gotten around to actually having it done. Most likely a result of me never wearing much jewellery - except for a watch.

The first ring is the one, I've always liked the most. Please bear in mind, that it used to look a lot better, but one of my sister attempted to resize it, which made it crooked. To make matters worse she also decided to clean and polish it. Luckily it's starting to patinate again.

One day it struck me, that I could easily wear a signet ring, but in the end it'll probably be hard pull off.

I have just sent these pictures to a good friend of After the Denim in hopes of having them reproduced in my size.

Want - North Sea Clothing "The Expedition"

Though it's supposed to be summer and I should probably be looking for shorts and, God forbid, t-shirts, I can't help thinking about buying something, that I feel, I should have bought a long time ago; The Expedition sweater from North Sea Clothing.

It's made in England (by a family owned company in Nottinghamshire) and it's roughly based on a sweaters, that was issued by the royal navy during the First and Second World War. Something some people might not like is the high content of natural lanolin in the wool, which makes it rather water repellent, but it also has a very special smell, which some people can't stand and some people enjoy. I belong in the later category. From good people, whose opinion I trust, I've heard, that the quality is impeccable and that it's a sweater, that will last you a very long time.

Honestly, that brass anchor button and the shawl collar are just crazy nice details.

Making a Belt

Working with leather isn't that hard. That is, if you have all the necessary tools and someone with experience to help you along. I sometimes let friends make something simple like a belt, a cardholder or an iPad case, like my friend Rune did. Some days ago I helped my friend, Anders, make a belt for himself, as his old belt was starting to look a bit shabby. We went for a nice, thick, vegetable tanned leather from England and a solid brass buckle (also from England). Sometimes it looks nice when you attach the belt buckle with rivets, but the proper way of doing this is by handsewing, so that is what we did using a thick (6 ply) waxed linen thread.

Someone asked, how you use a stitching clam - I hope this answers the question.

Thick, waxed linen thread is the way to go.

The brass buckles look good, when they're new and/or polished, but they also look amazing, when they tarnish.

Holes for sewing are prepunched using a pricking iron.

The final part of making anything in leather is always the burnishing, which is best done by hand. The burnish is done using a bit of water, some thick canvas and then you just rub it vigorously creating some friction, which keeps the leather fibres down and creates a nice, smooth edge. You then repeat it using beeswax or possibly gum tragacanth. We used beeswax this time.  

Here's the final result

Notice the nice grain structure of this leather. Very pronounced, deep, rustic, defined - I could go on.

I never get tired of brass, which is why, I'm almost exclusively working with brass hardware.

Pretty flawless stitching.

  
A small detail taken from the equestrian world, where you number each hole to adjust the height.

Lastly - the burnish. A tell-tale sign of true craftsmanship. That being said I do also appreciate a clean cut raw edge.

 I might be making either picture or video tutorial on how to make a belt or something else, if someone would like to see this of course. 

If you would like to see, what gets made in the workshop, I suggest, that you join After the Denim's Facebook group, where I'll regularly put up (terrible) iPhone pictures of, what I'm working on at that given time.

The Department of Small Works

Plenty of readers contact me about getting into working with leather. I try to talk most of the people out of it, as it is a really expensive hobby, unless you have some ambitions about doing more than just one belt. But I totally understand the fascination, as it was that fascination, that got me started and that fascination, that keeps me going despite all the failures and let-downs, that I still experience.

A reader contacted me some time ago wanting help with shoemaking. He wanted to make shoes for himself. To me that sounded crazy, and to be honest it still does. However the guy comes across as being really set on the idea, and when you have that feeling, he might just be able to accomplish something.

This was a really long intro for something, that isn't really directly related to, what this post is really about. The post is about a project called "The Department of Small Works", which a friend of mine led me to some time ago.

This project was a result of a long, long bike ride around the British Isles, where Nick Hand depicted and interviewed some of the last real makers of a lot of different things like shoes, hats, bikes etc.
The webpage doesn't look like much, but if there's one thing to be learned, it must be, that it doesn't matter much, when the book looks pretty damn good.

If I can connect the intro with this, then I would like to say; HC this is for you - Bespoke shoemaker Deborah Carré of Carreducker.

Gung Ho

One thing I learned, when I started getting into menswear and clothing in general, as opposed to more fashion oriented clothing, is that quality doesn't always come with premium  price. Sometimes you do pay for that extra good fabric, some specific details or something being actualy handsewn, but it is possible to obtain well-made products at a surprisingly - or embarrassingly - low price.

This is the case with Earl's Apparel (which I'm pretty sure also covers the brands Gung Ho and Stan Ray), which is made in the US. Their workwear products have long been a mainstay in Japan (where I discovered them a long time ago), but now they are making an entrance in the US in more reputable shops like Hickoree's and Archival Clothing. 

The fit may no be for all, as it looks a bit roomy, however I think the price is something, that appeals to all and personally there is one detail, that I'm just crazy about; and that is the felled outseam. Having thighs like tree trunks myself, I find, that a lot of pants look like they're busting at the seams, especially when sitting down. However that felled outseam prevents just that. Again, a small detail that very few notices, but it makes a hell of a difference to me. You just don't see that many company making pants with that detail and if I could, I would.

The House of Finn Juhl

Finn Juhl was one of the most interesting Danish architects and one of the architects, that really paved the way for the whole "Danish Modern". His furniture is still in demand and they are so because they are beautiful, comfortable and very, very well-made. In my opinion his furniture is best viewed up close, so you get all the details. The same thing goes for his house. His house is one thing people often talk about, when talking about Finn Juhl. It's situated just north of Copenhagen in Charlottenlund, if you're in the neighbourhood. It seems like a beautiful place, which I haven't seen in person yet, but that is the charm of the Internet. Someone took the time and care to put together this small video. Enjoy.

Supreme x Daniel Johnston

I'm by no means infatuated with Supreme, but I am infatuated with Daniel Johnston. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Supreme as a brand and I'm amazed by the way, that they've built their business. But I've never owned anything by Supreme and never really thought, that I would. Still this could very well change now.

None of the t-shirts bear the characteristic and iconic "Hi, how are you?" print, that was popularized by the late Kurt Cobain, but the prints are still recognisably Daniel Johnston-esque and that's really, what sets them apart from any random printed t-shirt. Fans of Daniel Johnston will recognise some of his typical cartoonish motives like Captain America, the religious symbols, the (actual and physical) fight between good and evil, the monster with multiple eyes and so on.

Oh, and if you haven't seen the documentary on Daniel Johnston called "The Devil and Daniel Johnston", I suggest, that you do so right away. It'll give you a better understanding and appreciation of Daniel Johnston as a musician and as an artist.

Dear Readers

I'm back and I'm very sorry about my absence, but this time I'm excused. I've been travelling to Sweden (which the followers on Facebook probably already know) to pick up some very interesting and very good leathers from a Tannery in Sweden called Tärnsjö. In my opinion they make some of the best vegetable tanned leathers in the world and I'm very pleased to be able to offer some products made of their leathers soon.

I'll also be doing a "factory visit" about Tärnsjö in the near future, however I had to take the pictures myself, and I'm afraid, that they didn't turn out as good, as they could have, had I brought a photographer. It was hard taking pictures, while I also had to talk with the people there, inspect their leathers and at the same time pick out the best leathers. My first priority was to pick the right leathers and soon I'll be offering belts of a really good quality and I hope, that it's something, that you would be interested in.

Anyways, I've got to get settled in and shortly more posts will follow. I should probably also add, that I've recently turned After the Denim into a real company, so I hope to formalise a lot of things and add a webshop with my own products and products by other makers, brands and designers in the time to come. This means, that there's a lot of work to be done, and I'm the only employee at the moment. But I promise, that this place is always a top priority, so don't despair.

Again, I would like to thank all of you, who keep coming back. You really make this worthwhile. And if there's anything, that you would like me to blog about, feel free to e-mail me or write a suggestion in the commentary. I'll do my best to follow up on them all.

Worth a Listen - Twin Shadow

Music is an integral part of my life, but lately I've not been writing much about it, however that doesn't mean I'm not discovering new - and old - music all the time and whenever I get the chance, I try to go to concerts.

When I think about it, I really don't know, why I didn't write about Twin Shadow a long, long time ago, as his debut album is probably the album, that I listened to the most in 2011. It's just that good. "Forget" as the debut album is called is filled with good songs from start to end. I would dare say, that there is no low points on it, which immediately makes for a great album, so if you're into electropop, dream pop, new wave and possibly a tad of R'n'B (I may be going out on a limb with this description), then this is for you.

I don't know, if the song "Slow" is my favourite song of the album, but I like the fact, that the video pays homage to this creepy Calvin Klein commercial, which luckily got banned.

There's a new release on it's way from Twin Shadow. It's titled "Confess" and it's due in July. Needles to say, I'm very excited about this.