steveb leatherworks: the blather

Been behind the 8ball lately. Busy here, busy there…the proverbial chicken with no head….I passed myself coming while I was going…and didn’t recognize myself…hey now! Been knocking ’em down in the shop..finally got a handle on what needed to get done and one of the first things to get done was this belt for Customer […]

Yea Yea, enough rantin’ and ravin’ about the grave injustices of the world I say, back to Leather!! So, I dont make alot of Squire wallets. Seems most folks want the Fin or the Super Squire. The poor Squire is kind of the neglected kid in the steveb leatherwork fam damily.  For this unit I […]

Saw this chop out at the Duck. Good to see someone flying the Root Beer flake with traditional flames. I am not a big fan of this kind of frame geometry, but it is obvious someone took care to make a nice looking chop. They get props for riding it when the roads are crappy and the weather , […]

I used to make alot of cuffs for folks. Que Pasa, my old friend, likes cuffs to support his meatloaf sized paws when he is playing bass in his band Taboo, a Santana cover band. I used to wear them when i road tripped on the FXR, along with ear plugs and a Home Depot weight lifters belt. […]

Once a piece of work leaves the shop, I generally never see it again. I’ve learned to get over it. I don’t have a problem with my “children” needing to run free with their rightful owners. LIke a parent that needs to let the kids leave the roost, so I must say “later” to my […]

So….I’ve got to thank and pay props to my customers…they rock..they keep the steveb globlal freight train rolling down the highway under full steam. Without them, well i’d be putzing around making collars for Paco, my CSO (chief sleeping oficer) that he’d refuse to wear. Where the hell is the fun in that? So Dr. […]

Jon wanted a Big X New Hampshire Fin, never having made a big X New Hampshire fin before, I asked customer Jon for some guidance and he clarified that an outline of he state of New Hampshire (Live free or Die) needed to appear behind the big X and so…here you have it….the big X fin… homage to New Hampshire – another […]

Leather looks best when it gets a beating.. kinda like the crackly look of a bar brawlers face after 40 yrs. of boozing….(like that huh?)…it just gets better and more dramatic – it toughens up. In my experience, Veg Tan leather tends to break in to a specific point pretty quickly – and then it tends to stay  at that point for awhile…like…years, […]

I’ve scored some pretty cool stuff in my years…. … worked and performed at all kinds of events (music, car, bike, sporting, art) , resulting in a collection of T-shirts … traded and bartered whatever it was I had at the time that had value for things I wanted … it is handy knowing and being friendly […]

So i had this whole crazy story concocted on how i was comissioned by the royal hiney-ness of here to hey now to develop a proprietary cover for the ignition porthole on his evo. but ya know, I figured I’d let you masochists who read my crap off the hook and get away easy….this time….ya know,  it is the weekend, it is cold as […]

seeing as how we are in a recession, depression, downturn, doldrums, lull, economic downturn and basic malaise. I thought in response I would test an “economy of verbiage”, as it is known i like to run my…keyboard. So here ya go, if this new format works for ya, let me know. it sures makes it […]

Freewheel’d a skull over a cuppa joe recently No scrap goes-a-wastin’ in the shop 4″ square called out for attention Tough to freestyle with the swivel knife, it’s a fighter Fun stuff, i prevailed – crude, but then…perfect Feels good to turn scraps to trash   ha – in an effort to trim word count…should i write […]

I’ve  been productive as hell  and here’s just one of the latest pieces to leave the shop. I am proud to introduce you to a very utilitarian piece o’ work – the steveb Front Pocket Jounal Cover. Amazing innovation it is – this front pocket. It allows you, the user, to put all kinds of stuff […]

Thinning out a piece of leather (skiving) is a common and important chore when making something that needs to blend, or blend. Leather is not one of those things you can just bend sharply and not expect it to crack, so you need to skive. I have a few blades that can skive, you’ve already met the Mighty […]

Recently received some pics of steveb gear in use…in this case it’s on the fire truck.. Fireman Beau was kind enough to send pics. This leather has been put to hard use. That’s the idea. If I could ask some of you slugs to please take some pictures (at work or not, c’mon be creative) […]

Digging back in the archives for this feature. Had a little celtic thing going here with this belt. Love the off kilter red dot center…. As I recall this was one belt of a set of 2, with the other one being the tried and true tribal flame belt design. 

I dye alot of belts and use an airbrush when browns, reds or any fade is called for. Great way to make a big mess.. using airbrushes and not having a spray booth or backstop. I needed a way to secure a belt in a spot that I could dye it. ..minimizing over spray, maximizing […]

As I have mentioned in posts past, making a set of leather goods is a kind of special affair, most folks buy one piece at a time, so getting the chance to do a few pieces for one person at one time is cool – i enjoy tying a belt and wallet together with a […]

For your Xmas consideration – another in the series of Journal covers I’ve been producing…presented here for your viewing pleasure is a real sweetie. This Journal came out nice. Deep and dramatic stamping really sets this Journal off the hey-now scale, you must feel it in your hand to appreciate just how good it feels – its that tactile point of difference i look […]

After nearly 20 years of faithful service my novelty jockey helmet needed a rebuild in a pretty big way. Back in the day, most any self respecting NYC biker wore a jockey helmet – this was most certainly a *club* style influence.  Growing up at ground zero in the moto scene, there was never really […]

Freddy – wanted to give his Dad, Big Joe, a steveb belt for the holidays. Big Joe, is not a jeans wearing kind of guy, instead favoring “slacks”. This necessitated the manufacture of a narrow *dress* belt. So in answer, a 1″ strap was cut from a brand new, delivered last week hide, because, Big […]

A new belt for Tyler. Black color, tan thread, brass buckle, a wack stamping pattern, lined with Pig. Tyler never had his draws so stylishly secure. 

My normal Scrapper belt is a three piece affair with a buckle end, a billet end and a back piece…very fancy, and a bit complicated, requiring skiving, gluing and some odd sewing. I made Bill’s belt a half a Scrapper with only two pieces, simplifying matters and giving him something deceivingly simple and unique. Color […]