This week I got a visit at my workshop from the Photographer Mia Feline – Goldenfox.
She spent a day with me and Tillmann to capture me working (an Tillmann waiting to finally going to play Frisbee) on various products eg. a Clutch Bag, a Tote Bag, a Belt and a leather covered Flask. Im very happy with the results and for sure this will not be the last time we work with Mia and Goldenfox.
For a long time it was on my agenda to visit Uwe Scheuermann´s Kings & Bastards shop in Leinfelden close to Stuttgart. Very last minute I got told that Uwe was able to get Fabian the man behind the Pike Brother Brand to hold a lecture about denim @ K&B. Uwe was kind enough to not just invite me but also suggested to bring some Feinschmuck with me. Combined all those pros and no cons I had to go there – finally. I was Overwhelmed by the effort Alexandra did to welcome the guests with some bavarian flair / buffet and the shop itself. Uwe managed to pick some very nice and authentic bands for his store. Quite visible is his ability to collaborate well with those brands. (as he did with us as we made the Kings&Bastards Zippos and Belts for him).
Fabian from Pike Brothers already prepared his lecture about Selvage Denim and the selected guests started arriving in time. In about an hour Fabian started with the differences in cotton fibres, the weaving of selvage denim and various aspects of the evolution of the Jeans. Very informative and usually helt for sellers to educate them it was the first time Fabian did speak to customers in that way. It was a really nice evening with nice talks, good people within a superb location and a relaxed way. Thanks to all who made this event happen.
Custom Leather Workshop – Armin Dobstetter EllwangenFirst of all thanks to Uwe T. to arrange this great workshop. One of the top leather crafters of the world Armin Dobstetter – Custom Leather from Ellwangen hosted a two days workshop where we did a wooden surface belt. Armin started to work with leather when he was 14 years old. I assume that was more than 30 years ago. Within this time he won many leather craft competitions in the States. He is mostly known within the biker scene by his custom leather seats.
Within his shop you only can try to imagine what knowledge and experience he gained within some decades. Armin never got tired during the workshop to answer the questions by us in the most detailed way. He is not afraid to share his knowledge. His argument is that it took him about 30 years to gain it and if he shares it to someone he is already further until he might reach his skills. This made his workshop really special and is the way it should be done. It even went so far that on the last day we really had to hurry to finish our belts.
If you really look for something special made out of leather and want to make your motorbike stand out of the crowd Armin is the guy to talk to. Thanks a lot for your time and inputs you gave us last week – hope to see you soon again.
be-cause / Feinschmuck leather workshop – Ulmia Ott workbench
For a long time I´ve been watching this vintage Ulmia Ott workbench in Manfreds Garage. When I saw the restoration project of a similar Ulmia workbench @ TopHatter I finally asked him how he liked the idea of “getting rid” of this workbench. Actually he needed more space be-cause of the just bought Feinschmuck Fiat 238. So we roughly cleaned the bench, let it dry for a day and moved it into my home yesterday. This is the workspace where Feinschmucks buckles are hand sewn and turn into a belt from now on.
After the Denim Workshop – Webshop by Simon Tuntelder:
Recently a “friend” of mine Simon Tuntelder, opened a webshop with some products he crafted out of leather but also deadstock items he gathered. I wrote “friend” and not friend, be-cause I failed to meet Simon personally yet. We are in close contact since more than a year. First via following the others blog and then having discussions about vintage stuff and craftsmanship and quality products. I call him a “friend” knowing by heart that he is one of the good guys with the right attitude and for sure a good guy to talk to.
I´m far to be in the league with Simon when it comes to working with leather. He got a great knowledge when it comes to treat/restore leather and also to craft items for himself, friends or now for you. Do me a favor and check his new website and shop to have a look at his products he crafted. Not to forget to also point you to his blog where he shares his findings and knowledge.
RT N’ 44s + Rising Sun Jeans:
What a great band, as a music rookie my first thought was they got something from Johnny Cash, then came in the washboard and the banjo.
RT has stated that RT N’ THE 44s was born out of “an attempt to make listenable music from junk”. They have been described as a “vintage country band with dark obsessions”. Later by searching for more tracks I found this video above where they are dressed by Rising Sun Jeans. What a perfect they team they form. Rising Sun & Co. slogan is:
Tailor made indigo goods, & workwear capturing the optimistic spirit of America´s golden age of craftsmanship.
I saw the Rising Sun Straight Razor collection last year in Munich and I´m happy to see them in Berlin this week. Thanks Frederik for sharing this band with us.
Bread and Pizza Evening!
Nothing better to start the weekend with a great night cooking/baking and celebrating it with friends. So we did this friday. I explained the basics of how to make a good loaf of bread while and we also had pizza made of the same recipe (only that the dough did not ferment for about 24 hours). See one of a image where the crispy pizza slice 1/16 did not collapse.
Here are the basics for a good pizza:
– Do not try to buy cheap ingredients its ruins everything from the beginning.
– Take your time if you are not a pro. At the beginning all are hungry but they will slow down tray after tray
– use lots of olive oil on the tray so the pizza does not stick and gets more crispy
– 320 C would be perfect but most ovens only make it to 270 C which is ok.
– put the baking tray on the lowest level of your oven and do not use “hotair” mode take “ober- and unterhitze” (heat from top and bottom). You need the extra heat mostly from below so the pizza gets extra crispy.
– Use lots of olive oil to sprinkle the pizza before you put it in the oven, it keeps the pizza moist and just tastes better.
– Do not overload the pizza, less is better.
Thats it I would say. Baking a loaf of bread just seems logic after the oven is already hot. Also a great gift for your friends to take home. Probably ensures they will come back for more.
Learn to forge with mastersmith Tom Carstens Degerndorf:
Saturday we attended with some friends a workshop by blacksmith Tom Carstens in Bavaria – Degerndorf. The forge shows Tom´s passion for his profession in every detail. The old hammers, anvils, the restored and still used pressure hammers (Golem II) or the dragon in the forge. He uses the old tools but also new technology to be efficient.
With a small group of only 4 he had time for everyone of us through all the course. The basics of blacksmithing envolved through the day. We made a fireplace poker and shovel and the last object was a archaic knife.
On the way back to lake constance the workshop didn´t let us go and this morning plans to create a place to continue to forge/blacksmith are in progress.
Thanks Tom for your time and sharing your knowledge. We really can recommend Tom to everyone who want´s to have an intro into forging but also want to improve his skills.
He does workshops for kids as well.
A short movie found on Youtube showing Tom Carstens.
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