Cinder Goods LLC
Leather
Modern American Leather Goods -Taking a new twist in leather work.
Personally creating beautifully crafted items that are long lasting and artfully designed.
I make all of my own patterns, each piece is meticulously designed, hand cut and assembled using an industrial sewing machine. All of my leather is premium full grain leather often procured from secondary sources, as a bi-product of the furniture and fashion industries. Strongly committed to honor the animal by nothing going to waste…
The highest level of distinction in my body of work would be The National Park Collection/Take Me Away Series and is a true passion project for me. These designs, are my signature pieces, each one completely unique. The process of making these has opened up a wellspring of growth and creativity, while at the same time paying tribute to our National Parklands, which continue to provide me with boundless inspiration. After breaking down a hide and cutting out my patterns, I’ll set aside unique pieces which typically come from the natural edge of the hide.
From there, each bag starts out as a blank canvas and I start by sorting through all of my bits and pieces, collecting the colors, interesting shapes, textures ect then add layer upon layer there-by building a mosaic of colors and swirls of shapes until the imagery comes to life. Each landscape represents a different Park or landscape… examples include Wolf Trap NP, Joshua Tree NP, The Blue Ridge NP, The Shenandoah NP, AcadiaNP,The Great Smoky Mountains NP, The Grand Tetons NP, US Virgin Islands Buck Island NP, and many others from an ever-growing list of commissions and custom orders.
Because our parks are so precious, I will be donating a portion of my sales to The National Parks Conservation Association. NPCA has the highest 4 star rating on Charity Navigator. See below the link to their website and mission statement which is very much in line with my values. In the best of times, our parks and parklands have been under staffed and under funded. Now more than ever, we need to support our National Parks, Lands and Forests.
My interest in leather-craft is rooted in my childhood, watching my Dad. He’d come home each night and work at his little bench tucked away in a corner and did leather craft to unwind. I’d go with him on Saturday mornings to the local leather shop to pick up tools and supplies. I loved everything about those trips…my senses of sight, touch, and smell coming alive the second we walked in the door. Many years later, after my Dad passed away, I inherited his tools…His tools sat in my basement until the fall of 2020 when I was laid off from my longtime career in the specialty food business and found myself wondering…now what? After working the corporate grind for more than 30 years… the time had finally come to follow my passion. I took a chunk of my much earned severance and invested in an industrial sewing machine, dusted off my dad’s tools and launched Cinder Goods the following year to begin the journey of starting my own leather goods line. Aside from a free elective sewing class in college, I am self taught.