ORCAS, Wash. — An Orcas Island small business sells leather wallets, clutches and crossbody bags crafted by hand, by you.
Family-run company Orcas Island Leather offers DIY leather-making kits.
Owner Mindy Sonshine promises it’s not as hard as it sounds.
"I don't do traditional leather crafting, that was my husband,” she said. “He pounded the holes and cut with sharp knives, and that terrifies me. I'm not that crafty."
The kits include precision cut pieces of leather, pre-cut holes and pre-installed hardware.
"All you have to do is thread a needle and put them through the holes. It's practically paint-by-number for leather,” Sonshine said. "I have twins who are 12 years old and they hand-sewed all of our wallet prototypes themselves. So it really showed me, everyone really can do this."
The kits run from $29 - $149, which Sonshine said is about 1/4 of what the finished goods would sell for in a retail environment.
Whichever you choose, she said each product is a unique piece inspired by nature and the place they're named for.
"If you've ever been to Orcas Island, it's really calm and peaceful and relaxing here, and we're just trying to bring a little bit of that calm and relaxation from our island into other people's homes,” Sonshine said.
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