Onion Land River × Leatherius Woodman – a Winooski leather collection

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of leather stamping studies.

An August study.

Winooski, Vermont is small enough to cross during a brunch wait, and old enough to have run a century of looms off one waterfall. We thought the Onion City deserved leather of its own, so we drew four stamps from its river and its mills and pressed them into small leather goods, luggage tags to journals. The collection is called Onion Land River – the recorded meaning of Winoskitekw, the river's Abenaki name.

First, the wild onion. Winoskitekw means onion land river, and the plant it names still grows along the banks. We drew it the way a seed packet would, seed head above and bulb below, and let the bulb's rings run off sideways as river current – over WHERE THE WILD ONION GROWS.

The Wild Onion botanical design from the Onion Land River leather collection of Winooski, Vermont.

On a luggage tag it does the tag's one job, saying where home is, in the river's oldest words. Golden tan and deep pine green carry it first; a pale rose tag rounds out the trio. Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

Three leather luggage tags stamped with the Wild Onion design from the Onion Land River collection of Winooski, Vermont.

The same die pressed large into the golden tan catchall tray, where keys and pocket change land at the end of the day.

An Arizona leather catchall tray stamped with the Wild Onion design from the Onion Land River collection of Winooski, Vermont.

Next, the mills. The falls turned Winooski's looms for more than a century, so we wove the two into one image – a bolt of cloth whose warp pours over a fall line and breaks into water, under THE RIVER RUNS THE LOOM.

The River Runs the Loom textile design from the Onion Land River leather collection of Winooski, Vermont.

We stamped it low in the corner of the toiletry kits, honeyed russet over deep espresso – mill brick over river shade.

Two leather dopp kits stamped with the River Runs the Loom design from the Onion Land River collection of Winooski, Vermont.

Then a seal for the city itself. ONION CITY and VERMONT circle an onion cut crosswise, its rings drifting off-center until they read as the roundabout as much as the onion. We struck it on a pair of fobs – one warm poppy red, one black. The black one carries the gold.

The Onion City growth-ring design from the Onion Land River leather collection of Winooski, Vermont.

Two leather keychains stamped with the Onion City design from the Onion Land River collection of Winooski, Vermont.

And finally, the journals. A blank page is open water – so each cover's corner carries a river bend drawn in chart lines above OPEN WATER. One journal in deep navy, its companion in pale greige; the river and the wool. It looks genuinely beautiful.

The Open Water river-chart design from the Onion Land River leather collection of Winooski, Vermont.

Two leather wrap journals stamped with the Open Water design from the Onion Land River collection of Winooski, Vermont.

We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this study is one of them, and we hope the feeling is mutual. Every image is a render – how we prototype before cutting a die.

If you'd like any of these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.