In Good Repair – Volume II, a leather collection about the working life of good objects

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

A September study – Shops Waterfall, Volume II.

In Good Repair is a small leather collection about the second act – the years after a good object is found, when it earns its keep by staying in use. Being kept in use, and kept well, is how a thing becomes part of the house.

First, the trunk. A steamer trunk keeps traveling long after prettier luggage retires, so we drew a veteran – wooden battens and hard corner caps, wearing blank labels from journeys it declines to explain – rolling straight into the words STILL IN SERVICE.

Black-and-white die artwork of a veteran steamer trunk beside STILL IN SERVICE for the In Good Repair leather collection, Volume II.

The black tag carries the trunk in gold.

A black leather luggage tag gold-stamped with a veteran trunk and STILL IN SERVICE, Volume II.

It presses blind on warm tan and on deep navy.

A caramel leather luggage tag blind-stamped with a veteran trunk and STILL IN SERVICE, Volume II.

A blueberry leather luggage tag blind-stamped with a veteran trunk and STILL IN SERVICE, Volume II.

Next, the clock. An old thirty-hour clock lives one day per winding, and whoever keeps the key keeps it alive. So the fob carries a little mantel clock set to seven sharp, over the words WOUND DAILY – for the keys that wind your own day up every morning.

Black-and-white die artwork of a mantel clock, its winding key and WOUND DAILY for the In Good Repair leather collection, Volume II.

Looks great when stamped onto the mottled chestnut.

A Sicilian-brown leather keychain blind-stamped with a mantel clock, winding key and WOUND DAILY, Volume II.

On the black fob the clock prints in gold, playing the brass.

A black leather keychain gold-stamped with a mantel clock, winding key and WOUND DAILY, Volume II.

Then, the standing appointment. We crossed a shaving brush and a safety razor like the tools of a respected trade and set them over REGULAR MAINTENANCE – because the most valuable object in the household is the one carrying the bag. The stack pairs warm gray over deep espresso, an enamel basin on a walnut washstand.

Black-and-white die artwork of a crossed safety razor and shaving brush above REGULAR MAINTENANCE for the In Good Repair leather collection, Volume II.

Country-gray and dark-espresso leather toiletry bags blind-stamped with a crossed razor and brush above REGULAR MAINTENANCE, Volume II.

After that, the house rule. Small things stop getting lost the day they are granted a home, so the tray states the whole discipline: a nail with the key ring hung on it, under a sliver of moon, ringed by SAME PLACE EVERY NIGHT.

Black-and-white die artwork of two keys on a nail beneath a crescent moon, ringed by SAME PLACE EVERY NIGHT, Volume II.

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the golden tan.

An Arizona tan leather catchall tray blind-stamped with two keys on a nail beneath SAME PLACE EVERY NIGHT, Volume II.

And finally, the one we liked the most – the mend. Furniture menders set butterfly keys across a crack to stop it traveling, a repair that shows and is proud to; nothing says an object was loved like the evidence somebody saved it. The journal's corner carries the mended crack above A GOOD MEND SHOWS – a fair motto for a book of second drafts.

Black-and-white die artwork of a crack held by two repair plates above A GOOD MEND SHOWS for the In Good Repair leather collection, Volume II.

It looks genuinely beautiful – in warm tan and in deep green.

A caramel leather journal blind-stamped with a repaired crack and A GOOD MEND SHOWS, Volume II.

A forest-green leather journal blind-stamped with a repaired crack and A GOOD MEND SHOWS, Volume II.

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.