Doing Something Different

I made a series of card holders with no stitching at all.

There’s a comfort in repetition.

For me, that comfort usually shows up in stitching.

The rhythm of punching holes. The pull of the thread. The symmetry that slowly forms as two separate pieces become one. Stitching has always felt like structure — like proof that something is secure.

This week, I set that aside.

No thread. No saddle stitch. No reinforcement beyond the way the leather itself folds, tensions, and holds its shape. Just carefully cut vegetable tanned leather, sharp lines, deliberate folds, and a single snap.

I was skeptical when I started.

When you build something the same way for years, you begin to associate that process with quality. Removing a step feels like removing strength. I wondered whether it would feel unfinished. Or fragile.

Instead, it felt precise.

The design forced me to rely more on geometry. The folds had to be exact. The pressure points had to be considered. The leather had to do more of the work. There was less room to hide behind habit.

And that’s what made it interesting.

Doing something different reminds you that craft is not a fixed identity. It is a set of fundamentals you can apply in different ways. Sometimes growth is not about adding a new technique. Sometimes it is about subtracting one and seeing what remains.

What remained here was simplicity.

Clean lines. Strong form. A minimal carry that feels intentional.

It is easy to stay inside the patterns that feel safe. It is harder, and more rewarding, to test them.

This week, I did something different. And I am glad I did.