You have a passion for leathercraft, just enjoy exploring a new craft or are actively involved in producing leathercraft items? This is your LOCAL (Houston Metro Area) source for all things leather!
What are you missing by not joining the Guild? World Class teachers Robert Beard, Karla Van Horne, Chris Andre, Don Gonzales and more! (3 of these are Al Stohlman Award Recipients, two of which are the oldest living recipients with over 55 years of experience to share.) Leading distributors in the industry, Campbell Randall Machinery, Lonestar Adhesives, Tandy, and many more. Also, we have several Board Members that are actively engaged in leathercraft manufacture, and have years of experience in tooling, constructions and the craft in general. We have members with years of experience in all aspects of leathercraft that might interest you: Belts, Bags, Saddles, Tack, Chaps, general leather goods and even boots!
How can you be a part of this? Join! Guild members are afforded the first opportunity to sign up for classes, attend monthly meetings (where we teach technique, tooling, construction and more) and enjoy numerous social events during the year.
We meet every third Saturday of the month at a Tandy Store or other location (depending on the topic) and the meetings are FREE. We TEACH a particular topic, skill or technique of leather work at these meetings and all attending are encouraged to participate.
We also host many one and two-day classes with special instructors that come in and share with our members. (These workshops usually have a fee associated with them.) For Example: Don Gonzales, Robert Beard, Chris Andre, Odin Clack, Clay Miller, Takeshi “Yone” Yonezawa and more! Topics range from floral tooling, figure carving to construction of leather items and more.
So don’t just sit on the side-line, come join in on the learning and fun! You are always welcome to come visit a regular meeting for free, to see if the guild is a fit for you.
Check out a few of the great workshops from the past few months below:
Campbell Randall Machinery: Dan Nagle of Campbell Randall is an industry leather in machinery and cutting edge technology for the leather industry. https://www.campbell-randall.com/ carries machines, parts, tools, suppllies and more to support our need for leathercraft!
Chris Andre “Slickbald” (2022 Al Stohlman Award for Achievement in Leathercraft) Professional Leather Artist and Maker Author and Instructor. His Knife Sheath and Holster Making Class was very worthwhile.
Karla Van Horne (1989 Al Stohlman Award for Achievement in Leathercraft) One of our Members, teaches tooling, construction, design and more at least one time per year – at no cost! She has over 55 years of experience in the industry and loves sharing with interested crafters.
Lonestar Adhesives – Odin Clack: A new member that services the leathercraft community with materials, machines and supplies, Josh Evans of Lonestar Adhesives (https://lonestaradhesive.com/) graciously brought in Odin Clack of Odin Leather Goods to teach a short, but very informative class on design and pattern making. And we got to see the new Lonestar Adhesive facility!
Don Gonzales of Don Gonzales Saddlery (https://dgsaddlery.com/) needs no introduction. His class on floral carving was well received by all attending. The experience range of the members attending was first time tooling, to experienced floral toolers and all learned invaluable information from the class.
