The Process

 Leather hides from Bottega Flaviani handmade leather bags and Accessories brand in San Francisco

Hand Selected Leather

Each skin is individually selected one by one. I look for color, temper, quality and feel in every skin. Often times I see a skin and know exactly what to make. Then there are the times when the leather tells me what to do, and I will design a brand new piece specifically for that particular hide.

I work one skin at a time and make as many pieces as I can from that hide.  Sometimes that means I can only make one bag, and a few small accessories. Once the skin is done, it's over.  I move onto the next hide.  This makes every piece a limited edition and in some cases a one-of-a-kind that can never be replicated again. 

  

Hand Sewing Leather purse at Bottega Flaviani, San Francisco

Hand Sewn - One Stitch at a Time

Every bag has a hand sewn element to it. Each stitch is sewn one by one, using waxed cotton or hemp thread. Holes are pre-pricked, and are followed up by a diamond spade awl which penetrates through every layer of leather before criss crossing the needles through the hole. A time consuming yet meditative process.

 

Hand Painting the edges of a leather bag at Bottega Flaviani, San Francisco

Hand Finished Edges

The edges of all leather pieces start out rough and unfinished.  The process of edge finishing is a multi step process and can take as long as one hour to complete each part of the bag.

This process includes: hand sanding, dying, waxing, buffing and finally polishing every exposed edge of the bag before it is finished.