Nordfjord Tote

Material

Full-grain vegetable-tanned pull-up leather, Badalassi Carlo Pueblo, natural tan

Construction

Hand saddle-stitched with 0.8mm waxed linen thread, sixteen stitches per inch. Edges hand-bevelled and burnished with bone and beeswax. Solid brass D-rings, rivets, and feet.

Dimensions

38 × 34 × 14 cm

The Nordfjord Tote is an exercise in material honesty. The body is cut from a single, uninterrupted hide sourced from Badalassi Carlo in Pescia — one of the last Italian tanneries still operating pit vats for vegetable tannage. No patchwork. No seams at the base. The hide does what it is asked of it, or it doesn't make the cut. Every edge is hand-bevelled, then burnished progressively through three grits of bone and beeswax until the cross-section closes into a hard, smooth ridge. Sixteen stitches per inch, saddle-stitched by hand with 0.8mm waxed linen thread in a tone matched to the hide. The stitching pulls slightly tighter at the corners — a deliberate choice that distributes load across the stitch line rather than concentrating stress at the holes. The handles are formed from doubled leather, bonded with contact cement and burnished into a single thickness before stitching. They will soften over the first months of carry, conforming gradually to the grip that holds them. This is not a flaw. This is the point.