That one guy who brought his own leather to my workshop

Last month at a craft fair in Austin a guy came up to my table holding this huge piece of veg tan leather and asked if I could bind his journal with it on the spot. I told him that takes about 4 hours not 4 minutes and he got kinda huffy, said he watched a YouTube video so it should be easy. I let him sit with me for 20 minutes while I cut the boards and he kept grabbing my tools without asking, nearly snapped my awl. He left before I even got to the sewing part, said it was too slow. Has anyone else had folks think bookbinding is just a weekend hobby thing instead of a real trade?

1 comments

1 Comment

the_joseph1mo ago

Different take. That guy sounds like a pain, no argument there. But the YouTube thing? It’s got a point. People learn quick with videos now. Some trades are easier to pick up than we like to admit. That said, grabbing your awl is just disrespectful. Fair play for letting him stay for 20 minutes though. Most folks wouldn’t even let him sit down.