What is your name, your leather craft business, and where are you located?

My name is Wyatt Moadus, of Dreadnought Leather. I’m located in Youngstown, Ohio.

What types of leather goods do you make, or what is your role in the leather craft business?

I specialize in small goods, primarily wallets and card holders. Occasionally I will make bags or clutches when the mood strikes me, but my preference is wallets. I like things that I can make in an evening or two.

What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your leather crafting in the last six months (or in recent memory)?

Probably my Barry King 24 oz maul. I’d been using one of the cheap ebay mauls for the better part of two years and finally decided to upgrade, and wow, what a difference! I got a tapered head maul which relaxes the angle of hand holding required for striking, and it just works so much better. I wish I had upgraded sooner, and to anyone on the fence about it I would recommend doing so at the earliest convenience.

How has a setback, or seeming setback, set you up for later success in leather craft? Do you have a “favorite failure”?

Failure is all about lessons, and each one is an opportunity to learn something! I consider it an integral part of self improvement, for both the crafter and the craft. Those who don’t try new things and fail during the attempt end up in a rut, making the same things the same way over and over again and never really improving. So in a sense, it is a powerful way forward.

With that said, failure sucks. It hurts. But that warm, fuzzy feeling you get upon completion of something you’re well and truly happy with will never come without it.

As far as my own favorite failure, it was early on. I had purchased a long wallet pattern and was excited to make it, so I printed it on cardboard and followed the directions to a tee. I put the thing together and tried to put a credit card in one of the slots….and it wouldn’t fit. I realized I had improperly printed the pattern and shrunk it by about 10%, just enough to appear correct but not enough to actually work.

It was a heavy blow to me at the time because I had used a lot of my ‘nice’ leather on it and didn’t have much left, so to lose all of that for a completely wasted project was crushing! I was so upset that I threw the pattern away and never looked back; since then I have made all of my own patterns from scratch with paper and pencil or computer drafted in InkScape. If the pattern had worked fine, I probably would have stuck with it and not grown out of it for a long time, if ever. I credit this failure with pushing me ahead in this way. Because of it, I am working with my own ideas instead of someone else’s.

Lastly, for someone starting out, I would remind them that the people you look up to are failing the same as you, they just don’t advertise it on social media pages or Reddit. Don’t let it get you down!

If you could collaborate with another leather crafter to make an item, which leather crafter would it be and what would you make?

Can I have more than one? There are a few colleagues that come to mind.

I am always impressed by tooling that is well done but have absolutely no eye for it myself, and I have thought for a while now that I’d love to do a few wallets with custom exteriors tooled by friends. Ben Geisler (@bmgeisler) and Alicia Frampton (@afirecracker) come to mind immediately as two that I’d love to make something with.

What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made? (Could be an investment of money, time, energy, etc.)

I inherited our family business, non-leather related, about ten years ago and would have to say that experience is invaluable. There are just some things about operating a business and dealing with customers that can never be learned in a classroom (re: failures and mistakes), and the sooner they are learned the better.

I consider it my very good fortune to have already learned a lot of hard business lessons before ever touching a piece of leather, and it has paid dividends already even in the relatively short time I’ve been in business as a leatherworker.

What’s an unusual or odd technique in your process that you’re pretty sure most people don’t do?

Whenever possible I burnish the flesh sides of all of my wallet pieces. It’s a little touch that nobody ever sees but it makes using the wallet just that much nicer. I’m sure probably lots of people do it and it never comes up in conversation, but I suppose that’s what I’d say is mine.

In the last five years, what new mindset, behavior, or habit has most improved your leather craft?

Learning to self critique without being self deprecating is the most valuable attitude to have. The Reddit Leathercraft Discord has been hugely helpful with this and I credit my contacts and friendships there with my progress over the past three years. I wouldn’t be even remotely close to where I am now without the help of the good people there.

I think it is important to look critically at your own work to identify where you can improve. Do not tear yourself down, but remind yourself that you always can do better and that you should continually be striving for that. Quality comes in increments and iterations!

What advice would you give a smart, driven person about to get into leather craft? What advice should they ignore?

This is said quite often, but pick a project before picking leather. Once you pick a project, research at length what type of leather is best and how it should be used. I see too many people making avoidable mistakes and wasting time doing things like trying to burnish chrome tan, or buying cheap craft store packs of leather and wondering why they’re such a nightmare to work with. An ounce of research will guide you in the right direction and save a ton of time (and money!)

Be wary of those who tout themselves as absolute masters of their craft.

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?

Not so much a bad recommendation per se, but I see people often times focusing first on making ‘sellable’ products instead of making things they personally want to make. This is not to say that you can’t or shouldn’t make items with intent to sell; it’s more about the mindset behind it.

I actually love it when I don’t have any commissions on deck, because it means I am free to play around and make whatever I want. These projects, the ones that I make simply for the sake of enjoyment, almost always turn out to be my favorites. And lo and behold, these often sell very quickly!

I guess the takeaway is, enthusiasm fuels results. Love the process, the doing, and you will love what you make.

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? (If helpful: What questions do you ask yourself?)

I have always been big into computer games, especially sandbox games like Garrysmod, etc. If I am in a lapse and have nothing really inspiring sometimes I’ll just kill time in the game, which is a good and inexpensive way to burn off a bit of creative energy until something good pops up. Then it’s back to the bench!

Where can people find you (links to online store, blog, twitter, Instagram, etc.)

On Instagram I am @dreadnoughtleather. My website and storefront for ready to ship items is www.dreadnoughtleather.com

Thanks for reading!