On the last day of the year I found myself doing a leather repair on an unlikely item.

I have a vintage camera tripod from my father which I recently pulled it out to use for mounting my video camera and found that the vinyl textured pad on the mounting plate was missing. This wouldn't have been a problem except for the fact that the seat was recessed and therefore the mounting screw would draw the camera down onto the sharp edges of the plate. This was no good as it was going to damage the camera base.

Then I had a brainwave! Why not craft a replacement pad for the mounting plate from a piece of upholstery leather? It turned out to be the perfect solution. As always, I enjoyed the challenge associated with detailed work; in this case it was cutting and shaping the leather to fit inside the recessed plate with no gaps. The thickness of the leather was perfect, and the finished result looks very satisfying. I wonder now whether this might be the only vintage tripod in the world with a genuine handcrafted leather pad on its mounting plate!

We would like to thank all our valued clients, local businesses, and Facebook Page fans for your wonderful support during 2012. It has been an exciting first year for us!

Thanks especially to Lisa Carruthers of Wairarapa Business magazine for her wonderful editorial about us in the 2012 winter issue. Thanks also to Barbara Gillham for featuring us in the Wairarapa Times-Age following our success in the 2012 David Awards. Both articles have helped us gain valuable increased exposure, which has been so important in helping us get the Leatherwise name out into the local community.

We've got more news to share, but we'll save that for the new year! Until then, please enjoy a safe and happy time together with your families over the vacation period, and we look forward to being of service to you in 2013.

Best wishes,
Andre Mendes da Costa

The metaphor used here by Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius is most apt. When we allow certain thinking patterns to become ingrained, they can define our very personality and are difficult to erase, which is probably why we have English idioms like "colourful personality" to describe a vivid character, and "dyed in the wool" to describe a person who resists change.

Interestingly, the same metaphor can also apply to leather. If a dyed material (such as blue denim) comes into constant contact with leather which is not regularly cleaned and protected, the dye can transfer to the leather finish and be absorbed by it. This is most noticeable on cream and light-coloured leather. Once the stain is there, it is difficult to remove. In effect, the two pigments have become one, and it is impossible to remove the foreign dye without partially removing the original finish.

An example of this is a job which I completed recently for a client whose taupe-coloured leather armchair recliner had a distinctive pink tinge to the lumbar support and inside back cushion. The pink was the result of dye transfer from a non-colourfast, scarlet-coloured scatter cushion which had been used to provide additional lumbar support. Unfortunately, this stain was unable to be removed by cleaning because the colour had penetrated deep into the pigmented leather finish.

The photos above illustrate how dye transfer can damage your leather's finish and why it requires professional attention. Once the dye transfer had been completely removed, I was then able to apply a new finish which I had colour-matched to the chair's original colour, followed by a protective clear sealer to lock the colour in. The chair looked brand new, and the owner was thrilled with the result, which is shown below.

Sometimes I embark on projects which I can see are going to be incredibly difficult, or at least very challenging. This was certainly the case with four dining chairs which looked to be around 100 years old and were brought to me for restoration. The leather inserts on the back were thin and on two chairs were worn completely through at the bottom corners, as can be seen in the accompanying photos.

However, my client told me that she didn't want the chairs to look perfect but rather that they retain their old and worn look, and so I had the challenging task of repairing the damaged leather panels rather than replacing them entirely. Once the repairs were completed, I carefully masked off all the exposed wood to protect it during the recolouring and refinishing process. The final result was very pleasing and my client was delighted.

In English the idiom "making the cut" refers to doing something well enough to achieve an acceptable standard. When "making the cut" refers to your leather upholstery, it can seem like a disaster.

This week I was presented with the rear seat from a late model Holden Calais which had been used to transport something that made quite a deep cut to the leather. The car was the owner's pride and joy and he was anxious that it might now be marred by a permanent scar to its beautiful leather interior.

As soon as I saw the damage, however, I reassured my client that all was not lost. Within a day, I had the repaired the damage and restored the leather seat to its original condition.

The only problem I encountered is when I went back to take the "after" photo. I couldn't locate the repair! Even my wife came out to have a look and asked me, "So, where was it?" I had to examine it closely before I was satisfied that I had found the right location.

I think I can safely say that in making the cut disappear, I had "made the cut" with the car's owner. He was pleased as punch!