If personalized leather gifts are on your shopping list this holiday season, a local leather artisan designs, creates and sells handcrafted wallets keychains, bracelets and other accessories in his Anthem workshop.
The young artisan behind Jettie’s Leather Goods is 15-year-old Kaleb Jettie, a sophomore a Boulder Creek High School. At the age of 12, Kaleb began dabbling in leatherwork after seeing a video on YouTube. Relying on a few video tutorials and some tools from his grandfather’s leather kit, he made his first bracelet. From there, he’d experiment a little more with a project here or there, often gifting his creations.
Photo by Abrar Khalid Photography
Boulder Creek sophomore Kaleb Jettie handcrafts leather wallets, bracelets and keychains out of his workshop in Anthem.
Starting with bracelets, before adding keychains and then wallets to the mix, Kaleb’s self-taught craft quickly grew into a passion.
“As I completed more projects, the word spread around school, and people started to know Jettie’s Leather Goods,” Kaleb told Valley Vibe. “It’s nice to create something with your own hands and it became something I wanted to share with other people.”
Kaleb continually works to perfect his craft, from the hand assembly to the hand stitching and hand stamping process. Besides individual orders, he welcomes custom requests—most recently finishing a custom satchel and a weightlifting belt. He’s also completed a mass keychain order for a local company with their logo imprinted on it.
His at-home garage workshop is equipped with all his tools, a sewing machine and an ink press for text customization on his pieces. It’s also where he stores his nine different colored leather rolls to meet each customer’s request.
Photo by Abrar Khalid Photography
Keeping sustainability and environmentally friendly top of mind, all of Jettie’s leather products are made using vegetable tanned leather which he orders directly from a U.S.-based leather supplier. The colored leathers offered are of the same leather but are drum dyed.
He’s passionate about the quality of his work and the tradition of quality craftsmanship in leatherwork and customization that goes into each individual order. Custom text, text color, leather color, thread color and hardware color help set apart his brand from others.
“That’s what I’m trying to bring back… you deserve to carry around a product that is of high standard, that you can appreciate and that is customizable to you,” Kaleb said.
When he’s not in his workshop or in school, you may find him with his machinery ready to craft at a farmer’s market vendor booth or on the tennis courts, engaging in his other favorite pastime. His best selling products are the double rivet keychain and Delta wallet, and his turnaround time for an order is generally within a day or two. His full line of products can be viewed on his website. He plans to offer dog collars and leashes in the near future.
Jettie’s Leather Goods
www.jlgshop.com
602-717-2679
[email protected]
If you know a young entrepreneur in the community, write to us at [email protected] for consideration in a feature article in an upcoming edition of Valley Vibe.
By Karen Goveia
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