Heirloom
Table Runners & Placemats
Hand-stitched dining pieces — Pueblo and Crazy Horse leather, some joined with Turkish needle lace and crochet.
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Custom Order
Custom Order
Handcrafted in Istanbul · Stitched with patience
Every Paz piece is drawn, cut and saddle-stitched by hand with waxed thread — one hide, two needles, zero shortcuts. No two are ever identical.
The Collection
Designed on paper, resolved in leather. Each piece leaves the bench only when the maker would carry it himself.
Heirloom
Hand-stitched dining pieces — Pueblo and Crazy Horse leather, some joined with Turkish needle lace and crochet.
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Cash pockets, card slots, antique rivets — saddle-stitched to outlive fashion.
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One of a kind
Sculpted leather flowers — daisies and blooms that make a bag unmistakably yours.
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Wireless charging
An original Paz design: armrest caddies with a wireless-charging pocket — plus catchall baskets, coasters, tiebacks and jewelry rolls.
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Bring an idea, a sketch, or a problem worth solving in leather. We prototype together, then we build it once — properly.
Start a conversation →The Journal
Field notes from the bench — what leather is, how it ages, and how to look after it. All journal entries →
GuideA belt is the simplest thing a leatherworker can make, and the leather object most people replace most often. It dies in two places — the fold around the buckle and the one hole you actually use — while two thirds of the strap is still as sound as the day it was cut. What separates a belt that lasts five years from one that lasts forty is visible at the cut end of the tip, in about three seconds.
GuideA jewellery roll that only travels and one that also hangs in a wardrobe look almost identical on a listing. They are designed to different rules. Here are our two, read from the top down, the way you would actually use one on a weekday morning.
GuideCowhide is the strong, generous workhorse for bags, belts, wallets and anything that lies on a table. Lambskin is the softest and lightest, made for garments, gloves and linings. Goatskin is tough for its weight, with a pebbly grain that suits wallets and small goods. The animal sets the starting point; the cut, the tannage and the finish decide the rest.
GuideNappa is a soft, smooth, full-grain leather, usually lamb, sheep, goat or calf, typically chrome-tanned and dyed right through. That is what the word described. Today it is a selling word with no binding standard, printed on painted cowhide and on plastic alike, so the label alone guarantees neither the grade nor that the material is leather.
GuideChoose by what you actually carry and where it will live. Up to about six cards and little cash, in a front pocket: a card holder. Cards plus notes you like to keep flat: a slim bifold. More than that belongs in a bag, not a pocket.
GuideCrazy horse is a waxed and oiled pull-up leather, so caring for it is mostly a matter of managing the wax already inside it. Rub pale scratches out with a warm thumb, clean it with a dry brush and a barely damp cloth, and rewax once a year at most. The damage we see is nearly always too much product, not too little.
GuideLeather colour names are not a standard. The same word means a different shade at every maker, and two different words can describe the same hide. What a name never tells you is the part that matters: the undertone, the depth, and whether the colour was dyed in or painted on.
GuideMost of the answer is written on three places you can look at without harming anything: the cut edge, the back, and the pores. Pressing, wetting and smelling it confirm. Burning it is the last resort, and the one test everybody reaches for first.
GuideA new bag is a promise. A used one is a result. Everything a shop inspection is trying to predict about an object, a second-hand object has already gone away and done — which makes it the easier of the two purchases, provided you know which four or five marks are the ones that end the conversation.
GuideThe question arrives in the shop as "is a lined one better?", and I never manage to answer it, because it is not quite the right question. A lining does three completely legitimate jobs, and one that nobody puts on a product page. A photograph cannot tell you which of the four you are looking at — but a torch and about ninety seconds can.
GuideI specify leather in almost every house I work in, and there is exactly one position where I stop and think carefully before I do it: the window. Not because the light is strong — a table in a bay window takes more sun than a tieback ever will. Because of everything a tieback is asked to do at once, and the fact that it is never, for one hour in ten years, allowed to stop doing any of it.
GuideThe request arrives in the same words every few months: use the strongest thread you have. It is a completely reasonable thing to want and I almost always talk people out of it, because on a hand-stitched seam the thread is not the thing holding the object together. It is the thing chosen to give way first — and choosing what gives way first is most of what construction actually is.
The Craft
Every panel is clicked from the strongest part of the hide — around scars, never through them. The knife follows the grain, not the clock.
Edges are skived, folds are hammered flat, holes are pricked one by one with a stitching iron. The shape is earned, not pressed.
Two needles, one waxed thread, crossing inside every hole. A saddle stitch cannot unravel — cut one loop and the seam still holds.
Edges are sanded, dyed, waxed and burnished until they shine like glass. Then the piece rests overnight — and gets inspected in morning light.
“Design should be rooted in the practicality, aesthetics, and respect for nature that give meaning to people’s lives.”
— The Paz philosophy
Materials
We buy whole hides from slow tanneries — vegetable-tanned, full-grain, nothing corrected or coated. Each hide is graded on the bench: the dense back becomes bags and belts, the supple belly becomes linings and small goods.
The Leather Guide
A short field guide from our bench — what the labels really mean, and how to care for the piece you carry every day.
The intact top layer of the hide, scars included. The strongest cut there is — it develops a deep patina instead of wearing out. Everything at Paz is full-grain.
Lightly sanded to remove marks, then refinished. More uniform, slightly weaker, ages politely instead of beautifully. Common in luxury factory goods.
The layers left over once the good part is gone, glued and coated. Real leather in name only — it cracks where full-grain would only crease.
Vegetable tannage uses tree bark and months of patience; it smells warm and burnishes well. Chrome tannage takes a day and stays plastic-soft forever. We tan slow.
This is the short version. The full Leather Guide goes further: all four grades in one table, what tannage and finish decide, ounce-to-millimetre thickness, which materials survive rain, the twice-a-year care routine and what must never touch leather. Vocabulary lives in the leather glossary — 28 terms explained. Unsure about a stain, a scratch, or an old family piece? Send us a photo — leather advice is free, always.
Everything we know about leather, on one page.
Read the Leather GuideFrom the bench
Offcuts, tools, works in progress — the honest mess behind the finished object. More every week on Instagram.
Kind words
Every review our Etsy shop has ever received is five out of five. We’d rather show you their words than ours — alongside the things visitors tell us in person at the atelier, marked shop verified.
The craftsmanship is outstanding; the leather feels premium and has a real soul to it. What truly sets this shop apart is the attention to detail — the packaging was exquisite, and the thoughtful surprise gifts were the cherry on top. It felt like receiving a special present from a friend.
These are really nice leather placemats. Look great on our rustic table. Still need to work on the folds, but they are so cool.
This is so beautiful! My purse that I love has an ugly buckle — I fashioned this gorgeous leather flower to hide it. They also included a couple of other small gifts, which was a great surprise. Would definitely recommend!
This is exactly what people mean by quiet luxury. The tobacco-brown placemats gave our dining table real character. Producing stitching this flawless without a machine takes serious talent.
Watching the saddle stitching up close — every stitch laid by hand, no machine anywhere — was mesmerising. This is a piece I’ll carry for years.
A perfect meeting of modern technology and traditional handwork. No pointless buckles or straps — just smooth leather and clever design.
The photos didn’t capture just how rich and vivid the coloured leather is, or the textural qualities of the material. Zafer messaged throughout, to thank us for purchasing from him. His messages were always warm, genuinely thoughtful, and you get the impression he takes a lot of pride in his work.
The customer service was outstanding, the item was beautiful quality and a wonderful gift. I will definitely order from them again. Highly recommend.
These were so cool. So glad I purchased them. Look great on our nook table.
Everything was perfect. The product and quality were flawless.
I never imagined leather and Turkish needle lace could come together this beautifully. Knowing every detail was shaped by hand makes this runner the most treasured thing in my home.
I was so tired of soulless, mass-produced homeware. This leather runner with its lace detail let my home breathe again. I can’t wait to get back to that sweet atelier in Istanbul.
When I examined this tool roll at the atelier, I couldn’t believe the thickness of the leather and the strength of the stitching. Being hand-sewn the traditional way gives it a wonderful soul.
The Atelier
Paz began in a grandfather’s leather atelier — where a boy who would grow up to write software first learned the scent of leather, the oil of waxed thread and the rhythm of hand-stitching. When the atelier was passed down, the craft never stopped: custom orders, small repairs, constant experimentation kept the legacy alive.
Today Paz is a small team of artisans, led by two founders: that programmer, and an interior architect with twenty years of bringing aesthetics into everyday life. Craftsmanship carries the memory of generations; design is the free language that translates it into the present — most visibly in our signature union of leather and lace.
Sustainability
Sustainability isn’t a page on our site — it’s how a small team of artisans naturally works. Here is exactly what that means, in practice.
We buy whole hides and plan every cut on paper first; offcuts become coasters, charms and practice pieces — never landfill. Nothing is produced without an owner in mind, so nothing is overstocked, discounted or destroyed.
Every order ships wrapped in 100% recyclable craft paper, inside a reusable cotton bag bearing the Paz seal — the same bag we recommend for storing your leather. A small handmade surprise rides along, made from the offcuts of your own piece.
Tucked into every order is a periwinkle flower seed (Catharanthus roseus). Plant it, and something grows while your leather ages — our reminder that design should respect the nature it borrows from. Buy an object, plant a flower.
The most sustainable object is the one you never replace. That is why we only build with full-grain leather and a saddle stitch that outlives its maker.
Questions
The essentials are below — the full library of 50 buyer questions with diagrams is here.
Every Paz piece is made by a small team of artisans in our Istanbul atelier — drawn, cut and saddle-stitched entirely by hand with two needles and waxed linen thread. Factory goods are machine lock-stitched, which unravels when one loop breaks; a hand saddle stitch holds even if a thread is cut. No two Paz pieces are identical.
Full-grain is the intact top layer of the hide, scars included — the densest, strongest cut of leather. Unlike "genuine leather" (bonded leftovers) or top-grain (sanded and coated), full-grain develops a rich patina over years instead of cracking. Paz Leather Art uses full-grain, vegetable-tanned leather exclusively.
Condition twice a year with a beeswax or lanolin balm, let wet leather dry slowly at room temperature (never on a radiator), store it in a breathable cotton bag, and avoid silicone sprays. Most light scratches on full-grain leather disappear when rubbed gently with a warm finger.
Yes. Custom orders are a core part of the atelier: bring an idea, a sketch or a problem worth solving in leather, and we prototype it together before building the final piece. Write to info@pazleather.com to start.
Through the Etsy shop (pazleatherart.etsy.com), by email at info@pazleather.com, or in person at the Istanbul atelier (Mon–Sat, 10:00–18:00, by appointment). New work is posted first on Instagram @pazleatherart.
Three ways: small-scale bespoke production means no overstock and no waste (offcuts become coasters and charms); every order ships in 100% recyclable craft paper inside a reusable cotton bag; and each box includes a periwinkle flower seed — plant it while your leather ages. Most importantly, full-grain leather and saddle stitching mean the piece itself may never need replacing.
Yes — small-group workshops run monthly at the Istanbul studio, where you cut, stitch and finish your own small leather piece using traditional saddle-stitch techniques. Seats are announced on Instagram and by email.