With the momentum towards e-commerce, Dealfa is projecting itself towards the future and the digital world, making its products available to the world, previously relegated to a less wide geographical reality. Now it is possible to order products from the comfort of your own home, just as it is possible to order common industrially produced objects. The difference is clearly visible even to a layman compared to the world of craftsmanship, and it is precisely on this stylistic and qualitative difference that Dealfa focuses.
A Dealfa product requires meticulous and careful workmanship, which most customers may not be aware of. In these articles we will illustrate the complicated and wonderful world of leather and hide product production, in direct contact with Dealfa artisans, experts in the sector for decades.
First step: the model.
As with any craft product, whether we are talking about clothing or manufacturing of any kind, everything starts with the choice of the model to use.
The model is the soul of the future product, the almost tangible ghost of the article. Everything starts from an idea of the craftsman or from the suggestion of the customer, and the model takes shape on a piece of cardboard.
Cardboard templates are invaluable for leatherworking, as they will define all the shapes and key points for cutting, sewing and hardware, and this is why cardstock has a certain thickness and rigidity that will allow it to survive numerous jobs.
The cardboard is cut starting from a square or rectangular shape, with the help of a compass and various drawing tools. It is important that the drawing is precise, otherwise the product itself will not be functional or aesthetically suitable.
Once the pattern has been created, we move on to marking the holes, which will be used for sewing the product. Even in this step it is essential to take into account the measurements: each hole is distant from the next of the same measurement, otherwise the seam could come out crooked, and the work is lost.
The models are limited only by the craftsman's imagination. Not only bags, suitcases and backpacks, but cases for musical instruments, watches, key rings, mirrors, document holders and cigarette cases, ending with furnishing accessories of all kinds. The models of the Dealfa laboratory are hundreds.
From the model we then move on to the creation of a die. The die is a metal tool, with sharp ends, that allows you to cut leather more quickly and precisely, with the help of a hydraulic press.
The die represents the concretization of the basic model, and presents not only the shape of the model, but also the holes for sewing. The latter vary in diameter, based on the thickness of the thread that will be used for sewing. The holes are obtained with a punch and well-placed hammer blows.
The pattern and the die will be the first tools that come to the aid of the craftsman, when a simple piece of leather begins to become a quality craft product.
