Leather craftsman makes quality designs . . . a stitch at a time

By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

Daniel Uptmor, owner of Uptmor Saddlery outside of Waco, sews leather pieces together with thick stitches. Uptmor Saddlery makes handmade leather goods such as saddles, belts, wallets and purses. Any piece can be customized to fulfill the customers' needs. -- Photos by Mindy Poehl

July 21, 2005 - After walking through the front door of the red metal building of Uptmor Saddlery, a rich scent of expensive leather lingers throughout the shop. Tacks and saddles line the front of the store, belts and handbags are located in the middle of the store and the work area is located in the back of the store, where four workers are hired to make tooling patterns on the leather goods that are sold at Uptmor Saddlery. After all, Uptmor Saddlery is a store that makes customized, handmade leather goods.

Although the store has been open since 1992, it is newly located on N. Hwy 6, just outside of Waco.

"We build saddles, repair saddles, repair boots, make custom leather goods, belts, wallets, purses and motorcycle leather," said Daniel Uptmor, store owner.

Lynn Uptmor draws a pattern for a pair of chaps that he will soon design. -- Photos by Mindy Poehl

While attending college in Stephenville, Uptmor became interested in leather working when he worked for a leather shop for five years. Now, Uptmor gets most of the leather cow hides from Hermann Oak Leather Company in St. Louis, and performs all of the leather work in his shop.

Uptmor said it takes around one week to make a saddle but there is a six to eight month waiting list. The price of saddles starts at $1,895, belts start at $45 and can range up to $300, and handbags cost around $250.

"Most everything is custom made," Uptmor said. "Our most popular item is probably our belts." However, handbags are his favorite thing to work on.

Large and small extra scraps of leather lie around the work benches and much of the scraps are donated to groups like the Boy Scouts or sold to others who are interested in the leather pieces.

Right now, Uptmor is in the process of making chairs for Polo designer Ralph Lauren. Uptmor is making 23 high end lounge chairs for Lauren to sell through his stores.

"And, the top two bull riders are wearing our rodeo chaps," said Uptmor.

Working with leather and customizing it to please the customers is a job that takes lots of dedicated work with many details, but the end product is always a one of a kind piece of work that can last a life time.