Hand Drawn Herringbone.

Herringbone is a pattern that is distinctively V-shaped.

It is distinguished from a plain chevron by a reversal in directions.

Die at the Helm is now offering tshirts with a herringbone design has been hand illustrated.

  The herringbone pattern has a historical context. It dates back to Ancient Roman architecture and is commonly found in masonry, parquetry and textiles. The pattern resembles the bone structure of herring fish.

Herringbone cloth, made from horsehair, has been found in Ireland dating from possibly as early as the arrival of Celtic people on the island.

Carried. Packed. Paper Bagged. Sacked.

  The Haydon Tote:

A simple little lunch tote with a front buckle. 

Die at the Helm is now stitching reusable lunch sacks constructed from scrap leather and waxed cotton. They are lined with a water-proof Nylon. 

It has been stitched with a warm brown thread and the side seams are re-enforced inside with a black Nylon trim.

The front has a silver 1/2" buckle. There is one brass rivet in the front leather piece and one as well securing the back leather strap to the bag.

The bag measures approximately 6" wide by 8" high and 3" deep when closed. The top "roll down" section of material is 5" long

These bags are available on Etsy or by special request.

Roll down. Roll out. Lunch time is looking good.

An Expanding Set.

Die at the Helm is expanding its set of possibilities. 

  
 New for this winter of 2012/2013 are handmade leather and waxed cotton billfolds.

These wallets have a long inside pocket for your cash and two parallel diagonal pockets for your cards.

These simple slim buffalo hide billfolds are available at the Workhouse in Bend, Or.

 

They are also available on Etsy. And of course they pair well with the Die at the Helm handbags.

Intensities in Hues

A smidgen darker and a bit muted. It’s still red.

Oxblood.

Oxblood, with its hints of brown and cranberry, complements the more traditional tone of the leather. This waxed cotton bag was made in Portland, Or. The base and handles of this handbag are made from a buffalo leather. Buffalo leather is tanned using traditional methods and does not require the use of highly toxic chemicals.

 

This bag is 3" wide, 13" across, and 14" tall (not including the roll down top).

The top rolls down 9.5" in order to complement the waterproof nature of the fabric used. Waxed cotton is cotton impregnated with a paraffin based wax and then woven into cloth fabric.

The handles measure 28" long and are secured with small rivets. 

This bag was stitched on an old cast-iron Singer sewing machine with a thick contrasting tan thread.

All of the waxed cotton bags are available by special request.

Die at the Helm in Echo Park

Die at the Helm's collaboration with Zack Barbery was spotted in Los Angeles. 

Husband and wife design partners Steve Nasker and Charlotte Stone were featured in kneelandmercado.com for their Macramé Palapa Lounge Chairs. 

These amazing plywood chairs with macramé rope are made in Echo Park, LA.

Die at the Helm's classic Cruiser shirt fits right in at the studio of Pacific Wonderland, Inc.

A Darker Shade. Unfurled.

A Darker Shade of Waxed Cotton.

Each of the leather and waxed cotton handbags has emerged with a distinct personality.

This particular bag has been stitched with a strikingly darker shade of olive and contrasting tan thread.

The leather from this section of the buffalo hide has a lot of ridges and texture. It compliments well the darker forest-inspired shades of this batch of waxed cotton.

The height of this bag is 15" with a full 9" fabric to roll down and securely protect the contents inside.

Custom orders for Die at the Helm handbags are available.

"Van Off!" the Eighties VS the Seventies

Love.

Will Tear Us Apart.

...we're changing our ways,
Taking different roads...

The 2012 Die at the Helm's collaboration with Portland based musician and illustrator Zack Barbery.

In the left corner: 2.0 liter air-cooled horizontally opposed, 4 cylinder engine

Vanagon (a contraction of "van" & "station wagon").

The one grill at the front of the van is not for cooling the air intake but instead functions as an interior ventilation system. A pair of single round headlights are on opposite sides of the grill. This one-grill look distinguishes all of the air cooled Vanagons from 1980 till 1983, when the air cooled Vanagons were discontinued.

In the right corner: Type 2 "Splitie" bus.

The most noticeable difference in the body styles is a shift from a round vehicle to a very square, sharp edged look of the Vanagon body. These changes mimicked the cultural changes happening in the society.

The social experiments and burgeoning environmental movement of the seventies gave way to the rise of corporate hostile takeovers and leverage buyouts of the eighties.

Waxed Cotton and Buffalo Leather Handbag

Waxed Cotton and Buffalo Leather Handbag

Die at the Helm has created a new waxed cotton and leather handbag using an environmentally friendly leather. Buffalo leather is typically tanned using traditional methods. It does not use the highly toxic chemicals found in modern tanning practices.

Smoking the hide at the end of the tanning practice keeps the leather resistant to moths, preserves the fibers and allows the leather to stay soft and pliable even if it becomes wet.

The top of this bag fold downs and is 7 inches in height when unrolled. The inside is lined with a brown Cordura to increase the bag's durability and weather-proofing.

 Four rivets on each handle securely attach the leather strap to the body of the bag. The inside seam is lined with a Nylon trimming.


Buffalo leather "grain" is more pronounced, and the fibers are thicker and more widely-spaced which results in a softer, more durable leather.

Don't Be Empty Handed!

little BIKEASAURUS gets new (proper sized) digs!

SE Hawthorne & 17th

Bikesaurus will reopen June 13th with a fresh stock of Die at the Helm messenger bags.

Baby's in blue!

This small shoulder bag has 2 front pockets to help you stay organized.

A lovely vintage fabric lines the inside of the bag.

 "...whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast..."

This brown small messenger bag screen-printed with a gold track bike is now also in stock.

The front flap is held shut by Velcro to best adjust to how much or little you want to carry with you.

Baby's in black!

This small shoulder bag is made from black and gray Vinyl. It is lined with a vintage fabric and has a seat-belt strap. A white track bike has been embroidered on the front.

"All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home
Your empty handed armies, are all going home."

Die at the Helm makes Outdoors NW's top ten

"We love the detail stitching and the old school snaps on this bag." -Outdoors NW

The magazine Outdoors NW recently release their list of the top ten bags to haul around your goods with you. They included Die at the Helm! You can read the full review here.

Outdoors NW is a small-press magazine written for outdoors enthusiast. The parent company is a Seattle-based family-owned business specializing in publishing outdoor recreational magazines and guidebooks.

They are also having a pinterest contest called "Pin It to Win It". The idea is to repin the bag that you fancy and then which ever bag is repinned the most will be awarded to one random follower.

The review will be released in print in the July/August edition of Outdoors NW.

Carefully Impregnated Cotton

 The process of impregnating the cotton cloth with paraffin wax was developed in the 1930's and was popular in outdoor clothing until the mid-1950's.

Highly water resistant with outstanding durability, waxed cotton was originally used as a sailing cloth. Scottish mills wove sails for the British clipper fleet out of this material. 

This carry-all handbag measures 12"wide  x 14" tall x 4" deep with 8" extra fabric at the top. The bottom of the bag has been re-enforced with salvaged leather. The straps were also sewn from scrap leather and then secured with small rivets.

The top rolls down to make the bag more weather resistant and the inside is lined with Cordura Nylon.

As the fabric ages, it will wear in to create a unique look for the bag. Supposedly the patina develops with more and more use, in the same manner that leather ages and burnishes with time.

 

 The manufacturing of waxed cotton uses an impregnating agent to soak the cotton with a paraffin based wax before it is woven into a cloth.
Oh Scotland.

Remembering film. It carried a latent image. An invisible image produced by the exposure of the film to light.

Custom built.

A Die at the Helm small messenger bag with an appliqued 35mm 1980s era camera on the front flap.

This custom built bag request was an exciting challenge. I grew up loving those old SLR cameras so I agreed without hesitation. Then I realized that making a flat piece of fabric look like a 3 dimensional piece of photographic equipment was going to be difficult. Thankfully using some contrasting outline stitching completed the applique nicely.

 Digital imaging technology and the LCD preview screen has taken over the market place. But there are many irreplaceable qualities about those old SLR cameras, such as the complexity of film and the greater shadow detail. In fact today most digital cameras utilize a synthetic shutter noise to mimic the sound of a film camera. Perhaps they are attempting to tap into the collective admiration for those cameras of a previous generation.

Of course some things from the 1980s have improved from technological advancements....