Tender Co. Denim

[clawbytes]

It's called "Lambswool Rolled Edge Crew Neck Pullover".

 

So far I've seen it in Ecru, Logwood, navy and the new yellow color but I've seen Kroll wear a woad version a few pages back.

[garden gnomes in space]

i might need one of those...

[satchelbmoore]

I think we have a couple at BlackBlue. I know there's a turtle neck in woad. they are amazing.

[jason995511]

Dipped in Wattle

 

New Waltham watch for my Tender strap

 

[rodeo bill]

^Jason, amazing! Thank you for posting. One of my favourite outfits I've seen. Cool watch too, and great brand to get into.

 

^^^^^wgmds, cool and thank you! Let us know how you get on, I'd love to see them.

 

Bytes & Gnomes, very glad you like the pullover. The moss stitch gives it really nice thickness without being at all heavy. I'm afraid no shops ordered the crew neck in woad, although a bunch of shop staff sent in personal orders (ironically). I do have one in stock but it's on hold for a customer. If either of you are interested please email me and I'll let you know if it becomes available.

 

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last week or so, I've been crazy busy getting various things together, as well as quite a lot of teaching at the moment. Here are some pictures of a new project, a wall clock turned from a block of solid sapele wood:

 

Sapele is an African hardwood similar to mahogany, with a lovely deep reddish colour which darkens over time. It's traditionally used for musical instruments- ukuleles are made from sapele.

 

 

I'm afraid I don't have a full set of photos for every stage of this- I didn't have a camera or my phone on me when we tried the first draught, and when I came back a few days later the rough turning had already been done and it was time to do the finishing.

 

After cutting out a circle of timber on the band saw, the first job is to turn out the interior, which is rebated for the dial and crystal. Once this is done, the frame is mounted up on a jig, and the exterior is turned. Here's the rough-turned frame being set onto the jig:

 

 

the shape of the clock is based on Victorian railway station clocks, which have a lovely sinuous curve. This gets done by eye, so each clock is slightly different. First with chisels, then with increasingly fine papers:

 

 

 

Initially I'd been thinking about painting the frame, or possibly varnishing it, as station clocks would be, but seeing the richness of the timber that would have been a travesty! A technique that the turner introduced me to is to rub the wood down with a handful of its own dust. This flattens the nap of the grain and gives it a lovely deep gloss:

 

 

After turning the frame, a laidpaper dial gets mounted into the back, an acrylic crystal is mounted into the front, and a German quartz silent movement and steel hands are set in. Here's the result:

 

 

 

[rodeo bill]

on a different front, here are some pictures of Deborah's 130s. Washed pretty frequently and worn a few time a week since the Spring:

 

\

 

 

[Maynard Friedman]

Great looking clock William, what will the price of those be in the UK?

[rodeo bill]

Thanks Maynard! Up on the Shop already (here), £200

[garden gnomes in space]

Guess I will ask this, but god knows I need no more demin for years to come...

 

I really like the Tender slim jeans (129) with the exception of the slim part!  Any plans, or do any already exist, in a more standard straight fit?  

[rodeo bill]

Thanks for this! 129 actually isn't very slim by many standards. Jason's wattle canvas jeans above are 129. There's also type 130 with a tapered leg and a bigger seat than 129, and type 132 wider/straighter, which is more of a 40s sort of cut, and my personal favourite. Finally there's 128, which has a straight leg, a flatter seat, and a lower waist, with patch pockets. Feel free to email me if you have any more specific questions.

[exaptavist]

.

Edited October 22, 2015 by hoggreaser

[satchelbmoore]

here are my 129s from last night preparing for a focus group. flat sunglasses as well.

 

[rodeo bill]

brilliant! lovely blanket, too.

 

Here's another terrific pair of 129s, from a customer in Japan who sent them back for some repairs:

 

 

 

now on their way back home to Tokyo 

[satchelbmoore]

^^ those look great! I didn't know that there was a tender repair department!   I'll try to get some shots of my tender repairs. Anyone else have any cool repairs to show? 

Edited November 20, 2014 by satchelbmoore

[st199ml]

Pretty please, any chance of Tender leather gloves in the future? I think there's some craftsman still working in Worcester. 

[jason995511]

Gloves would be awesome, I just saw the Molleton material recently and couldn't help but think hats....

[rodeo bill]

^^ ^ thanks guys   I did some sheepskin mittens a long while back, and I've thought about gloves. It's not really a problem finding production so much as finding someone who's interested in doing something slightly out of the ordinary. Hats is certainly a possibility, too... I've been pondering the idea of a molleton hat, news here if anything materialises. 

[greathoudini]

here are my 129s from last night preparing for a focus group. flat sunglasses as well.

Looking great, what boots are those?

Btw for headwear I think dyed bucket hats would look really cool!

Edited November 29, 2014 by greathoudini

[satchelbmoore]

^^ Red Wing 9016 beckman. made right here in Minnesota! loaded up with plenty Mutton Tallow Boot Grease from our favorite little UK brand!

[jason995511]

Have you been to the Redwing plant Satchel? Always wanted to go. Are the boots any cheaper there?

[satchelbmoore]

yup. we have three incredibly cool factories here in minnesota, the red wing plant and SB foote Tannery, Faribault Woolen Mills and Duluth Pack. All three are 100+ years old. That is part of what makes tender so cool, the traditions extend back sooooooo much further.

Edited November 30, 2014 by satchelbmoore

[rodeo bill]

Sorry for the lack of updates for the last couple of weeks. Running off my feet getting the next production and new samples together. Here's a nice & quick photo from a great friend of Tender in Oakland CA:

 

 

Women's Levi's vintage taper selvedge jeans made in SF and the shoes are Sanders Gibson brogues for women. Worn with Unborn wool socks from Unionmade. Lovely combo 

[srudy]

Whoops!  Forgot to tell William, I got these socks at Standard & Strange!  

[rodeo bill]

^Oh no! Sorry S, and sorry Jonathan

[rodeo bill]

Just today I picked up a new product, this bottle opener:

 

it's cut from a slab of solid steel, hand stamped with the Plautus face and oil hardened. It's a big chunk of metal, but very satisfyingly sits cantilevered on a bottle:

 

This is actually the second bottle opener I've done recently. The first one is a bit simpler, and is based on an old railway nail:

 

I'm afraid I don't have as many making photos of these as I'd like, but here are some quick images of putting on the Plautus hand stamp:

 

 

 

 

 

After a massive hit with the enormous hammer.... here's the result:

[rodeo bill]

This month's GRIND magazine just came through the front door:

 

It's a very good read (or at least look at the pictures!), well worth looking out for. The MADE IN INDEPENDENT feature includes this double spread 

[Maynard Friedman]

Makes for good coffee table reading.

[srudy]

If anyone has any Tender in size 2, maybe 3 if it runs small or 1 if it runs big, message me.  I would like some more pieces in my wardrobe.  Thanks!!!!

[satchelbmoore]

^srudy. We have some stuff for you at BlackBlue. What are you looking for?

[rodeo bill]

^^Srudy, you're in good hands with Satchel 

 

I think you might have seen this before! But for anyone else, just got a lovely email from the new owner of this overlapping shoulder driver's jacket in rinsed denim:

 

 

 

Back with more pictures and products in the next few weeks, but in the meantime Happy 2015 everyone, and thanks so much for all the enthusiasm and support through the last year- it's really appreciated!

Edited December 30, 2014 by rodeo bill