About

I'm Stephanie Costantini, the owner, designer and maker of Into The West Leather. My workshop is located in Dandridge TN.

I hand make all of my items, I do everything from scratch. I order the best quality leather, design my patterns and then hand craft every one of them. From cutting to sewing, dyeing to lacing, only hand tools are used, no machines.

It's more sturdy and I just love the feeling of having my items come to life only from my hands, from start to finish, it's really rewarding.

The story

BIG SKY COUNTRY

Everything started in Montana in 2012 where I was staying at a cattle ranch, not too far from Yellowstone National park, a place surrounded by gorgeous mountains and wild open spaces. I wanted to experience the life on a real American ranch.

This is where I discovered my passion for leather and most importantly, the man of my life Tony who happened to be the ranch hand.

THE PASSION BEGINS

One day I went to the local saddle shop in town and I bought some leather remnants to make a unique present for the man of my dreams. As soon as I started to work on it, I discovered how much I loved to work with leather. The smell, the sense of touch and the character of this material is just amazing, it's so elegant.

ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE

I've always been creative and always had lots of imagination. It's in my blood, to picture an item in my head and bring it to life with my hands. So, I decided to go further with leather. I read books and watched videos showing how to work with it. I bought the necessary tools, leather hides and little by little built up an inventory of leather goods.

DIVERSITY

I started by making small items and then wallets, purses and all kinds of leather goods. I love to make new designs and always add up different items for different needs knowing they will last forever.

SHARING MY PASSION

I started to sell my products to people I knew, then opened an online shop, participated in crafts shows and had a retail shop for 6 years.

I'm now hand making everything in my workshop at home and selling directly at craft shows and online.

Nothing else gives me more satisfaction than sharing my passion for leather-crafting with people that appreciate it.

I hope you will find as much happiness in owning one of my handmade items as I do creating them, one piece at a time.