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Mudpuddle – Quality leather goods that are handmade and unique 

July 28, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart 

You can’t go wrong with leather – it’s durable and fashionable and will last a lifetime. 

Vickie Doucette, of Mudpuddle Clothing and Gifts near Tottenham creates a variety of unique leather goods that are hand-stitched and beautifully crafted. 

She makes everything from bags to purses and hats, by hand. Every item Vickie produces is unique in its own way. 

While she makes many items on spec, Vickie has a lot of requests for custom orders from people who appreciate her skill and the quality of the goods she makes. 

“I’ve been sewing for 35 or 40 years, then I switched into clothing, and then I started doing handbags on an industrial machine, then I switched to hand-sewing leather,” Vickie explained of her journey into working with leather.” 

Vicki has a lot of different tools she uses to shape and cut the leather as well as for punching holes for rivets and other fasteners for handles and design work. 

Notably, she has a 200-year-old stitching horse she acquired and uses to make her goods. The stitching horse was designed for leather work and acts as a third hand. 

“It was built in 1820,” she explained of the device that has a seat and clamp to hold the leather. “A guy had this in his living room for 70 years. He had no idea what it was, he never used it.” 

Although the stitching horse is old, the design still works for making leather. 

“I’m self-taught,” Vicki explained. “I taught myself how to sew and do all of the leather work.” 

Each piece she creates takes hours to complete. Vickie pays a lot of attention to the details of each piece from the design to the stitching. 

Vickie and her husband own and operate New Tech Automotive Services on Tottenham Road and Vickie has created a studio in the building where she creates her goods. You can also purchase some of her work at the auto shop. 

You can view some of her work by visiting Vickie’s Facebook page at Mudpuddle. 

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