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    PHOTO BY TOM GORDON Sara and Nick Dowell opened Texas Hills Leather and Canvas about a month ago and the response has been overwhelming.
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    PHOTO BY TOM GORDON The handmade purses have been flying out of the store and custom orders are piling up.
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    PHOTO BY TOM GORDON Texas Hills Leather on Wimberley’s Square carries wallets, handbags, bracelets and belts and teams up with other local craftsmen.

Family matters at the leather shop

This is the story of a new leather store in Wimberley. It’s also the story about the sacrifices parents make for their children.

Nick and Sara Dowell opened Texas Hills Leather and Canvas a little more than a month ago. So far, the couple has been overwhelmed by the response. Handmade leather items are flying off the shelves and special orders are coming one after another, making it difficult to build the store’s inventory.

“The Wimberley community has been incredibly welcoming,” says Nick. “People just keep coming in and buying our stuff and ordering new things. We have even had people come in and bless our store.”

The couple loves to talk about their store and the handcrafted merchandise, but their journey is the most compelling part of the story.

Nick had a son and daughter by a previous marriage. Jason is now 12 and Taylor is 8.

Nick was raised in Spring, near Houston. His dream was to join the marines and after high school he wasted little time enlisting. He was trained as a mechanic, served four years and had two tours of duty in Iraq. After the marines he held various jobs until he hooked on with an offshore oil rig company. His pay was in the six figures and life was good — until every parent’s worst nightmare happened.

Jason had a violent seizure that lasted 20 minutes. The boy was diagnosed with epilepsy. The years to come were filled with surgeries and one medicine after another.

More seizures

The oil rig company quickly flew Nick home to deal with his family emergency. The seizures kept coming, every three weeks or so. “You could see a behavioral pattern when I was home and when I was away,” Nick says. “My absences acted as a trigger.”

It was decision time: Continue on the rig or take a big pay cut and spend more time at home.

“The oil field took care of our family,” says Sara.

Nick and Sara, who live in Fischer, decided to simplify their lifestyle, selling a big Dodge pickup and other possessions that were nice when the money was rolling in. “That’s why I am driving a ’79 Chevy pickup today,” Nick says with a smile.

“Jason is the whole reason behind this shop,” adds Nick. It’s funny how things work out. Nick and Sara, who is a special-education teacher in Comal ISD, had saved up some money and planned to work their way up to a store and have an adequate inventory ready to go. But suddenly the perfect shop became available at 101 Henson Road on the Square. They jumped at the chance.

“We were expecting to work out of the house for awhile,” says Nick. “In 24 hours we made the decision to take this on. Since then we have been in a mad dash for inventory.” “We had been putting money away and saving for years to make this happen,” adds Sara, who is expecting a baby in about three months.

Nick always had an artistic bent and was known to carry around a pencil and sketch pad as a kid. Leatherwork was an easy transition.

“We’d just make things (from leather) and give them away,” recalls Nick. “It was a meditative kind of thing.”

For years he cut the leather by hand, now he has added some machines — he calls them little “efficiencies” — that make the job easier. His new die machine cuts out the smaller pocket and patch pieces perfectly every time. “With hand-cutting there will always be little imperfections, imperfections that most people wouldn’t even notice,” explains Nick. “I still hand cut all of my straps and the main body of the bag.”

The roomy store has product displays on one side and Nick’s workshop on the other side. Customers are welcome to sit down, watch Nick work and ask questions.

Keeps prices reasonable

The leather comes from the U.S., Mexico or Argentina. It’s not cheap — the going rate is about five cents a square inch. When a hide arrives it completely covers the four foot by eight foot work table.

Despite being original designs and using top-grain leather, Nick tries to keep the prices low. “I would rather the average person come in here and buy a handmade item at a reasonable cost,” he says. “I know how much we spend on material and I know what my time is worth.”

Prices range from $5 for a small leather bracelet to about $250 for a large, custom-made handbag. There are also belts and wallets.

A handbag typically takes six hours —or pretty much a full day’s work — to complete. The custom orders are stacking up.

Navy blue is the most popular color. There are a number of shades of brown available — from chestnut to dark chocolate. The only color you won’t see much of is black. “I have a phobia about black leather,” Nick laughs. “I have a black wallet going now, but black is by request only. I just don’t like black leather.”

There are new products in the wings and the couple plans to offer leather-working classes in the future as well as selling supplies and tools.

One by one, the Dowells are teaming up with local artisans to offer other items. Chairs from the Wimberley Chair Company are on the porch of the store and metalwork by Ken Marple of Fischer hangs on the walls.

They are also working on a website so they can sell merchandise over the Internet.

Texas Hills Leather is truly a family affair. Young Jason makes a unique leather bracelet for purchase and don’t be surprised to see Taylor out front selling lemonade. Nick will be at his work table and Sara will be working on the displays and ringing up sales.

“This is so special,” says Sara.

Wimberley View

P.O. Box 49
Wimberley, TX 78676
Phone: 512-847-2202
Fax: 512-847-9054