MEET THE MAKER: GOOD FAITH STUDIO (SAM STEWART)

Sam Stewart is the one-man force behind Good Faith Studio, A Brisbane-based leather workshop born from curiosity, a bit of stubbornness, and a love for making things by hand.

He’s the talented maker behind the Australian Made Key Fobs and Wallets in our Australian Manufactured range. Each piece is hand-cut, stitched and finished by Sam using kangaroo leather, built to last and made to be used.

We caught up with Sam to chat about his process, what “Australian made” means to him and how a simple DIY project turned into a full-blown craft obsession.

Can you tell us a bit about your background, how did you get into leather making?

I’ve always made things, well, maybe it makes more sense to say I have never sat still, and that presents itself in a bunch of different ways, but more often than not it is some sort of creative pursuit. I’m a bit of a serial hobbyist, and love figuring out how things work, mix a bit of unhealthy confidence in with that, and that’s how I ended up making leather goods. An ex-girlfriend wanted a wallet, it was pretty expensive and I thought I could make it myself cheaper, so I bought some tools and materials, made a pretty average wallet and here we are (but now with better wallets).

What does a typical day in your workshop look like?

I wish I could say I have a good routine and typical days are common, but every week is different. An ideal typical day would be to open the workshop up, spend half an hour tidying up from whatever mess I made the day before and set myself up for the day. I love writing out lists to get an idea of what I want to get through for the day, and once that list is written, there's a fair chance it doesn't get looked at at all for the rest of the day. Generally I'll try to batch tasks up that require time to set (wet moulding, glue etc) and knock them out of the way first. Sprinkle in some admin here and there and bahn mi for lunch and that’s a day. I do get sidetracked quite a bit as besides Good Faith, we have a fair few fun projects going on in the workshop, so it is very easy to end up so far away from the original set of goals, lucky variety is the spice of life.

How many hands go into making each keychain or wallet?

On my end, only the one. Obviously there is plenty that would go into tanning the leather, making the thread and the hardware, but even with that, I try to use as local as possible or smaller craft based businesses. But everything I make is just me. I cut the leather, glue it up, punch the holes, stitch them together and finish it all off. It’s nice making things that are completely you, but like all double edged swords, you are responsible for everything. Swings and roundabouts I guess.

What makes your approach to leather making uniquely Australian?

 Well, the main thing would be that I primarily only use Kangaroo leather, so it doesn't get much more uniquely Australian than that. I guess I also make things in a bit more of a heavy/agricultural way. I use nice leathers, but also use heavy thread and saddle stitch everything, so although there are similarities to high end fine leather work, I tend to lean into more made to be used/abused characteristics. 

What drew you to working with Pass~Port?

I moved to Brisbane from Rockhampton in 2009, I had just turned 18 and I'm pretty sure Pass~Port had just been conceived. It was new, a bit of fun and had that sense of community / independence that I (and many others) were drawn to. As the years went on, I found myself pretty aligned interest wise in all that they did, although my knees and ankles are dust (I can maybe still kickflip) it didn’t stop me from buying bits and pieces. 

Fast forward to now, my walls are covered in a mixture of Australiana, historical pub merchandise, old coasters and a collection of books that loosely resemble a MAD magazine back page fold-in, all of which I think would sit neatly on the Pass~Port design reference shelf. And yeah, that’s a brand I'd happily work with, lucky for me, you guys were keen too.

What does “Australian made” mean to you personally?

I think it means honesty or maybe just doing our best, it’s tricky as lots of places (obviously) can manufacture things, and the origin of these things can bring all sorts of meaning, true or not, these associations carry a bunch of weight. But to me personally I think Australian made bypasses that, I think the battler/underdog ethos shines through and goes beyond just the origin of where it was made, it tells a story, which for me I hope is a good one.

Are there any particular design details in the Pass~Port pieces that you’re especially proud of?

I really like the simplicity of the wallets, we tried to make them as clean and minimal as possible while still being able to hold your bits and pieces (unless you're a coin person, they're going in your pocket). But also, between every wallet and keyring there will be minor differences, this might be in the leather from the life it lived before, to the items itself due to being hand made. 

What do you hope people notice or appreciate when they hold one of these pieces?

Everything is hand stitched, so the process for that is marking out where the holes are going, punching all those holes and then stitching. With saddle stitching you follow a pattern/steps, and you have to do the same thing every time otherwise you end up with wonky stitches. Each keyring has roughly 40 stitches in it, which is probably about half a meter of thread, and getting them all to cooperate and sit where you want is a good feeling. I like the idea of someone holding something in their hands, that I made with mine, it’s nice.

What are some of the challenges facing Australian makers today?

Probably just the cost of everything, this isn't unique to just makers but it sure makes it tricky. Making things by hand or locally also puts you in a spot where you almost need to educate people on what goes into it and why. This is a nice opportunity and it’s great when people are open to a bit of learning, but sometimes it is an uphill battle. Obviously there is the regular challenges of tariffs, shipping, import taxes, fast fashion, stupid trends, temu and being smart enough to sort your own tax and super out, but that’s all too depressing to think about.

How important is it to keep local manufacturing alive?

To me? Heaps. Nothing brings me more joy than going into a place where they make stuff in house, be it bike parts, cars, clothing or tools, actually, just anything. But as these places close up, be it due to economic reasons, or not having people to pass the skills on to, the chance of that industry starting back up gets harder and harder. The importance of local manufacturing and buying quality items is often overlooked, and I often find myself in discussions with people that end up just saying “it’s too expensive” and then proceed to buy 5 pairs of boots over 5 years opposed to buying 1 good pair that will last (and are made in a way that can be repaired).

I’m just one person, making stuff in a pretty small industry. I started small, and just kept making things and saying yes, which I think is something anyone can do. If you have an idea or want to make things, please just start, there's nothing more exciting than a good project.