A full-grain tan leather bag resting in warm coastal light

Australian-made leather goods

Made to be worn in, and handed down.

Full-grain leather totes, wallets and travellers — cut, stitched and finished by hand at a workbench on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.

Shop the collection

Full-grain Australian leatherVegetable-tanned, top of the hide

Hand-finished, one at a timeSaddle-stitched with waxed linen

Ages beautifullySoftens, darkens and shapes to you

Ships Australia-wideFree over $150.00, tracked always

The collection

Six pieces, cut to last a lifetime.

No two hides match, so no two pieces match. What you carry is one of one.

The Everyday Tote

$220.00

Carries the weekly shop, the beach towel, the laptop — and softens a little more every time it does.

Bifold wallet in cognac full-grain leather held in a maker's hand

Bifold Leather Wallet

$89.00

A slim fold of cognac full-grain that moulds to your pocket within the month and stays there for decades.

Wide-Brim Wool Felt Hat

$145.00

Firm brim, soft crown, kangaroo-leather band. The kind of hat that ends up in family photos for thirty years.

Woven Leather Belt

$79.00

Eight strands of vegetable-tanned hide, plaited by hand. The buckle sits anywhere — no holes to wear out.

Linen and leather weekender bag packed and resting by a doorway

Linen & Leather Weekender

$340.00

Room for three days away and a bottle of red. Heavy Belgian linen, bridle-leather straps, solid brass feet.

Silk-Wool Scarf

$95.00

Silk warp, merino weft — light enough for a spring morning, warm enough for a southerly off the bay.

The workbench — tools, thread and hide laid out ready for the day's cutting

The material

Full-grain, or nothing.

Most leather is sanded back and stamped to hide its history. Ours keeps it. Full-grain hide carries the whole story — the tight grain, the odd scar, the tonal drift — and it's the only leather that grows more beautiful the harder it lives.

Each hide is vegetable-tanned slowly here in Australia, then cut by hand at the bench. We saddle-stitch every stress point with waxed linen thread, one awl hole at a time — a seam that holds even if a single stitch is cut.

Ten years from now — sun-darkened, softened, shaped by your shoulder — your piece will be more yours than ever. That's not wear. That's the point.

Vegetable-tanned full-grain Australian hide
Saddle-stitched with waxed linen thread
Solid brass hardware, no plating
Signed and dated on the inside

The maker

It started with one bag, and a bench by the sea.

Jade Hyde cut her first tote on a secondhand bench in a tin shed at Balnarring, a short walk from the water. It was a gift for her mum — heavy bridle leather, slightly wonky stitching, still in use fifteen years later.

That bag set the standard: make it honest, make it last, make it something worth handing down. Wombat Dwellings is still Jade and a small crew of makers on the Mornington Peninsula, cutting each piece to order between the tides.

“If it can't be repaired, we don't make it.”
Jade Hyde — Founder & maker

Soft morning light over the coast near the Balnarring workshop

Keep it for decades

The care ritual

Good leather doesn't ask for much. A little attention, twice a year, and it will outlast every trend you've ever owned.

Wipe it down

Salt air and dust dry leather out. A soft, barely damp cloth once a month keeps the grain clean and breathing.

Feed the hide

Twice a year, work a small amount of leather balm in with your fingertips. The hide drinks what it needs and no more.

Keep it out of the boot

Heat is leather's only real enemy. Store your piece stuffed with paper, away from direct sun and hot cars.

Let it wear

Light scuffs buff out with a fingertip; the rest becomes patina. Don't fight it — that's the good part.

Repairs are ours for life. Every piece ships with a care card, and if anything ever gives, send it back — we'll put it right at the bench, no charge for the labour.

Worn in, around the country

Kind words

The tote's been to the market every Saturday for two years and it honestly looks better now than the day it arrived.

Bought the wallet for my dad, then went back for one of my own. Opening the box smelled like a saddlery. Still does, a bit.

Third winter with the scarf. It's quietly outlasted two coats, one handbag and every trend in between.