Few days ago Railcar Fine Goods announced that they would soon release a must have product. Not a shirt, nor jeans but something special. The product indeed proved to be special. A special denim apron made of 12oz dark indigo blue line Selvedge denim accompanied by 6oz leather straps and adjustable hardware. The apron is pretty impressive. Based on classic Type 3 jean jacket, it has a unique look but still does not steer away from the practicality, making it a perfect companion for wood work, metal work, cooking or cleaning. The way I see it, this would make a great apron for the summer barbecue season. The apron is available in limited numbers from Railcar Fine Goods for a very reasonable price of 128 USD. Get yours!

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It’s the hand made touch is what sets artisan products apart from the masses. This allies to products across categories. One of the most awesome artisan products I have recently come by is the Artisan Playing Cards illustrated by hand in South Africa. These elegant and sophisticated playing cards are designed by Simon Frouws and feature gold foil hot stamped onto ultra-lux black paper derived from sustainable forests.

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You can’t ignore the role Levi’s has played in the history of Jeans. They were and still are the top of the mind brand when it came to denim and have retained the style that made them a classic. Their latest marketing effort looks back at the history of the classic 501 jean and its cultural impact. Nice ad from a classic brand.

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It was some time back that our good friend John from Kronoz Shop, Malaysia sent me a picture of some very familiar denim at a new store locale in Malaysia. All that was wrote in the message was, “ndc at the yard”. But that was enough to put a smile on my face.

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We’ve been relatively quiet in the past months. The main reason for our silence is adjustment of priorities. 1.5 months ago we welcomed a baby girl in the family and naturally the new life stage with two kids takes time to get used to. And that’s exactly what I am planning to do, give some time for myself to adjust to the situation. We’re still in the game but the hours I have to find a new way to manage the hours I put to different projects because family is always the number one priority.

It’s funny how your priorities change. 3 years ago it was all in the business, crazy drive and passion to pursue all of those life’s goals. Then my son was born, he added more fuel to the drive and inspired awesome projects like the Northern Denim Co. but little by little you realize that things are changing. You just want your kids to be happy and that makes you happy. Suddenly you just wait to go home not to come up with blog posts and marketing plans but instead read story books and play with action figures. Suddenly awards, achievements at work and academic field felt secondary.
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The soaking an shrinking process is rather important aspect of an denim project. Not only does the shrinkage define the overall fit of the jeans but is also crucial information one needs to provide to the customers purchasing the jeans. The Lot 750x Northern Denim Co. jeans were soaked some time back, fit pics were taken and now I finally made time to post the “post soak findings”.

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If you ask me, every day is mother’s day. Mommies are, and should be appreciated every day. It ain’t easy trying to raise little boys and girls. Multitasking of the highest degree. So… mothers you are appreciated, needless to say more. Happy mommies’ day.

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One of the main reason why I love mechanical watches is the attention to detail in every aspect of the time piece. Omega has been pushing the boundaries of watchmaking since the 19th century and continues to impress the horology fans with its products. One of their latest achievements is the new 18k rose gold called Sedna. “Sedna gold is the name OMEGA has given to a new alloy that stunningly blends three elements: gold, copper and palladium. It takes its name from a trans-Neptunian object which astronomers called Sedna – the same name as an Inuit goddess who is said to live at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. ” (Omega)

Image courtesy of Omega.
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One of the main differences between the Lot 3010 and the upcoming Lot 750x Northern Denim Co. Jeans is the indigo dye. Lot 750x uses a special natural indigo dyed denim (14.7oz), tha gives the jeans a unique character, not to mention a traditional denim look and feel.

A little history on the fabric and the dye. The natural indigo used is what the Japanese refer to as, Matsuzaka Ai. “Matsuzaka” is a city in Japan, famous for “Ise Grand Shrine” that is near the city. Matsuzaka City on the path leading to the grand shrine.

300 years ago, natural indigo cloth of Matsuzaka was made as a souvenir for the people who went to Ise. The fabric used is dyed at Matsuzaka, a place with rich history of natural indigo dyed cloths.

Another interesting detail about the Northern Denim Co. Lot 750x. And a piece of Japanese fabric history of course. Stay tuned for more updates on the project and get yours!

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It’s been long time coming, but this week we finally managed to have a little photo-shoot for the new natural indigo Lot 750x Northern Denim Co. jeans. You can find the details on the Official Northern Denim Co. site.

The Slim Straight cut jeans are not just great 14.7oz fabric but we wanted to work on the fit as well. Lot 3010 is great with the classic Vintage Straight cut but we wanted to see what could we do to create a slightly slimmer fit while retaining the comfort of the Lot 3010. So we chose a Slim Straight silhouette for the Lot 750x. The denim is nice and tough, though the denim softens after some wear and adjusts nicely to one’s lifestyle. The unwashed denim shrinks quite a bit after a wash (1 to 1.5 inches from the waist and inseam) thus just like with majority of slim fitting jeans out there, it’s best to go with your true size or size up one. But more of the shrinking in another post with the measurements.

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