Dev Journal

Why This Project Exists

I started leather-info-repo as a personal reference so I could keep practical shop knowledge in one place: leather sizing charts, leather type notes, store links, pattern resources, and a captain's log for in-progress work. It began as a README, but the content has grown into something I use as an actual working system.

At this point, the limitation is no longer content. The limitation is format. A long README is easy to start and hard to scale. Navigation, filtering, and day-to-day updates become slower than they should be.

What Is Already There

The repository already contains strong raw material for a real site:

Leather sizing chart data by ounce and common project types
Leather type breakdowns (full grain, top grain, split, genuine, bonded)
Vendor and tool reference lists I actually use
Pattern resources and long-form creator lists
A dated captain's log with project updates, mistakes, and lessons learned

The hard work has already been done: collecting and curating useful information over time.

Goal: Keep the Same Framework

I want this leathercraft project to stay in the same framework as this blog: Next.js with the App Router. That gives me a consistent stack, shared UI patterns, and one mental model for building pages. Instead of learning a separate platform, I can focus on modeling my content better.

Migration Strategy

Keep the README as the source of truth during phase one
Extract each major section into structured JSON or Markdown data files
Create dedicated pages for charts, references, and captain's log entries
Add search and filters where discovery is painful today
Move to fully structured content updates once page coverage is complete

This avoids a risky rewrite and lets me ship improvements in slices.

Proposed Site Structure

app/
  leather/
    page.tsx                // Landing page
    charts/page.tsx         // Leather sizing charts
    materials/page.tsx      // Leather type reference
    stores/page.tsx         // Supplier links and notes
    patterns/page.tsx       // Pattern resources
    creators/page.tsx       // YouTube and inspiration list
    captains-log/page.tsx   // Log index
    captains-log/[slug]/page.tsx // Individual entries

content/
  leather/
    charts.json
    materials.json
    stores.json
    patterns.json
    creators.json
    captains-log/
      2025-07-23.md
      2025-07-24.md

Data Model Sketch

A small amount of structure unlocks better rendering and filtering immediately.

// charts.json
[
  {
    "ounce": "5 to 6 oz",
    "inches": "5/64 to 3/32 in",
    "millimeters": "2.0 to 2.4 mm",
    "commonProjects": ["phone and tablet cases", "book covers", "light moccasins"]
  }
]

// captains-log frontmatter example
---
title: "Knife Sheath Iteration"
date: "2025-07-23"
tags: ["commission", "knife sheath", "design constraints"]
status: "in-progress"
---

Today I revised two sheath concepts and documented what failed and why.

MVP Roadmap

MVP 1: Render charts and leather types as dedicated pages
MVP 2: Convert stores, patterns, and creator lists into searchable cards
MVP 3: Turn captain's log into dated entries with tags and archives
MVP 4: Add project dashboard widgets (active commission, next build, blocked tasks)
MVP 5: Deploy and iterate based on real usage in the workshop

Why This Is Worth Doing

The point is not just to make something that looks nicer than a README. The point is to build a system that helps me make better leather projects over time. If it is faster to find sizing guidance, easier to review old mistakes, and simpler to track active builds, then the site is doing real work.

This project started as notes. The next step is turning those notes into a tool I can actually run my craft with.

Conclusion

Keeping the same Next.js framework lowers the migration cost and keeps momentum high. I can port content section by section, publish early, and keep using the system while it grows. This is exactly the kind of project that starts simple, gets used daily, and eventually becomes much bigger than the original plan.

From README to Leathercraft Website