Loren and Dorcas Yoder are the owners of Silver Star Leather, located near Shipshewana in the northern Indiana Amish community. I first met Loren in 2006 while selling books in his area, and bumped into him again last summer through a mutual friend.
It was a nice chance to visit with Loren again and see his growing business–like many Amish-owned companies housed in a small workshop sitting a stone’s throw from his front door.
You’ll find Amish craftsmen working in the leather products niche in a number of places. The Yoders’ business is a bit different than most Amish leather shops, however.
In addition to traditional leather belts, wallets and purses, Loren and Dorcas produce goods from exotic leathers including shark, ostrich, python and crocodile.
Where do all these exotic leathers come from? Loren discusses this and much more in today’s business profile on Silver Star Leather (along with dozens of photos of his shop and products).
You might be surprised to find an Amishman working with exotic leathers from around the world. But it’s just another example of the flexibility and creativity you’ll find in some Amish companies. Read more here.
Silver Star Leather
Loren & Dorcas Yoder
6875N 800W
Shipshewana, IN 46565
(260) 768-7958
Open: Monday-Saturday 10 AM – 4:30 PM (4:30-8PM by appointment). Closed Sundays.
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Silver Star Leather
Neat! We’ll have to swing through there next time we are in Shipshe. Many thanks for the post!
Emily
My once 30 inch waist line now needs a 34 which means I have to buy a 38 inch belt but alas they are too small. And the ones I buy are so flimsy that after two wearings they cracked and and thus belong in the trash. My Amish harness can make for me a quality belt in the right size plus three inches with the quality I need. The brass buckles are so cheap on the net that I can buy 50 of them for 10.00. I have four rolls of cow hide that I paid $10.00 for. I’ll take them to my Amish harness maker and make me a belt that will last 20 years. He will sell the rest at an Amish event and could net the school $300.00.
Silver Star Leather
Wonderful. I lived there for a few weeks…nice town
Great craftsmanship!
I would LOVE to order a custom-made leather (nothing exotic) “wristlet” for myself. What I mean is a large-ish ladies wallet (built-in slots for credit cards, ID, pocket change) room for a cell phone—small enough to hang from my wrist with a leather wrist strap. My big, heavy purse is getting physically taxing to carry! I keep looking & looking and never see what I really want. How could I go about ordering something like that (mail order, as I don’t get to Shipshe very often!)? It would likely be something I’d keep the rest of my life, so I’d pay a good price.
I loved to see the photos of exotic leathers—hippo! Who knew? I can understand why they’re expanding–handmade leatherwork is an art, but very practical as well.
I wish them continued prosperity!
Alice Mary
Wristlet
Now I learned a new word, “wristlet”, Alice Mary! Thirty-One bags are popular in some circles; one Amish lady in PA sells them. Thirty-One has wristlets in the categories of Wallets and Accessory Bags, if you need ideas.
http://www.thirtyonegifts.com/catalog/
Thanks, Linda. I’m familiar with 31 products, but I’m really hoping to find something in leather, with a wrist strap that DOESN’T detach. I guess it’s ’cause I grew up in Chicago where we were always on guard (especially downtown) for thieves who would actually cut purse straps, grab the purse & run. I think a good, sturdy handmade leather wristlet would be more durable.
I was also surprised by the insulin pump holder—I don’t need one yet (I’m diabetic but on oral meds so far), but now I know where to have one made should I need one!
Alice Mary
Indiana Amish Leather Goods - Contact
I would never guess an insulin pump holder would be among the custom jobs here, but why not 🙂
Alice Mary on the wristlet, if you can provide some sort of design idea (maybe a sample image or two from somewhere) and/or any relevant specifications, I can forward it on to Loren and we’ll see if they can give you an idea. Feel free to email me (ewesner@gmail.com).
For those who want to contact Loren & Dorcas directly, I just added the Silver Star contact info to the post above (it is also on the main profile I linked as well, but should just get it up here too). And I’ll go ahead and put it here too:
Silver Star Leather
Loren & Dorcas Yoder
6875N 800W
Shipshewana, IN 46565
(260) 768-7958
Open: Monday-Saturday 10 AM – 4:30 PM (4:30-8PM by appointment). Closed Sundays.
Thanks Erk
Thanks for the opportunity, Erik! I will gather my stuff together & work out some measurements and ideas and send it along in a few days. This should be fun!
Alice Mary
Alice Mary, got your email about this and am about to pass it on to Silver Star, also sorry if you weren’t able to access this due to site problems the past day or so, things should be working a bit better now.
Erik
Do they still make harness as well, or have they dropped that line?
They’re not in harnesses anymore Oldkat, just purses, belts, related products. There is a shot of the brochure at the link to the full profile (in the post above) which gives more detail on what exactly they carry (you’ll find it in the “Additional Photos” section at the bottom of that page).
If you’re interested, there are of course harness shops in this same community. One I’ve been to is called Eastside, in Topeka. https://amishamerica.com/amish-harness-shop/
Thanks
Just in case the one I have been using changes direction, it is good to know about other options.
Harness shops
OldKat, I thought you might be interested in this link of harness shops, some Amish and some non-Amish. You can either scroll down until you get to Harness, or you can click on Harness in the index.
http://ruralheritage.com/Evener/index.htm
Thank you Linda
Thank you very much, Linda. That was very kind of you to post this info. I’ll be sure to check them out.
There was an Amish harness shop in PA that I used for years, but he finally retired and the business was apparently not taken over by someone else.
Then I used one in Canada for awhile, but they have closed as well, unsure why, so I started using one that is not Amish, but which sells Amish made goods. A couple of comments that they have made made me think they are thinking of doing something else. It is nice to have some options in case they do.
Thanks again.
Silver Star Leather
I am in left field, or blonde, or something. Where do you see an insulin pump holder?
Thanks for the peak into a close-by enterprise that is all new to me. wow, small world, huh?
No worries Mary, it’s not on this page 🙂 You have to click the link in the post above to go to the full Silver Star leather profile. On that page it’s the 7th photo down.