A Custom Leather Apron (or Four) of Her Own
Meet a Maker:
Michelle Melchior
“Having all my tools on me, on my apron, speeds up my productivity.”
We’ve been sharing stories about makers who are our friends and clients. With Mother’s Day coming up, we thought we’d feature someone closer to home, our co-founder, Michelle Melchior, a mother and maker.
Growing up with a father who could fix anything and a mother who was an entrepreneur, Michelle was destined to become a maker and doer herself. She learned about all sorts of trades and crafts: welding, mechanics, electrical work, plumbing, sewing, cake decorating, hair styling, and flower arranging. She made her own prom dress and, later, her daughter’s prom dress.
At 12, she started selling cakes she decorated. Two years later, she sold her first wedding cake. Making the wedding cakes for her children is on her bucket list. She created one last summer and will be making another one this summer.
Michelle has a license in cosmetology, and she had a business reupholstering furniture.
Michelle’s husband, Patrick, also is a maker. In 2008, he started woodworking and making furniture under the name Dragonfly Woodworking.
In 2016, Michelle made the first version of a full-grain leather Master Custom Workplace Leather Shop Apron — a special request by Patrick after he dropped his Woodpecker mini square on the cement floor of his workshop and wanted an apron that would keep his core toolset safe and close at hand. Michelle since has made so many improvements to that apron, they affectionately call it “Frankenstein.”
A follower on social media saw Patrick wearing the apron and wanted to know where he could get one of his own. Patrick asked Michelle, “Do we sell aprons?” She replied, “Yes, we do.” That’s how what is now Leather By Dragonfly got started.
Michelle and Patrick sold a few aprons in 2017, learning to fit clients worldwide using video chat — long before Zoom calls became common during the pandemic.
The business morphed into Dragonfly Woodworking & Leather, then became Leather By Dragonfly when Patrick retired from commissioned woodwork. In 2019, Michelle left her job to work at Leather By Dragonfly full time.
Leather By Dragonfly celebrated its fourth anniversary on March 28.
Michelle’s favorite thing about the business is making friends that are so likeminded.
“Because we work with fitting the aprons on a live video chat, even during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown we still got to see and work with people every day,” she said. “We have made many friends we will keep for our lifetime just through this business.”
Michelle has four bespoke leather Dragonfly aprons of her own. She lovingly and painstakingly handcrafted each one herself — just like all of the premium leather goods Leather by Dragonfly offers.
Before she created aprons for herself, Michelle’s tools “were piled all around and I searched for them every day.” That didn’t sit well with Michelle, who is passionated about being organized. “Having all my tools on me, on my apron, speeds up my productivity,” she said.
Her main apron is a beautiful, bright pink — one of the specialty colors available as an upgrade. She uses the apron for sewing, so she created places to stash tools including scissors, nippers, marking pens, razor blades, a seam ripper, a tape measure and her phone. It’s especially important to keep the scissors safe, she said, noting, “If your scissors get dropped one time, they are not the same.”
Michelle’s other aprons are:
a pink leather apron she wears at tradeshows, with pockets for her phone, product information postcards, a credit card chip reader, and a money bag
a black leather hairdressing apron that is waterproof and is easy to wipe down, and has pockets for a phone and appointment cards
a tan “Frankenstein” leather apron of her own — the original apron she made for herself
Michelle also uses her sewing skills, honed over 40 years, to create other premium leather Dragonfly goods, such as the laptop-friendly Michelle Marie Leather Tote, the stylish everyday Donna Marie Tote, and the handy Tina Marie Leather Clutch.
Learn more about Michelle in this previous blog post, on our About page and in this Q&A.