Meet your Maker: Heather Holiday of Mason Dixon
Maker Heather Holiday, 31, of Fishtown, creator of Mason Dixon, a line of handmade children's shoes. Her start Holiday worked as a graphic designer for a decade - and then, wanting to get back to making things by hand, took a job as an upholsterer with furniture maker BDDW. "That was my first exposure to working with leather and using old-world tech
Maker
Heather Holiday, 31, of Fishtown, creator of Mason Dixon, a line of handmade children's shoes.
Her start
Holiday worked as a graphic designer for a decade - and then, wanting to get back to making things by hand, took a job as an upholsterer with furniture maker BDDW. "That was my first exposure to working with leather and using old-world techniques to make things, and I kind of fell in love with it," she said. Using those skills, she made a pair of shoes for her daughter, Charlotte, now 2, and got so much positive feedback she began creating prototypes for a full shoe line. "I loved the challenge," she said, "of making something functional."
The business
Holiday spent about a year and a half honing her designs before launching her Mason Dixon Made L.L.C. line in August with help from her husband, Dusty Mears. Today, it takes her about three hours to stitch shoes to order (21/2 hours for baby booties), using leather for uppers and plantation crepe for the soles. She plans to launch a line of quilts and decorative leather baskets this fall, and eventually expand into kids' clothing as well.
Design inspiration
Holiday said she keeps an eye on trends, but leans toward classic designs with updated colors and materials. "I think my aesthetic is just simple, functional, and well made, with beautiful materials. The style of shoe I make, the derby shoe, is one of the oldest styles," she said. "I like having a fresh take on old designs."
Find them
Online at MasonDixonMade.com; in stores at pucciManuli (35 Cricket Ave., Ardmore) and at Minnow Lane (2029 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia); and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Chestnut Hill Fall for the Arts Festival along Germantown Avenue.
215-854-5053
@samanthamelamed
