KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In a small studio with soft music buzzing through the air, Harold Mason meticulously cut leather to size for a red and gold pillow adorned with the phrase “Chiefs Kingdom.”
“My design aesthetic is if I see you do this,” he said. “Left, left, left. I am going to go right.”
Mason is admittedly more of an overall sports fan than a Chiefs fan, spending the first few years of his life in New Orleans.
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Despite his wide-ranging fandom, Mason created a throne made for the top 100 collectors in the Kingdom.
“I figured with all the Chiefs fans, 100 of them is a pretty small number,” Mason said.
Mason fostered his love of textiles since graduating high school in the Kansas City area.
But the only reason he picked up a needle in thread is due to a class requirement.
“I was unaware of what was going on, and that I even had the skill,” he said. “Once I was introduced to it, I was on and running from there.”
The biggest draw to work for him lately is passing along his knowledge to the next generation of artists and entrepreneurs, like LaChrista FuQua.
“Working up under him and seeing him also conduct his business and how he runs it, moves, and makes different things will also help me realize how I want to run my own business one day,” she said.
FuQua said her new-found skills are something other people should learn.
“I feel like fashion is one of those things that is just going to help eventually,” she said. “Sewing is just something I think everyone should know how to do.”
People wanting to learn more about sewing and manufacturing through Mason’s Teach2Create program can reach the artist at MINCMASON@GMAIL.COM.
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