Double Play
Yurkovich credits his parents for the two passions that make up his business: baseball and crafting. He would tag along with his mother to Joann Fabric, where she would pick out cloth and trinkets for wreaths. “But one of my earliest memories — back when my dad was a baseball coach at Riverside [High School] — is just playing in the dirt with two of my friends at the ballfield,” he says.
Wear and Tear
When searching for gloves to turn into wallets, Yurkovich has a strategy. He hunts down game-used mitts from local secondhand shops such as Play It Again Sports or online from eBay. Take his classic billfold with baseball glove leather ($95). You can see where the athlete’s hand sat in the glove by the dark outline in the leather. “Some people clean them up, but I don’t,” he says. “I like to keep the story in the glove through the marks and dirt.”
Handy Work
Yurkovich, who works on his business in his basement, starts deconstructing gloves by cutting the strings off and pulling them out. Then he cuts out the palm, which he uses to shape his wallets. He estimates it takes about an hour to complete each wallet. While he admits his fingers are starting to feel the consequences of the labor, he still finds it to be his escape. “That’s my therapy,” he chuckles.
Name Brand
It’s all about the glove — even when Yurkovich is tearing it apart. He uses the best pieces — typically ones with logos, signatures or writing — to highlight what is special about the mitt. The MacGregor Snap Wallet ($65) has the MacGregor brand signature and the serial number on the front right above the snap. “People love seeing the players’ names or maybe the same brand of glove they used to have,” Yurkovich says. “Those things just really bring out the nostalgic factor.”
