Leatherwork - Make a Traditional Belt

Tutor: Carla and Jeremy Bonner
Level: Suitable for all
Date: A one-day course: Sunday 12 May 2024, 10am-4pm
Price: £140

Course details
In this relaxed workshop, Jeremy and Carla will work alongside you, demonstrating each process to enable you to make your own leather belt. Using vegetable tanned leather and brassware sourced in the UK, you will have the opportunity to learn about leather, and how to use the hand tools and traditional techniques to hand stitch your own belt.

Using templates
Marking out
Punching stitch holes
Punching rivet holes
Hand stitching
Finishing edges
Riveting

In all their workshops, Jeremy and Carla aim to equip all students with the necessary hand skills, knowledge and confidence to work with leather, whilst emphasising simple straightforward design.

This course is one of four individual courses with Jeremy and Carla, which introduce traditional leatherworking skills while making attractive and practical items.

N.B. The colour of leather, fittings and buckles might vary from the those shown in the photos.

Materials to bring

• An apron, comfortable work clothes and covered footwear
• Reading glasses if you need them for close work

Materials included
Leather, brassware, wax, thread and needle to make one belt.

Equipment provided
Essential tools are provided for use on the day.

About the tutor
Jeremy and Carla Bonner established Bonner Leather Studio in 2014 just outside Cirencester, where they work together. Jeremy graduated from Birmingham School of Art and Carla graduated from Newcastle on Tyne Polytechnic. They take their inspiration from eclectic, archaic/defunct, industrial forms of baggage through to modern product design and architecture.

General information
Short courses are open to anyone aged 18 and over.
The course fee covers tuition and materials where stated. You will need to bring all other items listed under the ‘Materials to bring’ section.

Refreshments
Coffee and tea are included in the course fee, but you will need to bring lunch with you to eat in the refreshments room. There are plenty of local venues to purchase food locally, if needed, though we recommend that you bring a packed lunch.

Refunds and cancellations
Cancellations are permitted up to 6 weeks before the start of a course and subject to a £35 cancellation fee. Refunds will not be given for cancellations less than 6 weeks before the start of a course.

Students who do not attend due to illness, personal or professional commitments do not have the right to a refund. For this reason, we recommend that students take out personal insurance against any unforeseeable circumstances before the start of their course. It is not possible to transfer to future courses.

We reserve the right to cancel a class in unusual circumstances. We try to avoid this where possible, but sometimes it is unavoidable. In this situation, a full refund will be given. We’re sorry that we cannot be financially responsible for extreme weather conditions, travel disruption or any other situations that are outside our control.

Access
If you have any specific access needs, we will need to know about your access requirements in advance. Please tell us about your needs in confidence by emailing: bookingsoffice@westdean.ac.uk

This venue has steps to the front reception, with limited access via a side gate to the ground floor. There is a small lift to higher floors or stairs.

Safety
Short course students are required to sign a safety compliance form as part of West Dean Health and Safety regulations.

Disclaimer
The information given is accurate at the time of publication. However, West Dean College reserves the right to cancel or amend courses if circumstances require.