Love and Salvage

You will learn the techniques involved in sewing handbags by producing your own leather bag.

The course includes:

-Choosing the style
-Selecting leathers 
-Cutting leather accurately 
-Using leather tools 
-Using an industrial sewing machine 
-Fitting hardware 
-Making handles
You may choose to add personal touch like pressing your name somewhere on your bag.

This course is suitable for total beginners. Bag making is hard and intricate work, but totally satisfying.  When you make your own bag, you love it more and loved bags last longer!

Sew a Leather Tote Bag

Philippa

Attending Eli’s workshop was a fantastic day, she is very friendly and enthusiastic and wants you to end up with the leather bag of your dreams!!
Her studio was comfortable and during the workshop Eli was able to spend a lot of time assisting and showing me (a novice) how to make an amazing bag.

Angela 

I had a great day with Eli! I learned so much about working with leather. What once seemed daunting to me ended up seeming so simple and easy under Eli's great tuition. I ended up with a gorgeous yellow bag that I proudly use on a daily basis. (Eli has so many lovely leathers to choose from) And I look forward to making more bags using the knowledge I gained from my day with Eli.

Laura

Excellent workshop. I really enjoyed the day and made a fantastic bag. The tutor, Eli, was very good. I highly recommend making a tote bag workshop

Steph Woodley

Eli was really informative and helpful. I made a great tote bag and my daughter a stunning saddle bag. Nothing was too much trouble. Good to have some time just to make something that's lovely and also practical. Need to make some shoes now! 

It was a fantastic experience! I went alone and met lovely people there and made a fantastic quality bag!  We could pick the style of the bag we wanted and the colours. Eli was really lovely - what I enjoyed most is that she supported all creative ideas, even if they didn’t fit the standard approach. She was super enthusiastic and supportive! 

The location was a little out of the way and not too easy to find, but it was totally worth it once there! Looking forward to going back for another class!! Thank you Eli!

Alcia Moncrieffe

Great session, and I love the finished bag. Lisa was very helpful and even stayed late so that I could finish.

Justine Henry

Thank you Eli for reigniting my love of making! This was a brilliant workshop to attend, in a well equipped space, surrounded by people who were all willing to help.  I am delighted with my completed saddle bag, & great to be able to customise this to what I wanted too! Thank you for all your expertise, good humour & patience - you are a brilliant teacher! 

Jade Richardson

Overall, I am very happy with the bag I made. Eli had a some great leathers to pick from and all the tools and materials needed. She offered good advice and helped when needed. Eli was lovely to chat to. 

However, there are a couple of things that made me give the workshop 3 stars.
The main one being that I felt like the workshop could have been better prepared - having a clean work space, tools ready, machine ready, other examples to show different styles. Eli felt a bit scattered and unorganised, meaning that I didn't get to properly finish the straps as this step was forgotten. 
The workshop was freezing. We used heaters but it was so cold and a note to bring layers would have been very helpful. 
And lastly, the description says: Drinks and a snack are included in the price, they were not. I paid for a tea for Eli. There was also no time for a lunch break, so I'd encourage the description to be changed or for a proper break to be factored into the timing. 

I am very happy with my creation and did have a nice time, but feel that for the price of the workshop more thinking and attention could go into the overall experience!  

Make your own fabulous handbag from wonderful durable leather. You choose the style and colour and work entirely with reclaimed leather.

You will learn all the techniques involved in making leather bags by **producing your own backpack from start to finish!**

We want each student to leave in love with their bag, excited about their designs and confident in their new skills. 

To achieve this we provide a relaxed and fun environment and a practical approach to designing and making. 

Our workshops are a chance to immerse yourself in the creative process and leave with your own UNIQUE bag. 

The course includes:
- Designing your backpack
- Understanding and cutting patterns 
- Choosing from a range of leathers 
- Using leather hand tools 
- Learning to sew on an industrial machine
- Fitting hardware 
- Making handles

All of the above is done on a very practical level, however, some notes are available online after the class.

What is provided? 

Bring your own leather, or select from our colourful collection of **100% reclaimed leather**. 

Tea, coffee and snacks are provided and we take 45 minutes for lunch.

**This is a 2 day course. Before you book make sure you have additional dates available to finish the bag. My studio is closed Sunday's but otherwise I am super flexible with dates. Just get in touch as soon as you have booked to confirm that second date**

Leather Workshop - Sew your own Backpack

Muskaan

Eli is a great host and a tutor with amazing teaching skills. At the end of just 2 days I left with a lovely brown backpack and bag making skills. Would definitely come back to learn more and make more bags.

Manal MT

Came across Eli's website when I was looking into environmentally conscious, up-cycled backpacks. Never such workshops exist. Never event thought I could  stitch anything together, but with Eli's brilliant guidance, patience and creativity, my dream packback was possible! Loved the workshop...was very immersive and zen!!!! Love the bag too. Spacious and big enough without being bulky to accommodate a laptop, camera, book, water bottle & coat. Sits beautifully & comfortably on shoulder!!!! Thank you Eli for this. You’re work is amazing & much needed in these urgent times of environmental disaster!!! Inspiring!!! The workshop left empowered on many different levels. What a joy to be able to make your own things with minimum damage to our planet earth and with brilliant company and guidance. Highly recommend checking Eli's website and work and attending one of her workshop to make your own!!!! 

Elaine 

I just couldn’t find a smart backpack I liked so I decided to make my own, ethically and eco with Love and Salvage.
I had the BEST two days making my leather backpack at the cool home studio in Hackney. I got to plan and design the exact bag I wanted - the size, colour, pockets and lining! It felt so good not to just buy a standard factory made bag and when people ask ‘where is it from?’ I can say I made it reusing leather that would have gone to landfill. The chats made the day go so fast! Eli is very patient and encouraging.
 Highly recommended anyone to treat themselves to bag making therapy!
And recently my bag won a prize at work in the category ‘I made it’ 😀

Jen 

I brought some friends with me and we all made a backpack from reclaimed leather, with the instruction of Eli - who found creative solutions to our design questions and helped us to work to manage our expectations while still creating a beautiful bespoke bag. It was a great experience - learning new skills while hanging out with a few good friends. Highly recommended!

Chantel Campbell

I had the absolute best time making my backpack with Eli. She is an awesome teacher and made the experience really fun. Best of all, I have a stunning backpack, that I absolutely adore.

Make your own leather backpack over 2 sessions

Make your own Sneakers from reclaimed leather, learn about patterns, stitching leather, shoe design and leather working.
Make your very own sneakers over two sessions. 

Day 1 includes:
- Deciding on your shoe style 
- Cutting the pattern
- Designing details 
- Choosing  and cutting leathers

Day 2 includes: 
- Understanding construction
- Learning to hand stitch leather
- Assembling your shoes 

What is provided:  Select from our collection of 100% reclaimed leather. Tea, coffee and snacks are provided and we recommend you bring your lunch.

Shoe Making

Suki Bishop

This was the second course that i attended with the lovely Eli at Love and Salvage .. so I knew I  was going to have lots of fun lots of cups of tea and and end up with a  product that I  was extremely proud of.  I made a pair of sneakers in a beautiful burgundy leather , which I wear very regularly. 
Eli as usual was informative and super friendly . i would highly highly recommend attending a class at Love and salvage, its quite addictive. xx

I made great sneakers - still can't believe how easy and fun it was! Eli was so much fun and such a warm teacher. I felt like I took more than a pair of shoes back home at the end of class! I will defo be back again and with a friend!

Emma Fishman

Eli is the most wonderful teacher - patient and so friendly. I've been on two 2-day trainer making workshops now and both have been ENORMOUS fun. It really is the best way to spend a weekend and then you get to wear you custom made trainers that you've actually made yourself! It's just brilliant and I thoroughly recommend it. xxx

Bella Vernon 

I really enjoyed designing and making a pair of trainers at Love and Salvage. The teacher was informative, enthusiastic and encouraged me to realise my design. It was brilliant and an empowering process and I'd highly recommend as either personal experience or as a unique gift. 

Ali Payne

We had a brilliant time with Eli at our 2-day shoemaking workshop - didn't want it to be over. Eli is so friendly and welcoming and a great, knowledgeable teacher. Thank you!

Liz de Pass

I really enjoyed making shoes with Eli, she made it seem very easy! Great fun.

Anja deRuiter

I had a wonderful time working with Eli. She was friendly, patient, and very creative. I also enjoyed meeting and chatting with her equally creative and interesting atelier colleagues. All in all an unforgettable experience and hope to come back soon for another workshop.

Make your own Sneakers from reclaimed leather, learn about patterns, stitching leather, shoe design and leather working.

This shoulder bag is a triumph of colour. Students can choose from lots of colours and modify the small details and make their bag 100% unique. The end result is a cute, fresh shoulder bag, made with luxury leather that will last for life. 

Students will:

1)  Select leather for their bag
2) Sew together the main bag 
3) Choose from leather knives to add details.
4) Use specialist leather machines

You will  
-Use tools used in the manufacture of leather goods
-Discover techniques for working with leather
-Fit hardware 

Saddlebag Workshop

Andrea

What a fantastic experience! We worked in a proper leather workshop with access to all the grown-up machinery and big workbenches. Eli was a very patient teacher, with an easy-going, friendly approach, who enabled us to learn the techniques and really get stuck in to make our pretty perfect bags. It's clearly important to Eli's ethos that we used recycled and reclaimed leather - if you're not that way inclined, don't be put off - it was top quality. It was a really motivating, fun workshop and we left with bags to be very proud of. 

Workshops at Love & Salvage