Bag Making Course
As I teach more and more people, I’ve found that it’s the small details that make the biggest difference.
There was a student I had once, let’s call him Todd, who had decades of leatherworking experience. At the end of the course Todd said, ‘I’ve never thought about this much detail for my projects before.’
The phrase “you don’t know what you don’t know” has always been eye-opening for me when I’m learning from my own mentors and teachers. The famous adage “a frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean” is also quite true.
When Todd started to construct his belt project with this new level of detail and technique, he finally started to see how far he could go with his leatherworking skills. His work was already great, but now, given a vision of a new plateau to strive for, he could start to make his work even better.
Big Projects Don’t Have to be Intimidating
Making a bag can seem overwhelming because of the many different components like pockets, straps, and closures. Many people struggle with critical parts like zippers or never feel like they get them quite right.
Even a well written step-by-step tutorial can feel difficult to follow. Sometimes it helps to have in-person guidance to lead you through the rough spots and help you to avoid potential pitfalls.
With this many pieces and steps, serious practitioners look to gain both efficiency and accuracy by getting help when they need it. Every well-crafted detail adds to the whole, just like every small mistake detracts.
Build a Solid Foundation of Leather Bag Making Skills
Introducing the next course in our Making Leather Goods Weekend series: Foundational Bag Making Techniques. This is a course for people who are looking to improve their construction methods for leather bags and refine their work to the next level.
Dates & Locations
This is a FIVE-day, all-day workshop. There is an optional pre-course technique workshop as well as an optional extension day. The sessions are as follows:
Berkeley, CA
Pre-Course Technique Workshop: Monday, April 17th
Five-day Bag Course: Tuesday, April 18th through Saturday, April 22nd
Post-Course Extension Day: Sunday, April 23rd
Class is from 9:15am – 5:15pm each day.
Take the course in our Berkeley studio on 5th St, just south of the Fourth Street neighborhood. It’s a 5-minute ride (Uber/Lyft) from the nearby North Berkeley BART Station.
Can’t make this date? Sign up for our next bag class waitlist or join one of our other courses.
Our five-day course from Tuesday – Saturday includes:
- FIVE 8-hour days of in-person detailed instruction
- An opportunity to complete an entire bespoke project in one weekend
- Time to learn and refine construction methods for bag making
- Examples of multiple techniques for you to try in several areas such as skiving, zipper assembly, and interior construction
- All materials, including hardware and luxury grade leather
- An opportunity to try out a wide variety of our tools including the electric creaser and our newest tools
- Construction tips, techniques, and best practices to refine the quality of your work
Plus: Get additional patterns to build different sizes of the bag.
Refine Your Technique With a Pre-Course Technique Workshop
Add an extra day for just leatherworking technique. We’ll work on improving your skills so that you are better prepared for the main part of the course. If you are new to the finer techniques of making leather goods or if you are out of practice or need to learn a core skill, you will benefit from our pre-course workshop. We’ll cover hand-sewing, cutting, gluing, and several other core leatherworking skills so that you can improve them before working on your bag project.
BONUS: Add a Free Extension Day
The bag course challenges several skills including sewing, edge finishing, and construction. We cover all of the instruction in five days but the number one request we received from past students was, “I want to have more time.”
Some people work faster and some work slower. You might be more of a beginner or you simply are more meticulous in your craft. You might need more time to finish your hand-sewing or more carefully work through a project detail. We added a free studio day on the Sunday following the course to give people more time to complete their bags. I highly recommend adding the free extension day.
Practice bag building techniques including round handle construction with a reinforced core and the tricky process of attaching them to the bag. You’ll do a small version of this bag so you can master the techniques and then be able to make your own variations in the size and style that you want.
Learn how to improve your bag construction, how to include a leather lining, details on skiving leather, gluing, hardware placement, and the right order of steps to make work easier.
The project for this course is hand-sewn. I’ll take you step-by-step through the process to make it as efficient as possible and help your seams get that unique hand-sewn look. If you’re local to the area and have a leather sewing machine, you can also take your project back home to complete the portions that can be machine-sewn. The round handles and the insertion points for the handles are always hand-sewn and I’ll show you how to use a special clamp to make this part easier.
Get help installing zippers, aligning the placement, and how to incorporate into a gusset construction. And learn how to finish smooth, painted bag edges when they’re composed of several layers of leather.
Practice At Your Level
One common question I get is, “how advanced is this course?” We spend a lot of time refining the project and the techniques for the course so that we can accommodate multiple levels. When someone is more advanced, we help them with a more complex project and when they are more beginner level, we help them with their fundamentals.
We will meet you where you are in your experience and tailor your project to maximize your learning. That can mean:
- focusing on the minute details of skiving leather by hand for the first time with a real knife or
- fine-tuning your sewing with thread choice, tension and stitch count or
- stepping back to improve your overall construction sequence so that your cuts and measurements stay accurate and consistent with each production piece.
Before the course even starts, we’ll get to know you and your current level of experience to make sure the course is the right balance for you. If you are unsure of your skill level or would like some help in discussing your options, feel free to email us or call us at 1-415-800-2978.
What if I am Newer to Leatherworking?
Someone newer to leatherworking should expect to spend more time during each part of the course. You will learn everything you need to know to complete the project but you may need to spend additional time in the evening to complete your work.
Most experienced leathercrafters complete their project however experience doesn’t always equate to speed. I know several meticulous craftspeople who are not particularly fast but create beautiful work. You will benefit in the long term by focusing on learning the techniques rather than speeding to complete the project.
If you are a newer or a first-time student to our courses, I recommend that you add the 7th free day option to give yourself more time.
Course Options
We’re offering a five-day, six-day and seven-day course to suit your needs and schedule. Add the tool package to take home an essential bundle of items.
- The five-day course (Tuesday to Saturday) covers all of the techniques to construct your bag.
- The six-day course (Tuesday to Sunday) gives you additional time and guidance in our studio to complete your project.
- The seven-day course (Monday to Sunday) adds one day prior to the bag course for you to refine your core leatherworking skills so you can more easily work during the main course.
1. Foundational Bag Making Course with Tool Package and
Pre-Course Technique Workshop
- Bundled package of twelve items. Normally this package is $738 but you’ll get to take it all home with you for 15% off. A savings of $110. This package includes:
- Doldokki 10 teeth pricking or diamond iron (any available teeth spacing)
- Doldokki 2 teeth pricking or diamond iron (any available teeth spacing)
- Doldokki Upright knife. A versatile knife for cutting and skiving.
- Doldokki Cutting knife of your choice; right or left.
- Set of three awls sewing, round and marking.
- Set of green and black sharpening compound.
- Pack of #4 John James needles.
- 12″ combination imperial and metric ruler.
- One polyester spool in the color and weight of your choice.
- ONE 8-hour pre-course technique workshop to focus on core leatherworking skills and help you work more easily during the bag course.
- FIVE 8-hour days of in-person detailed instruction
- Optional FREE additional day to work on your project.
- An opportunity to complete an entire bespoke project in one weekend.
- Time to learn and refine construction methods for bag making.
- Examples of multiple techniques for you to try in several areas such as skiving, zipper assembly, and interior construction.
- All materials, including hardware and luxury grade leather.
- An opportunity to try out a wide variety of our tools including the electric creaser and our newest tools.
- Construction tips, techniques, and best practices to refine the quality of your work.
If you have any questions about the course, please feel free to call or email us
1-415-800-2978
store@fineleatherworking.com.
We’re happy to help!
Sign up for the waitlist or join one of our other courses.
2. Foundational Bag Making Course with Pre-Course Technique Workshop
Bundled package of twelve items. Normally this package is $738 but you’ll get to take it all home with you for 15% off. A savings of $110. This package includes:Doldokki 10 teeth pricking, diamond or thonging iron (any available teeth spacing)Doldokki2 teeth pricking iron (any available spacing (any available teeth spacing)DoldokkiUpright knife. A versatile knife for cutting and skiving.DoldokkiCutting knife of your choice; curved, right or left.Set of three awls sewing, round and marking.Set of green and black sharpening compound.Pack of #4 John James needles.12″ combination imperial and metric ruler.One polyester spool in the color and weight of your choice.- ONE 8-hour pre-course technique workshop to focus on core leatherworking skills and help you work more easily during the bag course.
- FIVE 8-hour days of in-person detailed instruction.
- Optional FREE additional day to work on your project.
- An opportunity to complete an entire bespoke project in one weekend.
- Time to learn and refine construction methods for bag making.
- Examples of multiple techniques for you to try in several areas such as skiving, zipper assembly, and interior construction.
- All materials, including hardware and luxury grade leather.
- An opportunity to try out a wide variety of our tools including the electric creaser and our newest tools.
- Construction tips, techniques, and best practices to refine the quality of your work.
If you have any questions about the course, please feel free to call or email us
1-415-800-2978
store@fineleatherworking.com.
We’re happy to help!
Sign up for the waitlist or join one of our other courses.
3. Foundational Bag Making Course
Bundled package of twelve items. Normally this package is $738 but you’ll get to take it all home with you for 15% off. A savings of $110. This package includes:Doldokki 10 teeth pricking, diamond or thonging iron (any available teeth spacing)Doldokki2 teeth pricking iron (any available teeth spacing)DoldokkiUpright knife. A versatile knife for cutting and skiving.DoldokkiCutting knife of your choice; curved, right or left.Set of three awls sewing, round and marking.Set of green and black sharpening compound.Pack of #4 John James needles.12″ combination imperial and metric ruler.One polyester spool in the color and weight of your choice.ONE 8-hour pre-course technique workshop to focus on core leatherworking skills and help you work more easily during the bag course.- FIVE 8-hour days of in-person detailed instruction.
- Optional FREE additional day to work on your project.
- An opportunity to complete an entire bespoke project in one weekend.
- Time to learn and refine construction methods for bag making.
- Examples of multiple techniques for you to try in several areas such as skiving, zipper assembly, and interior construction.
- All materials, including hardware and luxury grade leather.
- An opportunity to try out a wide variety of our tools including the electric creaser and our newest tools.
- Construction tips, techniques, and best practices to refine the quality of your work.
If you have any questions about the course, please feel free to call or email us
1-415-800-2978
store@fineleatherworking.com.
We’re happy to help!
Sign up for the waitlist or join one of our other courses.
COVID Safety
We take your safety and well-being seriously. Please know that we will be complying with all state and county safety protocols for the duration of the class.
We are keeping a close watch on directives from state and local authorities regarding the most current guidelines and restrictions for business operations. Currently, we ask that you please join us in abiding by the following safety and cleanliness protocols:
Safety and Cleanliness
- Please wash your hands and/or use sanitizer upon arrival.
- Wearing a mask is optional but recommended, even if you’ve been vaccinated.
- Keep the table-tops and work areas clean.
- Popular, frequently touched items may be sanitized as needed.
- Hand sanitizer and tissues will be available.
- Weather permitting, we will keep the front door open for ventilation.
We are keeping the class size small, both for safety and so that we can give each student more personal attention. Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns or hesitations. We want you to feel comfortable and at home while in class.
Tailoring our classes for where you are in your level and location
More time in class, access to a specialized space and tools. These are just a few of the benefits we provide to better help you learn leatherworking. We also travel around the country to make these classes more accessible for you to take.
About the Course Instructor
Sean Aquino has been making leather goods for ten years. He runs the blog and website FineLeatherworking.com, which has been the go-to resource for advanced tools, materials and luxury leather craft inspiration since 2012.
We’ve Got Your Back Until the End
Each workshop day ends at 5 pm, but we will help ensure that you can master these techniques by giving you extra time each day. If you are struggling but have the endurance to keep going, I will stay and coach you, 1:1 if necessary, until you feel confident. During one past session, our students did 9 hours on the first day and 10 hours on the second day. It was a marathon, but they had some amazing work to show for it.
Benefits of a Live Fine Leatherworking Course
Our instruction is more than just watch and learn. We approach teaching as a give and take between the course objectives and what each student needs. For instance, we’ll provide a simpler or a more challenging version of a project so that a student can improve from their current level rather than over-extending or breezing through instruction.
A Blend of Traditional and Modern Techniques
Fine Leatherworking courses provide expert instruction that is founded on traditional techniques and improved with modern updates. We take into account the wider range of tools, improved materials and different starting point of our students. Traditionally, an aspiring leatherworker would start an apprenticeship at a young age and have years to improve their work before embarking on a professional career. Today, few people have the opportunity to do this kind of approach.
Time and experience are still required investments to improve in this craft. We develop our techniques to maximize that time so that you have the potential to learn in weeks and months rather than years and decades.
Student Bags From the Course
Explore the Bay Area and Stay Near the Workshop
There are several hotel and AirBNB options in the East Bay. We can help you find one that is close to the workshop and fitting of your needs.
If you have extra time, there are also many other leatherworking-related places to check out in the area as well as the variety of attractions like Napa Valley and San Francisco.
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