Leatherwork for Fashion and Costume

Deposit: 21 - 25 July 2025, Monday to Friday 10 am - 4 pm, one week

Indicative maximum class size: 10

This practical course will introduce you to the process of hand-crafted leatherworking to create fashion and costume accessories.

This course is ideal for those who are interested in crafts and accessory design who are keen to understand the processes of leatherworking and surface decoration.

It’s also perfect for fashion and costume makers and is a fantastic skill for people who have an interest in battle re-enactments, live action role-playing and cosplay - the skills you’ll learn are very transferrable.

Course Description

You'll start by building your experience and gain skills in saddle stitching, embossing, tooling and edge finishing.

Then, you'll explore surface decoration techniques, along with the processes of ageing and distressing leather.

You will then progress to learning a range of techniques to work with wet moulded leather, and finish by combining your leather pieces with straps and buckles.

During the course you will:

• learn which types of leather are suitable for different garments and accessories
• experiment with leather stamping and surface decoration
• explore leather manipulation techniques
• produce a piece of hand-tooled pattern
• try dyeing and surfacing leather to create different effects.

What will I gain?

By the end of the course, you’ll have created a leather belt with a stamped and tooled surface, as well as a hand-finished satchel bag that you have constructed from a pattern.

You'll also leave with a moulded leather piece that can be used for body adornment or other accessories.

Level: Beginner

Entry requirement: No experience with leather is required. Basic sewing skills will be an advantage.

Where you'll learn: You will be based in the Bonington building at the City Campus, our dedicated art and design hub.

You will have access to an excellent range of facilities and equipment in the leather and accessory design studios, with leather cutting tools, a leather embossing press and leather provided.

You’ll also have access to our library to use outside of your short course; whilst you can’t reserve or take away books, you are welcome to use them as a resource for research and referencing.

Here's what our previous attendees said:

'I feel like I have gained what the course outline promised and more! It was adapted to each students needs which has allowed me to gain even more skills that I can improve on in the future' LD

'It was amazing to have such a close interaction with someone who is an expert in the industry. It was a top class!'

Tutor Profile: Enda Kenny is a costume and prop designer whose work has been featured extensively in TV shows like Game of Thrones, His Dark Materials, Krypton and The Frankenstein Chronicles.

He has also worked on films including Pirates of the Caribbean, King Arthur, The Wolfman and The Golden Compass.

Enda is based in Northern Ireland where he works across a variety of disciplines including leatherwork, millinery, prop costume and costume design.

He has extensive experience of supervising creative teams on projects in the UK, Ireland, France, Morocco, Portugal and Spain.

Need accommodation?

You can book a self-catered, single room with private bathroom on our city campus, right next door to our studios and classrooms: www.ntu.ac.uk/summeraccommodation

Any questions?

Contact the short course team:

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2813