Monday, January 2, 2012

Fun Arts & Craft classes to take in Hong Kong- #1) Leather Class (Purses, Bags, Wallets, etc)

As 2011 has come to an end and it is a new beginning of 2012, one of my new years resolution is to learn more things. I wanted to share what classes I have taken so that I hope other people out there that have a similar new years resolution will find this useful and fun to read.

My first project was to take a Leather class. The workshop is taken at a charming hip place called Butcher Lab in Kwun Tong. I had found this place via Groupon, where they are doing a special promotion and I had looked up their facebook page and really liked their simple, rustic purse designs. The trial class is 350HKD for 3hours where we had a choice of making a leather coin case, luggage tag, business card holder and Iphone case. There are a variety of leather colors (tan, light & dark brown, black, etc) you can chose from. My gf chose a light brown color for her business card holder while I chose to make a luggage tag in dark brown color. Butcher lab offers a variety of leather classes, from making a coin case to purses to briefcases. Prices of the classes varies depending on the product you are making.



Butcher Lab has a cute cozy setup which can fit about 6 people in one class. I hardly ever go to Kwun Tong as it is mostly large commercial buildings, I heard there are a lot of cool fun Arts & Craft classes are now taught at this area as the rent is relatively lower than other places in Kowloon. Our teacher Momo Ngan is a young trendy guy with a background experience of making and designing bags for years who decided to focus on teaching.


The steps were as follows:
We first had to cut out our pattern of our product, mine is the luggage tag. Momo then helps us cut up the leather into pieces.



We then worked on the finishing of the leather by smearing a small dose of CNC, which is clear gluey liquid onto the leather and rubbing it with a wooden tool. With a wooden tool, we rubbed the CNC back and forth against the leather until it is smooth and shiny. We also use sand paper to make the edges have a smooth finishing.


Once that is completed, we worked on using a fork like tool and a hammer to puncture holes into the leather around the edges for the purpose of sewing the leather together. As there are two pieces of leather, one for the front and back, we needed to make sure that the holes on both pieces of leather are consistent.


The front and back piece of leather are then sewed together...



And Voila! A beautiful luggage tag is completed!


I highly recommend this class as it was a lot of fun and I am hoping to take another class to make an Iphone case or a clutch next time. This is a great activity to do with your friends and a perfect place to make a special handmade leather piece for yourself or as a present for friends and family.

Details:
3/F, Easy Package Industrial Building, 140 Wai Yip Street, Kwun Tong
 
Ngau Tau Kok MTR station

For more information, contact:
momongan.bl@gmail.com
Tel: 5482 5955

http://www.facebook.com/butcherlab?sk=info