DCA (Dundee Contemporary Art) workshop

Today was my first opportunity to teach my first leather craft workshop and I can say is, "brilliant". The workshop for put on by the DCA (Dundee Contemporary Arts) in Dundee, obviously ;). The DCA has a great number of workshops and today was my first.

The topic of the workshop was to learn the basics of leather craft (designing, cutting, stitching). The workshop was five hours, which allowed for many other the participants (who were amazing by the way, if any of you are reading this) to complete/almost complete one large project or two smaller projects. And I can tell you, for people would have limited experience working with leather they produced some fantastic items.

During the workshop I covered a brief overview of leather (different types and names), the basic tools needed for leather craft, and how to measure/cut/stitch the items together. I hoped the participants learned the skills necessary to create the items and I gave them the opportunity to choose the project(s) they wanted to attempt. The time flew in and the items that were created were great. I thought everyone worked very hard, enjoyed themselves, and left with something they could be proud of and show off to the friends and family.

Below are some of the pictures I took of the items that were created. There were of pictures of the day taken by DCA staff that I will try to get a hold of, but for now here is a small selection.

Kindle envelope case with leather ties, just a stunning creation (which I may cop if I get the chance) 

Kindle envelope case (showing natural interior)

Two Pocket card wallet (created as a gift)

Mobile phone sleeve with teal blue thread and purple interior

Mobile phone sleeve with light purple thread and light purple interior

The colour combination of these two were great (IMOP)

Two iPhone 4 sleeves (one with green interior and the other with creamy white), both were very well done.

Kindle sleeve with reddish interior (it fit the kindle like a glove)

This image do this justice, as it is a envelope case for a 17 inch laptop. The case is a single piece of leather. Another interesting fact is the flap was not cut, it was the natural uncut end of the hide. Just fantastic.

A pairing any designer/creator could sell for £100-150 easy. Again all I can say is fantastic.

Some of the items created have not been photographed, however, I have asked their creator to take photos and email them to me. When they arrive, I will put them up asap.

Conclusion: BRILLIANT work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Update 19/06/2012: Here are a few more images of the laptop case in it finished state.

Finished laptop case (photo taken by own), it looks amazing!

Another angle, still looks great.

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Update 08/09/2012:


Below is another image I received from one of the participants from the workshop. In an email he said this, "It took a lot less time than I had thougth it would, maybe 5 hours from what I left the DCA with. Here are the pictures. My wife is really enjoying it. On a plus side, it is also perfect size to put A4 and Letter documents into as well!". I am really glad that they all managed to produce the level of work that they did. It was fantastic. 

Leather laptop sleeve made by Charles Demore

Leather laptop sleeve with laptop

iPad sleeve (fleece interior)

I finally got around to creating a large version of the iPhone sleeve for my iPad. I used fleece to add a little more padding a protection. The sleeve is very simple and it meant to hold the iPad in a naked state (for people who don't use another case on smart cover). The iPad fits neatly in the sleeve and feel well protected.

Here it is:

iPhone 3g(s) wallet case (notebook style)

Like most people I carry my mobile with me everywhere and feel somewhat naked without it. After a long day on the train traveling, taking my wallet out of one pocket and my mobile from a different, I thought there must be another way. I way of combining the two together. 

I stated with a simple cheap back case, which I glued into place (I hated to have to glue it and have since bought some mesh type hard cases which will allow me to stitch the cases in place). I then added two card pockets and a compartment for cash, receipts, and/or other cards. I finished it by adding an elastic strap and a red bookmark tab (which adds more of a notebook look to the case, but it also helps to remove the phone from the case). 

Here it is:

When I have finished the next version I will post pics of it. 

Thanks for looking.

Single Pen Holder for A6 (Moleskine) Notebook

Well, I have been pretty busy lately (like everyone these days) and have not had a lot time to practice my leather craft. However, I was inspired by a small company who I spoke about before called Quiver. They make two products, a single pen holder and a double pen holder. In an earlier post I showed my attempt to copy their double pen holder and this time I went for the single holder. I have to say that the design was simple and every effective.

Have a look and feel free to post a comment:

The final result was great and I have to say that I will be making more of these.