Starting a beginners class

[zuludog]

I have offered (or rather I have been persuaded !) to start introduction to leatherwork sessions at a local community centre. I don't know what sort of interest there will be, but I suspect only a few people

I'd thought of starting with an outline of tools & techniques, followed by a couple of simple projects; a key ring & a card holder; spread over  several sessions, depending on how quickly people pick it up.

Any comments and advice would be appreciated

[fredk]

About 8 years ago I did a series of beginners classes. Very poorly attended,

Any way, My plan was to have and show examples of veg tan and chrome tan leather. I made up bags for each person. Each bag had the two types of leather, twice, a length of flat and round lace, a length of 1/2 mil & 1 mil thread. I also made up bags containing the parts for a simple coin purse. The bag of leather was given out at the first meeting but the coin purse kit was shown to them but not given out until needed. Showing the kit and few finished examples keep their interest

I made up tool kits for every person. For months before hand I scoured ebay and the shops. The kits cost about £15. These were given to each person but left at the venue until so many classes then they could take them home. My classes were being funded by a community type body and wanted the tool kits

One important thing, for me anyway, was my 'assistant' and the main organiser was an experienced teaching lecturer, for I am no teacher. She was able to guide me and the classes smoothly and make it fun

If I remember I'll be back

I was supposed to do a few classes with the ladies of my Knit & Natter group at Easter but I ended up in hospital instead. I was going to show them and have them make a key-ring coin purse. I have 18 kits prepared

Something like this

 And then I was to show them how I made the pen cases I gave them one Christmas. I may be able to pre-mould a case or something and do a kit

 

[jcuk]

On 5/21/2024 at 10:29 PM, zuludog said:

I have offered (or rather I have been persuaded !) to start introduction to leatherwork sessions at a local community centre. I don't know what sort of interest there will be, but I suspect only a few people

I'd thought of starting with an outline of tools & techniques, followed by a couple of simple projects; a key ring & a card holder; spread over  several sessions, depending on how quickly people pick it up.

Any comments and advice would be appreciated

I would check liability, if the worse case Scenario happens would it be you or your local community centre. We all know leather tools can at times be dangerous in the wrong or untrained hands. And no i am not from the nanny state but do know how these things work in todays world.

Hope this helps

JCUK

Edited May 23, 2024 by jcuk

[DavidNolan]

On 5/22/2024 at 12:49 AM, fredk said:

About 8 years ago I did a series of beginners classes. Very poorly attended,

Any way, My plan was to have and show examples of veg tan and chrome tan leather. I made up bags for each person. Each bag had the two types of leather, twice, a length of flat and round lace, a length of 1/2 mil & 1 mil thread. I also made up bags containing the parts for a simple coin purse. The bag of leather was given out at the first meeting but the coin purse kit was shown to them but not given out until needed. Showing the kit and few finished examples keep their interest

I made up tool kits for every person. For months before hand I scoured ebay and the shops. The kits cost about £15. These were given to each person but left at the venue until so many classes then they could take them home. My classes were being funded by a community type body and wanted the tool kits

One important thing, for me anyway, was my 'assistant' and the main organiser was an experienced teaching lecturer, for I am no teacher. She was able to guide me and the classes smoothly and make it fun

For the students, I gave out educational material on leather work and tools to speed up the learning process. This helped them to quickly understand the tools and what kind of leather to work with. At that time there was no well-described information, so I turned to https://essay-company.org/research-paper-writing-service/ I gave them some information and they corrected it and added something useful. It was more efficient than sitting in a library and searching manually. 

If I remember I'll be back

I was supposed to do a few classes with the ladies of my Knit & Natter group at Easter but I ended up in hospital instead. I was going to show them and have them make a key-ring coin purse. I have 18 kits prepared

Something like this

 And then I was to show them how I made the pen cases I gave them one Christmas. I may be able to pre-mould a case or something and do a kit

 

I would attend such classes, quite useful skills. But nowadays I can do something on my own

Edited December 25, 2024 by DavidNolan

[Chipster99]

On 5/21/2024 at 4:29 PM, zuludog said:

Any comments and advice would be appreciated

This comprehensive guide is free, and was put together for the 4H with the help of Jim Linnell, among others:

https://co4h.colostate.edu/projects/manuals/Leathercraft.pdf

 

It might be of some help? What you’re planning on doing is awesome, good luck with it!

[toxo]

On 5/21/2024 at 10:29 PM, zuludog said:

I have offered (or rather I have been persuaded !) to start introduction to leatherwork sessions at a local community centre. I don't know what sort of interest there will be, but I suspect only a few people

I'd thought of starting with an outline of tools & techniques, followed by a couple of simple projects; a key ring & a card holder; spread over  several sessions, depending on how quickly people pick it up.

Any comments and advice would be appreciated

Did you do this Dog? If so how did it go? 

I've done a couple workshops but for paying pupils which makes it harder because you can't make it cheap unless you have plenty a few peeps taking it up. Didn't do it so much for the money, I just love teaching and I think it's incumbent on us all to pass on our knowledge. Needless to say, after paying out for materials and tools, I made not a penny but we all had fun while it lasted. I might tackle the council after the holiday to do an evening class or workshop where I would use their premises.

 

[zuludog]

1 hour ago, toxo said:

Did you do this Dog? If so how did it go? 

I've done a couple workshops but for paying pupils which makes it harder because you can't make it cheap unless you have plenty a few peeps taking it up. Didn't do it so much for the money, I just love teaching and I think it's incumbent on us all to pass on our knowledge. Needless to say, after paying out for materials and tools, I made not a penny but we all had fun while it lasted. I might tackle the council after the holiday to do an evening class or workshop where I would use their premises.

 

No, not yet ......

I shuffled and organised my tools, materials, and equipment  (everything would be mine at the start, but not the best) into enough for two pairs of people; sketched out a plan for several sessions - introduction, tools, saddle stitch, and so on. 4 to 6 people would be the most I thought I could manage anyway, even if I had more tools, as I have never done anything like this before

I asked around local upholsterers & leather companies to see if they had any surplus or discount leather, and one place gave me a load of upholstery leather seconds, trimmings, and so on, about 4 bin bags full, for free, he was glad to get rid of it. So that would tie in nicely with my ideas for easy projects such as key fobs, card holders, drawstring pouches. I could even try lining leather, with leather or fabric

I also asked a few of the members, and several of them were interested

And then ... and then ...... nothing happened. The problem is that the place is run by Social Workers, and as we know they couldn't run a Piss Up In A Brewery ---- Oh! you're going to use knives! .... Oh! we'll have to check with the Council ...... how sharp are those awly things? ...... we'll have to do a Risk Assessment ...... and all the rest of the Bullsh*t .... so I don't know what they were expecting. 

That was months ago, and we had a couple of planning meetings (Huh!) but no actual practical work and it dragged on  and they seemed to lose interest, and I have to say that I have too. We shall see what happens in the New Year ..... which is now!

No wonder that the activities in Community Centres seem  to be limited to drinking tea, knitting, and playing dominoes. 

There have been a couple of attempts locally to start a Men's Shed or a Community Workshop or similar, but they ran into the same sort of problems & general inertia and nothing came of them

What we need to do is to avoid officialdom and find a few interested ordinary people (!) and try to do something ourselves. Fortunately I have very recently heard of such a group and I'll try to contact them. In the meantime, if the Community Centre still wants to try something I'll have a go, but I must admit I've lost a bit of my own interest and enthusiasm 

Edited January 3 by zuludog

[kgg]

That's a shame.

3 hours ago, zuludog said:

No wonder that the activities in Community Centres seem  to be limited to drinking tea, knitting, and playing dominoes.

But aren't knitting needles pointie on one end with some made out of metal (stabbing instrument) and isn't boiling hot water needed for tea (scalding potential). Imagine if you wanted to bring a class 441 machine to class someone could sew their hand to the machine. Damn bleeding hearts.

kgg

[toxo]

Because the hobby can be all things to many people it's difficult to cater for an unknown variety. My workshop came about organically because the sewing shop that hangs a few of my stuff did classes for crochet/knitting etc and I mentioned that I wouldn't mind doing a workshop if the idea appealed. They had a room upstairs and I started with 4/5 people. I think the premise was good, I encouraged them (if they were ongoing) to choose a pattern and I took them from the start to the finish. I provided everything including the leather. Once into it they could work on it from home and bring it back each week. Could've worked very well but there was too much against me.

Because I was paying an hourly rate and there weren't many pupils, the rate to them couldn't be as cheap as I would have liked.

I was severely restricted by times and days which didn't always work for some people. I think it could have worked very well if I could have catered for the times that suited them. This would have resulted in more clients and therefore cheaper rates and therefore more clients resulting in cheaper rates and therefore more.....

It worked quite well for what it was. Some picked bigger projects and came every week, sometimes twice. Some just wanted the basics. One guy wanted a collar for his two bitches (his words) and when they were finished he was gone.

At the end of the day, if it's in ya, find a way. Might be fun.