October 2020November 2020

Beginners course Urban Shopper

This beginners course, wich you will do after the starter course Basic Techniques. You are now going to make your own bag for the first time, based on an existing pattern.

Who is this course meant for and what is the level that you should have? This beginner course follows the starter course Basic Techniques. You must have taken the starter course Basic Techniques to register for this beginners course.

Learning by doing is our motto! In doing so, you learn and you practice the techniques that you have learned in the starter course on basic techniques. You will go a step further in this cours. You dive deeper into the craft of bag making and you get good insight into the construction of a fairly simple bag. Now you are going to make your own leather bag for the first time!

You will learn:

  • to thread the industrial sewing machine yourself and you know how to adjust the thread tension;
  • to scale exactly and you learn at which thicknesses and widths you have to scale the leather;
  • to read the pattern exactly and you learn what a basic pattern is;
  • how a bag is constructed;
  • which part of the pattern corresponds with each part of your bag
  • which puncture points to take over and how to indicate the position of a lock or a pocket;
  • what folding and creases serve;
  • how to position squares;
  • whether you want to see the seams, or not;
  • to make a zipper pocket in your bag
  • the difference between the inside and an outside bag;
  • new concepts such as overlayers
  • how to construct a fairly simple bag;
  • what you can do with handles and the construction of them;
  •  to gain insight into a 2D pattern translated into a 3D bag;
  • the importance of precise measurement;
  • about different kinds of haberdashery and metal works;
  • about different types of leather and which types you can and can not use with this first bag that you are going to make now.

What should you take with you to this course? A pen and a notebook or your laptop so that you can make notes during the lessons. You can borrow the measuring material and the tools from Cursusstassenmaken.nl during this course. If you want you can buy them in our store.

Note: you will be taught and you will be personally supervised by professional tutors. We keep the classes small (less than 10 people) and you are here to learn, so do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions! Rather ask too much than ruining your bag because you did not dare to ask something.

Choose from 2 models

You can choose from 2 models you want to create:

Bag 1: Urban Shopper backpack

Bag 2: Trendy Shirt Band Bag

Note: these a seperate courses: you either choose for Bag 1 or for Bag 2.

You can follow both courses in the same period because they are given on different days. To start with, just choose the bag you like the most!

How do you get started? You start with a sketch on paper. At this point, you will have to choose the colors. Do you make the bag in one color, or rather in 2? Do the handles get a different color, or not? Which metal works do you want to use? In the color gold, bronze or silver? How wide are the handles, do you choose narrow or wide? Are you going to decorate your bag with studs or do you keep the overall picture tight and sober? Everyone has a different taste and the nice thing is that after finishing this course everyone working with exactly the same pattern has made a totally different bag! There are sample bags in the classroom, these serve not only as a source of inspiration but also as a model where you can see how the parts relate to each other in terms of construction.

Then, if you are satisfied with your sketch based on the pattern for the Urban Shopper backpack or for the Trendy Shirtband Bag (tip: make different sketches), choose the leather from which you want to make your bag. And choose the color for the lining. We work with classic pigskin for the lining, which you can buy in our store. In many colors. The same applies for the leather and haberdashery. We have a variety to choose from in our store.

Courses at cursustassenmaken.nl consist of 20 hours, divided in 5 lessons of 4 hours.

You can pay with 'pin' or with a "tikkie" at our store. 

Maximum 5 people.

Attendance protocol 

All course dates are listed on the website. Please note that it is not possible to catch up on a particular lesson if missed. 

If you experience a calamity or suddenly become ill, you can request to take an extra lesson to catch-up. This is only possible by appointment and if taken within a maximum 2 weeks after the course has ended. All extra lessons are charged on the basis of 25.00 euros per hour and provided alongside other ongoing courses.

  • "Learning by doing is ons motto"