My mission with Hands of Tym is to share the joy I find in the magic of creating bags and my love and passion for crafting with leather.
Through teaching face to face classes from my workshop in Oxfordshire where you craft your own ‘Bag in A Day’; in posting you a DIY bag kit to craft at home or in having me make a Bespoke Handmade leather piece just for you where you choose and specify every detail, I hope to achieve this.
I have always been a maker at heart, whilst at school I remember dreaming of a career creating bespoke ballgowns, I loved the idea of creating something personal and precious. I landed a space at the London College of Fashion studying Fashion Accessories, and it was here my life changed forever. I discovered here the absolute magic in creating 3D products and the evolving beauty, timelessness, and circularity of leather. I was hooked the moment I first stitched a piece of leather and I have never looked back.
One of the key elements to designing and making bags is symmetry. I teach pattern cutting for bags and it is a huge passion for me, when I first introduce the technique of adding a fold line to all patterns to my students it is often met with surprise. But this symmetry ensures balance and accuracy throughout the bag making process and this is absolutely crucial when working with leather.
Whilst working in a factory training new employees, I discovered my enjoyment for sharing my craft and nurturing others to create and make in leather. This led me on to teaching at the London College of Fashion as technical lecturer and running my own workshops here in Oxfordshire.
My students are always overjoyed to discover the versatility of leather and that they can create such a quality and professional bag in my workshops. I LOVE the moment they turn the bag from inside out (this is how it is stitched) to right way out and discover what they have created – it is often described as the birth of their bag! Absolute magic!
The most satisfying part of teaching leather work is the happiness it brings to my students who are so proud. I love knowing these treasured bags will last a lifetime and just get better and better with age!
I love my vocation as a bespoke bag designer and maker, I take great pride in creating bags which people will enjoy using for the rest of their lives, providing beautiful functional additions to their wardrobes which will get better and better as they age. There is nothing better than seeing a bag or leather product you have crafted after a decade or more and it looks even more amazing than when you finished it!
When designing a new collection, I am led by my endeavor to provide beautiful function to peoples lives, I look to problems which need solving, creating useful and timeless products. I am heavily influenced by the leather I find, and I love to draw shape and details influence from the form and patterns I see in my natural environment.
My passion for leather started the moment I landed a classroom at The London College of Fashion to study Fashion Accessories and discovered the wide range of possibilities this material holds. I fell in love with leather being circular in that it is a biproduct of the farming industry, highly durable, improves with age, lasts a lifetime and at the end of its life it will biodegrade. I have dedicated my life to my vocation in leather, I love crafting and sharing my passion through my teaching with this amazing material.
The Hands of Tym brand produces Artisan bespoke leather goods and courses to engage and share the magic of making beautiful leather products. My future for Hands of Tym is to sustainably grow the business and share our handmade products with more customers worldwide enabling us to employ and train more local people in the art of leather craft. I hope the courses will go from strength to strength, I am planning to add a range of new courses in 2022 including - one day leather pattern cutting course; bag design; make your own holdall in-a-day.
Credits: Hands of Tym
Website: https://www.handsoftym.com