Leather Craft “For Bikers” by Craft Gakuen

クラフト学園

Craft Gakuen Magazine

Getting Started With Leathercraft

When I first began doing leathercraft, I started off by referring to various books and just working things out by myself. I wanted to study it more seriously but at the time there were no leathercraft classes in my area. Not only that but I was still working full-time as an architect so, in the end, I decided to take a correspondence course.

しばらく本を見ながら見よう見まねでいくつか作品を作っていましたが、もっと真剣に勉強してみたくなりました。かといって近所にはレザークラフト教室なんてなかったし、その頃はまだ働いていたので通信講座を受けてみることにしました。

For Bikers Course by Craft Gakuen

After some research, I decided to do a course called ‘For Bikers’ (by Craft Gakuen) which, as the name implies, specialised in making bikers goods. One of the reasons for this was that they used ‘saddle leather’, which interested me the most.

We had to make 6 items using their textbook and had to mail a minimum of two items for a teacher to check and give us advice. Also, throughout the course, we were able to contact my teacher directly if I had any questions or problems. Finally, we had to take an all-day lecture at Craft Gakuen in Tokyo.

中でも私が一番興味があったサドルレザーを使ってバイカーズグッズが作れる “ For Bikers” (クラフト学園)というコースを選びました。

個々にテキストを参照しながら6作品作ります。その中で最低限2作品は郵送して先生が添削をしてくださいます。もちろん途中で質問や相談等があれば個々に応じていただけますし最後は東京のクラフト学園で1日直に授業を受けたりします。

Liverpool FC Leather Goods

The final task was to make a wallet, which I planned to give to my husband, so I decided to use the club logo of his favourite football team, Liverpool FC. I also made a key holder and ‘medicine bag’ with a coordinated design to go with the wallet.

To be honest, I originally thought it would be cool to do the logo design using a carving technique but I didn’t have the experience at the time and so decided that it might be a bit reckless as the result might have been disastrous!

In the end, I used a stitch pattern for the logo. It was simple but my teacher was full of praise for the result and used my design in an advertisement for the school in a well-known Japanese leather crafting magazine!

I learned so much while doing the course so I can’t thank them enough. If you are looking for a leather craft course in Japan, I highly recommend Craft Gakuen.

最終課題の財布は主人に贈ることを前提にしていたので彼の大好きなサッカーチーム、リバプールのロゴをモチーフにキーホルダーとメディスンバッグもトータルでデザインを考えて作りました。

本当はロゴをカービングとかで仕上げたらかっこいいだろうな~と思ったもののその時は経験もなくあまりにも無謀と考え、地味にステッチで形を描いてみました。

先生はとても褒めてくださりレザークラフト雑誌のスクール宣伝の写真に加えてくださりました。ここでは本当に多くのことを学ばせていただきました。ありがとうございます。もしレザークラフトの教室を探されている方、お勧めします!

Facebooktwitterpinterestby feather

2 thoughts on “Leather Craft “For Bikers” by Craft Gakuen”

  1. This course looks quite interesting. I just got my husband to check it out online for me because my Japanese isn’t great. I noticed there isn’t a fixed time for the course. How long did you take to finish it? And you have to meet your tutors sometimes, right? Do you think I can do this with basic Japanese?

    Reply
    • Hi Alison. I can’t remember exactly how long it took me to complete the course but I think I did it over a few months because I was working full-time. The course is mostly by correspondence and you only meet with your tutor at the end. They are very helpful, so I think you will be fine with some basic Japanese. I think it would also be okay to take your husband or a Japanese friend with you if you felt more comfortable doing it that way.

      Reply

Please leave a comment! ♥

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.