Leather craftworker
Leather craftworkers make clothes, shoes and accessories from leather, using traditional methods.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
As a leather craftworker, you would:
- design clothing and coverings, and accessories like bags and wallets
- use patterns to measure and cut pieces of leather
- stitch pieces of leather together by hand or machine
- stain, wax and polish products
- check the quality of finished items
You might also repair items for clients, and market your business if self employed.
Working environment
You could work in a workshop, in a factory or from home.
You may need to wear protective clothing.
Career path and progression
With experience, you could:
- become a workshop supervisor
- move into training future craftworkers
- specialise in an area like pattern design, furniture restoration or quality control
- set up your own business, selling items at craft fairs, trade events and online
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- the ability to work well with your hands
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
- the ability to use your initiative
- the ability to use, repair and maintain machines and tools
- the ability to work well with others
- customer service skills
- the ability to monitor your own performance and that of your colleagues
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
How to become
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- applying directly
- specialist courses run by professional bodies
You could do a craft design course to learn some of the skills you'll need in this career. Examples include:
- fashion design
- fashion and textiles
Check with providers to make sure they offer training in leather as part of their courses. Some providers may also do short courses in leathercrafts.
You could specialise by doing a course in saddlery, if you want to work with suppliers to the horse riding industry.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
More Information
You can do an apprenticeship to get into this job, such as:
- Leather Craftsperson Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
- Bespoke Saddler Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship
These can take around 2 years to complete.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
More Information
You can apply directly to be taken on as a trainee leather craftworker. Employers may be more interested in your practical ability than formal qualifications, although it'll help if you have GCSEs in subjects like English, art and design, maths, and design and technology.
If you want to work in saddlery and harness making, you can do specialist training through The Society of Master Saddlers.
Further information
You can find out more about working in leathercrafts from UKFT Futures and The Leathersellers' Company.
You can get more information on working in crafts and creative careers from Discover Creative Careers.
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This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.