I was very excited to take my first ever fashion design class as my major at school is more business geared and less creative design. I chose to take the Leather Technology class at FUA and it was by far one of the best decisions I have made. I was scared at first knowing I did not have much experience, but I immediately felt welcomed by my professor and she gave our class tons of creative experience to create pieces that we truly loved.

Original sketches of my bag

Our first project was a crossbody bag that we got to keep for ourselves. Everything else we create is sold in the non-profit school store “FLY” which gives its proceeds to scholarships for students that attend FUA. Throughout the semester we also create a belt and a garment to be sold in the store. We even get to work with the straw hat and bag class to create pieces to go together and create a story for the customer.

Cut out piece of leather, ready for hand stitching

I quickly learned many leather techniques and began constructing my bag. I chose a main color of tan with a black base and a red leather interior for a surprise pop of color. As I learned and observed my professor, she walked us through cutting our pieces out, attached them together and how to begin the hand stitching process.

Attaching the top and bottom piece by hand stitching

My bag completed before the adjustments for the strap

A few hours of work were required out of the classroom that I genuinely enjoyed, and I looked forward to heading to the leather lab during my free time to work on my piece. I believe that this is what makes this piece so special to me. To me, my bag represents the hard work and time that I put into this piece. Each time I now wear it I have a big smile on my face knowing that even though I first doubted myself, I listened, learned, and ultimately made a beautiful piece of work.

Bag with grommets ready for the strap!

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Kristina is an SAI Florence spring 2019 student from the University of Kentucky.