Hole House Bag Making ""The Leather Handled Tote"" ~ with Emma Redfern

Bag Making Workshops with Emma of Hole House Bags 

10am to 4.30/5pm
£80 inc. a tasty lunch, fresh coffee & home baking
Material Charge : £30 payable on the day 

The Leather Handled Tote    ~  * Sunday 19 April 2026  *

The Tote is a timeless bag that looks smart and elegant, whilst being simple to make. It’s perfect for beginners as it has no fiddly closures or curves, but will introduce you to some basic bag making techniques including how to sew a zipped pocket into the lining.  You will receive full written instructions and a pattern to take away with you along with free entry to the closed Facebook Stitch-a-long Group, where you will find further tips and tricks, video tutorials, a bonus pattern for adding a recessed zip top and lots of help and inspiration. 

The bag features a roomy interior, reinforced base with optional bag feet, leather handles and optional matching buckle.  You will need to bring half a metre of an outer fabric (tweed, upholstery weight, canvas) and half a metre of a lining fabric (quilt weight cotton, lawn) but if your fabric requires pattern matching it would be sensible to bring a metre if you can.  We will provide everything else, including interfacing, interlining, leather handles etc. 

 You will also need your regular domestic sewing machine (which you should be confident in threading and using to a basic level) scissors, pins and matching thread. Please bring a zipper foot for your machine if you have one and quilters clips if you own them. Don’t worry if not, pins will be fine.

 About the tutor :  Anyone who loves textiles and handbags will already know Emma Redfern's very popular 'Hole House' facebook page, bag making page, and website from where she sells her wonderfully original, unique and quirky bags. With a background in art history and an interest in the Victorian Arts and Crafts movement, Emma believes that anyone can produce something beautiful and useful, given a little instruction and some inspiring fabric.

Living just a few miles away from Greystoke, in Cumbria's lovely northern fells, we're delighted to be welcoming Emma back to Quirky Workshops once more.