The making of a Coco Barclay

I thought I would share a few interesting photos of the making of a Coco Barclay handbag. All of our handbags are handmade using the finest Italian leather, unusual components and vintage cotton linings.

 We often mix leather with other textures such as fine merino wool hand knits in bright colours. These are used for straps giving the bag that special one of a kind touch. We work with the talented knitter Suzie Lee to achieve these designs. http://suziekaylee.com

 A Coco Barclay bag with knitted straps and bow in the making, we will add a brass frame to complete the bag and give it that Coco Barclay signature look.

 Each bag has its own special pattern, the patterns are designed in the Coco Barclay studio in London. The pattern has to be sampled and re sampled until it's perfec.t A knife will be created by a specialist to cut out each bag in production. All the knives are different shapes and when all the pieces of leather are cut using this knife they will fit together in a perfect pattern to create the bag.

 Each leather colour is carefully selected taking into consideration the next season's colour trends. We often go to Paris to find the best colours. The colours are then ordered and imported from Italy.

 A heavy duty sewing machine is just one of the things necessary to make a handbag. All sewing machines work differently, some are fast, some are slow and some have a specialised feet. Once you find the sewing machine for you it is with you for life!

Once a run of bags is finished, they are carefully quality controlled, leather needs to be pressed, pulled and folded to ensure the bags are the perfect shape and will last and be loved by their new owners for a long time.

There are many more processes to making a handbag, above is just a small insight. If you would like to know more please drop us an email, info@cocobarclay.com

These handmade bags are available at www.cocobarclay.com