About the service
I work only on pieces you already own — a coat, a jacket, a vest, a collar or a fur liner. I do not source or sell new pelts, and any material used for patching must be of lawful origin: nothing from protected species and nothing without confirmed provenance. If you bring me a garment and cannot say where it came from, I will hand it back rather than cut into it.
Every job starts with an inspection on the table. I hold the leather side up to the light, pull the skin gently across an old seam and watch how the stitching behaves. Dried-out leather tears along the seams, and a garment in that state is pointless to restyle — no amount of stitching will hold it for a season. This shows up in the first minutes, and I say it straight away, before anything is unpicked and before you have paid for work that cannot last. If the skin is sound, I write out the estimate and the timeline before I start, and I do not revise them halfway unless we agree on extra work first.
One honest warning about patches: an exact fur match does not exist. I pick shade and pile length as close as I can, set the seam along the direction of the hair and keep the joint off the front panels where I can, but in bright daylight the difference is usually visible. I show you the piece before it goes in.
— inspection, leather-strength test, written estimate and realistic timeline before any cutting;
— restyling and resizing: length, waist, sleeves, collar, hood, taking in or letting out;
— new lining, pockets, hooks, eyes and concealed fastenings;
— repair of worn elbows, hems and seams, patching with the closest shade available;
— turning an old coat into a vest or a shorter jacket;
— cleaning and combing out the pile, lifting flattened fur;
— fittings as the work goes, and storage advice: a breathable garment bag, a cool dark place, never a plastic bag.
Every job starts with an inspection on the table. I hold the leather side up to the light, pull the skin gently across an old seam and watch how the stitching behaves. Dried-out leather tears along the seams, and a garment in that state is pointless to restyle — no amount of stitching will hold it for a season. This shows up in the first minutes, and I say it straight away, before anything is unpicked and before you have paid for work that cannot last. If the skin is sound, I write out the estimate and the timeline before I start, and I do not revise them halfway unless we agree on extra work first.
One honest warning about patches: an exact fur match does not exist. I pick shade and pile length as close as I can, set the seam along the direction of the hair and keep the joint off the front panels where I can, but in bright daylight the difference is usually visible. I show you the piece before it goes in.
— inspection, leather-strength test, written estimate and realistic timeline before any cutting;
— restyling and resizing: length, waist, sleeves, collar, hood, taking in or letting out;
— new lining, pockets, hooks, eyes and concealed fastenings;
— repair of worn elbows, hems and seams, patching with the closest shade available;
— turning an old coat into a vest or a shorter jacket;
— cleaning and combing out the pile, lifting flattened fur;
— fittings as the work goes, and storage advice: a breathable garment bag, a cool dark place, never a plastic bag.
