Sheffield Leathercraft - Wilebore Leather

Having recently joined the family business, George Barnsley and Sons, I decided to reach out to local leatherworkers to gain a better understanding of the leathercraft and shoemaking tools and knives we manufacture and to see what was being produced in my adopted home city of Sheffield (I'm from Nottingham, or down south to Yorkshire folk!).

The first to respond to my speculative 'Honestly, I'm not trying to sell you anything I'd really like to just come and visit' email was Kev Wilebore AKA Wilebore Leather

Wilebore Leather is based in the historic Portland Works in the centre of Sheffield. Portland Works is known as the birthplace of stainless steel cutlery manufacturing so is an integral part of the world renowned Sheffield Steel story. It was originally built in 1879 and following half a century of neglect the grade 2 * listed building was reborn in 2013 as a centre for small manufacturing, independent artists and craftspeople.

Grade2* listed Portland Works - The birthplace of Stainless Steel

A short drive from our factory, I was advised by the brother-in-law, (a regular visitor to Portland Works as it plays host to some of the businesses we already work with), to "reverse in, there should be a space". Obviously, the entrance was blocked, panic kicked in and I had to park on the side of the road a few streets down, followed by a mad scramble to pay for parking via a phone long overdue an upgrade in the rain!

Once I'd finally made it back to Portland Works and Wilebore's workshop, Kev was more than happy to share with me his story.

Back in 2016, fomer mechanic Kev Wilebore was in the middle of restoring a 1956 Lambretta, it needed a replacement seat cover so Kev decided that he would have a go at making one. Diving straight in Kev got hold of some leather and some second hand leathercraft tools, and set about making the seat himself. It was a triumphant success and the seat cover now hangs proudly in his workshop as a reminder of how it all started.

Kev's 1956 Lambretta replacement seat cover

The scooter seat led to wallets, which led to belts, which led to bags and Kev's hobby was starting to grow legs. Having seen an advert for units available to rent in Portland Works, a quick enquiry led to Kev moving out of his dining room workspace and into his own unit, Wilebore Leather was born! The rent was so low on the unit that it meant Kev could get up and running, that is Portland Works' ideology, to allow start up businesses a chance to grow.

Completely self taught, mainly from watching videos on youtube and reading books Kev has been able to turn his hobby into a business (Kev still considers it a hobby to this day) that fits perfectly around his family life, he was even on Daddy daycare duties the day I visited!

To start with Kev was just working with the basic hand tools but as he got busier he realised it was time to invest in some serious tackle, he noted that this investment in professional leather working tools is what really took his business to the next level. Investing in a industrial sewing machine and a press meant that he could start rattling through big orders.

Those big orders mainly come from another Sheffield company, Ernest Wright, the handmade scissor company. Shortly after moving into Portland Works they contacted him as they were looking for a Sheffield based leathercrafter to produce sheaths to go alongside their full range of scissors. Kev obviously jumped at the chance. The stars had aligned!

He does no advertising as such, he has a website and an Instagram/Facebook account, that's all. His business has developed through word of mouth. Wilebore Leather offer their own range of belts, wallets and messenger bags but Kev says the phone is always ringing with customers wanting his expertise to create them a bespoke piece.

I asked Kev what his advice would be to someone starting out -

"Buy the best tools you can afford, but don't go overboard, you don't need all the tools in the catalogue! The same doesn't go for leather though. Start cheap, with economy grade sides or shoulders of natural veg tan, you'll make mistakes and a lot will end up in the bin. Get in touch with local leatherworkers, they will help you with advice and usually let you have their off cuts to practice with. Youtube is a great source of information, with hundreds of 'how to tutorials' of all aspects of leathercraft."

Clearly a man of many talents, he showed me a very crude strap cutter he'd built himself when first starting out and then just before I left he asked "Did you see the stained glass window I made above the door?". Kev fancied having a bash at it, so watched a few videos, got the components and created the beautiful work of art welcoming any visitors to his workshop.

Thanks for welcoming me into your workshop and sharing your story Kev, hope to see you at the factory soon!

You can take a check out Wilebore leather's website here