Leather work & Restoration of Classic Car Interiors

Introducing 

Laura Hunter 

Grandey’s Place QEST Scholar

Grandey’s Place directly funds a number scholarships and awards in association with the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), providing an alternative opportunity to express our on-going commitment to preserving and nurturing our endangered heritage crafts. 

PLEASE NOTE: Laura is not resident at Grandey’s Place. 

Laura is a leatherworker from Derbyshire who is on a journey to expand her craft into restoring classic car interiors. Originally starting out as a mostly self-taught bag and small accessories maker, Laura’s practice has evolved into restoration of leather goods and now classic cars.

With the support of Grandey’s Place, Laura will undertake training through her QEST Grandey’s Place Emerging Maker Grant to gain the skills needed to preserve classic car upholstery, boosting the declining number of skilled workers in the field.

She will complete three separate training courses, including one-on-one training at the UK Detailing Academy, the Furniture Clinic Limited and the Auto Interior Company. Laura will learn leather repair techniques, cutting and sewing fabric and leathers, pattern making, foam rubber cutting and shaping, making seat covers and door trims and cleaning and assessment. She’ll also learn how to repair and recolour parts of car interiors while they’re still inside the vehicle.

Laura’s goal is to combine her bag and car restoration skills to grow her business, ‘Tiska Leatherwork and Repairs’.

Image credit: Abby Feetham and the UK Detailing Academy