My first week of class

This is my set of tools. "Martello" hammer, "trincetto" knife, "bastone" stick. I have two injuries after my first week, I sliced my left finger when I was daydreaming and cutting at the same time, and a blister on my right hand from holding the trincetto so tightly, and cutting 180 pieces.Okay so here's the deal. I have to cut 30 pieces of each model. Yes, thirty. So here you have 30 "salpa" which are the cardboard, glued to 30 pieces of leather. Which, if you do the math, means I cut 60 pieces of this particular model. I had to do 3 different models, which is 180 pieces in total. 

This model is to perfect the 90 degree angle cuts...

And this one is to practice with rounded corners.

You have no idea how long it took me to get this right. You are looking at a pattern piece that represents what is often used in the interiors of handbags to give them shape. The "carta," cardboard, comes in different thicknesses depending on how much structure you want the object or bag to have. In order to get to this step I had to trim all of the edges of the pieces that I had glued together, cutting so all edges have a 45 degree angle so they will attach neatly to the cardboard. The corner is achieved by "gathering" the leather, and using the needle-like tool to carefully glue them down to the cardboard.

The next step after gluing them together is wrapping the edges like this. But that requires another day and a half of work, as you have to re-glue the edges to fold them down. And it doesn't end here. Next week I stitch the perimeter of every single one of these! When I finish doing an exercise (in this case, all 30 pieces), I say "ho fatto," meaning "I did it," so my instructor can walk me through the next project.

What have I learned so far... After doing something 30 times you really do get it right. It is best to take your time and go "piano, piano," which is "very slowly", so you do it right the first time and do not have to re-do it again. And... master craftsmanship really does take time, concentration, and above all, patience.