An entrepreneur’s hobby of creating gifts from discarded material blossomed into a designer handbag business, she spoke to Heather Large.
All of Kerry Atterbury’s hand-crafted leather bags are one of a kind pieces that not only look and feel beautiful but are also kind to the planet. In her home sewing room, she transforms pieces of leather that would otherwise be destined to end up in landfill into unique bags.
It all started around 12 years ago when Kerry decided to make a couple of bags for her best friends for Christmas.
“I knew they would rather have something made for them than something bought from a shop.
“I’ve always been very crafty and creative and I really enjoyed it.
“My friends were so impressed and said I should make some more,” she explains.
Her first bags were made from a pair of old jeans and upholstery fabric scraps but when Kerry heard through a friend about leather offcuts that were being thrown away by a furniture company, she was determined to save them from the rubbish pile.
“I bought those offcuts, invested in an industrial sewing machine and the rest, as they say, is history,” explains Kerry, who lives in Lawley, Telford
Later, she was contacted by a company in Yorkshire who also had a surplus of leather offcuts no longer required.
“I have family in Yorkshire so I drove up there, filled the boot of my car with leather and saved it from landfill,” she says.
Kerry, who lives in Lawley, Telford, continued to hone her skills throughout 2003 but soon ran out of space at home to store her finished pieces.
“I had that many that I thought I should try to sell them because they were cluttering up the place. It was coming up to Christmas so it was a good time,” she says.
At first her brand went by the name of Purple Jam and she sold her bags through Folksy, an online marketplace for British makers.
“As my style developed, I felt the bags were too sophisticated for the branding and I needed a new name,” says Kerry, who previously taught adult arts and crafts across Telford and Wrekin.
After racking her brain for inspiration, she says the perfect name suddenly popped into her head – Lilly & Jude.
Not only did it seem a good fit for her products, but it also honoured three women that were very close to her heart.
“Both of my grandmothers were named Lillian and my mum was Judith – or Jude to her friends. She died in May last year.
“I get to honour them in my own way,” says Kerry. “Their strength, love and joy continue to inspire me every day.”
A new name also meant a new logo, packaging and a website to help propel the business forward. “I did it all myself so it took quite a long time. It was quite a journey,” explains Kerry.
Since September, her business has been operating as Lilly & Jude and has continued to go from strength to strength.
Kerry loves being able to give her rescued leather a second chance to shine as a new eco-conscious bag while doing her bit to help reduce waste.
“A lot of bags are made from vinyl and plastics which are full of chemicals and don’t decompose. Leather is a natural product
With hundreds of patterns to choose from, including some of her own and those created by specialist designers, she says there is endless potential.
“I have leather in tons of different colours and what I make from those scraps of leather is dictated by the leather itself.
“I can sit down and decide what I fancy making that day by looking at the colour and shape of leather and the patterns that I have.
“I used to be a wedding cake designer which was very bespoke and time sensitive.
“I was making what other people wanted me to make which was still enjoyable but now I get to make what I fancy and people seem to enjoy it and that makes me happy,” explains Kerry. Some of her most popular pieces this year have been her crossbody bags which she says are ideal for travelling.
“They have integrated purses with credit card slots and an internal zipped pocket.
“A purse takes up a lot of real estate in a bag but this means you don’t have to carry a separate purse.
“The front zipper pocket is big enough for a purse or phone which leaves the main compartment free.
“The crossbody bags have been very popular especially during the summer,” explains Kerry.
All of Kerry’s bags are designed to stand the test of time both in style and durability. Each one can take between two to three days to complete and it’s a very therapeutic process, she says.
“I’m a maker at the end of the day. I enjoy making things and having something to focus my mind on.
“I enjoy knowing that I’m making something, whether it’s a wedding cake or a bag, that will have an impact on somebody’s day.
“It could be a bag that’s a surprise gift for somebody or a bag somebody is using for a job interview to make them feel more confident, it gives me a lot of joy to bring happiness into somebody’s life,” adds Kerry.
For more information, see www.lillyandjude.co.uk
