The skills
THE NATIONAL CHARITY for Heritage Crafts
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Heritage Crafts was set up just fourteen years ago. Since then it has gone from strength to strength, advocating at the highest levels for crafts, publishing the Red List of Endangered Crafts, and distributing 66 grants through the Endangered Crafts Fund. We have awarded 30 training bursaries, established the Heritage Crafts Awards and shone a spotlight on our world-renowned makers through 30 National Honours successes.
Many more people are now aware of traditional crafts and the objects produced by those who carry in their hands, heads, and also hearts the skills and techniques that have been passed down through the generations.
To continue this work we need your support. Please consider making a donation, however big or small, to help ensure that heritage craft skills in the UK are given the opportunity to thrive.
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Do you know an extraordinary precious metalworker working in silver, gold or platinum? Someone who has pushed the boundaries of their craft over the last 12 months? If so, please consider nominating them for this year’s Precious Metalworker of the Year Award, supported by the @royalmintuk. 💍🪙🍴👑
Whether a silversmith, jewellery maker, gilder, hand engraver, medal maker, concert flute maker, we want to celebrate their dedication to excellence. From silver spinning and polishing to engine turning and concert flute making… if the work is exceptional, it belongs in the spotlight. Help us honour the makers who keep these incredible traditions alive.
There is a £2,000 prize for the winning entry to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November. Plus, we will also award a Young Metalworker of the Year Award, chosen from nominees aged 25 years and under, with an additional prize of £1,000 provided by Heritage Crafts Benefactors Lucy and Laurence Butcher.
📅 Deadline: Friday 21 August 2026 (at 5pm)
➡️ Nominate someone (or yourself) today via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/our-awards/precious-metalworker-of-the-year/.
📷 2025 finalist Alice Fry @alicefryjewellery
#heritagecrafts #preciousmetals #silversmithing #jewellerymaking #craftsmanship ukmakers traditionalcraft handmadeuk heritagecraftsawards royalmint
This week’s #craftfocus is horse collar making.
Historically there were three separate trades: saddlery, collar making and harness making. However, today the demand dictates that collar making is done as a complete service with harness making. The collar is a vital part of the harness and must be the correct size and shape for the horse, and the skill lies in making a collar to fit an individual horse.
In the late-nineteenth century there were approximately 3.3 million working horses, and collar making and the other horse-related trades were thriving. However, by 1914 it had fallen to less than 25,000. As the number of horses fell, the market crashed and the horse-related trades fell into rapid decline. Today, the market for driving collars is much bigger than that for heavy horse collars, and England and mainland Europe provide the main market for handmade collars.
Techniques include leather cutting, thread making, stitching, stuffing straw, moulding straw with a mallet, and lacing. A related craft is hame making, and even that is now being done by collar makers themselves, with John Macdonald and Kate Hetherington making steel close plated brass hames.
Horse collar making is classified as critically endangered on our Red List of Endangered Crafts. The UK imports a lot of collars from North America, where the manufacturing process has been automated, using stuffing machines and short straw (chaff). While the quality is inferior to that of a handmade collar, they are substantially cheaper.
Images: @katehharnessmaker
#heritagecrafts #craftfocus #horsecollarmaking
Ready to take your leatherworking skills to the next level? 💼
Heritage Crafts, in partnership with @theleathersellers, is now accepting applications for training bursaries of up to £4,000 in our craft-specific round!
Whether you are a newcomer looking to break into the industry or an early-career maker facing financial hurdles, this bursary is designed to help you gain skills in crafts that feature leather as a primary material. They can include but are not limited to saddlery, shoemaking, harness making, tanning, fashion, accessory making, and so on.
👉 Apply now via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/bursaries/leatherworking-bursaries/
Deadline: 5pm, Friday 30 March.
#leatherworking #tanning #heritagecrafts #creativecareers #UKcrafts
📷 2025 recipient @netteleathergoods
We are delighted to announce the awarding of a new bursary recipient in quiltmaking in the frame, in partnership with @jw_anderson.
@samanthajonesquilts, from South Wales, is a self-taught hoop quilt maker working with traditional techniques to create contemporary work. After learning sewing from her family, Samantha wishes to be a part of that legacy for others in Wales who may not have family who can teach them. Her bursary will fund training with quiltmakers Deborah McGuire @plainstitchdeb and Sandie Lush, to deepen her skills of quilting in a frame in the Welsh tradition.
Quilt making in the frame was added to Heritage Crafts’ ‘Red List of Endangered Crafts’ in 2025. The craft uses a flat wooden quilting frame which facilitates a unique ‘rocking stitch’, a sewing method in which the needle is balanced rather than held, resulting in characteristic small and even stitches.
Samantha’s bursary is supported by JW ANDERSON, the British fashion house established in 2008 by Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson. Renowned for its boundary-pushing aesthetic, the brand has gained international acclaim for a unique design philosophy that explores the intersection of art and fashion.
Samantha said: “I am absolutely blown away to be awarded this bursary. Receiving this funding will enable me to invest in a quilting frame, transitioning from hoop quilting to this more advanced and now critically endangered method.
“As a Welsh quiltmaker, I’m aware of how few makers are still working in this way. Training with some of our few remaining hand quilters, this investment in my skills will contribute to the preservation of hand quilting in Wales and honour the generations who came before me.”
Calling all aspiring and early career garment makers and costumiers! 👗👘🥻👔👙🩱👖👚🧥👕
Are you looking to master your craft, refine your skills, or undertake specialist training, yet can’t afford to get the skills training you need? We want to hear from you.
Applications for our 2026 training bursaries supported by the @costume_society are closing on Friday 30 March.
Fashion textile crafts can include (but are not limited to) dressmaking, tailoring, pattern cutting, hat making, millinery, glovemaking, fabric pleating, corsetry, and so on. Costume making can include garments and accessories made for theatre, film, television, musical performance, historical re-production, role play and so on. Check out the full list of inclusions and exclusions on our website.
Don’t miss the chance to take your craft skills to the next level. Funding is limited, so prepare your application early!
Linktr.ee in bio to apply or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/bursaries/fashion-textile-bursaries/
#heritagecrafts #fashiontextiles #costumemaking #traditionalcrafts
📷 2024 recipient @mia.lin.moore
This week’s #mondaymaker is Sheeba Kukreja @hatchfullyyours – an eggshell carver.
Sheeba specialises in hand-carved eggshell art, transforming real ostrich eggshells into illuminated heirloom lanterns and carving intricate sculptures from goose and duck eggshells. She also adorns quail eggshells with 24ct gold leaf for bespoke keepsakes.
Sheeba creates bespoke works that celebrate life’s most meaningful moments, including birth, love, faith and remembrance. Her work sits at the intersection of heritage craft and contemporary design, reviving an almost forgotten art form with elegance, symbolism and quiet resilience.
View Sheeba’s full profile on our maker’s directory: https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/maker/sheeba-kukreja/
#heritagecrafts #mondaymaker #eggshellcarving
Ready to take your shoe and boot making skills to the next level? 👞🥾🥿👠👢
Heritage Crafts, in partnership with the @worshipfulcordwainers, is now accepting applications for training bursaries of up to £4,000 in our craft-specific round!
Whether you are a newcomer looking to break into the industry or an early-career maker facing financial hurdles, this bursary is designed to help you gain the skills of hand-sewn shoe and boot making.
👉 Apply now via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/bursaries/shoemaking-bursary/
Deadline: 5pm, Friday 30 March.
#shoemaking #bootmaking #heritagecrafts #creativecareers #UKcrafts
#matchMAKER opportunity!
Trainee Master Setter
Location: London
Budrevich Fine Jewellery is a trusted partner of several of London’s most recognised, respected and established jewellery brands, who also undertake a wide range of commissions for private clients. Operating from their purpose-built, cutting-edge workshop in Hatton Garden, they are recruiting a trainee diamond micro-setter who is looking to master the craft.
You would be joining a small, specialist, expert team of master jewellers who are at the forefront of jewellery design and manufacturing. The role is open to setters, mounters or goldsmiths of all levels who possess a keen eye for detail, have a desire to learn and, most importantly, a genuine passion for making the very finest jewellery.
Find out how to apply at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/matchmaker
#matchMAKER is the online platform for work-based training and entry-level employment opportunities hosted by @heritagecrafts and supported by @soanebritain.
