Leather working: the course you find in Maremma

How to work with leather at Le Versegge Residence

Le Versegge Resort & Restaurant was a small elementary school that stood near a small country train station, and it is curious to know that it still offers how to learn leather working: the course you find in Maremma.

Today Le Versegge is no longer a school, but those roots have not been lost: those who decide to spend vacations in Maremma in fact, has the opportunity to get involved and learn, for example, leather working.

Why learn to work leather...on vacation!

It is scientifically proven that learning anything is good for health because:

• It engages the mind and makes one aware of the present. So it is a natural antidepressant that can generate endorphins and facilitate a peaceful and positive state of mind.
• Every human group action is cause for sharing and is very important from the aspect of relationships (for example, between a wife and husband).
• Learning something is always an achievement. Improving one's performance is an affirmation of personality. Elements that strengthen self-esteem and practical sense.
• Creativity embodied in an object made with one's own hands is the best gratification we can give ourselves.
• Doing it on vacation (thus in a carefree period) is undoubtedly beneficial and useful. Back home we will have memories but also the materialization of a particularly happy time.

Indeed, at Le Versegge Resort&Restaurant, you can find the basics of a quality relaxing vacation: the large green and shady garden, the swimming pool and its restaurant Re Sugo, are the prerequisites for counting on very cozy and charming accommodations.

• The Maremma is a land with an agricultural vocation and, in the old days, herds were managed on horseback by "butteri." Saddles, leather pants (very similar to those of cowboys overseas), various harnesses, coats to shelter from the weather and much more were something that was produced on the farm;
• The Maremma guaranteed a very high livestock production, so tanned hides were a waste item to be used.

Here, then, is the idea of starting a course on working with leather. Obviously it is very important how you do it and with whom you undertake this art work. The tools are very simple and basic because, when we have learned the basic technique, it is possible even at home to bring a leather object to life. So no complex machines but just shears, needle and thread.

The art is handed down by a master of great skill: Alberto Tommaltese who sits in the chair but with his proverbial, picaresque likability.

Leather working: face to face with Alberto Tommaltese

We asked Alberto Tommaltese, the course instructor, for some information about how to participate and organize the course:

How do you organize the groups and how many people do you need to be in?

- Nothing special," he explains to us in his small workshop in the historic center of Grosseto, "you start by taking a minimum of two people to a maximum of 6 to 7 people. Above all, it is necessary to know the leather, how it is tanned and transformed, how it is worked and hammered and, in a first manual phase, not to make mistakes but to learn good habits from the beginning. That is why I do not take many people but prefer to follow everyone carefully.

The courses are organized at the Residence so.
- Exactly and if the weather permits we stay outside.

Is it tiring to work the leather? Can everyone do it?

- It is a manual activity and therefore one must be skilled in following the correct technique to maximize the steps in the process. Everyone is in a position to work leather and make their own or object, whether a bag or a small keychain.

So you go home with a prize?
- That's the great thing. You go home with the object that we decided to bring to life. It will live with us as a confirmation of a different vacation....

The program for a full immersion vacation in leather goods

Of course, the vacation is centered on the course, but Maremma offers much more. Consider that the daily course is three hours over a minimum two-day stay. One does not have to have the hassle of becoming Louis Vuitton in one day and therefore the total 6 hours are enough to focus well on the first rudiments. "Advanced" courses can be organized again to complete and improve one's technique. In addition to the courses, it will be possible to visit the Maremma and take inspiration from its unspoiled nature.

Certainly in the evening it will be particularly pleasant to gather by the pool for an aperitif and to exchange a few jokes among friends. At Le Versegge Resort&Restaurant, thegastronomic aspect of the vacation is never to be neglected: the treatment is half board but on the last evening a tasting dinner is always organized for a final toast and to admire the creations made and enjoy moments of pleasant conviviality to be lived in company.