Sustainability

At Stone Dove, sustainability is at the heart of what we do.

Our reclaimed materials, rescued from the waste pile and carefully re-worked to give them a new lease of life. We take pride in reusing and repurposing when ever we can, but these fabrics have lived a previous life and may carry some small marks and blemishes as a result. 

In particular, the feel and appearance of Waxed Canvas and Natural Leathers change and mature with use. This aging process adds colour and style to these materials; and over time, enhances the look of bags and accessories made with them. The development of this process is called "Patina" The more you use these bags, the more beautiful they become, carrying every experience with them in the surface of their fabrics.

Our Fabrics

When making bags for our Stone Dove collection, we try hard to only use natural materials and avoid using synthetic materials. The only exception to this rule is if we are using vintage materials and can not be sure of the composition, or donated fabrics that we don't want waste. We prefer to use fabrics that have not been overly processed or heavily bleached as both these processes take a heavy toll on the environment. When we do print fabric especially for Stone Dove, we source from responsible suppliers that use sustainably grown cotton and eco friendly, washable inks, printed here in the UK.

Vintage and dead stock fabrics are getting harder to find, but end of rolls, final batches of a colourway or limited yardage materials are always a great find and fun to use. You'll see short runs appearing in the collection whenever we can find them and squeeze them in...

Reclaimed Leather

Reclaiming leather can be time consuming and hard work, but well worth the final result. Often the leather isn't in great condition by the time it gets to us, but as an independent maker, we can set aside time in the process to cut around rips, holes or weakened areas; something large production processes can not allow for. Where the leather may be scratched or stained, we are able to skive away imperfections and burnish or re-finish the leather back to it's original beauty.   

The only time we purchase new leather is for straps and handles so we can ensure the final bag is strong and will last a lifetime. 

Our Designs

All Stone Dove bags and accessories are made from original patterns. Pattern making is a part of the process that we particularly enjoy, and we are proud to have a collection of entirely original styles. The Waxed Canvas Shopper, the Waxed Canvas Messenger and most of the leather pouches are "no waste designs" meaning we have no off cuts in the bin at the end of making them, which makes them some of our favourite designs. We hope you like them too!

How it's made

Designing original patterns for Stone Dove also allows us to make amendments and adjustments when we need to, so we can tailor patterns to make the best use of limited fabric or leather. During the cutting process, we are able to carefully place pattern pieces to avoid any fabric imperfections such as tears or stains to make sure the final product is strong, beautiful and will last a lifetime. Keeping fabric wastage to a minimum is key to environmental sustainability and therefore very important to us. 

Stock

As we make everything by hand here in the Lechlade studio, stock does tend to be limited, but as quickly as we make new items, we will be sure to let you know as best as we can. You'll see the new designs in the retail locations, posts on our social media pages, and hopefully by word of mouth.

Most of all we want to say - Thank you! - to our customers and supporters

without you, none of this would be possible!