Custom Work -- Atelier Khelifi

Types of Custom Work

Yasmine works with clients on bespoke bags, wallets, and accessories. She also restores vintage leather pieces -- reconditioning the leather, replacing worn hardware, and re-stitching seams. Most custom requests are for bags sized to specific dimensions or wallets with particular pocket configurations. She occasionally takes on unusual projects: a leather-bound journal for a calligrapher, a portfolio case for an architect, a set of coasters cut from offcuts of a client's favorite bag.

Process

Every custom piece starts with a consultation. Yasmine meets with the client (in person at the workshop or by email for international clients) to discuss what they need: the item, its purpose, size, preferred leather, hardware, and any details that matter to them. She sketches the piece and confirms materials before starting. Production takes four to eight weeks depending on the complexity of the work -- a simple card holder is closer to four weeks, a structured travel bag is closer to eight. She sends progress photos at key stages: after cutting, after stitching, and before finishing.

Materials

Yasmine uses vegetable-tanned goatskin and cowhide sourced from tanneries in the north of Tunisia. Vegetable tanning produces leather that develops a rich patina over time, darkening and softening with use. She refuses chrome-tanned leather for custom work -- the chemicals produce a uniform finish that she considers lifeless. Hardware is solid brass, sourced from a metalworker in the medina. Thread is waxed linen, hand-stitched using a double-needle saddle stitch that is stronger than machine stitching and ages well.

Pricing Approach

Yasmine quotes each piece individually after the consultation. She does not publish fixed prices because every custom piece is different -- the leather, the size, the hardware, and the complexity all affect the cost. As a general range, small accessories (card holders, key cases) start around 80 TND, wallets and clutches from 150 TND, and bags from 350 TND. Restoration work is quoted after she examines the piece.

How to Start

Clients reach out through the contact form on the site or by email at yasmine@atelierkhelifi.tn. Yasmine responds within a day or two with questions about the piece and an invitation to discuss the details. International clients work entirely by email and receive the same progress photos as local clients.