Cork Fabric & Cork Leather

Anyone who's only ever seen cork as a coaster or a noticeboard tends to be surprised by cork fabric. It's made by shaving a thin veneer of cork bark and backing it onto a fabric base, which gives you a material that behaves far more like a soft leather than like the cork on a wine bottle. It's light, it's water-resistant, it doesn't fray when cut, and it goes through an ordinary sewing machine without the specialist feet, needles or hand-stitching that real leather often demands.

Bag making is where most of it ends up, and it's easy to see why: cork holds a structured shape, wipes clean, and takes the wear that a bag base gets without scuffing the way some faux leathers do. Our Corky One and Corky Two are around 140cm to 145cm wide at roughly 210gsm, which is a useful weight, substantial enough for bag panels and straps but still soft enough to turn and topstitch. There's also a fat quarter bundle of four mixed pieces, each 50 x 65cm, which is a low-commitment way to try cork before buying a full length, and about right for purses, card holders and smaller accessories.

Sewing with cork

Cork is more forgiving than leather but it isn't quite like sewing cotton. Pins leave permanent holes, so use clips along the edge instead, and stitch slowly with a longer stitch length, since dense, closely spaced stitching perforates the backing. A universal or leather needle both work. Because it doesn't fray, seam allowances need no finishing at all, and you can leave raw edges exposed as a design feature. If it sticks under the foot, a walking foot or a strip of tissue paper solves it. Do your test stitching on a scrap rather than the piece itself, as unpicking leaves marks behind.

Caring for cork fabric

Wipe it down with a damp cloth rather than putting it through the wash. It's water-resistant rather than waterproof, so it will handle a shower without complaint but shouldn't be soaked or machine washed. Check the individual product page for the specific care guidance, and follow that in preference to any general advice, as it can vary between products.

Is cork fabric sustainable?

Partly, and it's worth being straight about it. The cork itself is a genuinely renewable material: it's harvested from the bark of the cork oak, which regrows, so the tree isn't felled to produce it. The cork surface of these fabrics sits on a fabric backing, though, and the composition works out at around 50% natural cork with a polyester backing and a small amount of adhesive, so it isn't a wholly natural product. It's a considered alternative to leather rather than a plastic-free one. The exact composition is listed on each product page.

Making a bag?

The bag making essentials collection covers zips, clasps, handles and the rest of the hardware, and there are bag sewing patterns if you'd rather work from a design than improvise.