Making gloves in Grenoble

This weekend is an annual cultural event held throughout France-- "des journées du patrimoine" "cultural heritage days" when state properties are open to the public (in the US for example, you would be able to visit rooms in the White House not usually open to the public). It is also a chance to visit the workshops of traditional artisans.

The girls and I went to a "ganterie"--a shop where leather gloves are made. Grenoble used to be the center of glove-making in France, and now there is only 1 place left in Grenoble that makes gloves by hand. We got a 1 hr. demonstration of glove-making. The man pictured above is wearing a ribbon around his neck with a medal (hard to see) because in 2000 he was designated the "meilleur ouvrier de France"--the best artisan in France. He is demonstrating with the red leather how to cut it to size. The white pattern does the front and back of a glove; the brown smaller pattern is for the thumb, and the long, narrow, caramel-colored pattern is for the "fourchettes"--the forks or the parts used on the sides of the fingers.

The leather comes from baby goats, raised on the hillsides surrounding Grenoble. Note that the goats are slaughtered for their meat and the skin is something that would be tossed if not used for glove-making.

When the basic size is cut, the edge of the square of leather is glued to silk and left to dry for a day. The glue is just to help with the sewing. Gloves can also have a cashmere lining.





The exact size of the glove is punched out with the metal punch on the left. It can do up to 5 gloves at once.





The sewing of a glove (22-24 individual pieces) is done with a machine. This lady can sew a glove in 20 minutes. Only the edge of the wrist is sewn by hand, as well as any embellishments that the customer might want. She uses tweezers to adjust the leather in the machine. We all knew that this finicky work was not for us!





When the sewing is finished, a wooden dowel-like contraption is inserted in each finger to ensure that the sewing was done well. The gloves then get put on an iron in the shape of a glove. Here the gloves are pressed. You can see that the gloves on the left have been pressed. They are ready to be purchased now (price you ask?--about 100 euros for a pair of cashmere-lined gloves).