Hannah Olley

I lead the development and continuous improvement of upholstered furniture products, guiding them from concept through to production. Working closely with design, engineering, quality and manufacturing teams, I ensure design intent is preserved while delivering products that meet high standards for comfort, durability, sustainability and manufacturability. I manage a small team of upholstery specialists, providing day-to-day direction, coaching and support to deliver high-quality outcomes on time. My role includes developing and approving upholstery constructions, overseeing prototypes, maintaining technical documentation and SOPs, and supporting custom and COM applications. I partner with manufacturing teams and suppliers to ensure compliance with approved upholstery standards, lead training and first-article inspections, and drive continuous improvement through root-cause analysis and corrective actions. Based between Head Office and the production factory, I play a key role in successfully introducing new upholstered designs into production

Experienced Automotive Leather Trimmer specialising in custom interiors, seat trimming, door panels, steering wheels, and interior repairs. Comfortable working with leather, vinyl, Alcantara, and other automotive materials. Exceptional attention to detail, problem solving with a constant focus on quality and finish.

I carried out complex alterations on high end ball gowns and bridal wear and as I built up my own customer base I focused on made to order bespoke commissions. I also made curtains and soft furnishings before branching out into camper van and caravan interiors. Experience working with a vast variety of woven, leather and vinyl ,materials.

We worked on refitting vintage veteran car interiors, re covering steering wheels, taking out old interiors and cutting patterns for new seat covers and door panels. I learnt how to hand stitch leather and machine stitch panels using industrial sewing machines. We used pleats and learnt how to cut, fold and manipulate various thicknesses of leather, canvas and sometimes vinyl. I also used various trims such as copper and leather piping, brass buttons and studs using tacks, nails and staples. We also made bespoke parts for cars such as canvas roofs, leather covered wheel arches and whole car covers. Working with vintage cars no two jobs were the same so I quickly developed the ability to assess and tailor each job as they came. Although I am conventionally trained I am able to think innovatively when it comes to problem solving to get the best result possible. We worked on leather covered handrails for bespoke stair cases. These were completely hand sewn. We would then go and install the rails and finish the joins by hand. I also learnt how to refit and flock saddles, repair leather and cut new pieces for bridles.

Using second hand tweed, leather and waxed cotton with a focus on practical design and quality upcycling I designed and made a range of bags including, shoulder bags, totes and holdalls. The leather straps and rolled leather handles were all hand cut and stitched and the tweed and waxed cotton sewn on industrial machines.

Taking vintage Italian sportswear and deconstructing it then creating a new pattern and garment out of it. I was involved in all aspects of the process from taking apart and recutting to stitching and finishing. All done on industrial flatbed sewing machines, overlockers and coverstitching machines.