Convertible Ankara Bag

Ra · January 11, 2025

This bag is an improvement on my first try at the Convertible Kanga Bag. This time I’m using Ankara fabric, and lighter hardware. I’m also skipping the laptop pocket, and attempting to make this bag water resistant by using ripstop water resistant liner.

Materials:

Leather (vegtan goat)
Microsuede reinforcement, Velodon reinforcement
Ankara fabric
Medium fusible interfacing
Water resistant ripstop nylon fabric
Hardware: D-rings, Oval ring, Swivel snaps, Belt slider, YKK Zippers

Method

Starting with the base, I went with a standard tote base. Given this is vegtan goat, it wouldn’t need too much reinforcement, so I went with a light microsuede reinforcement laminated (fully glued) to the leather. The leather panel dimensions were 34 x 31cm.
The lamination left some air pockets which I had to go back and fix later by cutting open the air pockets and applying glue again. Since the interfacing wouldn’t be visible this didn’t pose a large problem. In the future, I’ll make sure that when I laminate, besides just using a roller, I’ll apply a large weight to the full surface.

Next I interfaced the Ankara fabric and cut two outer panels 35 x 25cm. The outer panels had enough seam allowance on the sides to be sewn, and the bottom and top to be folded.

I prepared the D-ring attachments backed with velodon, and edge-painted them:

Back pocket zipper strip
Main zipper strips (left partially unfinished to be cut to size later)
Back central D-ring enchape
2 x top D-ring enchapes
2 x mid P-shaped enchapes
2 x base D-ring enchapes
Strap end pieces

Using the ripstop liner I prepared a pocket that would be sewn to the back panel. Putting the back pocket zipper in place I stitched the zipper to the pocket.
I later realised that the zipper was installed backward, i.e. when closed the zipper pull would be on the right instead of the left (which would be easier to use for a right-handed person).

Still on the back panel I stitched the back enchape. This would carry a bit of weight, so I stitched it to a salpa piece on the other side of the fabric. Given that I was going to be using a drop liner, I couldn’t stitch this back enchape all the way through the liner.

Back panel with back pocket zipper and backpack enchape installed

I cut the liner front and back panels 35 x 39.5cm. I made two slip pockets and sewed them to the liner. For making sure they didn’t sag open, I used magnet closures.

Next I attached the base D-rings to the leather base, making sure they weren’t smack in the middle of the base, but more towards the rear of the bag.

With that done, it was time to start stitching the outer fabric to the leather. It was at this point I noticed the air pockets in the reinforcement, which I corrected.

Outer panels attached to leather base. Air pockets in reinforcement discovered

Air pockets in base reinforcement cut open to be reglued

After fixing up the air pockets in the reinforcement, I stitched up the left and right seams, right sides together, sandwiching the middle enchapes in the seam. I needed to do this in multiple steps since my sewing machine can’t sew through leather this thick, so I hand-sewed the enchapes, then resumed with the sewing machine. With that done, I boxed the leather base and stitched it. Finally I flipped the bag.

Next, it was time to finish up the liner. I folded the tops to ensure a nice clean line to line-up with the outer fabric and zip. I stitched up the sides and boxed the corners, then dropped in the liner to check the fit (liners almost always need to be taken in a little). I needed to tighten the sides a little (increase my seam allowance from 5mm to 8mm), which made the base fit relatively well.

Drop liner clipped into place. It’s finally starting to look like a bag

Liner clipped into place looks a little baggy

Bagginess of liner mostly removed, base fits much better. Outer fabric folder over the top of liner for a nicer finish.

Finally it was time to sew the top zipper strips into place. This was quite tedious as I needed to stitch through leather and fabric. Leather needles would not cut it because they’re too blunt, so I needed to use sharp needles. The leather thread going through fabric also abraded the waxy coat, so I needed to use shorter thread runs. A leather sewing machine would be much better for this job, but alas I had to use the tools at hand.

Once the zipper strip was in place I put the zipper slider in and closed off the end with a stopper. Then I installed the top enchapes. I stitched these, and further reinforced them with a double-capped rivet.

Zipper strip attached, bag almost complete

Finally I made the bag strap and zipper pulls. The strap was made primarily from fabric, reinforced with buckram. The ends to attach it to the slider and swivel snap were made from leather.

Convertible Kanga Bag

Ra · January 6, 2024

I’m writing this a full year after I made this bag and am working on another one with improvements. I will still write up the process I used for this one, and highlight areas that I identified as could be improved.

Materials:

Leather (Alran Sully)
Kanga fabric for outer (Kanga is a traditional african fabric)
Canvas for inner (this bag was a prototype so I used what I had at hand)
Medium fusible interfacing, quilt fusible interfacing, buckram for strap
Metal zip, D-rings, swivel snaps, strap slider (the hardware I chose for this bag was too bulky and didn’t suit the bag in the end)

Method

Cut two 25 x 11cm leather panels

Trace corner radius on all four base corners
Mark seam allowance
Skive sides, corners, and base
Punch top edge with stitch holes, and edge finish

To prepare the internal fabric base, cut two oversize 25 x 11cm panels with enough seam allowance to turn edges.

Interface the fabric
Turn the edges
Sew the corners
With double-sided tape attach fabric to leather, temporarily sew into place or use pins

Prepare the D-rings and attachments

4 x P-attachments (they’re P-shaped and attach to the tops and mid-points)
2 x base attachments
1 x back attachment
Zipper strips

Back attachment, P-attachments, base attachments

To prepare the external kanga fabric, cut two oversize 22 x 25cm panels

Interface the fabric using light fusible interfacing
Cut to size with seam allowance

External and internal panels interfaced and cut to size

To prepare the internal canvas fabric, cut two oversize 22 x 25cm panels

Interface the fabric using light or medium interfacing
Cut to size with seam allowance
Attach D-ring on the back panel, being careful to cover rivets to prevent scratching
Prepare laptop pocket with quilting interfacing
Install laptop pocket (in the future I would skip installing this)
Install slip pocket on front panel

One panel of the laptop pocket using fusible quilting interfacing. This is stitched right-sides to the same shape and then turned inside-out

Laptop pocket installed on the back panel

Slip pocket installed on the front internal panel

Stitch the fabric (outer kanga fabric right sides together) with D-ring P-attachments sandwiched in the correct spots. Edge-bind.

Stitch the leather base with D-ring base attachments sandwiched

Prepare strap with hard interfacing (buckram) for the fabric part. Total length 145cm

I like to use a tape measure to get the strap length right

Bag in the largest capacity configuration, with straps attached to the top D-rings

Bag in the smallest configuration, with straps attached to mid-point

Sunglasses Case (Paw)

Ra · March 26, 2023

I needed to make a new sunnies case, and wanted it to be cat-themed again, so I came up with this idea.

I used the same basic pattern as in my previous sunglasses case, with some minor additions, like magnets and the paw closure. I also changed the shape of the support strip that gets sewn to the liner and made it a little thinner.

Materials: Premium bit shrink leather from Hashimoto; Saba, Velodon, Oslo, and Salpa reinforcement; Vinymo thread.

Method

I started on my favourite part of the project, the paw. I’ll be honest, I wanted to make the paw and figure out what to do with it later. I printed out a paw to the scale I needed and stuck it to cardboard to get my template (I used my existing pattern to see how much space I had to play with). I traced the template on salpa and filled the “beans” with Oslo reinforcement. Then I covered the whole layer with pink leather skived very thin (~0.4mm) and molded the pads. I used the template as a form to let the pads puff out and stick the rest of the leather down to the salpa.

Using the template I cut out the outer part of the paw and stuck that on. I made a matching back piece with the magnet attached. I then put the two parts together, trimmed, stitched, and edge painted the paw.

Next, I fully laminated the outer leather to Saba, then cut it to size. I skived the edges at an angle. Last step for the outer was to attach the magnet, being careful that its orientation would complement the back of the paw (rather than repel the attachment. It’s an easy mistake to make).

For the liner, I knew I’d stitch the bottom first (the opposite end of the flap) so I trimmed that to match the outer. Using my template as a guide I marked where the support strip would go, and stitched that down while everything was still flat. With that done, the liner could finally be glued along all the edges to the outer, gluing on a bend where required. Once the glue had set I trimmed the liner.

I closed up the case with pins temporarily to get the right shape so I could finally attach the paw. I did this at the end because I had a little vertical room to play with to see how snugly I wanted the case to close. I marked where I wanted the flap to come down to, and used that as a guide to stitch the paw closure.

Using masking tape as a guide for flap level

Showing how much room is left, in case I some day decide to use it for larger glasses

The final step was to stitch the whole case up and finish the edges.

Leather Satchel

Ra · February 24, 2023

There were a few requirements for this bag that added to the challenge:

Bag should have no zips
Deep front pockets with gusset
Divider for a laptop
Fits A4 papers
A design that squashes down when the bag is empty (this was the main challenge when picking a bag type)

Materials

SB Foot leather as outer leather
Some chrome-tanned goat leather for the bag body liner
Relma crispe for the flap and pocket liner
Reinforcement tape, salpa, and velodon

Preparation & Assembly

I started out with making the fabric divider out of canvas, interfaced with a quilting lofty interfacing, and stitched velcro loop where it was required. I made the leather straps with the velcro hook stitched in, and attached the ensemble to the bag liner.

Divider checked with pattern for positioning

I cut out the outer leather and liner to the same dimensions. I clipped the outer and liner together and folded it into the final form to see how much excess liner I’d have to trim. It was about 1 cm.

I skived all the edges that would be stitched, adding reinforcement tape in a few thin and fragile spots.

Next I prepared the pockets. I lined the outer leather with relma crispe, and used crispe as the gussets. Once the pocket assembly was ready I stitched it onto the bag body outer.

Close up of the pockets stitched to the outer bag body

Bag body panel with outer pockets stitched

The flap came next. I glued and edge finished the part that would attach to the bag outer. I reinforced this with salpa when attaching the flap to the body. I left the flap liner unglued most of the way since I needed to know (after the bag was assembled) how much to trim off.

With the flap attached to the outer, I attached the outer to its liner, glued at the sides, and glued and stitched at the top. The tops were edge finished. Finally the bag was ready to be assembled to its final shape.

The last step before flipping the bag was to edge finish the inner seams. I gave it a coat or two of edge paint, then flipped the bag carefully.

The next step was to size up the flaps, edge finish and stitch them up, and attach the straps for the closure mechanism.

Strap with closure mechanism attached to flap

With the bag fully constructed, the last part was to get the strap attached. Since this was a split gusset, I went with a split enchape design (reinforced with Velodon). I also made a shoulder pad for the strap before closing off the strap.

Compact Wallet

Ra · June 11, 2022

I’m travelling soon and I realised that my card wallet wouldn’t quite cut it, I’d need something that would hold cash (notes and coins) so I needed to whip one up pretty quickly. The main criteria for this project were that it needed to hold Kenyan notes (where I’m travelling to), Australian notes (just in case I need it here at some point), coins, and two cards. I don’t usually make wallets, so I decided to make a pretty simple zip pouch.

I started by cutting outer leather and lining pieces. These were 1cm larger all around than the largest note I would insert.

I skived the sides and bottoms of the main panels and the card strip. I stitched the card strip on one of the liner panels. On one of the outer panels I cut a zipper L-shaped window for what would become the coin pocket. After prepping the zip for the coin pocket and sticking it in place using double-sided tape, I placed the liner of the coin pouch. For this I used some synthetic fabric (the kind commonly used in tranche pockets). I attached the coin pocket gusset to finish off the outer panel. This outer’s lining leather was covered on the flesh side with another layer of synthetic fabric so that the inside of the coin pocket would be entirely fabric.

Next was to attach the main zip. I tacked it in place to the outer panels using double-sided tape, and did the same with both liner pieces. I glued the outer and liners together at the edges. At this point I stitched down one side of each panel because this side would remain open to accommodate any notes that might at some point be longer than I had planned for.

I pre-punched one panel fully, then tacked both panels together to how they would finally be stitched down. I marked the lining leather of the other panel by pushing the stitching irons by hand pressure. Then I opened up the wallet and punched the other panel. This method prevents the stitching irons from travelling through 4 layers and distorting the entry holes. There was a fair bit of angled skiving involved and another risk of punching layers together is that the exit holes would not be where they’re supposed to be. Using this method prevents the exit holes from moving. Last step was to simple match up the holes, glue both panels together and stitch up the wallet.

After rounding the corners and sanding the edges I finished up with some edge paint.

Soft handbag

Ra · June 5, 2022

Soft tote made from navy blue premium bit shrink chrome tan leather

My mom asked me to make her a bag with the only requirements being that she wanted it to have quite a few pockets. She planned to carry it on a single shoulder and showed me a friend’s tote she liked. Since time was short, but I wanted her to have a well thought-out bag I decided to buy a pattern by Max Karas.

I modified his pattern slightly though. I printed it in a smaller scale (which reduced my seam allowances and skiving areas), and added a few more pockets to the interior. I also planned to have the handle be different from the one his pattern suggested.

Usually when I plan a project, besides sketching it and then making a pattern, I write down the order of operations so I can methodically construct it. With the pattern already at hand, and with none of my own thought having gone in to create it, the first thing I did was to look at all the pieces and construct it in my head. Then I wrote down the steps I would need to take to make it happen. It was an interesting creative challenge as I modified it in my head too.

Preparation

The bag was to have a leather exterior, leather handle, leather zip facing, and fabric liner. The liner was to be attached to the outer bag as a drop in liner.

So first thing I did was cut out all the pieces I planned to use. Most of the bag construction was to be a turned construction, so not much edge finishing would be required. Once all the leather parts had been cut out I edge finished the pocket borders and zipper facings.

For the outer leather I used dark blue premium bit shrink from Hashimoto Leathers. For the liner I used a mix of blue linen and yellow cotton. I like to use light coloured liners so that when you look into the bag it’s not a giant void, and you can actually see what’s in it.

Soft bag pieces cut out — Bag outer, liner, pockets, and details cut out

Assembly

Liner

While the liner was still flat, I started on the pocket construction. After edge-finishing the leather pocket borders, I pre-punched these and using double-sided tape attached them to the front and back body panels.

A modification I made to the pattern was to add an additional pocket to the liner. I pinned these on and stitched them to both pieces of the liner body.

Coming back to the leather edged pockets, I stitched the leather to the liner. Then I cut the hole that would form the pocket, folding the fabric back to make a neat edge. I stitched the yellow pocket behind the liner so the pocket would hang in the cavity between the outer leather and the liner.

One last thing while the liner was flat was to attach the zip facing. I prepared the zipper tape and attached it to each side of the facing. Then I attached the assembled zip facings to the flat liner. These would later be sewn to the outer leather bag.
When stitching to an unturned edge of fabric it helps to stabilise the edge and make it rigid. It wouldn’t have been a problem if I was using a leather sewing machine, but when using a pony the fabric edge needs a bit of structure. I used painters tape to hold the fabric in place on the leather and give it support. Given that this part would be completely hidden I left the tape in place and stitched right through it. Next time I’d extend the fabric liner to be a bit taller so I could fold it down and add structure with hemming tape.

There were darts in the pattern, so I sewed these last and pressed them to the centre. Finally it was time to attach the gusset and complete the liner portion of the bag. When the gusset was completely sewn I could finally close the top edges of the zipper facing and stitch them together.

Liner body panels finished. Gusset pinned and ready to sew

Outer

Assembly of the outer was much simpler. The only complexity was a pleat that needed to be sewn. This pleat was only folded at the bottom to give a voluminous effect to the leather.

Care was taken to ensure that all the edges that required it were skived down to minimise bulk prior to assembling the outer bag.

The gusset was glued right sides together to one of the panels starting from the middle and working up both sides. Then I used round dents to punch holes from the inside (since this is a turned construction). Using reinforcement tape where the holes will be punched is a good idea if the leather has been skived really thin since there might be a risk of tearing. Once the panel was stitched up I glued the other panel, punched the holes and stitched it.

The top of the bag also needed to be turned to provide a clean edge (I could have chosen to shorten this and paint the top, but I stuck with the pattern). With the gusset now sewn in, the tops could now be turned.

I took this opportunity to do a quick dry-fit by inserting the liner into the outer bag and making sure everything fit fine. This is a good time to check the fit of the liner and re-sew adjustments if necessary.

The last thing to do before the tops are sewn shut is to attach the enchapes. The pattern gave me placements for these on the gusset, but I wasn’t confident that everything would size up nicely since I had to turn the top edge so I chose to attach them at this point by measuring down from the top of the turned edge to ensure equal spacing on both sides.

Once enchapes are in place the top edge of the bag can be stitched. Last thing was to make the strap (I deviated from the pattern and made a flat strap instead of the corded one) and attach it to the enchapes.

Banded Gusset Bag

Ra · May 25, 2022

I’ve been meaning to try this gusset style for a while, and I finally got a chance to do so.

Materials

The light hatch leather is embossed kangaroo. It is lined with chevre sully. The gusset leather is zermatt reinforced with brio. One of the pockets uses linen fabric to keep the bulk down. The zip is YKK excella.

Pattern

The body pattern for this was a tapered rectangle with darts at the bottom corners to create a pillow effect. The darts turned out a little sharper than I’d hoped, so patterning this section needs refining. The dart base also had less material for the band to grasp, which was made obvious a little later when it came to edge finishing.

The band was sized by measuring from the stitch line rather than the edge. The gusset that would attach to the band was sized a few mm longer than the band to account for the leather thickness going around a curve.

When zips open at the top of a bag I dislike how they don’t allow for the full opening of the bag to be used, so I kept my zip longer and decided to tuck away the extra length in the interior of the bag.

Assembly

Parts of the bag:

2 body outer (front, back)
2 body liner (front, back)
2 bands (outer, liner)
2 gussets (outer, liner)
Interior pocket border
Interior pocket (outer, liner)

I started with prepping the zip and gluing it to the liner.

Next I made the pockets on the liner. I had initially decided to make one of the interior pockets with a zip, but decided to leave the zip out and just have a normal opening for that pocket. The actual pocket itself was made from linen and stitched on.

Pocket with no zip. Pocket not yet attached

Next I skived the dart edges where they would overlap to keep the bulk down, and glued them close.

I pre-punched the band, and starting from the middle I glued it around the corner and all along each edge of the liner. I edge finished the top where the stitching would go over the edge. I stitched the band in place and edge-finished the interior edge.

The gusset was lined with brio reinforcement. I attached the enchapes, using loctite on the sam browne stud to make sure it wouldn’t come undone. I stitched the zip strap holder to the gusset liner before gluing it down.

Now it was time for the final assembly. The gusset was pre-punched before being glued to the band.

Using the pre-punched holes I awled through the band and stitched the gusset to the band. I repeated the same on the other side.

The zipper strip was looped through its keeper and stitched on. All the remaining edges were finished.

View of the zipper strip being held down by an internal keeper

Double Gusset Purse

Ra · March 21, 2022

This bag was made by recycling parts of the Ovi bag. The liner I had made for that bag had seen some wear and tear, so my initial plan was to just replace it. But I decided to pull the entire bag apart and give it a new life.

The new one needed to accommodate the basic EDC (phone, wallet, keys, sunnies, mask, maybe a kindle) and I had limited leather to play with. I wanted to utilise as much of the leather as possible, yet keep a similar shape to remind me of its original form. I mocked up a couple of ideas on paper, but the one I settled on was a simple double-gusset turned construction.

Here is a diagram of the original bag’s parts, and how they were repurposed:

Rough diagram of bag before *(black outline)* and new bag pieces *(magenta outline)*

The new things I tried in this bag were:

Pre-line all the leather
Use bookbinding cloth as a liner (I have no idea how this will wear, so I guess I’ll find out)
French binding to add a nice detail to the internal pockets

Prep

After cutting all the leather to size, I skived the following parts:

Angle-skive 1cm depth
- Long sides of the gusset strips
- Sides and base of the pockets
- Zipper strips
Step-skive 6mm depth
- One short side of each gusset strip

Lining the Gusset

First I needed to know the final gusset length. So on my template, I punched holes and counted them. After getting a rough length, I punched the actual body front and back then confirmed the hole-count

The gusset panels were stitched together at the step skive in a turned construction, and the leather stuck down flat. I transferred gusset holes to two gusset strips. I reinforced where the enchapes would be stitched with reinforcement tape. Next I lined each strip with bookbinding cloth. I stitched both strips in the middle in a turned construction, and edge-painted it.

The final result was a little thick and stiff for my liking. In the future I would skive more aggressively. The bookbinding cloth also adds a lot of stiffness when laminated. I think using it with vegtan leather was probably not the best combination.

I edge finished the tops of the gusset, then stitched on the enchapes on the gusset that would hold the bag strap. Enchapes were reinforced with velodon.

Gusset strips lined and stitched in the middle. Awaiting edge paint and enchape attachment

Gusset strips with a split enchape attached

Lining the Body Panels

In order to line the body panels, I first needed to do the following things:

Put the closure on the body front
Attach a pocket to the lining of both front and back panels
Attach the bag flap so that the stitching would be hidden by the lining

I decided to use a two-prong magnet closure because I had one handy. I used the magnet backing to sketch it on my template, then transferred it to the bag body front.

Bag body template with stitch holes counted, and magnet position marked *(I ended up using the female part in the body and male part on the bag flap)*

For the pocket construction I attempted a french seam. Below are the steps:

Put pocket and liner right sides facing together. Glue 8mm of the tops. Stitch 10mm from the top
Flip the longer end of the liner along the stitch line away from the pocket leather and make a crease with a bone folder to set its position and shape
Glue down liner in this position just for the top part
Fold over the liner and fully glue it to the back of the leather
Trim pocket to final size. Pop a logo if you like
(Optional) Stitch down the pocket and liner. Then edge finish

1. Put pocket and liner right sides facing together. Glue 8mm of the tops. Stitch 10mm from the top

1. Still step 1, view from the other side

2. Flip the longer end of the liner along the stitch line away from the pocket leather and make a crease with a bone folder to set its position and shape

3. Glue down liner in this position just for the top part

4. Fold over the liner and fully glue it to the back of the leather

5. Trim pocket to final size. Pop a logo if you like

Once the pockets were ready, I centred them on the liner panels and glued them down at the edges. I punched holes all around, but because my liner is “cloth” of some sort, I reinforced the back of the punch holes with reinforcement tape before stitching the pockets down.

Lining the flap

With the magnet attached to the body front panel, I used that to centre the location of the magnet on the flap.

I cut an oversize lining and marked and cut the magnet placement. I put the magnet in the liner, then placed the body front panel on the flap to close the magnet. In its final resting position I used the outline of the body front panel to mark a corresponding outline on the liner. Given the nature of my liner material, I reinforced the holes with tape, and also put leather directly over the cloth’s back side so that the prongs would not bend over the cloth, but over the leather. I covered the whole ensemble with another patch of leather.

Flap prongs protected from cloth liner by leather patch

I marked the approximate height of the front panel on the flap, then glued just the edges of the liner and the flap leather to that point. What I needed to finish constructing the flap was to glue the rear end of it on a bend where it would go over the gusset. I can make a rough calculation about the gusset depth, but I wanted to drape the flap over the gusset to see what bend angle would work well. I also needed to know exactly where I was attaching the flap to the back panel. To do that I need the gusset to be partially attached.

Assembly

I attached the front panel liner to the front panel. (Optional: If using a zipper closer, attach the front part of it to the front panel, and edge finish now. I attached a zipper strip only to realise that when the zip was open, the strip blocked access to the internal pocket, so I removed the zipper strips from the bag entirely.)

Zipper strip attached to the front panel. I ended up taking it off

Then I attached the gusset to the front panel. Next I temporarily pinned the back panel to the gusset to get an idea of the depth.

I closed the flap against the front panel, then draped the flap over the gusset, marking the centre line and angle I would need to glue on a bend. I also marked where on the back panel the flap would need to be stitched.

I could finally finish the flap. I glued the liner and the flap leather at the edges, on the bend where it needed it, trimmed and edge finished it.

I then stitched the flap to the back panel. Now I could finally put the back panel liner on. (Optional: If using a zipper closer, attach the back part of it to the back panel, and edge finish now. Finish all the zipper work and decide how to deal with the tail at this point.)

Liner stitched to the top of the back panel. Flap stitched to the back panel

With that in place, all that was left to do was attach the gusset to the back panel, and sand and edge finish all the exposed edges.

Leather Reinforcement Experiments

Ra · December 29, 2021

Update 29/12/21: Added Velodon and Saba experiment results

I wanted to understand how reinforcements work and what makes them better for some use cases over others, and why. The best way to do so was to conduct a few experiments to get first-hand experience with these materials.

As a control, I used normal printer paper. The reinforcement materials I experimented with were Oslo (2mm), Microfibra (0.5mm, 1mm), Brio (0.7mm), Salpa (0.6mm), Velodon 0.2mm, and Saba (2mm).

Method

I set up a set of simple experiments to get a feel for each material.

Hand ripping: This involved tearing the material vertically, like you would a piece of paper

Force tear: This involved pulling on the material in opposite directions to break it. Force was measured coarsely in light, medium, and strong scale based on my personal strength

Stretch: This assessed if the material had any stretch, and in which direction

Cut effort: A box cutter was used to cut the material and I assessed how easy or difficult it was to cut through and to cut straight

Skive: Using a bell skiver I attempted to skive the material to half its thickness

Fold: I folded the material and then straightened it. The aim was to see if bending it completely double would leave a crease

Bend: I clipped two edges together and left the material in a bent position for a few days. The aim was to assess how quickly the material would spring back to its original shape, or if it would retain a fully or partially bent form

Glue: I wanted to see how well the material would accept glue, and if it absorbed the glue more so than leather. Glue used was Duall 88, an all purpose contact cement (solvent-based), Renia Aquilim 315, and Seiwa leather adhesive

Burnish: After gluing two pieces of leather with reinforcement between them, I wanted to see how well an exposed reinforcement edge would take to burnishing. Both edges of leather were beveled, the edge then water-burnished with an edge slicker

Edge paint: After gluing two pieces of leather with reinforcement between them, I wanted to see how well an exposed reinforcement edge would take to edge paint. I used Fenice primer, heated, then Fenice edge paint 3 layers, sanding with 600 grit in between layers

Double layer full bond stiffness: I wanted to assess the stiffness added by glue when two layers of reinforcement were glued together. I chose to bond two reinforcement layers rather than a layer of reinforcement and one of leather because leather type varies greatly in temper. Flexibility was measured by feel: x1 is how two unbonded layers feel; x2 is twice the stiffness magnitude, and so on.

Double layer full bond with weight: I wanted to compare the effect of applying a weight overnight on the bond and stiffness (final temper) of the two reinforcement layers. For this I put the bonded material on the table with a glass plate on top, and a weight on top of that overnight. Flexibility was measured by feel: x1 is how two unbonded layers feel; x2 is twice the stiffness magnitude, and so on.

Double layer partial bond stiffness: I wanted to compare stiffness of a partially bonded reinforcement material (only the edges glued) to fully bonded. Flexibility was measured by feel: x1 is how two unbonded layers feel; x2 is twice the stiffness magnitude, and so on.

Wet ripping: Tearing vertically after material has been in water for 30 seconds

Wet tearing: Force tearing after material has been in water for 30 seconds

Soak: Effect of soaking the material in water for 1 hour

Results

Outlined below are the results of each experiment grouped by material.

The video below shows the results of the Bend experiment. Materials from left to right are: Oslo (2mm), Microfibra (0.5mm), Microfibra (1mm), Brio (0.7mm), and Salpa (0.6mm).

Paper (control)

Hand ripping: Easy to rip

Force tear: Easy to tear by pulling it apart

Stretch: No stretch

Cut effort: Easy to cut

Skive: Too thin to skive successfully

Fold: When folded leaves a distinct crease

Bend: When held bent for a long time stays curled

Glue: Takes all the glues without issue, but the water-soluble glues (aquilim and seiwa) leave ripples in the paper when dry

Burnish: Does not burnish

Edge paint: Edge can be painted

Double layer full bond stiffness: x3

Double layer full bond with weight: x3

Double layer partial bond stiffness: x2.5, leaves an air bubble in the middle

Wet ripping: Easier to rip than when dry

Wet tearing: Easier to tear apart than when dry

Soak: Loses form and turns into a pulpy mess and falls apart

Oslo (2mm)

Hand ripping: Easy to rip

Force tear: Easy to tear by pulling apart

Stretch: Great deal of stretch in all directions

Cut effort: Stretchy so difficult to cut precisely with a box cutter. I’d have better luck with a rotary knife or a pair of scissors

Skive: No issues with skiving

Fold: When folded doesn’t leave a crease

Bend: After held in a bent position for a few days immediately springs back with no curl

Glue: Takes all the glues, but its stretchy nature makes it a bit difficult as the material can warp slightly during application. It soaks up Aquilim and Seiwa a bit

Burnish: Does not burnish

Edge paint: Does not edge paint. This is basically sponge and just soaks up the paint

Double layer full bond stiffness: x3

Double layer full bond with weight: x3

Double layer partial bond stiffness: x2

Wet ripping: Easy to rip

Wet tearing: Easy to tear by pulling apart

Soak: Easier to rip and tear after a soak

Microfibra (0.5mm)

Hand ripping: Too hard to rip by hand

Force tear: Too hard to tear by pulling it apart by hand

Stretch: Slight stretch one way

Cut effort: Somewhat stretchy so makes it annoying to cut in the stretch direction

Skive: Risky to skive this thin

Fold: Does not take a crease when folded in half

Bend: When held in a bent position for a few days immediately springs back to its original position

Glue: Takes all the glues without issue

Burnish: Does not burnish

Edge paint: Can be edge painted

Double layer full bond stiffness: x3

Double layer full bond with weight: x3

Double layer partial bond stiffness: x2, leaves an air bubble in the middle when folded

Wet ripping: Too hard to rip by hand

Wet tearing: Too hard to tear by pulling it apart by hand

Soak: Too hard to rip or tear after a soak

Microfibra (1mm)

Hand ripping: Too hard to rip by hand

Force tear: Too hard to tear by pulling it apart by hand

Stretch: Slight stretch one way

Cut effort: Somewhat stretchy so makes it annoying to cut in the stretch direction

Skive: No issue with skiving to half thickness

Fold: Takes a slight crease when folded in half

Bend: When held in a bent position over a few days remains almost completely bent

Glue: Takes all the glues without issue

Burnish: Does not burnish

Edge paint: Can be edge painted

Double layer full bond stiffness: x4

Double layer full bond with weight: x4

Double layer partial bond stiffness: x3

Wet ripping: Too hard to rip by hand

Wet tearing: Too hard to tear by pulling it apart by hand

Soak: Too hard to rip or tear after a soak

Brio (0.7mm)

Hand ripping: Too hard to rip by hand

Force tear: Too hard to tear by pulling it apart by hand

Stretch: No stretch

Cut effort: Stiff, but easy enough to cut with a sharp blade

Skive: Skives fine, but be careful, its stiffness may cause the skived layer to gum up the machine

Fold: When bent in half the crease very distinctly remains

Bend: When held in a bent position for a few days stays slightly bent

Glue: Takes all the glues without issue

Burnish: Does not burnish

Edge paint: Can be edge painted, but leaves a slight ridge

Double layer full bond stiffness: x4

Double layer full bond with weight: x4

Double layer partial bond stiffness: x3

Wet ripping: Too hard to rip by hand

Wet tearing: Too hard to tear by pulling it apart by hand

Soak: Too hard to rip or tear after a soak

Salpa (0.6mm)

Hand ripping: Relatively easy to rip

Force tear: Too hard to tear by pulling it apart by hand

Stretch: No stretch

Cut effort: Easy to cut with a box cutter

Skive: Easy to skive

Fold: When folded in half leaves a distinct crease

Bend: When held in a bent shape stays mostly bend

Glue: Takes all the glues without issue

Burnish: Does not burnish

Edge paint: Can be edge painted

Double layer full bond stiffness: x5

Double layer full bond with weight: x5

Double layer partial bond stiffness: x4

Wet ripping: Easier to rip than when dry

Wet tearing: Too hard to tear by pulling it apart by hand

Soak: Easy to rip, but too hard to tear after a soak

Velodon (0.2mm)

Hand ripping: Too hard to rip by hand, but does distort

Force tear: Too hard to tear by pulling it apart by hand

Stretch: No stretch

Cut effort: Easy to cut with a box cutter

Skive: Too thin to skive successfully

Fold: When folded leaves a distinct crease

Bend: Holds some bend after 48 hrs

Glue: Takes all the glues without issue, surprisingly, including Aquilim

Burnish: Does not burnish

Edge paint: Edge can be painted

Double layer full bond stiffness: x4 (part of this I think is coming from a coating of adhesive this velodon had)

Double layer full bond with weight: x4

Double layer partial bond stiffness: x2

Wet ripping: Too hard to rip by hand

Wet tearing: Too hard to tear by pulling it apart by hand

Soak: Too hard to rip or tear after a soak

Saba (2mm)

Hand ripping: Easy to rip

Force tear: Easy to tear by pulling apart

Stretch: Great deal of stretch in all directions

Cut effort: Easy to cut with a box cutter, but distorts a bit, so a rotary cutter is better suited

Skive: Doesn’t skive very well at all, the compression and immediate spring back doesn’t make it easy. I think if I were to bond the saba to another backing like leather, and skived both of those together it might be a bit easier

Fold: Does not leave a crease, and springs right back

Bend: Almost goes back to its original shape, but not quite

Glue: I ran out of Dual88, so only used Aquilim 315 and Seiwa glues. It takes glue just fine, but unlike Oslo the glue doesn’t seep in. This substance is a little like neoprene

Burnish: Does not burnish

Edge paint: Takes paint, but leaves a ridge in between. Best not to take the reinforcement all the way to the edge

Double layer full bond stiffness: x3

Double layer full bond with weight: x3

Double layer partial bond stiffness:

Wet ripping: Easy to rip

Wet tearing: Easy to tear by pulling apart

Soak: Just as easy to rip and tear, soaking didn’t have much of an effect

Conclusion

Edge burnishing when reinforcement is in use would best be done if the reinforced material is completely enclosed in leather, i.e. ensure that reinforcement layer doesn’t reach the edge or by skiving to feather thinness so there is no substance at the edge.

Edge painting, although works with almost all the reinforcement materials, remains a visible layer after two thin coats. To eliminate this issue entirely I think not dealing with the reinforcement material reaching the edge would be a better solution.

Oslo (2mm): This rather spongy substance would work well for a cushiony padded look intended to fill out the volume between the leather layers. It has a slight memory foam feel and holds a squish for a few seconds.

Microfibra (0.5mm): This thickness of microfibra would give a little bit of support to a leather of a similar thickness, e.g. wallet pockets. I’d be curious to see how this thickness would work when a layer is bonded to the main body leather and another layer to the liner for bags.

Microfibra (1mm): This is a good thickness for thin floppy leathers. Ideal usage would be for bag flaps or body, notebook covers, something that will stay in somewhat the same shape through its life.

Brio (0.7mm): The stiffness of this material restricts the uses this material could have. A sturdy bag base comes to mind, or a stiff bag body of a suitcase-style bag would be two use cases I can think of for this.

Salpa (0.6mm): This particle board equivalent of leather reinforcement is pretty versatile in its uses I think, but I question its durability. I would have no issues using it for the cover or backing on a padfolio, but I wouldn’t use it on anything that bends all the time, like watch straps, or belt lining.

Velodon (0.2mm): The thinness and non-stretchy nature of this material lends itself well to being used in watch straps where you don’t want thin leather to stretch over time. It has also been used as pocket material for tranche pockets. Where non-stretch material is required in large areas that non-stretch woven tape is too thin for, I think Velodon might work as a substitute. It has been known to react poorly to PVA type glues like Aquilim315 (despite my finding no evidence of this). An adhesive-backed version can be found at Rocky Mountain, so to avoid all glue issues you could simply use that.

Saba (2mm): This squishy material is ideal for padding effect. Its function is a lot like Oslo, but without the minor memory foam effect

What’s next?

Some more experiments will follow these simple ones. I’ll be focusing on how turned items behave with each of the materials, and the effects of fully and partially bonding the reinforcement to both the body leather and the liner on the overall look and feel.

Zipper Case

Ra · November 24, 2021

I made this case for a friend to hold a bunch of USB sticks.

Materials: Dollaro, Brio, Salpa, Felt, Elastic

Prep

Using an A5 template I cut out salpa and brio to size. With a sample USB I measured how thick I would need to make the spine and cut a strip of salpa to size. After cutting all the relevant corners with the appropriate radius, I skived all the edges.

The Dollaro for the outer in hindsight was too stiff a material. Next time I’d use something softer. I cut the dollaro oversized. I cut a felt rectangle allowing a 1cm fold-over allowance.

Assembly

Salpa was glued to felt (my felt thankfully had an adhesive backing so this part was relatively painless), and the edges of the felt folded over carefully.

I marked where the elastic would be stitched. I used a combination of counting the number of ribs on the elastic, as well as gauging the tightness per loop.

Salpa covered with felt, and elastic stitched

With the inner complete, I prepped the zipper strips. The zipper’s own ribbon was not quite wide enough to wrap around the salpa edges, it needed to be extended. Again Dollaro was not the ideal material for it, next time I’d use something softer. I skived to 0.3mm the zipper strips. Too thin and I was easily able to hand rip the dollaro, and I didn’t want to risk too easy wear and tear during the lifetime of this object.

I painted the edge of the zipper strips where it would be close to the teeth. Using a “form” (a yellowpages with a radiused corner) to make laying the zip easier I folded the strip over the salpa and felt, aiming for a 1cm overlap. I aggressively skived the lumpy bits at the corners.

With the inner basically complete, I put the outer together. The spine was ever so slightly wider on the outer. I used painters tape on the zipper strips to not just hold them down and let the glue set, but also as a means to mark the inner. I temporarily stuck the outer to the inner using double-sided tape, and gently awled through the outer holes onto the painters tape. I then removed the outer, and fully awled the inner. This was easier to do on a flat surface and a cork mat. I marked a few corresponding holes to make it easier to index later when putting the two sides together.

Dry fit of outer Dollaro/Brio to inner Felt/Salpa

I trimmed the zipper start, added the top stoppers, and stitched the zipper end to the outer’s spine. Next time I’d make the flap the same width as the spine. The zipper tape was about as wide as the spine and was interfering a little. Next time I’d prep this area with more forethought.

With the spine out of the way, it was time to stitch up the case. Numerous stitch runs were required because the felt created a bit of friction and caused the thread to start fraying despite heavy waxing.

Drawer Box

Ra · November 8, 2021

There were a few sources of inspiration for this one. First of all, I’ve been wanting to make boxes for a while. Secondly I really like the pen cases with a divider and this was a chance to make something similar. Lastly my dice no longer fit in their pouch, so I needed a better solution.

The Insert

I used 1mm Zermatt for the insert. I marked where I wanted the folds to be, then skived the flesh side of the fold. A channelling tool like a U-gouge would have worked as well. I laminated the pieces that needed to be laminated to form the walls of the rows.

When I was confident that the lamination would hold, I rounded the corners. I would finish sticking a base to it and edge painting it towards the end of the project.

The Drawer

Leather I used was 2.6mm black Saffiano. I started off with a base, and four side pieces. I mitred all the edges that would be touching, making sure not to mitre the tops of the side pieces.

Since it’s almost impossible to see marks on Saffiano, I put down painters tape and punched through that. I used pricking irons to mark the holes, and awled them through.

Matching side pieces with equal number of holes

I made sure to count the holes and mark and awl corresponding awls between the base and side pieces. Don’t forget to awl the edges where the side panels will meet.

With everything awled it’s time to glue the mitres on both sides and stick them. I used a needle to line up the holes. I didn’t particularly let the glue set, just started stitching as soon as the edge was holding itself in position. I kept my tape labels in place to ensure the correct pieces would get matched up.

Warning: Depending on how dense the leather is your finger pads will hurt from pulling the needle through. Be prepared and take breaks when you need to.

After stitching all the sides and edges I sanded everything that would need to be edge painted. I mixed edge paint to a close shade of brown for the dividers, and used plain black to paint the drawer box and dividers.

The outer casing

Still using mitred edges I marked the holes the same way. However I awled these holes at a 45 degree angle instead of straight down. This made it easier to stitch as finding the corresponding hole on the other mitred piece was much easier. Next time though I’d move the holes further inside, because I ended up ripping a few holes since the leather wasn’t very thick where the holes exited.

Magnetic Sign

Ra · August 31, 2021

I felt the need to make something a little more permanent than a piece of paper with “Dirty” written on it being used with a fridge magnet on my dishwasher. So I made a tag to convey the message. The Dollaro side would indicate dirty, and Chevre would indicate clean.

The brown dollaro was about 1mm thick, and the grey chevre sully was about 0.9mm. I cut out a rectangle of each at full thickness. I cut scraps out about 3x the length and width of the magnet’s diameter and skived them down to 0.5mm.

On a piece of cardstock I applied some sticky tape. Any surface that would allow glue to easily be lifted off would do. I scuffed all parts of the magnet and wiped off the dust. Then I applied a layer of glue (Aquilim 315) to one face of the magnet and in the centre of the skived pieces. When both glued surfaces were tacky I place the magnet in the middle. I applied glue to the sides of the magnet once one face was stuck on.

Important point to note: The magnets will be back to back, so think carefully on which side is being glued down and will be “outside” and make sure the poles attract where magnets will touch and be sewn together

Next was time to mold the leather over the magnet. I turned the scrap piece over and placed it on my DIY non-stick surface, and with a bonefolder carefully molded the leather over the magnet, being careful not to stretch the leather too much, and being careful to remove all creases.

On the larger tags I punched a hole in where I wanted my magnet to go, dry fitted it over the covered magnet to make sure it would be the correct size (it wasn’t, I needed to increase the hole diameter by 1-2mm), then paint the inside of the hole. Crease the hole (I forgot to) and mark the stitch line with a divider. Scuff the grain side of the scrap that would be glued to the flesh side of the larger piece, glue both sides and stick. Hammer it down for a good adhesion. Carefully peel the entire unit off the non-stick surface and use something to keep the magnet in place (here I used nylon reinforcement tape), Punch the holes that will keep the magnet leathers together and stitch.

When both tags are ready you can glue just the edges, or laminate the whole thing together. Cut out a clean shape, I used a rectangle with radiused corners. I applied a single layer of edge paint to hold a clean edge, heated it in, then marked my stitches and stitched all the way around. Last step was painting the edges again.

Weekender Duffle Bag

Ra · March 31, 2021

This was by far the most ambitious project I’ve undertaken. I took a lot of learnings from the usable prototype toiletries bag I made. My approach to creating this bag was a little haphazard, so I’ll try to streamline it a bit for my future self who will undoubtably refer to this post because my memory is so awful.

Prep

Leather used was Black Premium Bit Shrink and Peach Fuwari from Hashimoto. Reinforcement used was Microfibra 1mm, Brio 0.7mm, and non-stretch reinforcement tape on all seams.

Cutting

Panels cut from Black:

4x D-panels (they’re shaped like a D, don’t know what else to call them)
2x Side panels
1x Base
Various straps and piping

Panels cut from Peach:

2x middle panels
1x giant inner liner
Various straps and piping

Reinforcement:

1mm Microfibra sized to D-panels and trimmed a bit on all edges
0.7mm Brio for the base
2mm Oslo for quilting

Skiving

Seam allowance for this bag was 1cm, so I feather-skived 1cm where needed (in hindsight I should’ve gone double the seam allowance):

D-panels
- Curved edges where it would attach to side panels
- Bottom where it would attach to the base
- Side where it would attach to the middle peach panel
Side panels
- All around the curve and base
Base
- All the way around
Strips for handle attachment
- Just the two long edges, these I step-skived, leaving a jump where the O ring would sit at full thickness

Build steps

Quilting

The toughest part first, I pricked the peach middle panels. I laminated the Oslo to it, leaving a gap at the top and bottom where they would be stitched to the zip and base respectively. No point having bulk there. I backed the piece with some split. I could’ve used salpa or another piece of leather, anything works. Then I got to quilting it. I planned my start and end points so I’d start cleanly at the top visible areas, and terminate the stitching with a hidden backstitch somewhere towards the bottom.

D-panels

I laminated the reinforcement to the outer leather. These panels would carry the strip enchapes (I have no idea if this is correct terminology, the strips either side of the middle panel that the carry handle would attach to), so I needed to prep the strips.

Dry-fitting panels to get rough strip length

I covered the under surface of the strips with reinforcement tape to prevent any stretch. I pricked, creased and edge painted the strips. I added a bit of padding on the under side. Then I glued the strips to the D-panels, pricked all the way through, and stitched the strips down. Being black leather I stitched the edge that would be attached to the quilting panel with a contrast thread (this is a temporary stitch). Next I sanded and re-painted the edge that would be attached to the quilting panel. Once dry I removed the temporary stitching.

Strip enchapes stitched at one edge, painted at the other

I glued the D-panels to the quilting panel, making sure the total bottom length was equal to the base length to which it would be stitched. Things skew and nothing ever really goes perfectly to plan, so it’s always necessary to leave fudging room.

Side panels

Another very tricky, and completely winged process was the shoe pocket in one of the side panels. How I roughly tackled it was this:

I cut out the hole in the main leather and liner
I cut out another black main leather in the same hole shape so I could line the first piece
I constructed the shoe pocket out of fabric (upholstery canvas)
I stitched the pocket to the liner around the perimeter of the hole
I prepped a zipper strip longer than the opening I wanted, and glued and stitched it to some leather strips
On the main side panel with a hole I glued the zipper strip into place, the other half glued to the offcut from the hole
I stitched everything into place and lined the main hole cut piece to give it a nice clean look
I glued side panel and their liners at the very edges

After this stressful bit of construction I noticed that the pocket was a bit warped at the edges. This is as a result of the liner being warped, which I think is a result of my messing up the direction in which I sewed the fabric pocket in.

I honestly have no idea how to fix this for next time besides reinforcing the liner with velodon antistretch reinforcement.

My fingers are crossed that during the piping stage all these wrinkles will disappear.

Liner

I glued and stitched the bag body panels to the base. Then I clipped one edge of my liner leather to one top edge (near the zip). I folded the bag into its final-ish shape, smoothing the liner as I went. At the other edge I measured how much excess liner there was. In my case it was 4cm. So I lay the liner leather flat and trimmed 4cm off one side.

Given how my bag body and liner aren’t just a simple tube made out of a rectangle, I needed to cut out the shape of the arcs that my D-panels make. With those done I’ll angle skive all the way around the perimeter. I’ll do 1cm at the zips, and 2cm down the sides.

Before attaching the liner I needed to add internal pockets. I only made a single zip pocket approximately as wide as the enchape strips on the front, and almost the full height of the bag. I drew a rectangle the size of the opening, and cut a zipper to the correct size for it. Then I made the pocket piece. Using a single piece with a fold will just add bulk so my recommendation is to use two pieces and stitch them on three sides. I skived a 1cm taper skive all the way around the pieces, then glued them together. I stitched up the sides less 1cm from the top edge (this is so that there is enough room for the back layer of the pocket to be pulled out of the way when stitching down the top layer of the pocket to the zip).

Lastly I made some piping and attached it around the perimeter. The piping final width was around 28mm at 0.5mm thickness, and I put a strip of reinforcement tape down the middle. The cord was 2mm. I punched holes through the piping and side panel using 4mm round dents.

Final Assembly

I glued the liner at a fold just at the edges to the outer leather. This is to ensure that the liner isn’t baggy once the bag is finished and turned. I then stitched the liner to the zip.

The hardest part was gluing the bag outer, face down, to the piping on the side panels. My side panels’ length was longer than my bag panel length so I needed to do a bit of easing by gluing parts of the side panel at a curve.

I fed through the zipper pull before closing off the end of the zipper. With it all glued it was time to stitch. The holes from the piping punching are a guide to awl through to the bag body layers, so I awled as I stitched. I used M40 meisi thread for the stitching, it’s a bit thicker than my vinymo mbt #8 and I felt was better for the job.

Once both sides were stitched I turned the bag. The opening of the bag was quite small, and this was no easy feat, then again turning a bag is hardly ever an easy thing.

Straps and Zipper pulls

The last little bit left to do, which could’ve been done at any point in the project, is making the straps and zipper pulls.

I wanted to make a convertible strap thing that could be used as two carry handles as well as a cross-body strap.

Toiletries bag

Ra · February 3, 2021

I made this as a weekender prototype. I had recently received a shipment of Premium Bit Shrink and Fuwari from Hashimoto, so it seemed like a good opportunity to use it.

I sketched out a shape, but making it on graph paper was doing my head in. I just couldn’t figure out how to make arcs that would meet at an angle. So I made a little playdoh version, chopped the sides at the angle I wanted the side panels to be, and traced the shape out on baking paper.

Now that I had a rough idea of the bag shape I drew it up more accurately on LibreCAD. I printed out a small version and prototyped it using some leather split. Shapes looked good, just needed to be mindful of lopping off the top where the zipper would go.

Next up was the quilting. I tried out some samples using fabric, but it didn’t look fantastic. I’m not very great at sewing straight lines with a sewing machine so I went with making it in leather.

Prototypes are all about trying different techniques. For the leather quilting panels I tried a few different things. On one panel I sandwiched Oslo between two panels of leather, punched straight through and stitched. I trimmed before hand on this one, realised I’d messed up right after I made the cut, and added a strip of leather to the bottom because I’d just hacked off the seam allowance. The result was a nice quilted look, but unsightly stitches on the back.
On the second panel I stitched through one layer of leather and Oslo to see if the quilting effect would be preserved, and backed the Oslo after it was stitched with the second panel of leather as a way to hide the stitches. This didn’t turn out very well, the quilting effect was completely lost and it looked flat, but the back sure looked clean.
If I had to pick an option I’d pick the first one. Experimenting with backing the Oslo with something else and then gluing the leather panel on that is also an option worth exploring.

The picture above is a great example of why skiving edges is important, no matter how thin your leather seems to be.

The quilted panels’ heights were all off, so I had to fill in the space with a strip of leather.

Top: Flat-looking quilted panel; Bottom: Puffier quilted panel

After cutting out the rest of the parts I skived them using a bell skiver. The seam allowance I’m using for the prototype is 5mm, the skive is slightly wider than that.

I edge-finished the ends that would be attached to the zipper. I forgot to crease before painting, oh well, we live and learn.

After painting those edges, I attached the two body panels to the base. I sized the zip and stitched that on too. Next was putting the side panels on. I marked the centre points of each side panel’s bottom, and shorter base side, lined them up and used double-sided tape to hold it in place. The arced sides of the side panels were attached to the main body with glue. Once glued in place I punched a stitch line 5mm in from the edge and stitched, sandwiching a pull tab between the side panel and zip.

The end result of the connection point between zips and pull tabs left much room for improvement. This is an area I’d pay more attention to when I make the final version.

Messenger bag

Ra · January 14, 2021

I was asked for a slightly different version of the Safari Bag. This one was to be taller and narrower, but much the same as the previous one. I hoped to apply the learnings from the last go to this one. There’s a tl;dr at the end of the post.

I used natural veg tan dyed English Bridle (Fiebings) using an airbrush, and finished with Fiebings Aussie. I cut out the template pieces out of the dyed leather. For lining of the flap and zips I decided to use natural Kangaroo.

I seem to never learn that I should have a trim allowance, so I just cut all the pieces in their final dimensions and hoped to make the best edge-matching as I could.

Knowing that quite a few skives would be needed around seams I decided to try something different. I punched all the holes I would need to sew, and then skived them. Skiving leaves the leather at an angle, which makes it a lot harder to punch straight.

I wanted to use the matching holes method to the gusset. The traditional way is to punch holes in the main bag, glue the gusset, and awl through the holes into the gusset. However I’m not confident in my awling technique so I decided to do this one a little differently too. I marked the straight portions where I used my 10-tooth irons, and the curved portion where I used my 2-tooth irons, and counted the holes in each section. Matching the centre points of the main body to a strip of salpa I matched the holes up and punched the straight section of the base. For the curved radius I pinned the straight parts, and held the salpa in place and awled through. The purpose of this was to get an estimation of where the hole would end up. As expected the awled holes weren’t in line with the standard pricking line, so I fixed those up later. These salpa holes are the ones I transferred to my gusset, so theoretically everything should line up. With the gusset punched, that too was skived.

With lining up the holes carefully I glued the gusset to the back panel and stitched it.

Gusset corner attached using matching holes method

I made some enchapes to attach the bag strap to the body. I’m not 100% happy with these either. I riveted the back to the gusset, and the front was stitched to the body. The theory of this holding is fine, but the way I did it doesn’t look fantastic, so this is something I would work on next time, by making the back a lot smaller since it doesn’t need to be caught in the stitching from the front.

The zipper plackets were pre-punched, the zipper glued in temporarily with double-sided tape until it could be permanently stitched. I didn’t attach any zipper stops yet, I’ll do that at the end after the plackets have been sewn to the bag body because they need to be completely separated until then.

The flap I planned differently too. The difficulty was in predicting where the flap closure would sit on both the front pocket and the flap. So my plan was to glue the flap from the rear (where it attaches to the back main panel), glue the curve over the bag opening, then see where the flap came down to, giving me an approximate location of where to place the closure on both the flap and the pocket, and whether or not I’d need to shorten the flap based on the design I had planned.
This backfired a bit when I didn’t stitch the top of the back main panel to the flap, so I ended up taking the flap apart, stitching the back panel, drop liner, and zipper placket to the flap liner, then resealing the flap and stitching it back. This is a mess up I won’t make again.

I made the shoulder pad using some scrap and foam glued on a curve.

The whole leather outer bag was built. Next I tackled the liner. I cut out of natural kangaroo a strip of leather plus a larger mid-section which would make up the internal zipper pocket. I had pre-pricked holes on the bag’s top edge before assembly so I used these as a guide to figure out how long the drop liner strip should be.

I used the completed bag’s inner dimension to make the fabric liner. I made the fabric liner a little shorter than the top of the bag. It would be stitched to the kangaroo, which would in turn be stitched to the edge of the bag.

I made a fabric mockup of the liner using calico. The first version was a little big, but the second version fit just right. I dismantled this and used it as a template for the actual fabric I would use for the final liner, linen and canvas.

With the final fabric liner made up I stitched the zip pocket to the leather first, and then the rest of the fabric liner to the leather strip. Matching my pre-punched holes at the top of the main panels and gussets I stitched the leather strip to the main body.

Lastly I stitched the belt strap. The plan was to make it adjustable, however at the start of the project I was a little short on leather from the original hide, so I bought some belt blanks and skived them down. Even skived they were much too thick, so I decided to estimate a reasonable length for a crossbody strap and keep it a fixed length.

tl;dr

The rough order of operation for this bag was:

Prep, dye, and finish the leather required for the project and cut out the pieces
Prick edges and skive edges that require it (if using a drop liner, prick these holes too and awl them into the drop liner)
Figure out gusset length if your design hasn’t already done so
Edge finish the following:
1. Zipper placket edges
2. Top of gusset (once you know the final gusset length)
3. Top of pockets
4. Enchapes
5. Flap base that attaches to the back main panel
Make the strap shoulder pad at any point. Stitch the strap at any point.
Attach enchapes to gusset (once you know the final gusset length)
Burnish back of pockets or attach lining to it if desired (only to back pocket. Front pocket lining needs to be attached after female part of magnet has been attached)
Stitch flap base to back main panel
Glue flap on a curve. Attach male magnet part, back it with reinforcement, and laminate leather. Trim any excess and stitch up the flap
Glue back pocket to back panel and pin gusset into place. Stitch gusset to back panel
Pin gusset to front panel and pocket. Close flap and estimate where the female magnet part needs to be attached
Attach female magnet part, back with reinforcement to cover the mechanism so it doesn’t catch on anything, and attach the lining
Stitch gusset to front panel
If using a drop liner, use bag’s final internal dimensions to create the fabric liner. Using the pre-pricked holes awl the drop liner leather. Attach the zipper placket and sew in place. Finish attaching zipper stops
Edge finish all remaining edges
With the bag basically finished thread the strap through the shoulder pad and attach it to the enchapes

Pencil Case

Ra · November 30, 2020

For this project I dyed some natural vegetable tanned leather with Fiebings Cordovan dye, finished with Fiebings Aussie. I marked all parts I needed with a scratch awl and cut them out. The parts needed for this pencil case were the main body, two end tabs, and a zipper pull with some padding.

I tackled the zipper pull first, adding appropriate sized padding to it and gluing it down around the zipper pull’s ring and stitching it. Next I prepared the end tabs, finishing the edges and using the empty space to stamp my logo. I skived one edge of the tabs where it would be stitched to the main body. The flesh side I burnished with Tokonole.

I skived the main body where the turned stitches would go. I left the parts where the zipper would be attached at full thickness. I marked where the zipper would be glued, and burnished the rest of the flesh side with Tokonole to prevent fibres from getting loose when the pencil case would be in use. I edge-finished the zipper area in preparation for zipper attachment.

I measured the length of zipper required and prepared it by removing teeth and attaching top stops. I then separated the zipper and glued it around the edge, folding the zipper tape into little puckers as it went around curves. Next I punched and stitched the zipper.

Next I needed to put the bottom stop, so I closed the zipper inside out and marked where the bottom stop should go. I removed all the excess teeth to the mark.

Before installing the zipper stop I needed to stick on the tabs. I attached these, facing inwards, the grain side facing the zip. With these glued on, I inserted the zipper pull and attached the bottom stop, zipping the pencil case inside out.

Next I boxed the corners and glued them down. I used round dents to punch the ends and stitched them up. I trimmed any excess tape, burned the edges to prevent fraying, and turned the pencil case inside out.

Camera mini bag

Ra · September 6, 2020

I wanted to make a relatively simple bag to hold my camera and nothing else for now. I decided to go with a lunchbox style bag with a lid that zips up all around.

I cut out all the leather parts, no trim allowance. The parts were an identical top and base, a gusset which would also be the body, two enchapes to hold the strap to the body, and two long strips that would make the piping.

All edges of the top and bottom, and gusset body were skived. The piping strips were 2.5cm wide and skived 1.1cm from either length to leave a raised “core” for the piping in the middle. In the future I would skive it all flat and use a real 2mm leather core, but since I didn’t have any handy I made do.

I cut out the zipper hole from the gusset body and prepared the zipper, attaching top and bottom stops once I was sure of the length. The zipper hole was creased and burnished, then the zipper attached and stitched to the body. I also sewed the gusset close to make a ring which would fit around the top and base.

I glued the piping strips. I marked the centre of both top and base, then attached the piping, clipping the corners as I went for the piping to lay nicely. Once the piping was stuck, I used a fileteuse to mark a line right up against the piping for punching holes. I punched the holes into the piping, punched matching holes in the gusset, and stitched it all together.

Once the top and base were both attached, I turned the bag and hammered the seams and piping to make it pop. I stuck some felt on the inside to give it a more finished look.

For the padding caddy I measured the final internal dimensions of the bag and stitched a container out of velveteen. I padded it with 1cm soft-tempered foam.

Sunglasses Case

Ra · July 12, 2020

Patterning this one was a little tricky, because not only did I want a mostly single-piece pattern, I also wanted it to wrap relatively snugly around the sunglasses. As I worked on it I realised I’d need to add a few more bits here and there, and it became a 5-piece pattern. That’s just the way it goes.

I made this one out of Alran Chevre Sully and some veg tan roo scrap. To support the nose bridge I used Hahns Atelier’s method of stitching a strip to the liner.

Method

With my pattern finalised, I cut correct sizes of both outer and liner leathers, and 5mm shorter all the way around of microfibra 0.5mm reinforcement. The ears I cut one to size, and its liner oversize.

The first step was to deal with everything that needed to happen on just the liner and just the outer before I glued any reinforcement down to cover it.

On the liner, I stitched through reinforcement tape the nose bridge support piece. I also needed to attach the male part of the magnetic clasp, but because the liner would be glued on a curve I would need to place that at the last minute.

On the outer, I stitched the eyes. I cut slits for the ears and stitched those down. I stitched on the mouth applique which would also help in further covering the magnet clasp.

Eyes stitched. Ears and mouth pieces not yet stitched

With the outer complete, I fully laminated flat the reinforcement to the outer. The reinforcement was 5mm smaller on all edges than the outer.

Next I started gluing the edges of the liner to the outer. I started at the bottom, and worked my way almost to the flap, gluing on a curve as needed. When it was almost all glued down I knew how much of the liner would need to be trimmed.

After trimming everything I could place the final piece, the male part of the magnet. I marked its position on the liner and attached it. Then I glued all the edges I hadn’t glued yet and sanded the edges flat.

I marked my stitching holes and got stitching. I only left the wings and its corresponding holes on the body unstitched. Those would be done as the last step. After stitching, and a final sand to true up the edges, I creased the edges. On my Dupin I used #2 setting with normal pen pressure and made multiple passes. After the creasing I painted all the edges.

The last step was to stitch the wings to the body.

Travel Wallet

Ra · June 26, 2020

This is my second iteration of the previous design. I made a few minor modifications to the original that I think came out better. I’ve noted down things I learned in bold during the process that I can improve on next time.

Prep

I first sketched out some very very rough ideas of how I wanted it to look. Next, I expanded on the sketch with some rough dimensions.

To get an idea of what the dimensions would look like, I accurately sketched all the parts on graph paper and put them together into a mockup. That dictated where space could be added or cut down.

With the final notes I created a template in LibreCAD. I printed it out and pasted it to cardboard which I cut to correct dimensions. This makes the template easier to use on leather. Of course I thought of some last minute changes which I made on the fly while cutting out the template.

For the outer leather I used Dollaro, and for the liner I used veg tanned Kangaroo leather. Using painters tape I stuck the template to the leather, and carefully, with a new blade, cut out the parts, avoiding any obvious blemishes. The tape prevents the template from moving, and isn’t too tacky so it doesn’t mar the finish on the leather.

Pattern pieces stuck to leather with painters tape

Assembly

With all the pieces cut out, it was time for assembly. I should have allowed for at least 5mm trim allowance to make glue up and flush edges easier. What helped me immensely was writing down the order of operations prior to cutting any leather. This pointed out where I might need to complete a step before starting on the next, where a piece might become inaccessible so the edge finishing needed to be done at an earlier step, all those sorts of things.

Here’s my order of operations:

Card slot
1. Crease card slot tops, and edge finish. These will become inaccessible once attached to the backing that makes the card bank.
  My trials with hot creasing were good, but I think I let it heat for too long, and I ended up melting some of the finish while creasing this area
2. Stitch card slots to the backing. I only stitched the center and the top which I didn’t want to attach to the zip pocket. I wanted to leave an opening where boarding passes might be slotted in
Gusset
1. Skive all the edges of the zip pocket
2. Cut zip hole
  I should have placed this zip hole a little lower. I had to work with very tight tolerances. A bit more room would have made it more aesthetically pleasing
3. Skive gusset
4. Cut zip to size and finish the ends
5. Make and attach zipper pull
6. Skive zip placket backing
7. Crease zip hole
8. Stitch zip sandwiched between pocket and placket
9. Stitch gusset to pocket opening, then glue and stitch other end of gusset to pocket body
  I knew I had to do it this way, but my mind wandered and I glued it all. Then came the fun part of stitching the gusset to the pocket opening

3. Stitch card bank to zip pocket

4. Fold zip pocket in half and glue edges

5. Cut tranche for right pocket. Crease it
The radius I used was very difficult to crease. Going slowly and not putting much pressure helped get around the tight curves a lot easier without mashing the creases

6. Prep sim card pocket and stitch it to the right panel
I initially made this into a little tranche style pocket with a tab to help pull the sim card out, but it was cumbersome to use, and bulky too, so I removed it and replaced it with a simple slip pocket

7. Cut pen loop with allowance for stitching. Crease pen loop

8. Glue up the layers of the right tranche and its backing at the edges

It would be helpful to mark the glue line prior to gluing so that it doesn’t show through from the tranche gap
Sandwich the pen loop between the layers and stitch

9. With most of the major assembly done, if you’re going to stamp a logo, do it now. I put mine on the right tranche side

10. Make the closure strap

I used magnets, but you can use snaps, maybe even cover the snap, or pick any closure you like
I kept the theme going with the dollaro outer, microfibra reinforcement, and kangaroo liner
Knowing the correct length to make it is important, so take your time with this. I roughly put all my pieces in place where they would be, stuffed them with all the items that the wallet would carry to get a idea of the thickness the strap would need to accommodate for
Stitch up the edges of the strap
Edge finish the strap. I chose to burnish. You can paint the edges instead

11. Using the liner as a guide, on a curve mark the outer leather’s final length

Cut reinforcement 5mm shorter on all sides
Attach the other end of the closure to the outer leather

12. Skive outer leather, reinforcement, and liner

Fully laminate the reinforcement to the outer
Glue the edges of the liner to the outer on a curve
If your plan is to attach the closure strap between the outer and liner, do it now. I forgot, and had to sandwich it between the liner and the right pocket

13. Glue the left and right assembled sides to the liner

Rough the edges where the glue will be applied. If using PVA-type glue like Aquilim315 make sure you allow enough time for the glue to get tacky before you stick things so you don’t get unsightly glue lines at the edges from seepage
Sandwich the closure here if you didn’t do it before. Be sure to get it exactly at the center. One way is to close the mechanism shut and make sure the strap is level. Then mark the position and glue it
Hammer all the glued lines to ensure good adherence

14. With everything stuck into place, it’s time to trim off any excess and make sure the edges are flush
This is where cutting the liner slightly oversize would have come in really handy

15. Final shape

Cut the corner radii if you’re planning to round them off
Make sure the edges are perfectly flat. Sand them if need be

16. Stitching

Mark the stitching line. I mark the line at 2.5mm from the edge
Punch your stitching holes. I align my french irons to the inside of the line. This makes the rough centre of the holes 3mm from the edge, which is a nice spacing
Hammer the holes closed a bit. This allows the stitches to lay with a better slant
Stitch all the way around
Hammer the stitches

17. Edge finish

Make sure the edges are smooth again. Go over them with a planer and/or sandpaper
Crease all the edges
Edge paint or burnish

Protea bag

Ra · May 2, 2020

My good friend bayr started a challenge between a few of us leatherworkers to create something unique, yet thematic. The theme for this was trees and/or flowers. Most of the items I create is usually in shades of brown, so I decided to go a little colourful with this one, and try my hand at something floral.

I chose the Protea flower because it is very simple, yet stunning. My inspiration was a piece of art by Ink & Spindle. I really enjoy Lara’s work and wanted to make a bag that resembled it.

I started out with a few pieces of natural veg tan scraps. I traced out my petal shapes and got to hand-cutting them (there were 55 petals in total!). This exercise really taught me fine control skills with my japanese knife. With all my pieces cut out I airbrushed them with Angelus Light Rose leather dye, and finished it with 50:50 dilution of Fiebings Resolene with water. All the exposed edges were bevelled, edge-dyed, and burnished.

Dyed and finished, bevelled and burnished

I burnished the backs of the petals. This wasn’t entirely necessary, but I didn’t want any fuzzy bits. I stuck the petals in two rows around the bag body, stitching each row as I went. After all the petals were stitched on, I put the circular base on. I pre-punched the bag body, and counted holes to match them to the circular base, which I then awled on the circle.

With the main part of the body complete I stitched on the dusty pink canvas that would make up the rest of the bag, along with the pink ribbon closure.

I had originally intended for there to be three rows of petals, however when I went to place the last row I has miscalculated the number of petals required, and I was a few short. I didn’t want to ruin the look by placing the remaining ones slightly apart to make up the space, so I opted to leave them off. In hind sight I think it looks better like this. I think the last row of petals would have struggled to hold their upright shape. This project took me about a week working in the evenings to complete, but a lot longer to come up with the idea. I’m really looking forward to the next challenge!