Leather Satchel is FINISHED! :D

Started by Bernadette, March 20, 2017, 07:52:46 PM

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Bernadette

Front:


Back:


Inside:


The oil soaked into it so evenly; I was pretty worried there for a day or so after I'd applied it! The webbing turned out to be too thin and...slippery to "catch" in the metal slides the way I'd planned, so I went back to the original plan of leather straps. Eventually I'll add D-rings and make an over-the-shoulder strap, too, but the backpack straps are definitely more important for my uses. Hopefully, this thing will only get better (softer "hand" and darker in color) with age, if pictures of antique ones are anything to go by.  :grin:

Heinrich! Es ist eine aktentasche!  :grin:
My Lord and my God.

Kaesekopf

Wie dein Sonntag, so dein Sterbetag.

I am not altogether on anybody's side, because nobody is altogether on my side.  ~Treebeard, LOTR

Jesus son of David, have mercy on me.

kayla_veronica

May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable,
most incomprehensible and ineffable Name of God
be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored
and glorified in Heaven, on earth,
and under the earth,
by all the creatures of God,
and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Amen.

Bernadette

I punched holes for stitched trim along the edges of the backpack straps, but I haven't decided whether to actually add it or not. It'll look nice, but it'll get so much wear that it'll end up looking pretty shabby eventually, and need to be replaced...
My Lord and my God.

dymphna17

Oh Bernadette!!  It's beautiful!  I can't get over how perfectly every stitch is put in and how well the colors go together in it.  You certainly knew what you were doing.  Were you able to picture it in your mind all together, or did you just "know" how well it was going to go together?
?
I adore Thee O Christ, and I bless Thee, because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world!

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph save souls!

Of course I wear jeans, "The tornadoes can make dresses immodest." RSC

"Don't waste time in your life trying to get even with your enemies. The grave is a tremendous equalizer. Six weeks after you all are dead, you'll look pretty much the same. Let the Lord take care of those whom you think have harmed you. All you have to do is love and forgive. Try to forget and leave all else to the Master."– Mother Angelica

MilesChristi

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
    It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
    It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
    And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
    And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
    There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
    Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
    World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Chestertonian

"I am not much of a Crusader, that is for sure, but at least I am not a Mohamedist!"

Bernadette

#7
Quote from: dymphna17 on March 20, 2017, 08:53:59 PM
Oh Bernadette!!  It's beautiful!  I can't get over how perfectly every stitch is put in and how well the colors go together in it.  You certainly knew what you were doing.  Were you able to picture it in your mind all together, or did you just "know" how well it was going to go together?

Well, I had the basic design worked out before I cut into the leather: I'd planned the dimensions to the quarter of an inch, using graph paper templates, and worked from the picture that I'd posted before. I ran into some "glitches" in the actual execution (trying to figure out how to go about getting the results that I wanted, particularly with the curved edges), and had to work those out through trial and error. I took notes of all mishaps, and of their eventual resolution, to put toward my next endeavor in this department. ;) The stitching is even because of the "stitching chisel" (which, as you'll remember, I actually broke while making this bag. It sacrificed itself to a good cause, by way of my zeal. :lol:). As for the colors: I've never understood why people want stitching to be so unobtrusive in most things. I saw this as a good opportunity to make use of bright, vibrant stitching, as a sort of ornamentation.

Quote from: Chestertonian on March 20, 2017, 09:20:44 PM
Wow, you made that??
Yes. :) I love working with leather: I find it immensely satisfying.
My Lord and my God.

Akavit

That's a lot of hole punching.  I've done a tad of leather work in making bits of hardware for some boxes and know well how tough it is to pierce it.  Nicely done.  Have you done many projects in the past or is this the first major one?

Greg

Overlap on the straps doesn't look big enough.  Commercial satchel makers overlap at least 1" and a quarter to 1" and a half and then sew a double stitched square.  Your one looks susceptible to breaking there.

How do I know?

I have fixed 25 handbag handles for my wife and now my daughter.  They buy bags on the looks but I always look at the handles.
Contentment is knowing that you're right. Happiness is knowing that someone else is wrong.

Bernadette

Quote from: Greg on March 21, 2017, 03:07:23 AM
Overlap on the straps doesn't look big enough.  Commercial satchel makers overlap at least 1" and a quarter to 1" and a half and then sew a double stitched square.  Your one looks susceptible to breaking there.

Do you mean the top handle, or the backpack straps? Or the front straps? Or all of them?
My Lord and my God.

Bernadette

Quote from: Akavit on March 20, 2017, 10:40:20 PM
That's a lot of hole punching.  I've done a tad of leather work in making bits of hardware for some boxes and know well how tough it is to pierce it.  Nicely done.  Have you done many projects in the past or is this the first major one?
I've made two other bags, and used an old pair of moccasins as a a pattern to make a new pair. I think the most intimidating part of leather projects is getting the tools together, and I've had the good luck of having a lot of my uncle's tools to work with.
My Lord and my God.

OCLittleFlower

Nice work!  Have you ever thought about making them for sale?  :)
-- currently writing a Trad romance entitled Flirting with Sedevacantism --

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Bernadette

Quote from: OCLittleFlower on March 21, 2017, 06:02:02 AM
Nice work!  Have you ever thought about making them for sale?  :)
I've got a friend who wants to buy one, and people have expressed interest in my other bag when I carried it; but I expect a lot of them would get "sticker shock," if they don't have an idea of the the cost of materials, let alone labor.
My Lord and my God.

Greg

Quote from: Bernadette on March 21, 2017, 05:52:35 AM
Quote from: Greg on March 21, 2017, 03:07:23 AM
Overlap on the straps doesn't look big enough.  Commercial satchel makers overlap at least 1" and a quarter to 1" and a half and then sew a double stitched square.  Your one looks susceptible to breaking there.

Do you mean the top handle, or the backpack straps? Or the front straps? Or all of them?

All of them look weak to me.
Contentment is knowing that you're right. Happiness is knowing that someone else is wrong.