Sjm1027 Report post Posted October 21, 2007 (edited) I have been poking around this great Web Site for a while and noticed I do not see much in the making of leather bags. I am not in this for business but for a hobby. I am somewhat new at the leather craft and have to thank many of you for answering the many questions I have had since I started. I have done a lot of tooling, getting pretty good at it... and made some small cases, book marks and just playing with leather to get the feel of molding and sewing... I believe I am ready to start a project I am really excited about. I have always loved the look of a leather back pack or a leather toiletry bag. I also always have a need to bring some kind of a bag to put all my small stuff in for the day. I work 41 miles away from home so there is no going back once I get there so I tend to bring more than I need for the day. I usually take a backpack and sometimes it seems to be overkill. I would like to make a nice middle size bag with a handle like the following: http://www.llbean.com/cd-15/51632/4525.shtml I use this bag and it is really nice but I want to customize it, making it about 5 x 3 inches larger add more pockets... and so on. My question is, how does one figure out how this bag is built? Is there a book that I can get or are there patters out there? I would really love to know how to figure this out so I can start designing my own bag and eventually make it. Next question is leather, what ounce leather would one use for this bag? I would imagine the zippers would have to be a certain type or strength matching to the leather? Are zippers to difficult to do? Do most people had sew these or do it by machine? Well I could go on for ever But am really excited to start this project... at least the planning phase... I would really be interested to hear from you all about the difficulty with bags in general. Thanks in advance, Steve Edited October 21, 2007 by Sjm1027 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rawhide Report post Posted October 21, 2007 I would suggest that you get Al Stohlman's book, "The Art of Making Leather Cases Vol. 2" There are a couple of toiletry bags there and I'm sure you could customize it to fit what you want. It gives you the basic principles of builiding it, how to put in the zippers, etc... BTW I usually handsew my zippers, simply because I like to handsew. But I just bought a leather sewing machine and can't wait until it arrives so I can sew some stuff with it. Marlon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rayban Report post Posted October 23, 2007 I'm thinking of a similar project to "carry my stuff in" too, but I don't plan on getting as elaborate as you...I'm thinking of something more like this un... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...me=STRK:MEWA:IT But less us see your progress pleae. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sjm1027 Report post Posted October 23, 2007 I'm thinking of a similar project to "carry my stuff in" too, but I don't plan on getting as elaborate as you...I'm thinking of something more like this un...http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...me=STRK:MEWA:IT But less us see your progress pleae. I like the old Mail Bag.... what ounce leather do you think it is? I am guessing 6 to 7 ounce? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sjm1027 Report post Posted October 23, 2007 I would suggest that you get Al Stohlman's book, "The Art of Making Leather Cases Vol. 2"There are a couple of toiletry bags there and I'm sure you could customize it to fit what you want. It gives you the basic principles of builiding it, how to put in the zippers, etc... BTW I usually handsew my zippers, simply because I like to handsew. But I just bought a leather sewing machine and can't wait until it arrives so I can sew some stuff with it. Marlon I picked up the book today, Looks like I should do something a little easier... Perhaps something like Rayban was looking at... Maybe something like that to get my feet wet. I love the book, I have Vol.1 and use it quite a bit. Vol 2 teaches quite a bit more. Thanks for the idea Steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rayban Report post Posted October 23, 2007 I believe 6/7 oz. should do it for that mail bag...also, since you are familiar with Tandy/Al Stohlmn books, look over the saddle bag patterns they have available. They are a bit smaller than we want our bags to be, but just take the sections and copy them up to the % you want, and wala, you have patterns. Just add dees on the sides, a strap and you're off!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sjm1027 Report post Posted October 23, 2007 I believe 6/7 oz. should do it for that mail bag...also, since you are familiar with Tandy/Al Stohlmn books, look over the saddle bag patterns they have available. They are a bit smaller than we want our bags to be, but just take the sections and copy them up to the % you want, and wala, you have patterns. Just add dees on the sides, a strap and you're off!! Very nice idea, I will stop by later this week. Searching to see if there is a tutorial for making a bag... getting hung up on shaping pieces and visualizing how they get sewn together. I will keep searching Thanks again Steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
