Gucci Eat Your Heart Out....

[Beaverslayer]

Here's a purse I just completed for my Cousin from Quebec, Canada.

It is lambskin over 2/3 oz Veg Tan leather. The shoulder pad has an Ostrich Leg inlay, as well as the triangular design that holds the top closed by friction.

The shoulder strap is made with 4 double chrome chains with veg tan spacers.

The inside of the purse has two lambskin pockets. The entire purse is sewn together using Kangaroo lace instead of normal sewing.

[immiketoo]

Wow. That's a very complex design! Love the color.

[Bluesman]

O Yeah!!!!!!!! :notworthy: You did Great!!! Were did you get the lamb skin and what weight is it? Also how was it to work with?

[Beaverslayer]

Thanks Mike, the lambskin color is a dark chocolate brown. I can't really take credit for the design though. My Cousin was going to buy a Gucci Emily Chain purse for $1090.00 USD. She sent me a picture of it, and as usual, I said.....sure I can make you one of those, just not in that color. She asked me the price I would charge her, and she agreed to pay $280.00 CDN.

Bluesman, thank you. It's garment Lambskin from Tandy, not sure of the weight, it's quite thin and soft, but very nice to work with. I've been using it for a number of years and have made hats and vests with it.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Beaverslayer

[Havamal]

Wonderfull work! impressive...

[immiketoo]

Yeah you da man!

[bluesman1951]

Nicely done ,eye just keeps making laps from end to end nothing making a slow down on this one . First class all the way . My compliments thats gallery ready at any Botique in Santa Fe . Bill

[Northmount]

Very nice! Looks like you are having fun.

Tom

[Beaverslayer]

Thank you all for the compliments, they are much appreciated.

Tom, yes I'm having fun, but this one did play a bit of havoc on the old fingers.

[David8386]

Looks really good, it all flows together. Like the lacing too.

David

[Sicksteene]

Fantastic work! Doesn't much matter where you got the design, your execution is wonderful!!

[rosiart]

Wonderful purse! I'm sure she is really pleased, I know I would be.

[Beaverslayer]

David, Sicksteene and rosiart, thank you for the compliments, they are much appreciated.

rosiart, yes she is very pleased with it.

[JustKate]

Love it, Beav!

[Averya]

Just beautiful. I wouldn't know where to begin on something that complicated. Very impressive.

[Beaverslayer]

Kate and Averya, thank you for the compliments, they are appreciated.

[macdaddytoolin]

Ballin' Shot callin' I'd carry that around... ok maybe not that's just because I am a guy

[Beaverslayer]

Ah come on macdaddy, I've carried it around, people say it matches my shoes....lol

Thanks for the compliment by the way.

[Aurelie]

Just ...

WHOAAAAAAAAA

Geez , 280$?? was a "family price" special for your cousin?

or you would sale the same to a perfect stranger the same price???

'cause from where i sit , it looks like it's a lot of work, a lot of quality stuff involved!

Congrats!!

gonna call you the King of purses!! :D

[chadnorth]

very nice!

[Beaverslayer]

Aurelie, Thank you...

I had actually told her that for "Family" I would charge her $180.00, but she insisted on paying the full retail price.

There is a fair amount of work in this one, but most of that is lacing, even at full price it works out to about $20.00 per hour plus materials.

Thank you Chad, much appreciated.

Edited November 29, 2012 by Beaverslayer

[Aurelie]

It always "flatten" me on the ground when i read you guys across the pond (aka atlantic ocean) talking about prices

and i often forget that if i would like to do the same , sell it and get a wee bit of cash to pay my bills at the end of the month i would have to charge almost 3 times the price ....'cause of shipping fee, custom fee, taxes and so on

For example, last May i was in Sheridan WY talking with some US saddle makers about the price of the material in order to build a saddle (without counting the working price)

turned out the cost in the USA is roughly 800 $ => same material for me (once i get it in France) is roughly 1500 $

Looking at it this way...it's just plain crazy......

See guys those braided romals with kangaroo? i wanted to get a shot at trying it?

bought some books on braiding?

i just dropped the idea : see the price of kangaroo? + the time spent to braid a romal?

i ve seen many romals sold around 600 $ in the USA...but i know that no one in Europe is ready to pay that much for a romal...just dropped the idea :/

too bad

Geez , you just would make HUGE money selling those in Europe! :D

Add to that : your job is AWSOME.....how did I call you? King of Purses?? Right!

AhAh

Edited November 29, 2012 by Aurelie

[Beaverslayer]

Aurelie,

If you know how to lace, and have a desire to do this kind of work, they are not that hard to make. The hardest part actually is coming with a design that customers will buy. If you Google handbags, there must be millions of pictures and all together I'd say there may be only a few hundred different styles.

This one is actually a style that Gucci makes, it's just a bit bigger and a different color, with fancier stuff done to it. In total, there is less than 2 square feet of lambskin and even less veg tan leather, with about 100 feet of lace. You could almost build it out of scrap leather.

I encourage you to delve into making one, just to see how little material there actually is. Also, for purses and such, you don't have to use kangaroo lace, you can also use goat lace, and even cut your own lace from a garment goat hide, this will greatly reduce your cost of materials.

If you have a sewing machine, you can also sew them together, and just add embellishments of exotic leathers or lacing to make them "POP" and catch the attention of potential buyers.

Good Luck....I hope to see pictures soon

[Aurelie]

will try and show you

thx Mr Beaver

[Beaverslayer]

Aurelie,

Glad to hear you are going to try, if you run into any problems, feel free to ask for help, I am more than willing to give you any help you may need.