Hi all, I'm new to leather work (about a year) and just have to say what a huge resource this forum has been. I couldn't have made it this far without it.
My first briefcase project was from an attache pattern I purchased from Bighousedaddy.com. Very happy with the pattern and the way the project turned out.
After bringing it to the office, I was asked by a colleague to build a custom designed briefcase for a corporate director. After hearing his design ideas I took a deep breath and agreed to do it. So, after two months of work, I've finished the bag for my first customer.
The pattern work was more challenging than I thought and I had to modify and adjust as I went along. The bag itself is a double gusset, double flap design with an additional front pocket. The pocket also has 3 mini pouches, plus pen and biz card holder. The handle and structure is attached to an oak dowell. The leather used for the exterior of the bag (including strap and shoulder pad) is cut from a 9 ounce, black, Austin Double Shoulder. The interior is lined with 3 ounce naked finish steer hide. I used magnetic closures for both the front and back flap.
Due to my inexperience, I was not fully prepared for the amount of effort it would take to complete the gusset work (especially in the corners). Hand stitching through a combination of 6 layers at the centerline (36 ounces in total) drove me to the edge of insanity. I did manage to come up with a technique to hold the layers together so that I wouldn't completely lose my mind.
Anyway, I'm totally exhaustive but still smiling. Learned my lesson though when it comes to choosing leather thickness for gusset work! Comments welcome -
