Solifidian

I'm afraid not. I drew it up on paper, then cut it out of cardboard, and tweaked it as I went. No digital versions sorry!

You might find that it is a nickel allergy from the nickel plating used on the hardware. My daughter and her mother have something similar and need to make sure they get stainless steel/silver/gold earrings etc. Hope that helps.

Good suggestion, thanks! I hadn't even thought of that. This is something I will have to try for the next one. Still working out some of the finer details! And thanks for all the other encouraging comments too. My daughter has already received a couple in the week since she has been using it Daniel.

Hi all, I've benefitted a lot from reading the many posts on these forums, and thought I would post some pics of my first major project. This is a bag for my daughter (she tells me it is not a handbag!), inspired by various designs I found on the web. It has a few mistakes and is a bit rough in places, but was a very enjoyable and satisfying experience. It was made from the pieces I found in the scrap bin at the local leather place, so I had to join a couple of pieces together to make the strap. The inside is lined with suede, and that was pretty cheap too. All in all it was a very inexpensive project. I think the hardware ended up costing more than the leather! My next major project, all going well, is to make a backpack out of kangaroo leather. Although considering how long it took to make this one, that may be a few years away! Daniel.

Good idea. Might give pigskin a go. Should be able to give it more structure, but hopefully not too much weight. Thanks!

Thanks for this! You have given me more encouragement to at least give it a go

That's a good point about them being robust - I currently own two of their bags, and they certainly are built to last! My hope is that kangaroo leather will have that robustness (or longevity at least) without the weight. I also plan on adding some padding to the back panel so that should help to stiffen it up a little. I'm not too concerned if the rest of the bag is a little more flexible. I have to admit that it is a little daunting considering something like this, but it is something I plan to complete over a fairly long period of time. I've attempted other craft projects of similar complexity in the past and have managed to get them finished in the end, even with a steep learning curve Thanks for the replies!

Hi all, I'm very new to leatherworking and am still finding my way around. I've made a couple of smaller items from offcuts, but am now looking at a larger project. I am hoping to build a backpack based loosely on the front pocket backpack from Saddleback Leather: http://www.saddlebackleather.com/frontpocketbackpack One of the main critiques I've seen of this particular bag is the weight, so I thought I would use Kangaroo Leather instead. As I live in Australia, it is fairly easily obtainable, and from what I understand it is quite strong. I'm just not sure whether it is right for this application or not, so I am hoping that I might be able to get some advice to make sure I'm heading in the right direction. Does anyone have experience with this leather, e.g. pros and cons, or has some idea of how it might go with a largish bag of this kind? Thanks in advance for your help! Daniel.