AndyNext

My first tote bag, based on Ian Atkinson's excellent Build Along video and pattern. It has an internal pocket, a simple closure and long handles as requested by my daughter. The leather is 1.5mm softy veg tan shoulder in light tan from Metropolitan in the UK. The pocket is made from veg tan softy goat skin from Prevo. Now to make another one for my other daughter - different colour handles though.

I'm away for a few days but will post a pic of the opened bag and contents when I get back.

After making a messenger bag on a DiamondAwl workshop earlier this year, I decided to adapt that basic design and build method to make a carry case for my smallest button accordion. Quite a few additional build ideas were taken from Ian Atkinson's awesome videos e.g. creating a briefcase style handle. (http://www.ianatkinson.net/leather/videos.htm) I used QCAD to design and modify the pattern, and stapled together a paper prototype to check sizing for the specific instrument. I eventually bought the full QCAD product as that will print a large pattern across multiple sheets of paper - essential for larger projects such as this. The leather used is 2mm veg tan (Stafford Tan) from AA Crack. A future project will be to scale up the design to make a case for one of my larger squeezeboxes.

I attended both the one day and then the two day courses at DiamondAwl earlier this year, making first a passport holder and then a messenger bag. Jason is a great tutor, sharing lots of practical advice for beginners. Definitely to be recommended if you are in the UK. His workshop is NE of Manchester. I've now got the leatherworking bug