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I designed and created this bag for a professional photographer in Belgium. There is space for a 13inch laptop, camera and 2 lenzes, at the back there is a zipper for paper work. 2 front pockets and 2 pen holders.

Hi, everyone! I finally had the chance to wrap up th eproject I showed in here a few days ago. This project was a bit challenging because I had no previous experience sewing things on the inside nor with piping (which I almost skipped altogether). Considering there were almost no do-overs for individual pieces, I can brag about it as a success... I did however messed up two major pieces, which in turn led me to consume all of the leather I bought for this and this kept me from making a couple of straps for attaching stuff to the bottom of the bag... anyway, there is more time than life and I'm sure it won't take me that much of time to get a couple of straps when I embark on my next project, whatever that might be. As I said, I had never made a bag before which was sewn on the inside, so, before I started I roamed about the Internet looking for ideas. I wanted something rugged, light and functional for something that could double as an everyday camera bag and the eventual carry-on luggage. So, I picked up the ideas, began drawing, decided on a color, bought the hardware and thread accordingly and I put my heart, my hands and my future arthritis into it. I'll describe some of the less obvious features in the pictures below. All your questions and feedback are welcome. Here's the whole bag, side pockets, shoulder strap and all. The side pockets are removable, as you will see in the following pictures. Main flap and handle (the "brand" was laser printed, but I'm considering to have a stamp made for future projects). Here I show the two sets of dees for the shoulder strap. This is an idea I got when viewing one of the reviews of James Crane's Youtube channel. The pair of dees on the back of the bag is used when you're carrying the bag cross-body style. The other pair, when carrying on the same side where the bag rests. Here are the bottom and the sides of the bag. Here are two sets of dees just hanging from the straps that close the bag. The straps on the sides are used to attach the pockets seen above. And here is a view of said pockets dettached from the bag. The two cross straps on the pocket rest on top of the two straps on the side of the bag. The same straps used to attach the pockets are used to close it down. You may have noticed that I used a double dee closing mechanism as well as a stud button for all the straps. The reason is that I'll be using each system separately at different times. The button studs are there for an "on the fly" closure. The double dee is used for a more secure closure. And here are several pics showing the contents of the bag.

Hi, everyone. Once again, bothering you in search of some wisdom. I'm about to start designing a camera bag using the basic design of an old USPS mail bag, adding some modifications to adapt that design to my needs and to change the look a little bit. Mainly the changes will involve a change in size (not as tall and a bit deeper from front to end) to acomodate a padded insert, add a couple of pockets under the flap and a couple of straps on the sides to attach/dettach another set of pockets at will, depending on my carrying needs for the day... it's a bit of a Frankenstein monster from several different ideas I've seen around. I plan on using chrome/veg tanned leather, 4-5 or 5-6 oz, the likes of a Dublin or Chromexcel, but with what I have at hand to buy here in Mexico... (BTW, do you have something to sher about Chahin leather? I might get a good deal from them but I'm still working that out). The design I liked the most to begin with is this one from Satchel & Page. Like I said, I'll be changing a lot of things, but the basic form and idea of this one filled my eye. For starters, I'll change the closing from a single buckle to a double strap, double D-ring fastening, since I found it easier and quicker. Also, I'll add a couple of sets of D-rings at the bottom to carry a blanket, or tripod or whatever that doesn't fit inside the bag. I'll keep the magazine pocket in the back because... well, you never know!! Second of all, I'll change the front face of the base bag to acomodate two pockets more or less to the style of the ONA Brixton, since I find those very handy for keeping my cameras accesories, film, lightmeters, pens, notebooks and other stuff. I love the gusset on this one, so I won't change a thing here (rivets and double seam). I'll just add a couple of straps sewn or riveted onto the gusset (towards the sides and top of the bag) as anchor points for a couple of dettachable pockets for storing lenses, cellphone, whatever... Now, on to the questions about designing this thing. I don't care too much if I miss my target size by 1/4 or 1/2 inch because of the joints. But, since there's going to be two layers of leather at the front and at the back, I was wondering if anyone in here would be kind enough to share some light as to how much I should compensate on the size of the outer layer to fit the one on the inside. Say, if the inner front piece is going to be 14 inches wide from one stitch line to the other, how much should the outer piece be? 1/8" - 1/"4 extra to each side? Like I said, I'll be using leather of about 4-5 or 5-6 oz for this project. Another doubt I have is how far should the stitch be from the edge of the leather. I will use waxed poly thread, 0.040 and I normally mark my stitch line at about 1/8" from the edge. But, since the stitches will be on the side, I have my doubts whether the fact that it's a turned bag with several layers would be too much of a load for such a small edge. One other topic I can't decide yet is whether to use piping or not. If I do it it would be by means of a single narrow strap of the same leather I use for the rest of the bag, showing the cross section of the leather (burnished and all) instead of folding it over itself. I understand piping is used to release some tension out of the bent joints of the project. Is this at least somewhat true? Anyway, I hope I made some sense with all this and to get some ideas as to how to skin this particular cat. Cheers, everybody!

I finally finished the camera bag I started a few weeks back. This one is for personal use, which is a good thing because I learned a lot from making it, and it's certainly not perfect! Over all though, I'm not at all displeased with how it turned out. It fits our camera well (I added 1/2 inch board underneath the camera when I formed the leather), and even fits the bigger lens. I'm looking forward to hauling it along for many hikes. Cheers, Monica

Hi all, I've been working on a camera bag, but I've run into a problem. The seam where the three corners meet at the bottom of the bag looks really tacky, and I'm not sure what I should do, or what I should have done to avoid the problem. Any advice would be appreciated! Monica

My husband gave me a hand, and we molded the leather straight onto our Canon 5D Mark II with a 50 1:1.4 lens and lens hood. Which, of course, was our first mistake. As it turns out, you don't want it to be snug. The second mistake was molding the leather to the lens behind the lens hood. I'm not sure how we expected to pull it out! Further, we cut it off too short, so I was going to add another piece back on. Then I had to admit what I had been trying to ignore; that ominous sounding crack we heard when molding it was the lens hood coming loose. We molded it with a crooked lens hood, which made for a crooked line and a wonky bag. At some point, you have to cut your losses and start over. At least we learned a lot. On the next one, I'll just make a separate piece for the front and not try to mold the leather to the lens at all. We were trying to mold 9 oz leather. Was that a mistake? Any tips would be appreciated!

So I needed a padded camera bag that would protection my DSLR and lenses but also wanted a soft-ish messenger bag, and thought I could make one that serves both purposes. Firstly I made a canvas tray/carry thingy. It is heavy canvas encasing 6 mm close cell foam and al velcro assembled to maximum rearranging. Based on those dimensions I made a messenger bag using some drum dyed blue 2 mm leather lined with cotton Dusk, and a thin layer of bamboo wading. Man I learned a lot about fabric, binding and other none leather stuff. The Seiko STW-8B (Consew 226r) performed perfectly. Maximum sewing was 7 layers of 2mm leather, with one layer of wadding and two layers of cotton duck. For that max part I did have to remove the presser foot and basically operated as a needle feed for that 5 inches or so. The bag is over size, I contrasted the blue with saddle tan, wrapped the strap under the bag and stitched through for maximum security, the camera is heavy and expensive. When not carrying the camera the liner can be simply lifted out and I have a large messenger bag. I finished it off with a "tree-of-life" concho. I know the colors might not be to everyones taste, but I had the blue side and nothing else to do with it.. I think the mopst interesting challenge was the internal binding, it looks a little rough, but only God is perfect right? Design on the fly is a lot of fun, and I have learned a lot about my new sewing machine. I love it. Any comments would be most welcome. Cheers All, Tony