Etui Pour Homme

[AndrewWR]

This is a little project that research suggests has no market value at all. At least, Google couldn't find anything that fit the brief.

A friend asked for a travel sewing kit (etui) for a man. All such commercially available kits seemed to be cheap and nasty and overtly aimed at the female customer.

This guy's a commercial pilot so spends a lot of time in hotels and in uniform. So... running repairs would include shirt and jacket buttons, hems on pants, torn seams and broken zippers.

Gentlemen, I give you Etui Pour Homme...

 

 

This card wallet sized little case is made of saddle pigskin (motorcycle saddles) and is closed with an English bridle leather strap.

Inside the case, which naturally lays flat when open, are two safety pins (for broken zippers) a small but beautifully crafted pair of needlework scissors ( Baby Bow - Merchant & Mills (merchantandmills.com) ), a metre (39") of iron-on hemming tape (not pictured), a needle threader tool (not shown), two fine fabric needles, two large needles, half a dozen pins and a carbon fibre thread card to hold three colours of thread. 

Closed, the case measures 85mm x 55mm by 10mm + 6mm for the Sam Brown stud. Snappers, Velcro or magnets could just as easily be used as the closure but slimness wasn't my priority so I chose styling to match his dopp kit.

On the slight chance somebody might think they have a similar requirement, here's the plan I drew.

 

Stay safe.

 

Andrew

 

[fredk]

Your leather case set looks useful

In the RAF [and USAF] we used to get regularly issued with a card-board cased set like that. It was called a 'house wife'. No scissors but often a small razor bladed knife, buttons to suit our uniform, lots of thread, sewing needles, straight pins, safety pins, needle threader and a collar stud. I still have one of my USAF issue kits somewhere

[Chux]

I think this is EFFEN brilliant!! Not gonna lie I'm probably going to be stealing thus idea. I'm usually "that guy" that would have stuff like this in my backpack but not to this level of nice looking

[AndrewWR]

7 minutes ago, fredk said:

Your leather case set looks useful

In the RAF [and USAF] we used to get regularly issued with a card-board cased set like that. It was called a 'house wife'. No scissors but often a small razor bladed knife, buttons to suit our uniform, lots of thread, sewing needles, straight pins, safety pins, needle threader and a collar stud. I still have one of my USAF issue kits somewhere

I don't think he'll ever need a collar stud but, at a pinch, he can always unscrew the Sam Brown and use that. :-)

[TomE]

I'll bet he's pleased with it.  Worthy of a real man who sews. 

[Spyros]

It's a fantastic idea and execution

I've had some projects come back for repair where the hole for the Sam Browne stud has widened over time and now the closure is loose, so I've been avoiding them since and use spring snaps instead.  Lost faith in Sam Brownes

Other than that it looks like a great design.  

In the intersections of A, B, C and D panels (ie where the flaps open and close) I would also punch a 0.5mm hole.  Might be a pointless obsession of mine but I believe that a tiny curve will fare better than a sharp angle overtime in areas that bend a lot.

[Mulesaw]

Looks really good!

[AndrewWR]

13 minutes ago, Spyros said:

It's a fantastic idea and execution

I've had some projects come back for repair where the hole for the Sam Browne stud has widened over time and now the closure is loose, so I've been avoiding them since and use spring snaps instead.  Lost faith in Sam Brownes

Other than that it looks like a great design.  

In the intersections of A, B, C and D panels (ie where the flaps open and close) I would also punch a 0.5mm hole.  Might be a pointless obsession of mine but I believe that a tiny curve will fare better than a sharp angle overtime in areas that bend a lot.

I agree that Sam Brownes don't fair well under load, since leather will stretch around their post just as easily as around the tongue of a buckle. That said, This is not an application where any significant load is being put on the leather. The strap is 1.8mm thick bridle hide, which is on the firm side anyway, and both ends are fitted over the stud so the strap itself is entirely detachable and replaceable if that need ever arises. 

I also found that a 5x8 mm crew punch in this firmer leather makes a more wear-resistant hole than a round punch and split. With the traditional split, I found the corners get dog-eared very quickly. The  crew punch hole keeps its shape much better and so does not become too loose. 

I use lots of Sam Brownes and often for purposes they weren't intended for. One of my earlier posts was a leather box that had Sammies as feet and as finials on a leather butt hinge, but not as the box closure. I've also used them recently as an alternative to the male half of a Loxx fastener. Turns out a 5mm Sammie engages perfectly with the female half of a Loxx fastener. Handy where space is an issue and strength is not.

Thanks for the thoughtful comments, Spyros. Stay safe. :-)

[Spyros]

3 hours ago, AndrewWR said:

The strap is 1.8mm thick bridle hide, which is on the firm side anyway, and both ends are fitted over the stud so the strap itself is entirely detachable and replaceable if that need ever arises. 

Ahhhh that's clever.  Amazing how much thought and care for future proofing can go into such a small project, well done

I have some Loxx fasteners on orders, I'm definitely trying the Loxx-Browne combo, thanks for the heads up!

[AndrewWR]

Here's the wash bag  (Dopp kit)  that the etui was styled to complement. 8"x4"x4" is on the small side but the pilot it was made for said he's quite happy to use the complimentary toiletries in the hotels he stays in so he doesn't need to carry much.

[MtlBiker]

Wow!  Very nicely done!  Not to mention practical.

(But you do know I hope that "etui" simply means "case", right?)

 

[AndrewWR]

2 minutes ago, MtlBiker said:

Wow!  Very nicely done!  Not to mention practical.

(But you do know I hope that "etui" simply means "case", right?)

 

Literally it means case, but when used in English the word has become a synonym for little sewing kits. It seems to be an example of an adopted word becoming more specialized than it originally was. Like the word camera (since photography is one of your interests) which originally, in Latin, meant bed chamber. I wonder if that's down to an early realization of the 'artistic' possibilities of photography in bed rooms ;-) 

[MtlBiker]

40 minutes ago, AndrewWR said:

Literally it means case, but when used in English the word has become a synonym for little sewing kits. It seems to be an example of an adopted word becoming more specialized than it originally was. Like the word camera (since photography is one of your interests) which originally, in Latin, meant bed chamber. I wonder if that's down to an early realization of the 'artistic' possibilities of photography in bed rooms ;-) 

English you say?    Here in Montreal we're so dominated by the French (Canadians) that étuis still just means "case".

[Spyros]

On 3/26/2022 at 7:02 AM, AndrewWR said:

Like the word camera (since photography is one of your interests) which originally, in Latin, meant bed chamber.

Still does in Greece

(slightly changed to kamara)

[chuck123wapati]

here in Wyoming I'll just call it a sewing kit so I don't confuse it with the pisser lol.   And it will be in my base pack It is an awesome design and i can see other uses for the case as well for small sets of tools, nail care etc. Thank you for posting this is great.