Bag

[badger]

Thanks very much you guys. I appreciate the encouragement.

I gave it to Megan today, she was delighted. Really happy.

The design is original, but please feel free to copy it. I'm not precious about this stuff.

I didn't make a pattern, just busked it.

The construction method is as follows:

Assembled it measures 8 inches by 6 inches by 2 inches thick. She likes her purse slung diagonally across her body, so the shoulder strap is 46 inches long as is, adjustable to a foot shorter.

It's a fully lined, one piece tubular bag with a rivetted-in panel at each end.

I drew out rectangle 8 inches wide, by 18 inches long on 8-9 ounce vegtan, rounded the lid flap corners by drawing round a large shot glass rim. I cut this shape out of the 8-9 ounce and then cut the same shape from 6-7 ounce for the liner. I got a whipsnake skin Megan liked the colour of, and worked out the maxiumum panel sizes for the size of skin and drew these on and cut them out of the heavier piece. I placed the outer on the liner and traced the window shapes through onto the rough side of the liner. I cut the snakeskin into panels around a half inch bigger all round than the window sizes and glued them down with rubber cement (Thixofix).

I edged and burnished the inside edges of the windows and them dyed the outer and liner panels. When dry, I traced the stitch lines on around the panels with wing dividers and did the same with the outer stitch line on the perimeter.

I use a half and half method of stitching; I punch the holes with my Pearson and then hand-stitch with waxed linen thread. I chose black linen thread to pick up with the black notes in the snakeskin.

Once stitched, I trimmed, sanded, dyed and burnished the entire outer edge.

The straps and end panels were cut from a tough, prefinished belting leather, edged and burnished. The straps are a half inch wide, the end panels 2 inches by 5 inches with a half inch wide strip each side for attaching. The panels are cased, the strips grooved at the base, bent at 90 degrees and left to dry.

The whole fully-lined bag main panel, now stitched and burnished, is cased evenly and curled into final shape. Once in place, I wrapped kitchen paper towel around it and taped it into position to dry overnight.

Cut to next morning;

I cut the tape and rivet the side panels in place. The shoulder strap, attachment straps and front buckle straps are attached with Chicago screws so they can be replaced when worn.

The whole thing is given a brisk rubdown with a rough towel, rubbed lovingly with Skidmore's and treated to a good coat of carnuba wax. One more good rubdown to get it glowing and we're done.

Took me about four and a half hours, total, not including drying time.

That's it.

Cheers,

Karl

[CitizenKate]

It's beautiful, Karl! As far as the design/styling goes, I would carry one like that in a heartbeat. ...and probably wave it around to make sure everyone notices!

Kate

PS: Very happy to hear your Aunt is recovering!

It was a bugger to make, and still looks to me like a handbag made by a holster maker

But I'm pretty happy with it, all in all.

[ClayB]

Karl,

You're gonna have to change your title to holster maker/purse maker!! That looks really nice.

[HARVEY]

Ditto on all the above comments. But, Karl, howzabout a close-up of that maker stamp? That in and of itself looks pretty cool. Let's see it up close and personal.

Harvey

Los Angeles

[tonyc1]

Looks great, Karl! Why did you only use the Pearson to punch the holes, though?

Tony.

[Nomad]

Very beautiful bag.

[leatheroo]

love this bag!!!!

[JohnBarton]

This is a bag I just finished for my Wife's Aunt Megan.

It's her Birthday, but we're really celebrating the 'all clear'. She may very well have beaten Thyroid cancer. We're delighted she's still here, and I thought I'd make something a little special.

The bag is about 8 inches wide and 6 high, chestnut dyed vegtan and some lovely whipsnake I got from our own Patrick Weill (thanks Patrick!).

It was a bugger to make, and still looks to me like a handbag made by a holster maker

But I'm pretty happy with it, all in all.

Cheers,

Karl

Fantastic work. I love the flow of this piece. Hope Aunt Megan stays cancer free and uses this bag for decades to come! This bag is 1000s of times better than any Coach bag I have ever seen. It should be on sale for $1000 in a boutique instead of what they put out.

[badger]

Thanks so much for the nice words about the bag, but more importantly, the good wishes to Megan on her recovery. I'll pass them on.

Heartfelt thanks everyone.

The maker's stamp is indeed a work of art. It was designed for me by my friend Andy Mock, of Arm Leatherworks, a member here. Take a bow Andy

The stamp itself was made by Jeff Mosby at Grey Ghost Graphics.

Here it is in all it's glory. I bloody love it, I do.

Cheers,

Karl

[SteveBrambley]

Hi Karl, sorry to be one of the last to congratulate you on a really beautifully made bag, it is one of the smartest I've seen for a long time! I think it would take me a lot longer than four and a half hours to make!

I was very happy to hear about your aunt.

Steve