First wet formed bag

[MagiKelly]

I thought it was about time I tried a wet formed bag. The plan was to make a possibles pouch with a couple of belt loops on droppers but as I was taking the top part off of the former my number one daughter Eleanor caught me and asked if she could have the bag when it was finished

So a few design changes needed to be made. Colour was debated and she settled on red. As well as being my first wet formed bag it was the first time I had tried the more complicated ways of attaching the "D"s and buckle.

As it was really a test piece I only used some lower grade leather. I wish i had used the better stuff now as it turned out much better than I expected.

Size wise the bag is 17cm wide, 17cm high and 5cm deep. The leather is 3.5mm thick and the stitching is all in artificial sinew. The strap is attached with snaps so it can be removed. Eleanor wanted the strap long but I suspect a shorter one will be wanted later.

So here are some poor pics. Bad light and no flash

And here he it is being modelled by Eleanor

[UKRay]

What a great job. I like the way you have got the leather to stretch over the former without any obvious wrinkles. Mine always seem to get a crease somewhere.

The artificial sinew is chunky old stuff but it seems to work here although I might have liked to stitch it with some hand rolled linen thread if I were making a little bag for a lass. I guess that was a possibles bag legacy...

Question: why did you make the strap in three pieces. The bit with the press studs on seems to be about right but IMHO the wider shoulder piece could be a tad too wide for the size of the bag.

Nice job though!

Ray

[Storm]

Really nice first go! I like it!

[MagiKelly]

The artificial sinew is chunky old stuff but it seems to work here although I might have liked to stitch it with some hand rolled linen thread if I were making a little bag for a lass. I guess that was a possibles bag legacy...

I was going to use a 18/6 linen thread but decided to use the sinew as the colour matched the brass fittings well. I also like chunky thread even on small projects.

Question: why did you make the strap in three pieces. The bit with the press studs on seems to be about right but IMHO the wider shoulder piece could be a tad too wide for the size of the bag.

I thought 3/4 inch was too narrow for the full strap and so either had to taper the strap at some point or have it thinner all the way. The thicker section could have been a lot shorter but I was not convinced this would be the final strap anyway. I still think it is too long but Eleanor seems set on it being this length. I also liked the way the rivets added some brass highlights to the strap to match the fittings on the bag.

[Regis]

Very nice. Good clean design.

[frontpost]

Stitching across the strap will weaken it. The bag looks great.

[Luke Hatley]

VERY NICE BAG YOU DID WELL

[MagiKelly]

Managed to get a few more pictures today. Still not great light but a bit better focus at least.

[SteveBrambley]

Excellent job, congratulations! Really nice colour.

Steve

[calanneh]

I love it! The wet forming around the bottom looks wonderful. I dont see any stretches or wrinkles at all.

Great Work!

[Patrice]

Wow!

Very nice piece! Did you shape the wood form yourself or just found a piece that you bougth?

[MagiKelly]

Very nice piece! Did you shape the wood form yourself or just found a piece that you bougth?

I shaped it myself. Here is a picture.

I have now finished bag number two. This one is a bit taller as I had the leather a bit big so just formed it taller. It is pretty much the same construction but in purple this time.

and a comparison with the first one

[TomSwede]

That is such a sweet bag!! Love the red tone and the edges on that one!!

The little I've tried wetforming is that is not very eas so seems you have a talent with it (or I suck with it).

Well done!!

Tom

[MagiKelly]

I was asked for pictures of the backs so here they are

Fronts at same time for reference and because these show the colours better than the previous pictures.

I have the next piece of leather on the form so here are a few pictures of the process.

The form

Half done. The first half always being the easiest but you need to make sure you are not leaving too much loose leather for the other side to form.

This is just before the stage where you are sure you will not get it on the form and you want to sweep it all off the table and smash everything in sight.

This is just after the stage of abject hopelessness when you finish and once again are amazed that it actually went on.

There is a mistake on this side. About a third up from the bottom I cut a slit too far in and it is right into the stitching crease. This should not really show up much on the finished bag and it did allow me to take out a good sized dart to tighten up the top part of the leather on this side.

You can see there are far more darts on this side. As I said it is the second side where you get all the hard work.

[csoty]

I like it!