Make Your Own Messenger Bag

[Dangerous Beans]

Good morning folks, I have had a lot of requests for more videos and quite a few questions on making a messenger bag.

I thought i'd combine the two in a video.

I'm sure that most of you will be able to follow, but if you do struggle, the plans are available.

Enjoy

[Wishful]

Thanks for sharing

[jackd942]

Thanks Nigel...I really appreciate your time and effort in making your videos.

[BigGriff]

Why the straight cuts around the round forms?

[misha01]

Thank you. I was planning on making a bag soon and this definitely clears up some things and gives me some ideas to consider.

[veedub3]

Why the straight cuts around the round forms?

That's just an easy way to round your corners. You lay a round object at the edge, and continue to cut straight lines all the way around and you will have a perfect rounded corner. Of course there are other ways to round your corners, this is just one easy way to do it.

Karina

[Dangerous Beans]

Why the straight cuts around the round forms?

Just Like Veedub says, I find it's much quicker, on larger curves I follow the line, much like you see me do in the video.

Thanks for the comments folks, hope it helps.

Nige

[King's X]

Great video. Really nice product. Much appreciate you sharing your knowledge and product to others on this forum.

[needles]

thanks Nigel, a great source of help for us beginners.......really appreciate your time and effort to help us

al

[Matt T]

What kind of leather are you using? It appears that the back side is finished as well?

[Ski]

Always a fan of your video's, every vid I pickup a tip. On this vid I picked up a tip about the beeswax on the edges, must try that on my next project.

As Matt asked, what type of leather are you using? and can it be tooled / logo stamped ?

[Dangerous Beans]

What kind of leather are you using? It appears that the back side is finished as well?

Matt, I'm using dyed through shoulder, case leather in some stores.

Ski I haven't tried tooling it but it takes a stamp well.

Nige

[Ski]

Thank you Nige. I will keep an eye out for a sample of this leather next time Im buying.

[WScott]

Superb video again

The time and effort you take to help anonymous leatherworkers is much appreciated

You might consider assembling your videos and making some DVD's for sale

Thanks so much

[Dangerous Beans]

Thank you Nige. I will keep an eye out for a sample of this leather next time Im buying.

Mark, give them a bell and they will stick a sample or two in the post.

Nige

Superb video again

The time and effort you take to help anonymous leatherworkers is much appreciated

You might consider assembling your videos and making some DVD's for sale

Thanks so much

Thank you, I think I need to get a decent camera and sound set up first so I can produce high quality footage.

Plus maybe a decent actor... ;-)

Nige

[Wyeman]

Nige,

Just wanted to thank you for the detailed and even to my amateurish eyes, straight forward and professional plans that compliment the video.

[Ski]

We wanna see more of the dog!! and ofc his/her collar!

[kjmilligan]

Can you talk about the process of sewing a double gusset bag? I am interested in creating a two compartment messenger bag and I am sort of at a loss on how to approach the double gusset.

[GarrusV]

Hi Nigel,

Thanks for sharing this great tutorial!

I'm interested in starting on my own project as well, but I need to know how many bags I can make from a side.

I'm making a 15"(W) by 11"(H) by 5"(D) bag, I estimate that I'll need about 7.15 sq ft. of leather. The following piece of hide looks GOOD, about 25 sq ft.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-World-LATIGO-COWHIDE-LEATHER-24-27-Sq-Ft-6-oz-1-Quality-British-Tan-AE1/290943363410?_trksid=p2045573.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D18474%26meid%3D3154465751735074165%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D8385%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D290943363410%26

If I manage to find someone skilled or maybe even you!, can I assume I can make 3 bags out of this 25 sq ft piece of hide?

I'm estimating as this piece is costly and I want to know how many bags I can make before I commit...

Thanks!

[Dangerous Beans]

We wanna see more of the dog!! and ofc his/her collar!

More Dogs... Collars! Understood.

Can you talk about the process of sewing a double gusset bag? I am interested in creating a two compartment messenger bag and I am sort of at a loss on how to approach the double gusset.

Multiple gussets, a bit much to explain here, I think another video would help, but if your in a hurry, drop me an email and I'll explain.

Nige

Edited December 5, 2013 by Dangerous Beans

[Dangerous Beans]

Hi Nigel,

Thanks for sharing this great tutorial!

I'm interested in starting on my own project as well, but I need to know how many bags I can make from a side.

I'm making a 15"(W) by 11"(H) by 5"(D) bag, I estimate that I'll need about 7.15 sq ft. of leather. The following piece of hide looks GOOD, about 25 sq ft.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-World-LATIGO-COWHIDE-LEATHER-24-27-Sq-Ft-6-oz-1-Quality-British-Tan-AE1/290943363410?_trksid=p2045573.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D18474%26meid%3D3154465751735074165%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D8385%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D290943363410%26

If I manage to find someone skilled or maybe even you!, can I assume I can make 3 bags out of this 25 sq ft piece of hide?

I'm estimating as this piece is costly and I want to know how many bags I can make before I commit...

Thanks!

Square footage will not always guarantee you will get as much from a hide as you expect. Trimming off one side to get a straight edge will create wastage.

Scars and marks that need to be worked around also create wastage.

You have estimated 7ft per bag, 21feet in total from a 25 foot piece of leather.

The leather would have to be very high quality to achieve that.

A piece marked as rustic I imagine will have scars.

I think it's ambitious to expect 3 bags from this.

You will need 3 shoulder straps and 3 gussets that's 18 inches from the hide straight away.

To be as economical as possible, cut a pattern out and mark up the hide before cutting anything out.

Making your gussets out of several pieces and possibly even the flap will give you greater scope.

I think if you aim for two and if you get a third through clever cutting you are on a winner, or adjust the size of the third to suit what's left and make a smaller one to use it up.

But don't stop searching... You may find someone skilled yet!

Nige

Edited December 5, 2013 by Dangerous Beans

[hornm]

Nigel,

Thanks so much for puttting together these videos as well as offering the patterns. Your time and effort in assisting the rest of us is greatly appreciated.

Horn

[Firdaus Hilmy]

Multiple gussets, a bit much to explain here, I think another video would help, but if your in a hurry, drop me an email and I'll explain.

Nige

I want to know too! will wait for your another videos and thanks for posting!

[Feraud]

I too appreciate the time and effort in making the videos. They are a valuable resource for the leather-working community!

Thanks.

[MadMorbius]

Nigel, thanks for sharing. Could I ask what thread (size and make) you're using for the 7 to 1 stiching? It looks like braided cord, tough to find here in Canada.