Finished Another Project

[Dan28]

This is my second tote bag. It is for my sister. Mostly Herman Oak veg tan leather. The bottom is 10 oz., the side panels are 6 oz. The handles and closure are 9 oz from Tandy (it was more flexible than the Herman Oak). Trim at the top is calf skin, maybe 1 or 2 oz?. The lining is pig skin, and I took Monica's advice and sewed it up and stitched it in, instead of gluing it. I may have put a little extra in there, as I didn't want to er on the side of too little.

Unlike my first tote, I did not stitch the entire bag while inside out. I sewed the handles and closure to the sides and the sides to the bottom pieces I did sew the bottom piece inside out but stopped a few stitches up the sides. I then only got the bottom (black part) wet and flipped it at that point. I had left my threaded needles ready on each side (four needles) during the flip, so I did have to retry getting them started, and then I sewed inside the bag. It was a bit of a pain, but I wanted no stress wrinkles on this one. When I got about an inch from the top, I stopped sewing the sides and stitched in the lining and the trim (trim had been glued down already on the face of the bag and stitch holes punched).

I was going to use plain red dye for the sides, but had some Fiebings Cherry Stain and decided to use that instead. The rest as you can see is dyed black. Rivets, snap faces, and bag feet are powder coated red.

That is just a loose piece of thread that fell in the bag, its not attached.

My first tote (green and walnut) next to this one.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Dan28

[Rohn]

That is absolutely beautiful!!!! Love the red (cherry) color. You did a fine job Dan.

[MonicaJacobson]

Dan, they are getting better and better. Great job on it! The handles look great, and I like how her name is covered up, but there when it's open.

[Dan28]

Thanks guys. That cherry leather stain, smells a lot like regular wood stain to me. It goes on probably easier than any of the dyes I've used, in that it didn't soak in to the leather as fast. It looks a lot like Fiebings Ox Blood dye which I have used a couple times.

Other than figuring out what to make for my dad, I've got a few simple belts to make and my Christmas gifts will be done. Not sure what to make for my dad, though I'm kind of leaning towards a case for one of his rifles.

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

I made the mistake once of making a bag for a lady in my life. Now seems like every woman I know wants one!!! Too many things to make, not enough time, Got a feeling you are about to find that out! Nice job!

Bob

[Dan28]

I made the mistake once of making a bag for a lady in my life. Now seems like every woman I know wants one!!! Too many things to make, not enough time, Got a feeling you are about to find that out! Nice job!

Bob

I've been showing them off to a few friends and coworkers who already want one, with their little custom changes like different colors or longer handles. They ask me if I'm going to start selling them, but I tell them I would have no idea what to charge, as I don't even know what the materials broken down out of whole sides etc would be.

I thought these totes would be quicker to do than some of my other bags, but they took longer than I expected. Stitching in the middle of two pieces instead of close to an edge really slowed me down on my stitching, also the handles seemed to take longer for me to stitch than say a strap of equal length. I'm estimating the green bag took me around 25 to 30 hours start to finish, and the red maybe the same, even though the planning and parts of it went much faster, the way I chose to sew it slowed me down. It is also slightly bigger with longer handles so longer stitching lines.

[RedwoodJen]

Gorgeous!

[Basically Bob]

Looks great, Dan!