Canvas And Leather Weekender Bag

[coreysyms]

Hey guys, finished up another color combo of my military inspired weekender duffle bag. Inspired by the Navy sea bag and an army duffle this weekender carry on is anything but the ordinary luggage. Selvage canvas from the esteemed White Oak factory of Cone Mills in North Carolina. Leather is veggy tanned Hermann Oak #1.

The color combo came out really nice. Canvas is a warm grey, sort of in the "dogwood" range. Leather was undercoated in tan, then top coated in dark brown for a very deep brown with a hint of reddish tone to it. Does anyone else use 2 different colors when dying leather?

Solid brass hardware, and hand saddle stitched with havana brown tiger thread 0.8 mm.

Canvas is finished with an outer layer of otter wax.

Top closure is an envelope style folded closure that has some range to fill it all the way up or not so much. Inside large pocket and "hanging" dopp YKK zip bag for personal items.

Would love your input on the leather work, but overall style comments are welcomed too.

[coreysyms]

Hey guys, posting here as well as the show off board, wanted some critique as I finished up another color combo of my military inspired weekender duffle bag. Inspired by the Navy sea bag and an army duffle this weekender carry on is anything but the ordinary luggage. Selvage canvas from the esteemed White Oak factory of Cone Mills in North Carolina. Leather is veggy tanned Hermann Oak #1.

The color combo came out really nice. Canvas is a warm grey, sort of in the "dogwood" range. Leather was undercoated in tan, then top coated in dark brown for a very deep brown with a hint of reddish tone to it. Does anyone else use 2 different colors when dying leather?

Solid brass hardware, and hand saddle stitched with havana brown tiger thread 0.8 mm.

Canvas is finished with an outer layer of otter wax.

Top closure is an envelope style folded closure that has some range to fill it all the way up or not so much. Inside large pocket and "hanging" dopp YKK zip bag for personal items.

Would love your input on the leather work, but overall style comments are welcomed too.

[veedub3]

That is a very nice bag!. Would love a shot of the inside hanging Dopp you mentioned, otherwise great job!

Karina

[coreysyms]

@veedub3

Luckily I had the bag here next to me as I'm sending it off to the customer today. Here is the dopp bag, I pulled it out so you can see it all, It's attached at the top seem and "hangs" inside the bag so you don't see any outside seems. I also attached 2 pics of the top closure so you can see how the bag top folds together with the shoulder strap acting as the fastener, simple gravity and balance point physics keep it all closed, but to be sure there is a single brass snap hidden under the flap for added privacy and protection from things falling out. Thanks for the kind words and sorry for the crappy iPhone pics.

Corey

[kiwican]

I love duffle style bags and use them all the time, love this

[25b]

You should make the dopp bag detachable with snaps or something so they don't have to carry the whole bag to the shower...

Just an idea...

[Shyla]

very nice, would love some dimensions

[Bruce H]

I really like it...The colors are perfect...Nice Quality!

[MonicaJacobson]

That's a great bag. Very cool details and everything.

[coreysyms]

You should make the dopp bag detachable with snaps or something so they don't have to carry the whole bag to the shower...

Just an idea...

That's a solid idea

[coreysyms]

very nice, would love some dimensions

12" diameter by 23" tall (closed)

[Firdaus Hilmy]

That is so nice! Hope to see more of your creations soon.

[HippieLee]

Very nice and inspiring - I've mixed dyes before applying to get different colors but never put one coat on and then another. Gonna start experimenting with that right away. I love the look of yours. I notice you mentioned the provenance of the canvas - are there different grades of canvas? Never worked with canvas at all but I see I should be lol.

Thanks for sharing!

[coreysyms]

Very nice and inspiring - I've mixed dyes before applying to get different colors but never put one coat on and then another. Gonna start experimenting with that right away. I love the look of yours. I notice you mentioned the provenance of the canvas - are there different grades of canvas? Never worked with canvas at all but I see I should be lol.

Thanks for sharing!

The whole reason I coated it twice is because the first test of just brown on a chunk of leather came out looking like a pice of chocolate, delicious but no depth. coating again gave it a slight marbling effect with the darker brown. It's Tandy's water stain, not sure if oil based colors gives the same results, but worth playing around. Personally, I get great results with Tandy water stain. It's the one thing I can recommend from them.

The canvas does not have "grades" per se other than "first quality" and "second quality". First quality has few imperfections, even thread weights through out and minimum twisting. Second quality has a more "slubby" texture with some imperfections, nothing wrong with it, and it can be a desired look, personally I like the look of slubby cotton for sweatshirts, and slubby linen for summer ties. Has a nice texture I think. The bag is first quality.

I mention Cone Mills because they produce the best canvas in the world, and are USA! More known for world class denim, but I love their canvas. http://www.rawrdenim.com/2013/03/meet-your-maker-cone-mills-of-greensboro-north-carolina/ Look up the guys at Pacific Blue Denims, they have the best selection of quality denim and canvas at great prices.

[DavidL]

Both coats of dye are water stain? Did you wait for first coat to dry then applied the other colour afterwards?

[coreysyms]

Both coats of dye are water stain? Did you wait for first coat to dry then applied the other colour afterwards?

Yes, that's correct. First coat went on, waited 30 - 45. Next coat went on, oiled flesh side with neetsfoot oil compound, buffed top side let dry over night. Carnauba Cream top side let dry completely, buff, resolene top, buff, boot wax finish.

[HippieLee]

I like the Tandy water stains too - never used an oil-based dye but I'only been doing this for a little over a year. Definitely looking up canvas too - Made in USA is important to me as well.

[Reegesc]

If I had a bag like that I could travel the world. Maybe even rule it. Very nice...

[Madkrafter]

Love the bag and the color combo!

[Eemo]

very nice!

[tossik]

What canvas did you use from http://pacificbluedenims.com? seems like they have denim from cone mill but not canvas? What am I missing? And is it cheaper to go plain canvas and then wax yourself or just buy pre waxed material? What is the minimum purchase of them?

How many Oz is the canvas?

Sorry for all the questions, but I have been researching waxed canvas for a little now, and love to hear other opinions.

Great looking bag!

Edited May 19, 2015 by tossik

[coreysyms]

What canvas did you use from http://pacificbluedenims.com? seems like they have denim from cone mill but not canvas? What am I missing? And is it cheaper to go plain canvas and then wax yourself or just buy pre waxed material? What is the minimum purchase of them?

How many Oz is the canvas?

Sorry for all the questions, but I have been researching waxed canvas for a little now, and love to hear other opinions.

Great looking bag!

Its under 'selvage' here > about half way down http://pacificbluedenims.com/index.php?p=catgp&id=16. Its the cone mills premium selvage natural canvas. email Omid@pacificbluedenims.com, he will take care of you, you have to email to order by the way.

I'm not sure how much more the pre-waxed canvas would be, but I preferred to wax just the outside of the canvas and my machine would "gum" up with other pre-waxed canvas. Took a quarter bar of otter wax for me. Order some swatches of a few different things and see what you like. I dyed and waxed mine, but there are plenty of really cool materials to use.

The canvas I used was 11.50 oz, plenty heavy, like standard denim heavy. Then the wax about doubles the weight. PBD has stuff all the way up to like 30 oz waxed duck or something crazy like that.

There is no minimum purchase, but anything under 100 yards is a 20 cut fee per order. sucks but the cost of their 'by the yard' is MUCH cheaper than other places. they range about 40 to 60% less than from the big NYC fabric houses. I typically order like 10-20 yards of one thing, then 4 or 5 different 2 and 3 yard cuts of other stuff, I make a lot of menswear stuff too. Like I said, get a bunch of swatches and see what you like, typically they carry the good stuff, most from very well known mills.

They also get some really cool one off and sample rolls that you never see anywhere, like this tri-color basketweave nylon canvas, BOSS. The weave is smaller in real life and looks like the old salt and pepper covert canvas from back in the 30's, making a men's briefcase / workbag with that.

I have never worked with a better supplier than these guys, I check their site at least once a week for some neat stuff. Ask as many questions as you like, I love talking shop and that's what we are here on the forum for right?

[tossik]

Thanks for the link, I have reached out to Omid, he has sent me some prices, and hopefully I will be able to get something from them soon.

Saw your blog too, in one post, you showed that you have natural color canvas that you dyed. Do you always dye your own or do you buy different color from pacific blue ?

Also, if you don't mind sharing, what Fiber Reactive Dyes do you use?

[coreysyms]

Thanks for the link, I have reached out to Omid, he has sent me some prices, and hopefully I will be able to get something from them soon.

Saw your blog too, in one post, you showed that you have natural color canvas that you dyed. Do you always dye your own or do you buy different color from pacific blue ?

Also, if you don't mind sharing, what Fiber Reactive Dyes do you use?

I typically do dye canvas myself. This way I can stock just one type of canvas, and I just like to get colors perfect, I tend to like 'warm' colors because leather is natural, and is 'alive' quote unquote so I like red based colors. It just pairs better. Most commercial dyers use sulphur or acid dyes, which tend to run 'cold' in cast IE blueish and it just looks off to me against the reddish tones of leather when I pair the two together, just my opinion. Plus I was an art major so there's that.

I use 2 types of fiber reactive dyes.

1. Is the Procion MX dyes found here > http://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/dharma-fiber-reactive-procion-dyes.html. Consistent color replication with this stuff if you measure properly. You can mix color powders to get other colors, or just buy their premixed from the color wheel, they have hundreds of colors.

2. And when Im in a pinch or just need a basic "red" or "black" I use Dylon found at pretty much any craft store,

here is a link to Joann's Fabrics > http://www.joann.com/dylon-permanent-fabric-dye-/6608335.html?mkwid=rOeXSNwS%7Cdc&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Shopping+-+Crafts&CS_003=10131488&CS_010=%5BProductId%5D&gclid=Cj0KEQjw4fCqBRDM1ZKhk5jfo6IBEiQAZQ97OHEbyP0OZx15qV0DA6T_I_0rvx3if26corkH7MqMhGwaAgBY8P8HAQ

Dylon is great for small batch in a bucket, or they make a larger washing machine version too, just needs salt, but I add in soda ash and Calsolene oil also found at Dharma just for evenness and saturation. Make sure you get Dylon Permeant. They do make a multi-purpose, but that is a union dye and will not last.

PS, you don't need to buy soda ash online, just go to the grocery store and buy Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda, same stuff much cheaper. Use it when I just wash clothes too.

And for the love of everything holy, don't use Rit or other union dyes, they will fade and won't come out with the nice saturation you see with the pros.

[tossik]

I typically do dye canvas myself. This way I can stock just one type of canvas, and I just like to get colors perfect, I tend to like 'warm' colors because leather is natural, and is 'alive' quote unquote so I like red based colors. It just pairs better. Most commercial dyers use sulphur or acid dyes, which tend to run 'cold' in cast IE blueish and it just looks off to me against the reddish tones of leather when I pair the two together, just my opinion. Plus I was an art major so there's that.

I use 2 types of fiber reactive dyes.

1. Is the Procion MX dyes found here > http://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/dharma-fiber-reactive-procion-dyes.html. Consistent color replication with this stuff if you measure properly. You can mix color powders to get other colors, or just buy their premixed from the color wheel, they have hundreds of colors.

2. And when Im in a pinch or just need a basic "red" or "black" I use Dylon found at pretty much any craft store,

here is a link to Joann's Fabrics > http://www.joann.com/dylon-permanent-fabric-dye-/6608335.html?mkwid=rOeXSNwS%7Cdc&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Shopping+-+Crafts&CS_003=10131488&CS_010=%5BProductId%5D&gclid=Cj0KEQjw4fCqBRDM1ZKhk5jfo6IBEiQAZQ97OHEbyP0OZx15qV0DA6T_I_0rvx3if26corkH7MqMhGwaAgBY8P8HAQ

Dylon is great for small batch in a bucket, or they make a larger washing machine version too, just needs salt, but I add in soda ash and Calsolene oil also found at Dharma just for evenness and saturation. Make sure you get Dylon Permeant. They do make a multi-purpose, but that is a union dye and will not last.

PS, you don't need to buy soda ash online, just go to the grocery store and buy Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda, same stuff much cheaper. Use it when I just wash clothes too.

And for the love of everything holy, don't use Rit or other union dyes, they will fade and won't come out with the nice saturation you see with the pros.

This is great information! Thank you! I am developing some leather and canvas tool rolls right now and you have answered many questions and will save me money!

Now if only I can find Otter Wax ingredients to make my own wax solution. $40 per pound is a bit much..