Leather and fabric, saddlebag style tote

[venator]

My girlfriend had an idea to make this so we spent the last two days working on this project, the idea was 100% hers, I just helped with hardware and some order of operations but she did most of the work.

 

[cjartist]

I like it. Looks great.  Only downside I can see is having to undo both buckles to get inside.  May help to save the family budget though. LOL

[venator]

You actually don't have to undo the buckles, the stars you see on the flap are snaps which allow you to get in super quick.  They don't pop open easily because of the zipper on the liner and the direction of pull on the straps.

[RockyAussie]

Looks good. What is used to stop the lid contracting with weight in the bag?Stiffening in the lid or the bag?

[Sceaden]

Very nice! Though I think the straps might be a tad long. 

[venator]

2 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

Looks good. What is used to stop the lid contracting with weight in the bag?Stiffening in the lid or the bag?

There's no stiffener, we wanted it to be a very soft bag.  With the zipper that closes it at the top it shouldn't be an issue.

 

1 hour ago, Sceaden said:

Very nice! Though I think the straps might be a tad long. 

It's easy to shorten something, not so much to lengthen.  So I figured I'd make them a bit long and if I wasn't happy I'd either make newer shorter ones or cut these.  I'm inclined to agree though, I thought when the bag was full it would take up more strap but I appear to have been a bit optimistic.

 

Still, it's a good first run, the second bag would fix any of these errors.  Part of the joy of prototyping.

 

[bikermutt07]

I like it. Tell she did a great job.

[kiwican]

I like this. I have always liked the look of leather and canvass or fabric. Well done 

[venator]

I'll pass along the compliments.  You can see the full build process (pics) here.

 

http://vkleathers.com/2017/03/27/project-86-leather-and-fabric-tote/