Dopp Kits

[AndyNext]

I've just finished two dopp kits as birthday presents for our sons-in-law. I used a Tony See pattern with added personalised elements decorating both sides.

The leather is navy Old English Bridle from Metropolitan (often available at a reduced price) and is about 2mm. The light tan was left over from a previous tote bags project. Both bags are partially lined lined using cotton fabrics from my wife's quilting stash!

My original plan was to use the regular dopp kit design involving sewing the bag inside out, boxing corners etc. However the leather proved too stiff and its glossy finish started to crack in the folds when the bag was turned back the right way. Back to the drawing board and my hunt for an alternative design led me to this one on Tony's Etsy shop - DieselpunkRo.

 

[GregS]

Timing is perfect, I just printed out DieselPunk's pattern for the dopp kit.  I'm not sure what color I'll be dying my leather yet, but I'm leaning towards a chocolate brown.  So that's the "small" and "large" pattern?

I've always wondered, why is it called a dopp kit?

[arashikage]

25 minutes ago, GregS said:

I've always wondered, why is it called a dopp kit?

I never knew either but according to the interwebs:
"The name derives from the early 20th century leather craftsman Charles Doppelt, whose company designed the case in 1926."

[BentleyLeather]

Those look really nice. Well done! 

His patterns are really nice. I don’t use the holes he outlines in them but I wish I had started out doing something like that. 

 

[AndyNext]

It is just the camera angle, they are both the same size - its the small dopp kit pattern.

This was the first time I've used one of Tony's patterns and punched the holes, I usually use stitching irons. I used a 1.5mm punch and 1mm tiger thread.

Aside from the actual punching, I found the major downside of punched holes vs awl or stitching irons is that the leather doesn't grip the thread after each stitch. You therefore need to work harder to maintain tension in the stitch runs e.g. by occasional extra casts in the saddle stitch to lock it.

 

[GregS]

I plan on punching the holes as he does in his video.  I haven't made any of his patterns but I have bought a couple of them.  I really like how he does his patterns. 

I've discovered that it doesn't matter that it's set up for A4, selecting actual size prints just fine on letter sized paper.  So I'll be making a few more of them.