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My other hobby: leather craft

Here's a sample of my leather craft hobby. Six years ago I hand sewed a doctors bag for my home visits. It served me well and suffered a lot. The leather has one crack I will have to fix and I planned to reinforce the bottom. So I took the bag apart completely. Unfortunately I didn't take a pic before break down. But I will take a few pics of the progress and the completed bag. Here are the first pics.

Adding a second layer of leather to the bottom:
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The crack that caused me to start the project:
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The side piece with a stabilizer. It's still okay so I won't change it.
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It's a lot of work so please be patient. Or my patient when the bag is ready? ;)
 
That's the technique with one thread and two needles. It makes seams that are more stable than a machine seam.
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This is the first of the bars at the bottom of the bag. There will be a plastic stick inside to get a bit of distance from the floor.
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The stabilizers on the side pieces are made the same way.
 
Novacastrian said:
I would go nutty doing that i think. How long have you been doing it for?

It's about 10 years now that I do leather craft. And this bag with measuring, cutting the leather, shaping the edges and sewing was about 24 hours of work. This time it will be less because less preparation has to be done.
 
Make me an ostrich wallet. And a purse for PF. Thanks
 
lol

I love my ostrich wallet but it's really worn.
 
As next step I punched a hole in the end of the crack (no pun intended...) to prevent it from ripping further. I will glue in the piece of leather again to get an even layer.
IMG_0217.jpg
 
Here's the complete main part with the reinforcements at bottom and top.
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Here you can see the glued in piece of leather in that punched out hole. It is covered on the outside by the reinforcement and will be covered from the inside by a liner.
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Here's the inside with gray leather as a liner.
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Here's the reinforcement at the top with the seem for the liner.
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Thanks for sharing the progress pics. I love all types of handiwork and leather-crafting is a fine art. You do beautiful work, and it is a good reminder for all of us to get things that are quality, that can be used for years, and can be repaired or fixed.
SL
 
looks great mate.

My father is really into leather work as well. He has the heavy duty industrial sewing machine and a whole shed dedicated to the craft. If it's made of leather, dad can make it!! it really is awesome to see something start out as a sheet of leather and end up a horse bridle or something like that!!

Thanks for sharing mate!
 
patrick said:
Lot of work involved but well worth it eh Doc? Good for another 10-15 years.

I hope to use that bag till I retire.

salsalady said:
Thanks for sharing the progress pics. I love all types of handiwork and leather-crafting is a fine art. You do beautiful work, and it is a good reminder for all of us to get things that are quality, that can be used for years, and can be repaired or fixed.
SL

Thanx!

Here you can see some more progress. I'm sewing in the first side piece so now you can imagine the shape the bag will have.

IMG_0241.jpg


IMG_0242.jpg
 
Beautiful work, I agree with salsalady, admire the craftsmanship of leather working. Just have to appreciate the time and care you put into that bag.
 
pepperfever said:
Beautiful work, I agree with salsalady, admire the craftsmanship of leather working. Just have to appreciate the time and care you put into that bag.

Thanx! Your opinion means a lot to me!
 
I didn't have much time lately. But now the bag is finished and I want to share the last steps with y'all.

Here's the last seam in progress.
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All seams are done.
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The edge before sealing:
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Now sealed with Edge Cote:
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That tool for smoothing the edges is made of poly ethylene. In ancient times these tools were made of bone or ivory.
 
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