Inspired by the MA+ accordian bag, decided to experiment with making a bag.
I created the pattern myself through a bunch of experiments with paper/muslin. The leather is incredibly soft, some of the softest I've ever handled. I've never really worked with leather before, so it was a bit of an adventure.
I started by creating a pattern for the body, which is one single piece. It took a lot of experimentation to get the folding right. Once that was all done, I safety pinned the pleats in place, then prepared the silver. After that, punched the path through the pleats for the silver to connect to the strap.
The strap is a long piece of leather from the same hide, backed by a very stiff cotton canvas for support. (Thanks to MonaDahl for help sewing the strap). Then finished everything by connecting the strap to the body of the bag, and putting the flap closure in place.
Hardware (the strap connectors and front closure) is all silver, which I bought in rod form, and hand sawed, filed, oxidized, distressed, bent, and hammered.
Body is all one piece of leather, with no stitching whatsoever.
Pictures of the bag:
Hardware close-ups:
Pre-attached hook closure (shows oxidization/distressing really well)-
Attached hook closure-
Right side (cross) bag-strap connector-
Both bag-strap connectors (straight and cross)-
I created the pattern myself through a bunch of experiments with paper/muslin. The leather is incredibly soft, some of the softest I've ever handled. I've never really worked with leather before, so it was a bit of an adventure.
I started by creating a pattern for the body, which is one single piece. It took a lot of experimentation to get the folding right. Once that was all done, I safety pinned the pleats in place, then prepared the silver. After that, punched the path through the pleats for the silver to connect to the strap.
The strap is a long piece of leather from the same hide, backed by a very stiff cotton canvas for support. (Thanks to MonaDahl for help sewing the strap). Then finished everything by connecting the strap to the body of the bag, and putting the flap closure in place.
Hardware (the strap connectors and front closure) is all silver, which I bought in rod form, and hand sawed, filed, oxidized, distressed, bent, and hammered.
Body is all one piece of leather, with no stitching whatsoever.
Pictures of the bag:
Hardware close-ups:
Pre-attached hook closure (shows oxidization/distressing really well)-
Attached hook closure-
Right side (cross) bag-strap connector-
Both bag-strap connectors (straight and cross)-
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