Chains and leather

My latest creation: a purse with a chain strap.

I made this purse from two pieces of leather scrap I had, in a nice weathered brown. The leather is heavy weight, but turned out to be buttery soft - a dream to work with!
For the shape I chose a simple rectangle as I was limited by the small amount of leather I had.
For the flap I kept the rough selvedges and I didn't mind the tiny whole the leather had.
On the inside, I made a small pocket (the right size to hold my cell phone) and I added a strap with clasp for holding keys as well.





I found the heavy and well made brass chain, at a local jewelry making supply store. It wasn't cheap but well worth it.
The tabs holding the chain are integrated in the side seams.





I'm not sure if I should add any detail on the flap or not, nor if I should add a snap or other closure. I think I will do a test run with the purse as is. I like simplicity and a minimalistic look, especially with nice leather like this.

The purse is entirely hand stitched with linen thread. Since the thread wasn't waxed I used beeswax to wax it myself, which worked really well.

I will do a post on how to hand sew leather some time soon, going deeper into some tricks and skills and addressing the tools needed.

And now something totally different...

I've been watching these guys from the sideline for quite a while now and I like what they're doing.
This is their first official release.
More KNF resurrection here.

27 degrees - KNF featuring Niko Jane from creative men on Vimeo.

Color me a rainbow

We've been experiencing the weirdest Spring ever, so far.
We've had extremely low temperatures for the past several weeks.
Easter was colder than Christmas.
Frozen eggs instead of a white Christmas...

So, to give nature a little hand: here are some cheerful cell phone pouches I made.
Rainbow colors for the front, white for the back, and natural tan leather for the tabs and strap.
Just like the previous ones, completely hand sewn and made with the yummiest leather.
Available through my Etsy store, as usual.

Back

They're back!
Available here together with these goodies...

A touch of Fendi :: Fold-over clutch

I finished my 'Fendi' color block fold-over clutch over the weekend - and I really, really l o v e it!
Everything went well on this project, maybe because I took my time for a change.
All the leather parts were hand-sewn.
I particularly like the off-setting 'Rose Jaipur' leather piping - I happen to have peep-toe high heel sandals in the exact same color! Unlike fabric piping often, the leather piping was extremely easy to make and work with.
Inside the clutch there's a fabric lining, with a zippered pocket. This is perhaps the only detail I'm not entirely happy with. It turns out I put it in too low, which makes it a little deep and hard to reach.
The clutch closes with a magnetic snap.
In case you were wondering, all leather used is scrap 'Hermes' leather which I buy in bulk at a local retailer.

I got my inspiration here. For more bag inspiration check out my board on Pinterest.

A touch of Fendi

 

 

A glimpse on a new project I'm currently working on. In Fendi SS13 colors, sort of. All hand sewn.
So far, it's been progressing just the way I wanted, with not too many surprises or difficulties.
Let's hope I can keep it that way.

In the meantime, we're spending the better part of our school break inside thanks to the lovely weather.
It snowed the entire day yesterday which is rather exceptional at this time of the year in this part of the world. The bad weather has even made us come back home earlier from our trip to the seaside.

People are desperate for a little sun and warmer temperatures...
Oh, Spring, please don't make us wait much longer...

xo, P.

Striped

First of all, thanks for your comments, both online and offline, on my previous post! I really appreciated your suggestions. A strap would definitely make more sense if I want to get more use out of my bag. But,
for now, I guess I'll leave it as it is. Until I'm absolutely sure. I really like the way it looks now, so better safe than sorry... for now...




There's been more leather works going on here. I made these yesterday afternoon. The same as the previous set I made - they're all gone so I wanted to stock up on them again. All four are hand sewn.
I really got the hang of it. As a matter of fact I find it less stressful than sewing on the machine, as you only get one chance with leather... 
I added a little bit of 'peps' this time, by painting a neon stripe on the white ones and a silver one on the blue and coffee ones.

They'll be available in my Etsy shop later on this week.
Wishing you a great week!

To clutch or not to clutch?

 







Finished my first fully hand sewn leather bag ever...
Real bag, I mean.

Or not? Should I add a strap?
Or should I leave it as it is?

To clutch or not to clutch - that's the question...

What do you think?

Still in progress...

Playing around with buttons.
I'm not sure yet whether or not to attach a strap.
There's no real plan - I'm shaping it as I go.
I think I like it...

Work in progress :: hand sewing leather

Something I'm currently working on.

I finally found the courage to start cutting in one the many hides I own - I'm literally sitting on a mountain of leather, enough to pave a room.

Too worried to damage my precious sewing machine (and leather), I recently turned to hand sewing my leather projects.
I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon sewing, sitting on the floor in front of the window for better light, the leather in my lap.

Soothing...

To be continued today, I hope...

Triangular bag :: a tutorial

You can't look past the Martin Margiela triangle bags on the net lately. I had seen this type of bags before, pre-Margiela, I mean, and a lot cheaper too. I liked the minimalism - they reminded me of Japanese bag folding, furoshiki. The ingenuity is striking - a good example of how to optimize under constraints (this is the economist in me speaking) or translated in sewing terms: how to make the largest bag possible given only a small piece of fabric.

Anyway, as I was trying to figure out how to make one of these, I found out you can do so in a couple of different ways (I figured out at least 3 different methods). It all boils down to basic geometry, combining shapes in one way or another. I made several and I find the method described below to be the easiest one. All it takes is a rectangular piece of fabric, some folding and basic sewing skills. And if you prepare your fabric by hemming it all the way around, you can make this bag in under 15 minutes. As fast, almost, as furoshiki folding, except that this one's permanent.

What you need:

Note: this bag can be finished in many different ways. I won't go into detail here, but you could add lining, pockets, add a longer strap, finish it off with boxed corners, etc. Just know that when you add something you'll need more fabric.

- a rectangular piece of fabric, where the length of the fabric equals three times the width. To give you an idea of the dimensions: a 50 cm x 150 cm piece of fabric results in a 65-70 cm wide bag (which is really big!) depending on how you finish the seams.
- sewing machine, thread, pins
- Iron




Instructions:

1. Hem the fabric all the way around.
2. Place the fabric in front of you, right side facing up, and start folding as shown in the pictures.
3. Pin the fabric together where it says 'sew' on the picture. Flip over and repeat on the other side.
4. Sew together both seams on the machine. Turn inside out. Press.
5. Handle: Join the tips by overlapping them and sew into place.
A nice detail: before joining the tips I slipped on a piece of leather - a detail I was really proud of. It's only while looking at the Margiela pictures, right now, as I was writing, that I noticed they did the exact same thing...


That's all there is to it! I hope you like this bag as much as I do...


Cheers,


Pascale


As with all of my tutorials, please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

Color me red

I have been having fun lately, making new bags.
This one I particularly like because of its dramatic shape.
Linen, leather, the usual...

Available here.

New addition

...in the shop.
A natural tan leather pouch, hand sewn, with an nice and roomy cotton tote inside.

There's only one available...

A new favorite

A new shopping tote made right before the holidays.
The fabric is a nice organic hemp cotton blend which I bought at a crafts fair.
The straps are natural leather.
Inside, the bag has a pocket, finished with leather trim and a snap.

It's a new favorite of mine. The perfect size for daily errands.
Simple and efficient - just the way I like it!

And more...

Also available here, a leather key chain with strap.

New

These have been added to my shop today!
Simple leather coin purses, hand sewn, with a metallic snap.

Happy 2013 to all of you!

xo, P.

wishing you

Hope to see you back here soon!

Take care,


xo, Pascale

Drawstring gift bags

a set of 5.
Now available through my shop...

Ready in time...

A little surprise for when the girls get home tonight.
I spend the better part of this morning crafting this advent calendar.
The only thing left is finding the right spot to hang it.
Can't believe we're starting to count-down this weekend already...

Wishing you a great weekend!

xo, P.

No-sew Leather Pencil Case :: a DIY

I have been feeling slightly under the weather this week. A lack of energy, a cold, sleepy, headachy... and I got slightly frustrated about it. So many things I wanted to do. So many unfinished projects on my table and in my head...



At least, yesterday, I managed to get this one out of the way. Taking pictures, scanning and transferring the template actually took me much longer than finishing the project. [I actually enjoyed taking the pictures. Yesterday was a dark and grey day, a bit of a challenge if you want to take natural light pictures. Especially, when doing so past five o'clock. An opportunity to get my Lastolite screen out, which had been collecting dust ever since I got it, about two years ago. A shame, really, as this thing works!!] But let's get back to the pencil case:



This no-sew leather pencil case makes a perfect last minute gift. As usual, I chose for a minimalistic and sleek design. I used a sample of coffee with cream heavy weight leather and added my favorite fluo elastic thread (Rayher Gummifaden)to spice things up a bit. And it turned out just the way I like it, holding my favorite drawing pens! The elastics have a double function: they hold the pens into place as well as keep the pencil case closed. You can alter the template to fit bigger pens, or only two pens, you can add a slot to hold an eraser... You can just play around with it.

If you want to make one too, here are the - very brief - instructions.



You will need:

- a piece of leather, big enough to fit the template (note: if you can't find leather, you could also use heavy weight felt, a sheet of foam or vinyl)
- a hole punch or awl
- elastic thread
- a rotary cutter or scissors



Instructions:

1. Print and cut out template, which you can find here.
2. Transfer template onto leather and cut out.
3. Using template, transfer the positioning of the holes. Next, make holes with hole punch.
4. Thread elastic through the holes and tie a knot. And done!!

Ok and now let's get moving and catch up!!

Cheers,

P.