A nice new leather case

[Eric_Methven]

I thought I'd try my hand at a bit of modern contemporary leather for a change.
This is essentialy a briefcase, but because it has "D" rings on the sides, it can take a shoulder strap. It also has a removable carry handle so it can become an over the shoulder tool bag, a bushy day bag or an overnight bag.

Made from Italian cow hide which has been re-fatted (it has had the tallow put back in after tanning) so it is firm yet soft and lovely to the touch.

I might make a few of these to sell on. So, my question to you is.... Whacha fink?
Practical? Manly enough? Bushy possibilities? And finally what sort of money do you recon these could go for?

Thanks for looking,

Eric

 

[fred gordon]

Very smart indeed Eric. You should be very proud of it. Do you have a particular use in mind? Got to be worth £60 at least of anybodies money.Does it have dividers on the inside?

 

[g4ghb]

it looks rubbish! - send it to me i'll give you a couple of quid for it!



seriously mate it looks great (as does all you produce) I reccon £60 wouldn't be a bad price - in fact you could easily ask for more.... after all small possible pouches go for ~£30

 

[malente]

Handmade? More like 80. Or 140 (on the high street). Very nice!

 

[Eric_Methven]

I'm going to make it as multi purpose as possible. I'm not going to dye it though, because it will take on a beautiful patina once the sun starts to oxidise it.

It will have an inner bag that just slips inside, that will be padded from a kip mat and it will become my camera bag. The insert will only be two thirds across though so the other third can accommodate my flask and sarnies.

Without the photography insert, I will also be able to throw all my leather tools in as well and use it to conveniently carry them to various events.

I'll think of other uses for it in due course.

Eric

 

[dkabat579]

Very nicely done, looks like it'll be a great bag. I've had something like that in mind for myself and I was wondering what you did to get the bottom and sides (that single u-shaped piece) to bend at the edges to meet the front and back. Did you wet it when you sewed it to get it to make that tight bend or was the material soft enough to do it dry? Also, what thickness leather did you use?

 

[Black Sheep]

Very nice

Nice usable case with endless uses. I keep looking at the old De-mob style cases and thinking about making something along those lines

Cheers

Richard

 

[Eric_Methven]

Very nicely done, looks like it'll be a great bag. I've had something like that in mind for myself and I was wondering what you did to get the bottom and sides (that single u-shaped piece) to bend at the edges to meet the front and back. Did you wet it when you sewed it to get it to make that tight bend or was the material soft enough to do it dry? Also, what thickness leather did you use?

I worked it round the corners by hand - five stitches at a time. That way the thread holds what you have already done in position and lets you focus on working the next five into position.

The key is to make sure the holes you have awled are open enough for the needles to slip through without disslocating your fingers with the effort of pushing against tough leather that wants to spring out of shape.

The leather is about 3mm thick.

Eric

 

[Eric_Methven]

Very nice

Nice usable case with endless uses. I keep looking at the old De-mob style cases and thinking about making something along those lines

Cheers

Richard

I don't know what De-mob style cases look like. Got any piccies?

Eric

 

[maddave]

Just to give you an idea of pricing Eric, Scaramanga make decent satchels albeit mass produced. Take a look here and I'm sure yours will be far more desirable.....

http://www.scaramangashop.co.uk/fashion/leather-bags/for-him/leather-satchel-bags/cat_25.html

 

[Katanic]

thats a lovely manbag, a slim line one for the old lap top would be awesome, maybe pad it out with some of that stiff foam ect

 

[MrEd]

looks good!

if you make more i would say extend the sides by a little bit so that they flap in the bag when its closed, i dunno just to make it more flush if you know what i mean!

thats really nice though, good bit of hand work there, must have taken ages!

 

[caliban]

Oh, now that's very nice indeed!

 

[Black Sheep]

I don't know what De-mob style cases look like. Got any piccies?

Eric

I could be wrong in calling it a De-mob case Its like a small leather suitcase

I couldn't find a photo of one with google.


Richard

 

[pwb]

I might make a few of these to sell on. So, my question to you is.... Whacha fink?
Practical? Manly enough? Bushy possibilities? And finally what sort of money do you recon these could go for?

Beautiful work Eric .

Certainly looks very practical good idea to include the shoulder strap option, see cases carried that way a lot these days, maybe include a strap as well :bluThinki.

As for price, a bespoke hand made case... got to be around the 100 mark at least I would of thought .

 

[forestwalker]

Nice work. High quality hand made to the right customer set; several hundred quid (once you become a "bespoke brand"). But 100-150 is quite reasonable without any "brand" markup.

Suggestion; add a leather laptop sleeve (as an optional extra).

 

[Biker]

Beautiful work Eric .

As for price, a bespoke hand made case... got to be around the 100 mark at least I would of thought .

I agree with this price, maybe £40+ more. That's the sort of bag you buy and use for life and your kids fight over in your will once you've popped your clogs.

Taking into consideration the work time and uniqueness of it you've got to let it go for a respectable value. Anything cheaper and you risk people thinking it's from China and therefore will fall apart in 3 months. But it is difficult to put a value on your own workmanship, I know that

Really love that case, not my bag ('scuse the pun) to be honest, I prefer the messenger bag style stuff but it looks the biz that's for sure. Quality piece of kit, you should be justly proud of that.

How many hours did you put into it? I'm guessing there's a goodly few. Really hope you make some more and sell 'em.

 

[Eric_Methven]

A bit like this then Aaron? Just finished the shoulder strap. It has dog lead clips for easy removal.

The carrying handle slips off the straps when the shoulder strap is the preferred carry method.

Eric

 

[rancid badger]

It amazes me, how people often undervalue hand made items

If a decent "possibles pouch" goes for £40-£50, then that thing has to be worth at least £120.

I'd certainly not expect to pay any less for it anyway. The build time alone, makes it £100+, never mind the materials costs.

I like it a lot and wouldn't hesitate to use it.

It's funny; I've been thinking about making a couple of leather thwart bags, for the canoes lately but I've dropped off into "can't be arxxd" mode, due to constant work/domestic commitments

As I say; I like it a lot and I hope you can get a few sales

 

[JohnC]

Its very impressive Eric, I'd agree with the £100+ estimate, very strong looking piece..