I have been playing about with this for a few weeks. I was looking for some nice fabric to wax when I found this bag in a high street store.
I removed the flap and used that material to add a zip top to the bag
Then replaced any PU leather bits and the flap with real leather. Just need to add some keepers.
The only issue is where any leather touches the material it soaks up what ever they have used to wax the bag with, as you can see in the 2nd to last picture.
I will leave it a week or two to see if it dries out, if not I have some Neats Foot oil which I can darken all the leather with. I tested the oil on an old wallet and I think it will work, the right hand side on the last picture has been oiled. The other option is to line the leather flap as I do like the colour
Untitled by Leaky5, on Flickr
Untitled by Leaky5, on Flickr
Untitled by Leaky5, on Flickr
Untitled by Leaky5, on Flickr
I removed the flap and used that material to add a zip top to the bag
Then replaced any PU leather bits and the flap with real leather. Just need to add some keepers.
The only issue is where any leather touches the material it soaks up what ever they have used to wax the bag with, as you can see in the 2nd to last picture.
I will leave it a week or two to see if it dries out, if not I have some Neats Foot oil which I can darken all the leather with. I tested the oil on an old wallet and I think it will work, the right hand side on the last picture has been oiled. The other option is to line the leather flap as I do like the colour
Untitled by Leaky5, on Flickr
Untitled by Leaky5, on Flickr
Untitled by Leaky5, on Flickr
Untitled by Leaky5, on Flickr