Lessons in leather purse making......

I finished this bag.  It's patent leather with an embossed alligator design.  I chose a heavy lining that looks like embossed leather-only it is a cotton blend. The bag  turned out pretty well- i love the pattern shape (from a bag I saw at Walmart, way back when i used to shop there), so i am now repeating it in blue leather with a gorgeous batik lambskin bird design on the front.

i know, it's upside down....
(....and THANK YOU, Lorri Scott, for this beautiful piece of hand dyed batik leather!)

The bird is an Andinka Sankofa Bird, which is a symbolic bird meaning "Look to the past"  or "go back and pick up what you left behind"   - thus the bird is looking backwards.  I am going to use my version of this bird for my bronze plaques that i am making to use as logos for my "Bird Avenue" bags.

CU of Bird

I learn so much with each bag i make.......this bag features a cell phone pocket on the side and a magnetic snap to pull the sides in.  I used a smaller snap that i usually do, and it is not as strong magnetically that i like.

 I also made the lining too long, and since the leather pockets were already sewn in, the only way to make it fit was to shorten it at the top....doing this made the leather facing too long and partially covering the corner of one pocket, so the facing cannot be tacked down the way i like, nice and smooth. What else?  The cell phone pocket on the side was probably not the best idea for a semi-stiff leather.....

cell phone pocket- please ignore the Hawaiian fabric on the left - it is not part of the purse.....

 The purse has a hard bottom liner and feet.  I thought I would like it structured like this, so i also top stitched the side edges, which looks great, but when completely put together, the pattern is very unstructured and the leather looks very structured, so it did not seem to hang just right.  Interestingly, after hanging up in my shop with the tabs snapped, the purse took on the correct shape naturally - yay!  leather is so versatile and forgiving.
So this purse has its flaws - inherent in anything handmade - but i am learning a lot and working for more perfection.....ah well!

very cool- yes?

 

I LOVE the buttons!  They are actually bone pendants that i took to my grinder and removed the pendant part and then i drilled them and made them into buttons.
I am also working on a wire sculpture.  It is a bird with human hand wings.

 It has a steel wire frame.  The legs and hands will be filled out with copper and steel wire to make it  3-D....    It still needs a head.....hmm......perhaps one looking backwards like the above purse buttons..... I will also add some micro beads for texture.  then it will be soaked in ammonia and water so the iron will rust and the copper will turn blue.  Hopefully this will work as planned...then i will seal it with resin...and then....
......I will encase it in......
SAUSAGE CASINGS!
...and then seal that.
I'll keep you posted........