Suede Leather Tote Bag

by pollahuleatherworkshop in Craft > Leather

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Suede Leather Tote Bag

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Everything you need in one bag!

This luxurious suede bag is the perfect size to hold all your everyday necessities.

The design is timeless unique and functional and can complement any style and age.

It is made of Italian suede leather.

Tools and Materials

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Materials

The basic material that you need is leather. We used suede Italian leather which is known for its quality. It costs around 30$ per square meter. The metal eyelets rings and button head screws are cheap in big quantities on ebay.

Tools

  • Sewing machine with leather needles
  • Stainless Steel Ruler
  • Universal Glue
  • Nylon Thread and Fabric Marker
  • 3d printer for the logo (optional)

Designing and Cutting

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The design for a tote bag is pretty straight forward.

You could use a pattern but it's not needed. Mark the leather using the pattern or the ruler.

Be careful while cutting the leather. You need to apply a fair amount of pressure in order to secure the leather to the cutting mat and have a clean cut. Also a double side tape between the mat and the leather could avoid slipping.

We need the following pieces:

  • two pieces 36x40mm each for the body of the bag
  • one piece 6x74mm for the bag strap
  • one piece for the internal pocket

Sewing

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sewing inner pocket

Before sewing the leather we need to glue the edges of the pieces to avoid misalignment while sewing.

Apply only a small amount of glue a couple of millimeters from the edge and let it set for a while. Keep in mind that sewing on top of glue may be a little difficult for the needle.

We are gonna sew the bag from the inside so the are no visible stiches.

Use nylon thread because it is stronger and you can burn the edges with a lighter to avoid getting lose threads.

  1. First glue the pocket at one of the large pieces and sew it now. The pocket must be sewn first, before the two sides of the bag. Pay attention to the orientation of the top of the pocket.
  2. Once the pocket is done you can sew the main body of the bag. Remember not to sew the top side of the bag. Pay attention to orientation of the bag along with the pocket.
  3. Fold both sides of the strap apply some glue and sew after the glue is set.

For leather you will need special needles that can pierce the leather without bending. The needle for leather is like a spear. The appropriate size is between 12-16(us) or 80-100(europe). As an alternative needles for denim will also work.

An inexpensive sewing machine could sew leather but will not last long. A semi industrial sewing machine will be ideal. There are many old singer sewing machines on ebay that could sew leather for about 100 bucks.

Assembling & Adding Logo

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  • Open the holes for the eyelets with the punching tool and place the eyelets.
  • For the strap we will use unwelded rings. Bent the rings with a set of pliers or by hand and put them through the metal eyelets on the main body of the bag. Puth the strap through each one of the rings and secure them with rivets or button studs and screws.
  • For the logo we 3d printed a stamp that designed with Autodesk Fusion 360.
  • The stamp must be printed mirrored so after the stamping you can read it.
  • Apply some acrylic ink on top of the stamp and experiment on scrap pieces of leather until you get the desired effect.

That's it.

Thank you and hope you have enjoyed this instructable and visit us on facebook and instagram.

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