TOTE – RUSTIC STYLE. A STAND-OUT IN THE CITY.

RUSTIC STYLE TOTE.

A tote had been building up within my mind for quite some time, but was not showing up clearly. Had been scouring the web for some inspiration but still picturing the whole bag was just not happening.

Well, one morning it all came together. The design was not the product of any single spark of inspiration or any such thing. I guess it must have built itself up over all the many hours and the pictures I must have gazed at over the days.

The result, which I think is a tote that is at once rustic in its look and feel but can be easily carried in a modern (read: city… big city) set up. With elan.

Strong veg tanned natural shade leather (my favourite), highlighted by the use of strong blue and white thread. It all speaks very firmly, but not loudly. About itself and the person carrying it. Gets attention, no doubt.

But this one took time to make. A lot. The handles went on over two days (in multiple sessions). The stitching on the handles was the culprit. It went on… and on… and on. Finger numbing stuff this was. Stitching the sides too was demanding, but very very educating.

The completing of the bag was a huge relief. So much that I could not resist sharing a pic with an online friend. Want to make some more, as time permits.

This was sheer joy…..

SPUNKY LEATHER POUCH

SPUNKY PASSPORT POUCH

I made this passport for a friend who finds himself in a situation where he will be required to travel rather frequently. All because of his own spunk.

It is a very interesting thing because life, it seems, took a very different turn for him. And he took it on. That was his spunk. I made this pouch for him to appreciate his attitude. My tribute to his spunk.

We were together in stock market industry (both doing a job) for a while and later on he branched out into another line of work, but in the finance industry. The last two – three years saw him change to a dramatically different business. He started his own business in stone quarrying (!). He now makes and exports stone slabs for decorative uses (granite and similar materialls) from Sri Lanka. And he is expanding very well.

Well, the part to appreciate is this. Such things don’t happen very often to people in the finance business. In the finance business we are used to making money (big!) by mostly doing nothing. Well we do a lot of talking, but essentially producing (by our own physical hard work) nothing. We really do not have any idea of producing anything by our hand.

Here’s a guy who gave up the comforts of air-conditioned offices and the high flying international lifestyle to doing something of his own, by his own hands. Doing something he knew nothing about and building from literally scratch to growth momentum.

The pouch I made for him is essentially made using conventional colours and leathers. Dark coffee brown for the pouch and veg tanned thick and stiff leather in natural for the closer. The conventional colours denote the conventional approach to life in the early stages. The shape of the closing strip has been tweaked to signify the twist of life and the spunk shown by him.

As always, the leather is thick and strong. Very durable. Durable enough to be passed on to the next generation. So the story stays alive long after the hero of the story.

It was very inspiring to make this pouch and a very enriching experience. He understands the value of what has been gifted to him. He knows and understands, it is not just a pouch. There are special thoughts and feelings carried in it.

May the story prosper and live long into the future. Really long !

PENCIL POUCH - TOOL POUCH

WRAP-AROUND POUCH.

Made on a whim, this one. There was no real reason, but the mind was jumpy and had to get my hands to do something. The mood was not a subtle one I guess and that reflected in the rustic yet classic colours that got picked for this work.

A simple pencil pouch was drifting around on my mind for a while.

The leathers seemed perfect for such a project. Medium temper with a soft leather strip. The triangular side walls offered a good challenge to make by hand. So, it didn’t turn out so simple after all. At least, it was not a cakewalk.

Went for a rustic wrap-around close, much like a tobacco pouch (“chanchi” in our Marathi language).  Used a brown strip to contrast the dark chocolate colour of the main pouch. Riveted the strip to the pouch in addition to strong glue. This offered character to the pouch plus a strip firmly secured for the long term. This, by the way, was my first use of the rivet. From all appearances, it seems it went very well.

The structure is robust, and easy to handle. Can take some rough handling and will surely go deep into the future. How do I know? Well, I ended up using it to store my precious pricking irons. It is an almost daily use item now, so I know. 

THE PROFESSIONAL'S PASSPORT POUCH

NO NONSENSE PASSPORT POUCH

Made this simple looking pouch for a friend.  He being a pro in the finance business the selection of colours had to be quite businesslike. Stylish, but not stylish. And the travelling and moving around required would mean that the pouch needs to be very robust and possessing the ability to take many a rough ride in its stride.

In a business situation one really cannot go wrong with chestnut and tan. The leathers are quite thick and of firm temper. Strong nylon thread is designed to give not just more than required strength but also to enhance the look and feel. The stitching would also be required to reflect strict professionalism, a rather grim requirement of the finance business. On a darkish chestnut background the stitches do stand out, yet they do not hog the limelight.

The long and full strip used for closing is meant to suggest a no-nonsense approach to getting the work done. Nothing fancy or stylish here. Consistent and businesslike.

The width is enough to take in a bunch of three passports and the closer is designed to hold them securely enough for a regular kind of rough and tumble.

I do not expect the softening process of the leather to cause much change in the functionality of the pouch. The basic thickness and temper of the leather as well as the length of the closing flap is designed to take care of this inevitable eventuality.

Here’s wishing many happy journeys and adventures to this dour yet functional pouch.

THE MOST PRACTICAL WALLET

WALLET FOR THE REALIST. 

An early project. This one I made for me. No-risk. Any mistakes, and only I would suffer them ! ! ! !

Had seen this design in one of the pics on Pinterest and I thought this is something that I can give a go. For myself, to begin with.

I had liked the design because, really, what does one need on the road? Some cash and a card or two.  No real need to carry layers upon layers of leather in the name of a wallet. This wallet would also be super slim, if done well. No bulges in the pocket.

The question was, what if it worked out well (it did eventually)? I was also beginning to feel a bit confident.  This would also be my first project using pricking irons, which had just arrived by courier.

So instead of taking anything rough I chose good leathers, again with a business like look. No fancy colours or shades. This might be carried by myself into the world and therefore needed to look businesslike (my stock market background to be blamed for this).

There were some nice Tan coloured pieces of different thicknesses, their tempers exactly suitable for this kind of project. But this was going to turn out to be a trial by fire. Right from cutting the pieces to piecing them together required some very detailed thinking. I don’t use ready templates and would prefer not using them. I prefer to learn on the go, mistakes and all. That anyway is the whole point of handcrafting for a hobby.

The stitching itself was very demanding. It required me to think one small line at a time and then one big line, being the long stitching stint at the bottom and the others being the card pockets. Could not think one stretch at a time and had to break concentration time and again. This was a serious lesson that I did not enjoy, but learnt from.

The completion of the project was a great joy. Have also received quite a few compliments on the looks of the wallet to the practicality of the design. Some of the compliments that I received on Pinterest, I will cherish for a very long time.

It is now a nice, well used, shining accessory that I use daily. It will keep looking better and better with time. 

SWEET AND SUBTLE TABLET COVER..

LONG STRIP TABLET COVER.

This one for my wife’s tablet.

Had acquired this sweet coloured leather from my vendor. Something had to be made, but it was a very intriguing piece of leather, this one. The colour and temper is rather soft and subtle. Rather unsuitable for robust looking products. At the same time, leather being leather it is made to withstand some very serious pressures of life. It was lying around for a while.

My wife’s tab was coverless for a while but nothing was striking my mind. There was this morning when I happened to be gazing at this piece and the picture of a tab cover kind of began forming in my mind. A bit more of giving it a look and the picture was completed with a nice twist in the tale (or head in this case).

The leather is quite longish, and the idea was to create the cover in one full, single, strong and continuous piece. One end of the leather had this cut which we get in almost all full pieces. The idea was to convert that part into a closing flap while the rest of the piece would take care of the tablet itself. The item being intended for my wife, a colourful button was searched out from the house supplies and used to add some more splash of colour. But not so much as to kill the original sweetness.

Hand stitched using a red thread (the colour theme kept alive!) from two sides, with the flap coming down to close the cover and secured by the wooden art button, the feeling is to exude subtle and understated happiness. A sense of lively calm and security.  

Again, leather being leather, it is robust enough to take on the elements and is therefore not a dandy piece of work. It looks sweet and subtle, but is a strong workhorse.

Should be able to do many functions, long after the tab is retired. 

MOBILE COVER - CHESTNUT COLOUR FOR THE BUSINESS CLASS

Mobile cover in nice chestnut.

This is a cover I made for my mobile phone (eventually hijacked away by my daughter ! ! ! ). A simple Samsung one.  This photo was taken while I was travelling in my car. Got a nice burst of sunlight, so clicked it on my mobile.

My earliest creation. Was a ball of nerves as I began it. Many mistakes were expected as I started it. I wanted it to look classic, respectable (!), classy, elegant, tough and so much more. My business is in the stock market, so definitely it could not look frivolous and fun. It had to have a rather serious(!) look to it.  It had to look and feel prim and proper. Nothing less would do. With so many boxes to tick for a very early project, the nervousness I’m sure was understandable.

This is was a no-risk situation. So choosing a chestnut was a no-brainer. I guess, it always works in serious business ambience. The tan (again a business choice) closer was used to give it some get-up. And one does need some excitement after all. All chestnut would be too grim to look at.

Didn’t have a pricking iron at the time. So raided the kitchen for the daily use fork to mark the stitch holes.  This was beginning to get seriously adventurous now.

But this is where the tests started. The project looks quite small, but for a first timer the biggest requirement was to keep the focus on. And this was difficult. I didn’t know that keeping focus was going to become so demanding. I had to take many short breaks just to relax my mind. Must have taken hours to complete this one. But the feeling of exhilaration and completion was terrific at the end of it all. Must acknowledge it that this was a first lesson in the sheer levels of focus and concentration require to do handmade leather items. This, again, is very demanding yet equally liberating.

There was a rough edge or two, but they smoothed out with time and usage.  Now this cover has been flicked by my daughter (despite the supposedly businesslike look), and she proudly carries her mobile in it to college and everywhere else. That has made me proud of my creation too!

I have a made a new one for myself, but we will visit that on another day. 

CLASSY AND MINIMALIST PASSPORT POUCH.

PASSPORT POUCH . . . . .

This was made for a very close friend. Extremely well traveled and a man of sophistication, simplicity and yet of rich elegance.

Given that it would be possessed by someone who would travel quite a lot, I struck upon the idea of making a medium sized pouch which would not take too much space and could occupy a place of pride over time.  It would have to be a pouch that would be useful and take some rough rides and handling into its stride. Yet complement the person for whom it was intended.  

The concept therefore was to make something that would be easy to look at, have minimum details, be of classic colours which would mainly tend to dark (because of the travelling expected).

Here I used a thick deepish blue medium – stiff leather. The pouch itself was made broad enough to contain three passports at the outset (a regular travelling man gathers at least that many!).  The closer flap was also designed to be deep enough to secure the books in a normal rough and tumble.

The strap used for closing is a thick veg tan leather in natural shade (my favourite).  This is a very elegant relief to the deep blue background.  The other thought is that while the dark leather will absorb the strains and experiences of travel, the veg tan will do the opposite. It will reflect them. And perhaps, tell a story !

Design-wise, the whole set up was beginning to look too neat and well….. well – behaved.  So, I chose a part of the hide where there were some wrinkles for the veg-tan strip.  This was to add a slight element of say… rebellion? A little bit away from the neatness of it all !

That was a deeply satisfying experience. The whole of it. 

THE DIARY COVER FOR MANY DIARIES

Leather Diary cover

Made this Leather diary cover for a very respected family friend. Used medium temper leathers in a mix of colours that would appeal to a mind with a strong artistic bent. They needed to be strong and have a presence yet not be loud and garish. Also not look very dirty with use.

Intention was to make something that would be useful and last decades into the future too. So made a diary cover in which he could keep many diaries over time to note events and appointments.

Completely hand cut and hand stitched (something that gives me my joy), it was a rather interesting experience as it might be looking a simple thing to make, but can get tricky with leather. It shifts shape a weeny bit but that can be annoying and tests patience. Really tests it. The other part was getting it to fit correctly, neither a bit loose nor too tight.

Hand – stitching leather is especially a very demanding task. One cannot let one’s attention waver even a little bit. One small overlook mistake and the whole work needs to be unraveled and done again. While frustrating, this becomes a serious life lesson. And that cannot be unraveled, so be careful there!

Hope the cover is well-used and abused. And wishing it a great life journey into its decades !

LEATHER - WHY SO ATTRACTIVE?

My leather story

What attracts me to leather…..

Over the last year and a half I have been realizing that leather seems to fascinate me quite a lot. I kind of, let it pass for a while thinking that this is perhaps just a passing attraction. But it seemed to take on a force of its own, brushing aside any protestations that I offered.  I got drawn more and more into studying, understanding and working, even possessing, more of leather.

I guess, what really attracted me to leather is the sheer loyalty it shows towards its owner. Unlike artificial materials. The artificial material, it appears, begin to deteriorate from the moment one purchases it. On the shop shelf, the artificial material item is probably at the peak of its life cycle. On the other hand, a leather item on the shop shelf might just have begun its life cycle. Its maturity extending deep into the future, counting in years, perhaps decades.

The leather item will be used, abused, handled by many, roughed up in trains, cars, airports, five star hotels, rustic villages, deserts, outbacks and elegant porches. In all imaginable places. And in the process a well made leather item will keep getting better and better. It might soften up in a sweet way, develop its own unique patina, reflecting the many adventures that it would have experienced along the way.

And in all this it keeps getting better, even stronger as it takes on the elements with its owners. This is in contrast to non-leather items which keep losing the beauty they displayed on the shop – shelf. They start becoming ragged, losing their sheen and generally buckle under the strain, only to be thrown out in a year or five. Just about the time a leather item might begin coming into its own.

This sheer loyalty that leather expresses towards its owners fascinates me completely. In an age of use-throw and short term loyalties (applying to everything, from things to even human relations), leather offers a long term friendship very confidently. That has to be fascinating.