Making of a Steampunk Inspired Leather Bag!

July 05, 2015

I have been wanting to make steampunk inspired bags, but I am still unable to find real gear pieces here in Bergen... almost all clock makers ran out of business, and the ones who are still in business are either not willing to sell any spare gear, or don't even have any to begin with... what a shame! I could buy some online... but I like to keep things local made, and genuine as much as possible!

So yesterday, I was home alone once more, while the family decided to go on another mountain hike (it's a Norwegian thing)... I was bored, the weather was very warm, and I hate the heat... so I took an ice cold refreshing shower, and I got to work! I started by sketching out some ideas I had... but when I touched the raw leather, I had an entirely new inspiration!

When I was a kid, I had a beautiful old style red/brown aged leather shool bag, it even had a lock... I got it as a gift from an old man, who forgot to give me the key... and died shortly after... I loved that bag, and I think that is what triggered my love for genuine handmade leather and crafts in general.

I still have that bag back home, my father has kept all my childhood things... ever since I was born... He has a treasure chest with all of my baby things, my hand and foot prints... my first shoes, my first everything, even my first cut hair...

So, with that in mind... I started making a pattern that would be functional, multi purpose, solid, steampunk inspired, but in my style.

Since I didn't have any gear... I looked around in my tiny workshop drawers and found some antique copper keys that I had bought from a nice antiques shop, some copper locks that I bought in Copenhagen last year, some tiny glass bottles bought in Cork (Ireland)... and I started bringing my idea to life.

The leather was bought in Copenhagen also, I used two types: the bag is made of 2,5mm raw color leather, the pockets and sides are made of 1,2 mm thick leather.

First I cut the leather, then dyed it with homemade brown natural dye and let it dry, then I treated it to soften it... this of course is not the final color ;)

I used the hand puncher to punch the holes all around the leather

Here are the two big back to back pockets, the smaller ones, the side pieces and the decorative copper pieces I put together.

For the pockets, I had to use a special needle with a triangular tip, then expand the holes with another round tool. Hard work!

The next thing was to sew two pockets in the same holes, one on the inside (iPad mini size) and a smaller one on the outside for smaller things. I decided to keep the inner pocket without dye...

Here you can see the back to back pockets.

I then placed the middle lock... (but I didn't like it, so I changed it later on)

Next was sewing on the sides, but first I had to sew the tiny pen/bottle pockets on...

First side is on! 4 hours of work already!

The pockets and one side are in place... and the work goes on,

After 3 more hours of work, the locks, the sides, the border sewing was done... Midnight already!

Here's a picture of one side!

And here is the other side!

Front view... the colors are weird under a lamp!

Today, I continued working on the bag... I gave it a layer of dark red homemade dye, darkened the edges, gave it an aged look, changed the center lock...