Getting Crafty: Wallets & Bags

So I bought an SD card reader a few weeks ago so I could load photos on my computer from my camera. Though after loading all the senior and engagement photos the SD reader has come up missing in the Bermuda Triangle known as our house. I was willing to pay a whole dollar  to whoever found it though after an hour we called off the search party in defeat. So when I find it I will post my photos I took at the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibit at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art (that is if I still feel like it is relevant enough to post them). In lieu of the Kahlo/Rivera pictures I have decided to post about my clumsy learnings in sewing and leathersmithing (is that a word?). I've taken advantage of my time with my family and had my mom teach me how to put in a zipper and how to change the needle on my sewing machine.

Back in November of last year my friends and I tracked down leather couches being given away on Craigslist so we could skin them and reuse the leather. We had several costumes to make for a steampunk themed outreach and needed as much material as we could find. When it was all said and done we had excess leather and I decided to collect some of the pieces to make wallets and bags. I also had leather from remnant bags you can find at fabric stores. In addition to all of that, Angela will buy the occasional leather pant or skirt from the $1 bins at thrift stores for me so I can repurpose them.

So I brought all the leather I have with me and we've turned our dinner table into a regular ol' sweat shop.

In case it isn't clear...I am joking. Obvi. These pants are lambskin and were only $1.

As I promised... this is how I made the leather envelope/wallet that was included in the giveaway.

Step 1: collect materials
Step 2: cut out pattern
Step 3: iron pattern into the correct shape
Step 4: sew leather detailing and tack into place

Brown leather, mint green zipper and orange stitching.

The process of turning a couch into a purse.

Black leather, exposed gold zipper on black with black stitching

I've come to realize sewing a zipper is much harder than I had imagined. Partly because I don't have a zipper foot on my sewing machine and we are dealing with leather. When it has come to making the leather pouch and the folded purse, I mainly provided the materials, decided on the style and supervised the making, since I am still in the learning stages. We'll see what I can come up with on my own later.

xoxo
r