Handmade leather school bag for my daughter.

I have not posted an entry lately, but that does not mean that I have not been busy. Over the past two months I have had a lot going on in my life, however, with the little time I have had I have worked on a leather school bag for my daughter Jessie.

The bag is made completely of leather including the strap. I order to metal hardware from a number of different places and I used many different styles as inspiration. It took a while to final complete, however, the final result is something that I am very pleased with (and Jessie likes it too).

Well, here it is:

This is a picture of the front of the bag, which shows the front pocket, closures, handle and the adjustable slider on the strap. 

This picture shows the front of a bag a the strap. The strap is adjustable and is short enough to fit her now (she is 3) and extends to fit her as an adult). So, the hope is that she loves it and has it forever. 

This picture shows the plain back of the bag. I left the back plain to show that the back and the flap are all one piece. 

This pictures show a detailed close-up of the strap clasps. 

 Let me know what you think! Just incase anyone was thinking, "I would love one of those bags." My wife and mother-in-law have already put in orders, which should keep me busy until Xmas. ;)

Thanks for looking.

DCA (Dundee Contemporary Art) workshop

Today was my first opportunity to teach my first leather craft workshop and I can say is, "brilliant". The workshop for put on by the DCA (Dundee Contemporary Arts) in Dundee, obviously ;). The DCA has a great number of workshops and today was my first.

The topic of the workshop was to learn the basics of leather craft (designing, cutting, stitching). The workshop was five hours, which allowed for many other the participants (who were amazing by the way, if any of you are reading this) to complete/almost complete one large project or two smaller projects. And I can tell you, for people would have limited experience working with leather they produced some fantastic items.

During the workshop I covered a brief overview of leather (different types and names), the basic tools needed for leather craft, and how to measure/cut/stitch the items together. I hoped the participants learned the skills necessary to create the items and I gave them the opportunity to choose the project(s) they wanted to attempt. The time flew in and the items that were created were great. I thought everyone worked very hard, enjoyed themselves, and left with something they could be proud of and show off to the friends and family.

Below are some of the pictures I took of the items that were created. There were of pictures of the day taken by DCA staff that I will try to get a hold of, but for now here is a small selection.

Kindle envelope case with leather ties, just a stunning creation (which I may cop if I get the chance) 

Kindle envelope case (showing natural interior)

Two Pocket card wallet (created as a gift)

Mobile phone sleeve with teal blue thread and purple interior

Mobile phone sleeve with light purple thread and light purple interior

The colour combination of these two were great (IMOP)

Two iPhone 4 sleeves (one with green interior and the other with creamy white), both were very well done.

Kindle sleeve with reddish interior (it fit the kindle like a glove)

This image do this justice, as it is a envelope case for a 17 inch laptop. The case is a single piece of leather. Another interesting fact is the flap was not cut, it was the natural uncut end of the hide. Just fantastic.

A pairing any designer/creator could sell for £100-150 easy. Again all I can say is fantastic.

Some of the items created have not been photographed, however, I have asked their creator to take photos and email them to me. When they arrive, I will put them up asap.

Conclusion: BRILLIANT work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Update 19/06/2012: Here are a few more images of the laptop case in it finished state.

Finished laptop case (photo taken by own), it looks amazing!

Another angle, still looks great.

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Update 08/09/2012:


Below is another image I received from one of the participants from the workshop. In an email he said this, "It took a lot less time than I had thougth it would, maybe 5 hours from what I left the DCA with. Here are the pictures. My wife is really enjoying it. On a plus side, it is also perfect size to put A4 and Letter documents into as well!". I am really glad that they all managed to produce the level of work that they did. It was fantastic. 

Leather laptop sleeve made by Charles Demore

Leather laptop sleeve with laptop

iPad sleeve (fleece interior)

I finally got around to creating a large version of the iPhone sleeve for my iPad. I used fleece to add a little more padding a protection. The sleeve is very simple and it meant to hold the iPad in a naked state (for people who don't use another case on smart cover). The iPad fits neatly in the sleeve and feel well protected.

Here it is:

iPhone 3g(s) wallet case (notebook style)

Like most people I carry my mobile with me everywhere and feel somewhat naked without it. After a long day on the train traveling, taking my wallet out of one pocket and my mobile from a different, I thought there must be another way. I way of combining the two together. 

I stated with a simple cheap back case, which I glued into place (I hated to have to glue it and have since bought some mesh type hard cases which will allow me to stitch the cases in place). I then added two card pockets and a compartment for cash, receipts, and/or other cards. I finished it by adding an elastic strap and a red bookmark tab (which adds more of a notebook look to the case, but it also helps to remove the phone from the case). 

Here it is:

When I have finished the next version I will post pics of it. 

Thanks for looking.

Single Pen Holder for A6 (Moleskine) Notebook

Well, I have been pretty busy lately (like everyone these days) and have not had a lot time to practice my leather craft. However, I was inspired by a small company who I spoke about before called Quiver. They make two products, a single pen holder and a double pen holder. In an earlier post I showed my attempt to copy their double pen holder and this time I went for the single holder. I have to say that the design was simple and every effective.

Have a look and feel free to post a comment:

The final result was great and I have to say that I will be making more of these. 

Notebook Pen Holder

Hello everyone,

As you might have noticed (for the previous post), I have developed an interest in notebooks. I have recently begun using one and it is great. However, my obsession with notebooks will have to wait for another post.

Because I have recently been using a notebook I have found that I need to find a place to put a pen/pencil. Like always, I did some research and found very few real good methods of carrying a pen/pencil. One of the best I found was developed by a company called Quiver. Their holders are great and quite different for the rest of the standard holders you can find.

After many hours admiring their work I felt it was time to have a go at making one. I loved the project. I finished it with a couple of hours and now have a template incase anyone else would like one. I will be making a few and putting them for sale my Etsy.com page. Until I have a chance to do that I thought I would show you the my first attempt.

Here it is:

The holder holds two normal size pens or one large (thick) pen. It is made of very soft full grain leather and is saddle stitched with orange thread.

The holder is held in place by tension. The elastic strap allows the holder to be stretched to fit a notebook around 20-21cm in height. Which means it will fit any A5 notebook and the large Moleskine notebook.

Like always, Let me know what you think.

And, if anyone wants one. Send me an email and we can discuss the leather and thread colour.

Take care.

Leather Moleskine Notebook Cover

After doing a little research online, I found a project to attempt. I wanted to make a leather moleskine notebook cover. Moleskine notebooks are considered some of the best. So, I thought I would have a go at making a cover for one of their pocket notebooks. 


Here was my first attempt:

 

I really liked this leather and felt the cover turned out really nice. The only problem was that I made it too big. The cover would fit an A6 notebook, but moleskine notebooks are smaller. So, I had a second attempt.

Here is my second attempt: 

The second was made from an upcycled leather skirt. I used red felt for the interior because I like the mix of leather and felt and it gave the cover a little padding. I think the second turned out nice as well.

I am stilling going to continue to refine the cover until I have it just right, but at least I made a start.

Let me know what you think (if you want to).