Here is a back shot of our new Men’s Messenger. It’s small yet roomy and made in the most beautiful, buttery soft veg leather. You can see the zippered pocket; it also has a couple inside pockets, one of which is big enough to hold an iPad. The shoulder strap is adjustable and removable. It has a tuck-lock closure.
And here it is. Finally! The red looks even better than I thought it would with the cork. And yes, that one in the back is different. I found a red strap with a crocodile print embossing that was long enough to cut into two handles and just enough extra leather to make one up. I like that red with the cork even better. So I’ve claimed it. Now, besides being quite light in weight, cork is as durable as leather, environmentally friendly and naturally water repellant.
So now my iPad mini has a home! The worry with a larger tote is that things will get tossed around, possibly damaged by the other stuff we all inevitably cart around. And if I don’t feel like bringing the iPad everywhere, I will have a place to put something else; something else that I might need to know it’s whereabouts and can find it without even looking inside the bag! Oh, and that little strap hanging down the inside on the left? Handy little hook for my keys…no more wasting time searching for them, shaking my bag to try to locate them!
This particular style of bag is built inside-out while the lining is built right-side out separately. All that is left to do is turn it carefully (there is a trick to it!) and glue the lining inside. One last stitch and we are done!
People love pockets. We are always asked if more can be added. Pockets, dividers, sections. Why the need to compartmentalize life? I find that one zippered pocket works just fine; there will be a smaller, open pocket for a phone or iPod as well and of course my customized iPad pocket! Plenty of pockets but not so many that I will forget where I put things–keep it simple!
We typically paint all exposed edges of leather. In this case, I’m using a clear edge paint. It darkened the natural red slightly.
As I’ve mentioned previously on this blog, one of my newest toys is an iPad Mini. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time to create a case specifically for it but so far it’s been quite comfortable in the case we made for the Kobo Vox. I thought that it should have it’s own little pocket, that way it won’t be pushed around by all the other stuff I end up carrying. It’ll probably be the only pocket that will actually have any of my own stuff in it!
We like to make our bags as nice on the inside as it is on the outside. We have some bags that have no lining at all which is fine but just not as finished as it could be. This was not something I wanted this time around. And I like a bit of colour because, well, why not? I find that when a bag has a dark lining, it is far too easy to lose things in it and I don’t want to waste too much time searching for bits and pieces. I narrowed it down to a golden sand and red. I don’t know about you but to me the choice just seemed obvious.
After selecting the pattern of cork that I wanted, the leather and, most importantly, the style of bag, it’s time to start cutting the pieces. We already had patterns for this particular style. No sneak peaks though! You’ll just have to wait until the item is done, just like I do!
I was thinking I need a new bag for summer; don’t think I want to carry a hair-on bag through the high humidity days. The thought of it makes me break out in a sweat. But I need one big enough to carry my laptop. I need enough room to carry all the extra stuff that comes with children, can’t stress how important that is. Mostly, I don’t want it to be too heavy once all that stuff is loaded in it. My “ah ha!” moment? Cork bag with veg-tanned leather trim! And in this case, red is best. Why not?