Leather! I've been wanting to try my hand at sewing a bag from leather for quite some time now. I didn't want to invest in a hide for my first try, so I've been keeping an eye out for leather jackets at the thrift stores. No luck. I finally broke down and bought some leather...on sale.
Feeling pretty confident about my latest pattern, I decided to give it a try in leather. It turned out okay for my first try. I opted to leave the pleats out because I wasn't sure how my machine would handle the bulk, but in hindsight I wish I would have left them in. Oh, I still like the end result okay, but I think the pleats would have made it better.
One thing I didn't count on was how slippery it would be. Yikes, my pieces were sliding all over the place, and I wasn't using pins!! Both those elements I never even considered going in to it. I ended up using quilt binding clips to kinda sorta hold my pieces together. Eh, maybe I'll just deal with the pin holes next time (or do some research on sewing with leather!!). Any experts out there with some tips to share?
With such a lovely purple leather on the outside I decided to use some good stuff on the inside - some Amy Butler Ginger Bliss, which was the first designer quilting fabric I ever bought. I thought that was kind of fitting - first leather experience with my first designer fabric :-) With my first try behind me, you better believe I'm far from done with this whole leather thing...
