Indigofan » Accessories

Weekend Luggage

Matt — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 13:15:36 +0000

I got a bit ambitious and decided to try making an overnight/weekend bag.

It has a longer version of the handles that I’ve been making previously. The handles use a thick leather sewn over rope and riveted to the brass rings.

The body of the bag is a thinner leather, but I added strengthening straps that circumnavigate the whole bag and attached the handles to these. I also added a second layer of leather on the base of the bag.

This was also the first time I sewed a zip, and I lined the whole bag with a coarse cotton canvas.

It was a lot of work – took me over two months – just hand sewing bits and pieces in the evenings or on weekends.

It is actually quite big. Here’s my daughter dragging it around.

I’m pretty happy with the zip and lining.

My next project might be an A3 folio with zip. I need to find some high quality double zips… this YKK one above is crap.

Bandana Ice

Matt — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:13:49 +0000

A great idea to put an ice cube inside your bandana. I will try this when it gets hot enough.

Source: Esse Magazine

Quilt

Matt — Mon, 30 May 2011 00:41:40 +0000

Ms Indigo has gone quilting crazy. She made this queensized quilt from mostly Japanese indigo fabrics. I think it’s pretty awesome.

The batting that we used for the quilt is bamboo. Benefits of bamboo: it’s organic, sustainable, and keeps you as warm as cotton in winter, but cooler than cotton in summer (I’m not sure how that’s possible).

Bandanna/Handkerchief Shell Print

Matt — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 11:05:16 +0000

The local shop had some cloth with a Japanese wave pattern. I thought I’d try making some bandanna/handkerchiefs out of it.

For my first attempt I tried to hand stitch a rolled hem. It was fun, but it was more work than I expected.

I hemmed the second one on the machine.

Raw Shell Cordovan Coin Pouch

Matt — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:34:54 +0000

Today I made a shell cordovan coin pouch. I’ve had these cordovan shells for a while, and I always liked the texture of the unfinished side, so I thought I’d try making the coin pouch inside out. The reverse side of the shell has a slightly nubuck feel.

The cordovan really is nice to work with. It’s supple and easy to cut, yet somehow has strength.

The biggest problem I have is that my hardware isn’t quite what I was after. The coin conch and the snap buttons take up a lot of vertical space.

iPad Bag

Matt — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 12:00:11 +0000

This weekend I made a new bag.

A narrower – portrait shape. �The strap/handles are attached to the back body of the bag.

Holds an iPad and your other daily items like phone, wallet, scarf, glasses, sunglasses etc.

Elephant vs Rat Bandannas (Kapital)

Matt — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 10:51:19 +0000

I’ve been researching bandannas.

It started with Cotton Duck’s post of his favourite bandanna, which is a�gorgeous�45rpm piece.

http://cottonduck.net/146574/Favorite-bandana

Then Jon’s (Bandanna Almanac) blog posts about the Bandanna books by Kazuhiro Hirata, the Designer at Kapital.

http://bandannalmanac.blogspot.com/2009/11/this-is-book-that-designer-from-kapital.html

These books looked great, so I ordered the them from Amazon Japan.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4904237013/

http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4904237099/

The books detail extensive collections of vintage bandanna designs. �”Elephant Brand” is clearly the most famous brand. �Their designs have a characteristic Elephant icon, and labelling included an elephant sticker.

These were produced by a New York textile company Davis & Catterall.

You can occasionally find vintage Elephant Brand bandannas on ebay.

After a bit more research, I found that Kapital are making replica Elephant Brand bandannas. �In a cute way, they’ve replace the Elephant motif with a Rat.

Their designs are beautiful, so I purchased a couple.

http://www.kapital.jp/e-store/list.php

Postal v2 Progress

Matt — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:16:32 +0000

I’m 3/4 through making a new postal bag. �Overall I think I nailed the first design well.

The minor changes in this one are:

- Silver hardware (not sterling silver), D-rings are stainless steel, buckle and clips are nickel plated base metal (I need to find a source for stainless versions of these).

- I’m making it without copper rivets. �As much as I love the look of the rivets, they are just waiting to scratch the door of your Aston Martin DB6.

- I’ve also made the tongue longer with more holes and room to tighten. � �I found that as the original bag softened I was able to tighten the strap further, but my original design left no room for that.

Anyway, I should have it finished within a couple of weeks, and I’ll take more pictures and put a price on it through PayPal. �If there is interest, I’ll get cracking on another one.

DITA

Matt — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:29:05 +0000

Light Tote

Matt — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:30:00 +0000

The Bulletproof Tote is too heavy for my wife, so I got some lighter-weight raw leather and made this one. The leather is half the thickness of what I had previously been using. I also incorporated the pre-fabricated handles and pocket that I got from Tokyu Hands in Osaka.

The strap attachments looked weak, so I riveted them down. I also made some square washers to reinforce the inside of the rivets. I reversed the rivets to the inside so that the metal wont damage clothing it might scrape on. The straps have oxidized to a tan colour compared to the whiteness of the new leather.

I sewed an inside pocket. On the left strap attachment you can see I tried reinforcing it with a leather patch, but this wasn’t worth the effort, so only one of the four is reinforced. Hah.
The sides are double-stitched and riveted at the top.

This last pic has some interesting veining in the leather (click on it for a large view). It’ll be interesting to see how this thinner leather ages.