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.

Here they are side by side for an interesting comparison.  Both belts were originally the same colour.

Both belts are 36 inches, but it’s interesting that the old belt has stretched over time to be a couple of inches longer.

You can see the marks from the buckle on the tongue as I migrated up the holes over time.

The hardware hasn’t really changed.  You can see some water damage from rain and a few beers that I lost control of.

On the back of the belt you can see a fair bit of indigo, and some marks on the tongue from where it rubs on the rivets.

These Sugar Cane belts are good quality and relatively good value.

Buying Tip

Make sure you get your size correct.  If the tongue is too long or too short it could be awkward and won’t look right.  Also note that the belt stretched about two inches over the years, so you really need a couple of belt holes available to size it down when required.  I wear around size 33 jeans, so the size 36 works for me.

Original Belt

http://indigofan.com/2008/01/sugarcane-raw-leather-garrison-belt/

It was interesting to see the remaining custom shoe last factory in Australia. As you’d expect, the market for lasts in Australia has been declining. Their main customers now are R.M.Williams, J.Robins, and custom medical/ortho. Almost all the new lasts are high-density plastic, so the wooden feet are rare.

Bruce was kind enough to take me around the factory and give me some advice on what to do, and he suggested that if you can make shoes well, he see there is a gap in the market for custom medical/orthopedic footwear.

I got off-the-shelf lasts for my whole family. I just need to drum up the time, tools, and courage to start trying to make some shoes.

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.

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.

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.

Got some new leather hides to make some bags.  Spanish and Brazillian raw vegetable tanned hides.  A couple of Horween cordovan shells.

Let’s see how long it takes me to make something in-between childcare duties.