You will probably have seen my Repair and Restore page showing some of my leather bag repairs.
I do not often work on handbags as these are better done by a handbag repairer, especially if they are branded bags.
My leather bag repairs are more for items such as this music bag or this messenger bag. I have also handled backpacks and holdalls.
I do pick and choose what I want to repair based on what I am skilled at. Branded handbags are often made from soft leather, sewn by machine (which I don't use) and use bespoke leathers and threads, which are just too hard to find and are usually very expensive to bring into the UK of they are not locally available.
I work on thicker leathers. This holdall is a good example and was such a joy to work on. It was dismantled as all the stitches needed to be replaced. It is made up of 48 pieces of leather, from the body down to straps, pockets and keepers.
Once dismantled, it was easier to treat the leather, colour it and flatten out the buckled parts. It was also easier to make the repairs I needed to do, such as putting eyelets on the straps as the holes were so worn and torn.
Once all the components were repaired where needed, treated and coloured, I then hand stitched the holdall back together.
This repair and restore was one of my most favourite jobs. To see the holdall change from the state it came to me into the finished article was very satisfying.
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