Double pouch pattern in Albert’s book??

[T.C.Albert]

There is a construction mistake on the little Tennessee bag too...the little flap piece goes on the outside of the pouch along the top seam, not sandwiched between the flap and back panel as shown...I apologize for the mistakes.
sincerely,
tc

 

[longcruise]

I built that one too, TC, and didn't do the little flap at all! :redface:

I also made a gusset full length and about 1" wide at the opening. It's a fine design.

I made three of the Northampton bag for relatives and they love em.

Your book got me started with leatherwork. It was a good investment. I'll probably never be as skilled as yourself and many others but the enjoyment is unlimited.

 

[BrownBear]

...I apologize for the mistakes.

That right there is the sign of a REAL man.

A doff of the hat to you! :hatsoff:

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

Thanks for these details gents. I’m actually pretty flattered that my maiden voyage into bag making has generated so much attention! And I’m humbled by all of your generous thinking, planning, tips and advice!

Yesterday was a productive day. Unfortunately I’m having trouble with imgur right now so I can’t share pics (pw reset won’t work from my home devices..grr). But here’s where I’m at:

Had NO PROBLEM wetting then reversing the two bags inside-out. I was surprised just how supple the leather got with a warm water soak. Before that though, I did poke the stitch holes (starting at center) so that I’d be able to stitch them together. I decided NOT to try the modification to accommodate my starter ball-pusher inbetwen the pouches because (1) the starter is too long and would stick out the bottom, (2) it’s a fatter handle than I thought and would likely bulge out the closing flap.

Stitching the two bags together was not nearly as hard as I had anticipated””especially because the bags were still supple and moist. Whew! Big relief there.

I did order the tool recommended above that scrapes a small stitching slot. It works well for helping to align my overstitch wheel, but only if you scrape the finished side of the leather. I’m sure that’s obvious to all of you...my learning curve is steep!

After stitching the bags together, even though I enlarged TC’s pattern on my home copy machine 8% (as large as I could fit with my home machine) I wish the bags were about 25% larger still. I have not ever laid eyes on a “real” vintage shooters bag, but thinking of what must fit inside, even for a modest day hunt, these seem too small.

I moved to making the straps now, following a mix of patterns fromTC’s book. I decided on hanging the bag on my left shoulder to hang on my right hip (right-handed shooter), and placing the strap buckle in front (not the default back). When I bought my leather I didn’t want to spring for a full hide, where the longest pieces of leather are available, so I bought a separate 72” x 1.5” strip of leather for the strap making. This leather is MUCH thicker than the bag leather, and so tougher to work with. I like the thicker leather for the strap, though I am wondering if others have done this too, and if there is a down side?

Sewing buckles to the straps is cool, and makes me feel like I’m making progress!!

Since there bags are small, and I can’t even fit my ball-starter inside, I’m going to fashion (wet-form?) loops on the shoulder strap somehow, or maybe on the back of the bag? I’m open to ideas fellas!

I will eventually figure out the image upload issue and share my progress with you all. Fun stuff, and again, I cannot thank you enough for your experienced and sage advice.

 

[BrownBear]

...I didn’t want to spring for a full hide, where the longest pieces of leather are available, so I bought a separate 72” x 1.5” strip of leather for the strap making. This leather is MUCH thicker than the bag leather, and so tougher to work with. I like the thicker leather for the strap, though I am wondering if others have done this too, and if there is a down side?

I have, but always "skived" or shaved the leather thinner. Pretty time consuming with the hand tool and I'm not flush enough to own a full-fledged tabletop splitter.

There's one down side you might discover. In all likelihood the strap will dye differently than the body because it came from a different hide and likely even a different tanning process. If you don't care (as I don't most times) no problem.

If you want to help with the hide costs (as you will with future bag projects- there's no end to it), you'll want to check Tandy's monthly Leathercraft Specials. You might even want to sign up for their email notices for additional sales, and maybe even pay to join their wholesale club at some level for even more savings. Their leather comes in grades, and I like the rough and tumble look of their cheapest, Craftman Oak. Insect bites, scars, brands, lots of character that I think look great on "rustic" gear. If you buy "sides" or "double shoulders" you can get quite a bit of leather for comparatively little cost. Other sources of leather abound, but I'm spouting about Tandy because I know them best.

 

[smo]

I’m glad things are going well for you.

Can’t wait to see the finished bag.

The first one I built , when I flipped it inside out and saw the size of the finished product minus the strap.

That was when I decided to make a small bore belt bag out of it.

I attached a couple of leather strips across the back panel and wear it on my belt.

It makes a great bag for a .32 or .36 cal and I have used it a couple times just as a ball bag on woodswalks .

My favorite bag from the book is the North Hampton. :thumbsup:

I added a patch knife scabbard to the strap .

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

Yup! I get their emails and I am a member (the middle level). I have a Tandy shop about a 1:15 Drive from home and the first trip there made the membership worthwhile. Still, as I wasn’t sure how addictive this would get, I went to their pile of discount ted leather pieces and bought a good size scrap. There is plenty left for a couple more bags, but not long enough strips for the shoulder strap.

I agree though-about scars, tic bites, etc. that’s kinda cool in my opinion.

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

I thought about turning this into a belt bag, but as my .54 is my only current BP gun, i don’t see much benefit. It’s all good, and I can definitely enjoy this bag as my first-build. Who knows, maybe I’ll also build a belt-bag and use them both!

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

Alright guys.. I do have a question for you all now. I attached the strap to the bag, and the next step is to sew the front flap on. I cut the front flap out of leather, but all along my goal for the front flap is to use a piece of hair-on Axis deer hide that I had tanned a while back. It’s much more flopppy and supple than regular leather.

The guys at the Tandy leather store recommended that I cement a piece of the hide to the leather. They sold me a product called BARGE All Purpose Cement for this. It comes in a tube and is good for leather but also a whole bunch of other stuff.

(1) What is your opinion here? Go ahead and glue the deer hide to a leather piece? Use just the deer? Use both but maybe with stitching Insteady of glue (imagine that would be really difficult with the hair on)?

(2) Also-if I glue it on, do I sew the leather piece on first then glue the deer hide? That seems kind bad but I don’t exactly know how to sew with the fur still attached.

Thanks guys.

 

[Artificer]

First, back to the leather straps Tandy sells. They used to also sell thinner weight srraps that were intended for Lady's Belts that were worn with dresses and different outfits, but I guess fashion changed and they no longer sell the thinner weight straps. That is no problem for me as I don't care for a single piece strap most of the time, anyway. I prefer a two or even three piece strap that can be adjusted to wear over just a shirt in summer to a heavy winter clothing.

OK, the question for you to consider is are you trying to make an authentic reproduction of a Shot Pouch/Hunting Pouch? Back in the day they did have Hide Glue and even stronger Fish Glues, but the Fish glues would not have been common outside the trades that used them. I am not entirely sure, but I don't think the more common Hide Glue would have been a good choice to glue two pieces of leather together for a Pouch Flap?

You could whip stitch the two pieces of leather together for the flap, because you would be working along the edges of the leather and not saddle stitching. This would keep it "period" correct.

Gus

 

[longcruise]

Also jumping backwards to the strap issue. You can cut several sections of strap from a smaller piece of leather and skive the ends before sewing them together. It's not a bad look and I'm sure many old bags had that feature.

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

Thank you Gus. I’ll look up whip stitching next! (I think I know what that is, but I’ll double check.)

 

[Brokennock]

If you are a veteran you automatically get the "elite" member discounts at Tandy. Also, I don't know if it applies to all stores, but the Tandy near me gives a small discount on Weds. to any customer coming in wearing a red shirt.

 

[Artificer]

OK, first allow me state I have never sewed "Hair On" Leather to a piece of "No Hair" leather to make a flap like you are enquiring about, so there is a huge amount of speculation on my part.

I think the first thing I would do is cut out the piece of veg tanned leather (No Hair) leather that will go on the underside of the flap.

Then I would tack the Hair on leather, hair side down, onto a piece of plywood to stretch it flat, as much as possible.

Then I would spread some Barge Cement NEAR but back a little ways from the edge and all around the edge of the smooth veg tanned leather. I don't think you would want the Barge Cement to SQUOOSH out beyond the edge of the two pieces of leather, when the smooth leather is laid on back of the Hair On leather.

I would lay one edge of the glued leather down and use a round can or even an old rolling pin to press/roll out the glued leather onto the Hair On leather, then put a layer of wax paper over it and another piece of plywood over that, along with books/other weights on top. Then look at the directions on the barge cement to see how long it should wait before the glue sets up. The technique would be similar to rolling out/gluing a thin Wood Veneer onto a board.

Once the Barge Cement has time to set up, I would take the weights, plywood and wax paper off the top and take the tacks off that held the Hair On leather stretched out.

Now this next part is TRICKY, so I hope I can describe it well. I don't think you would want to cut straight down from the edge of the glued on No Hair leather. This could leave an ugly jagged edge of hair over some areas of the flap. Instead, I would use a strong pair of leather shears and ANGLE CUT the Hair On Leather at a pretty shallow angle towards the edge of the No Hair Leather. IOW, the shears would cut downward from the edge of the No Hair leather at around a 20 degree angle going outward on the Hair On leather. This will allow the Hair to be pretty full right up to edges of the flap. Once the glued pieces are cut out, you could trim the hair after sewing both pieces of leather together.

Gus

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

Ha! Red shirt, eh? That’s kinda funny. Doubt I could get there one a weekday, but that probably why they picked that day!! I’ll have to see if I can remember that one!!

Rob

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

Gus-
Well, in my (usual) way, I progressed before seeing your advice. I had read that you should use a razor to cut hair-on hide, and cut it from the rough (non-hair) side. So I did that and it seemed to work well at preserving the hairs right up to the bitter edge. So I now have a piece of the hair-on pelt that looks good.

But like I said, I proceeded before I saw your post, so I didn’t think to nail/stretch it first. I actually think that’s ok though because if anything, I’d rather that piece be a little too big than a little too tight I think.

The hide piece is now sitting under my working cutting board flattening out. As I’m now into the work week, progress will slow dramatically again...until the weekend!

Before I proceed though I’m seriously contemplating removing the shoulder straps and converting it into a belt bag, as SMO did with his. It would be a really nice belt-size piece, and if I made a larger shoulder bag with the same deer hide, I think it would be pretty cool I have two complimentary pieces like that. And of course...a homemade belt to go with it.

The only struggle with that is how to sew on the bottom stitches to belt loops... maybe I can get my fingers down there easier than I think? Hmmm

When I set out to do this project I wasn’t sure if I’d get “hooked” on it like several of you warned me about. Y’all were right. Totally addicting.

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

Here are a few pics of the bag from my weekend efforts. I actually have a little more than this done, with the straps and all, but haven't taken pics of those yet...

 

[BrownBear]

Lookin good!

Just remember that when it dries after dying it's going to be pretty stiff. Nothing that a bit of determined flexing and a good leather treatment won't relieve.

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

You are right about that! I'll eventually dye the exterior, and I ordered some Lexol that I plan on using on the interior surfaces, and I guess I can use that on the dyed exterior too. Hopefully that'll soften it up a bit!

 

[Artificer]

Just keep in mind one thing about using Lexol on the smooth side of the leather, make SURE you have it dyed properly first; because after putting Lexol on the smooth side, you won't be able to get any more dye to "stick" correctly from there on out.

Gus