Outside Pocket Tutorial

[rabjr]

I was asked the other day how I constructed the front outside pockets on my bags and realized pictures are a far better way to explain it than I can so I put together this little tutorial that hopefully will inspire a first time bag maker or some of you others,to add this pocket to their bag.
http://www.nimrodsplace.com/bagtutorial1.html

 

[Goldhunter]

Thanks Swampy! I've never tried one like that. I may have to now. :hatsoff:

 

[DNICK]

Thanks Swampy the tutorial helps Iv'e looked at the outside pockets on the bags but havent put any on the bags I've made yet.

 

[akhawkeye]

Ah - the mallet. I was wondering how you got the holes transferred from the pocket to the front of the bag. Seeing as the edges of the pocket are folded under when finished, I thought the inside diameter of the hole pattern on the front flap would have to be 1/4 to 1/2 inch smaller. Now I see that by pounding it when finished you are in effect stretching the pocket leather. Does that make sense? Do you use another chunk of leather to protect the pocket when pounding?

Great tutorial! Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Colin

 

[davy]

Nice Swampy .. nice brother! :thumbsup:

Davy

 

[BrownBear]

I was asked the other day how I constructed the front outside pockets on my bags and realized pictures are a far better way to explain it than I can so I put together this little tutorial that hopefully will inspire a first time bag maker or some of you others,to add this pocket to their bag.
http://www.nimrodsplace.com/bagtutorial1.html[/quote]


Dandy work Swampy, both on the bag and the tutorial. You can bet it's bookmarked in my browser!

 

[omarick1948]

Nice clear and well done tutorial Swampy! :thumbsup: ...Hope you might do some more tutorials on bag construction for us sometime!...Thanks,Rick

 

[rabjr]

I'm glad you find it helpful guys. :thumbsup:

Colin, I really hadn't thought about protecting the leather, I just pound away and really only takes a few wacks to do it. I can see maybe wanting to protect certain leathers but it's not really needed for this stuff I'm working with now.

 

[Roy]

:thumbsup:

admit it... you just like smackin stuff with a hammer don't ya?? :haha:

 

[jethro224]

:thumbsup:

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

I am a little dense. What is the reason for the welt piece you show in your tutorial ? Can't you just sew the pieces together without that part, or is there some structural reason for it ? And one last question... is there a reason for the edging you put on the bag, around the flap and the top of the pocket... wear and tear ?

 

[rabjr]

As the Tutorial says, this is for anyone who would like to sew a welted/gusseted pocket onto the front panel. It's not that difficult to sew just a pocket if you want to. But I think some may think a welted/gusseted is to hard or not really know how to go about doing one.

Why a welted and gusseted pocket? To me it looks good, better than just stitching a pocket on. Same for the edging, it looks better than having no edging in my opinion.

 

[Claude Mathis]

I am a little dense. What is the reason for the welt piece you show in your tutorial ? Can't you just sew the pieces together without that part, or is there some structural reason for it ? And one last question... is there a reason for the edging you put on the bag, around the flap and the top of the pocket... wear and tear ?

I find that a welt makes for a stronger (stiffer) seam and it seems to "leak" less. (No space between the pieces, over time).

I think the edging adds a little stiffness and keeps the raw edge from stretching with use.

My observations may be more imagined than real, but that's my story. :grin:

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Thankyou both for the answers, you and Claude.

 

[50cal.cliff]

Real good tutorial Swampy! I do have some questions though.
My holes are never that perfectly round and they can be hard to see sometimes even though I know I have punched them. I use a diamond shaped awl which makes them fairly easy to see on one side but hard to see sometimes on the other side!

Are you drilling your holes after using the overstitch to lay them out?

How does that particular overstitch work for you?

I have a similar one but find that often before I can go through and punch the holes with an awl, I am already having trouble seeing the drepression made by the wheel.That makes it hard sometimes keeping well spaced holes!
The kind like you are using looks like it is slightly more pointed and I wondered it that makes a difference on the ease of seeing?

 

[rabjr]

Real good tutorial Swampy! I do have some questions though.
My holes are never that perfectly round and they can be hard to see sometimes even though I know I have punched them. I use a diamond shaped awl which makes them fairly easy to see on one side but hard to see sometimes on the other side!

Are you drilling your holes after using the overstitch to lay them out?

How does that particular overstitch work for you?

I have a similar one but find that often before I can go through and punch the holes with an awl, I am already having trouble seeing the drepression made by the wheel.That makes it hard sometimes keeping well spaced holes!
The kind like you are using looks like it is slightly more pointed and I wondered it that makes a difference on the ease of seeing?

Don't be afraid to cheat! Depending on what piece I'm working on I use either an awl or punch. That awl I have pictured works very well for me and rarely have problems passing a needle through. I do give them a good wack though. Don't mess around with welts,make sure you have a big enough hole here and you'll have less headaches. I always us a punch on welts.

Yeah depending on the leather being used it can be hard to see where the holes need to be. For the most part that tool works good, sometimes I need to go over it again. But I've gotten in the habit of doing everything in halves, lay out the stitch line from the center going up one side, punch your holes, then starting at center do the other side. Usually don't have a problem seeing the stitch line doing this way.

 

[smo]

Great work Swampy,a very informative tutorial.
Thank You, I can't wait to see how much leather I can screw up trying this!!!!!! :rotf:

 

[50cal.cliff]

:thumbsup: