I wanted to make a relatively simple bag to hold my camera and nothing else for now. I decided to go with a lunchbox style bag with a lid that zips up all around.
I cut out all the leather parts, no trim allowance. The parts were an identical top and base, a gusset which would also be the body, two enchapes to hold the strap to the body, and two long strips that would make the piping.
All edges of the top and bottom, and gusset body were skived. The piping strips were 2.5cm wide and skived 1.1cm from either length to leave a raised “core” for the piping in the middle. In the future I would skive it all flat and use a real 2mm leather core, but since I didn’t have any handy I made do.
I cut out the zipper hole from the gusset body and prepared the zipper, attaching top and bottom stops once I was sure of the length. The zipper hole was creased and burnished, then the zipper attached and stitched to the body. I also sewed the gusset close to make a ring which would fit around the top and base.
I glued the piping strips. I marked the centre of both top and base, then attached the piping, clipping the corners as I went for the piping to lay nicely. Once the piping was stuck, I used a fileteuse to mark a line right up against the piping for punching holes. I punched the holes into the piping, punched matching holes in the gusset, and stitched it all together.
Once the top and base were both attached, I turned the bag and hammered the seams and piping to make it pop. I stuck some felt on the inside to give it a more finished look.
For the padding caddy I measured the final internal dimensions of the bag and stitched a container out of velveteen. I padded it with 1cm soft-tempered foam.
