Sewing with leather

On Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to get something done sewing wise.  Finally.  My sewing room has been missing me.  I have been avoiding it lately in favor of either reading, chores or working out.  Too much to do and not enough time to do it.  Story of our lives, right??

I have wanted to make a new purse out of real actual leather, so I finally got it done!

I have a purse I like right now, so I used that as the basis for the size of this one, though everything else is pretty different from pockets to the straps.

I used a cheapo black leather jacket that was too big for me and a piece of blue dyed leather I bought at a fabric warehouse.  I also used the lining of the jacket as the lining of the purse.  The jacket wasn’t the highest quality, but it made it easier to sew as it wasn’t too thick.

Starting of jacket:

I did a reverse appliqué design in the leather out of a design I quick drew.

Story aside:  A few weeks ago I volunteered in the Girl’s room for a project where the kids were all making “stores” out of cereal boxes.  They had to design a store on the covered box with pictures and such to go onto a Main Street.  Well, a little boy was doing a Chinese (Asian) food restaurant.  He asked if anyone could draw a dragon, so I drew one for him.  Not my best work, but it was a recognizable Asian dragon.  He thought that I was “the shit” (my words, not his 😉 ) because I could draw a dragon for him.  Told everyone, “Anya’s Mom drew this!”  I also drew a few more things for other kids in the room.  Apparently, drawing is a useful skill!

I outlined the design in a silver Sharpie.  On one side is the reverse applique and on the other side I used the cut-out and sewed it on the purse.  I set the design onto the leather with a glue stick, so it wouldn’t move and then sewed it on with matching thread.

The side pockets are lined with the black lining fabric and have elastic sewn into a top casing to bring it in.  The pockets easily hold my keys on one side and sunglasses on the other.

The inside has two side pockets that have zippers on the front, so really it is two pockets in one.  I used Peltex heavy interfacing on the bottom to give it some sturdiness.  The strap is the leather folded over with grommet tape sewn over the seam.

 A few things that make sewing with leather easier:

• Teflon foot
• Wondertape
• Clover clips or paper clips (can’t use pins with leather)

I love my new purse!  Unfortunately, it doesn’t go with everything, but that just means I need to make another one.  I do have more leather pieces, but not enough for a decent sized purse.  I may have to make a trip to Goodwill to see if I can pick up an old leather jacket for cheap.  It took me probably about 6 hours to make the purse at a leisurely pace.

I had to do a bit of ripping apart on the jacket, so that took some time, too.  It wasn’t ALL leather…just the major sections.  Oh, those darn clothing manufacturers and their cost-saving.  It was mostly leather, so I guess they could call it a leather jacket.

I got a pleather black jacket this spring…knowing full well it was not actual leather.  I seriously laughed out loud when I read the tag…”Vegan Leather”

Tricky, tricky…It sounds so organic when using “vegan” when it really means PLASTIC.  😉