Designer leather bags have been popular among fashion-conscious people. The history of luxury handbags goes back to ancient Egypt when the Pharaohs used several types of leather handbags to carry their belongings. Chinese dynasty emperors also used leather bags; one of the most famous ones was a collection of fine silk bags containing precious stones, ivory and gold. These luxurious bags were highly demanded and were only worn by the rich and powerful. Leather is a natural material that can be taken from anywhere around the world.
Leather is something that people have been using for hundreds and thousands of years, and today it continues to become a popular material for making leather products. Although leather products are not new to the market, there are still many people who do not know how unique leather bags are, or what goes into their making process. A lot of people may think that the leather bags are made just by sewing around the edges. However, this is not true; each bag is carefully crafted with a considerable amount of time and energy invested in them.
Leather extraction process
The leather used in making handmade leather bags is obtained from cows or sheep. The process of extracting the leather from the animal is called tannage. First, the animal is shorn to remove its hair and then hung upside down on a rack for a few days to allow the skin to dry out. After this, it is split in two and soaked for two weeks in warm water with salt added. This process softens and plumps up the hide. After this, it is washed several times with clean water and then dried in the sun for about two weeks.After this, it is soaked again for one week in cold water with salt added before being boiled for three hours. This removes any remaining grease from the skin and makes it shiny and smooth. After this, it is left to dry out completely before being dyed using natural dyes derived from plants such as indigo blue or madder red (red dye).
Step by Step Process
- The first step in making a leather bag is to choose the right materials
Leather comes in different types, depending on how it was tanned: vegetable-tanned leather is treated with vegetable oils, which makes it softer and more pliable; chrome-tanned leather has been treated with chrome to make it harder; and sulphide-tanned leather has been treated with sulphuric acid to create a durable finish that won't chip or scratch easily.
- Carving with tools
Now that you have your leather, it's time to carve!
There are many different tools available to carve your leather. You can use a knife or an X-acto knife to cut out the design you want, but if you're going to do any carving or shaping on your bag, we recommend using a rotary tool. This will allow you to get into tight spaces and make sure that your design looks exactly how you want it to look.
- Colouring
Once your bag is finished, you'll need to dye it. You can use any kind of dye you like, but most people use food colouring because it's cheap and easy to find.
You'll want to put some water in a bowl and add about 1/4 cup of food colouring. Mix it up until the colour looks like what you want, then dip your leather bag into the mixture. The best way to do this is by holding it under running water until all of the excess dye has been absorbed into the leather.
- Lining
The final step in making a leather bag is to line it with fabric or other materials. This can be done by hand, or with a sewing machine. If you're using a sewing machine, make sure that you're using heavy-duty thread and setting your stitch length at least twice as long as the width of the bag (so that when you're sewing along one edge, your needle doesn't get caught up in the material).
If you're lining something by hand, start by folding over one edge of your bag so it sits flat against the fabric; then fold back the other side and repeat until both sides are folded over evenly. Then sew along each edge using either a zigzag stitch (which will create a crisscross pattern) or straight stitches about an inch apart; finish by trimming off any excess threads before turning right side out through an opening at one end or another (depending on what kind).
- Adding straps
The straps are a simple, but important step in making your leather bag.
You need to think of what kind of strap you want to use and how it will interact with the other components of your bag. Some straps are made out of natural materials such as animal hide or hemp, while others are made from synthetic materials such as nylon or polyester.
A good rule of thumb when choosing a strap is to choose one that feels comfortable to the touch and does not have any rough edges.
Final thought
The total process of hand made leather bag making is explained above.First, we should choose the best material for making. If you are prudent, you can choose the leather bag with PU leather or suede material. You can also make the bag with lambskin and goatskin. The general process of the handmade leather bags will be three steps: Cutting, moulding, sewing. Since it is handmade, every piece will be unique in features.
