DIY Leather Crafting: How To Make A Leather Tote (Shopper and Shoulder) Bag (Intro to sewing)

1. Intro "Tote (Shopper) bag": Hello, I'm Jildou. A Dutch fashion designer with a passion for sustainable product. I started a brand called Piple, which is focused on up-cycled fashion into timeless designs. Nowadays, a lot of fashion and clothes are just thrown away because they are broken or not trendy enough to keep. Lately I've made a lot of products out of old leather. I made also this shopper bag. It is not hard at all if you know how to do it. In this class, I teach you step by step how to make this amazing and trendy bag. Welcome to our you can do it yourself series. 2. Tools and materials: Tools and materials. You need a few tools before we can start making this shopping bag. What you need is, a sewing machine, sewing thread and the right color. Strong needles, specially made for leather and leather from two millimeters thick. That is 0.08 inches. Cotton, I use biological cotton from 50 by 42 centimeters. That is 20 by 16.6 inches. Three A4 papers with the dimensions of 8.3 by 11.7 inches. A ruler, strong scissors, tape, clips and a marker. 3. About the leather : About the leather. I always use used coat's leather because it gives a vintage look and you upcycle leather that is more sustainable, so better for the environments. There is a big chance you can use old fake leather jacket or furniture. Maybe you can find it in a thrift store. I usually use strong coat's leather which is flexible but it's strong. For a shopper bag, I need 64x90 centimeters, so that is 25x35 inches. 7x45 centimeters, so that is 3x17.7 inches of leather. 4. Making the pattern : Make your own pattern. We going to make the pattern with the three A4 papers, the marker, a ruler, tape, and scissors. Take the three A4 papers and put it in front of you. Tape two A4 papers on the long side together. Now take the last paper and cut it in half. Tape those two papers at the top. Now take your ruler and marker. Now you're going to make a square from 3 by 3 centimeters, so that is 1.18 inches on both corners. Draw this on the paper and cut it out. Now you have made your own pattern for the shopper bag. 5. Cut out the pieces: Draw the pattern on the leather. One, the leather. Take your piece of leather, strong scissors and your marker, draw the pattern on the leather and cut it out. You need two identical pieces. Two, leather handles. You have to cut out two pieces from 3.5 by 45 centimeters. So that is 1.5 by 17.7 inches. You do this because you make a shoulder bag. Three, cotton. Secure the pattern on the fabric. Pay attention because you do not have to cut the corners off. Also, you can cut out a whole piece, so you don't need two identical pieces, like the leather. Now you have all the pieces you need for the sharper back. 6. Sewing part 1: Sewing. Now it's sewing time. Make sure you use the right color sewing threads. I set the stitch from the machine on 2.5. Put the right sides together and use the clips to secure the leather. I sew only the long sides. Don't go back and forth to tie the sewing threads because there is a big chance the needle can break. I sewed them twice so I make it more strong. And the ends from the sewing threads, I can tie together. Now you have two open spaces left. You're going to sew this at right angles to each other. I do this also twice and tied the threads together. Unfold the whole piece. 7. Sewing part 2: Sewing. Making the inside. We're going to make the inside of the bag with a cotton. Take the cotton and fold the piece neatly double, attach along sides with needles. We are going to sew one long side from the cotton and the other side for half. Unfold the whole piece. Now you put the top of the cotton with clips at the top of the bag. You are going to sew the whole circle, the top of the bag. Seal this carefully. Now there's one side still open. Use your needles and stitch this neatly together. Seal this part also carefully. I use another color sewing thread because of the different color of the cotton. Fold the inside inwards. To finish it sew neatly along the top of the bag. Make sure you use the darker color of sewing threads again. 8. Sewing part 3 and Finishing : Sewing the leather handles and finishing touch. Now we're going to make the leather handles. Take the two pieces, take your ruler and marker and put a dot on both sides at two centimeters, 0.8 inches. Take both handles and fold the long sides together, secure this with clips, but leave two centimeters, so 0.8 inches, on both sides. Sew those long sides together. Take the back ruler and marker, put a dot at 10 centimeters, 3.9 inches, from the sides. Do this on both sides. You sew handles on those spots. Fasten the handles by sewing a cross. Cut the loose ends and check the whole bag for loose threads. 9. Class project: Class project, you made your own leather shopping bag. How awesome is that? This is also your class project. Make you're own shopping bag and share this one with me. If you need help, please ask me all your questions in the comments below. If you have any suggestions for how you can do it yourself series, please let us now. I really hope you enjoyed and love this class and I hope to see you next time.