As part of the learning curve I wanted to make a bag. But not just a bag. The bag’s properties where supposed to be:
- Unique (one of a kind)
- Long lasting
- Not easy to make and hard to copy
Since I hadn’t made a bag prior to this I looked around what others do. I got a few inspirations from other leather workers and had an idea all the sudden. I like feathers and so I wanted to incorporate this into my bag. Finding a whole lot of feathers on the internet I decided to re-design an existing template for a feather and make it my feather. So crafting it on the computer, printing it off several times and playing around with it helped finding the final design for my front flap.
The main idea for this messenger bag came from a book by Al Stohlman. I’d say a must read for any serious leather worker.
One can agree with carving leather or not, but the book series on bags and cases is one of the most interesting in leather art.
This individual bag is based upon the diplomat pouch shown and described in Volume 2. The digital edition is all you need to have. You can print of the desired template right from the book on your printer or at your local copy shop.
The gussets used on my bag are made from two layers of 3/4 oz. cow hide They are firm and yet supple enough to open well and allow to load the bag with a folder, notebook, laptop and what else you need for a day at University or where ever.
A shoulder strap has been attached using an eyelet on either side and two snaps.
Well enough of all the general information. You might want to know how to make it.
So first things first. Finding the right pattern or make one yourself. In this case I modified the prior mentioned pattern. I choose to include a divider and add 4 keepers for pens and pencils as well as a pouch for a DIN A5 sized notebook.
Since I didn’t want to just copy this bag but rather make a unique one I thought of a different front flap. After a while of thinking I came up with the feather idea.
It took some time and fiddling around till I was happy with the template. Finally I wanted to have a line of feathers going along from one side to the other just like a fan made from feathers. They should be held together by a concho.
This lead me to this outline template. Of course I 
didn’t want just a straight and rectangle bag. Therefore I decided that the tips of the feathers would have to be cut out. This turned out to be a harder task than I expected.
After my design was ready I decided on what leather I would like to use for this bag. Two aspects played an important role. First I wanted to last it for a life-time. Second was the tooling, which ruled out everything else than veg tan leather.
After knowing what I want I went to my local leather supplier and discussed with him what I want to to and what I have thought of thus far. 
His advice is invaluable. After going through what he had in his store, he went home and got some more of his other leather. Stuff he’s keeping for special customers. He brought a few 12 oz. double shoulders. Generally this is far to thick for a bag, but I thought I’ll make it work. The result is obvious. Besides I used the same leather for saddle scabbard.
To date this is some of the best leather I had been using and tooling it is just amazing.