Project Process
-Created satchel outline
-Cut Leather
-Cut polyester interior using same template created but sized down
-Created customs accent designs for darker leather in Adobe Illustrator
-Cut designs using outlines into dark brown leather
-Sewed on accents and proceeded to sew bag together
-Finished bag with single strap before process of distressing and varnishing the leather
-Final steps of distressing and varnishing leather, then sewing on repurposed ski belt as wearable strap
Final Product Images
-Bag in use
Project Proposal
The “Make my Day” satchel was designed based around the idea of a western, heavy metal
and “road warrior” aesthetics. The bag was drawn out in original sketches to resemble a western style leather gun holster. The bag is not intended for holstering a firearm, it could, but the satchel is mean merely to resemble the hostler aesthetic and to be used for storing essential items often kept in pockets. Along with the western/cowboy aesthetic the bag was also designed to relate to the Iron Maiden “Make my Day” image and Mel Gibson’s original “road warrior” look, covered in leather. The bag was sewn together with brown leather and a polyester wool interior in the shape of a gun holster. It features dark brown accents designed and sewn on it to further support the “western” and “rock” aesthetic. The large dark brown designs were made to resemble classic western accents that can be seen online and the small lighting bolt in tribute to the “rock” aesthetic. Along with the bags large black strap, sourced from an old ski belt, it contains a small yellow string attached purely for aesthetic, the yellow pops and contrasts in comparison to the dark browns and black at work on the bag. The yellow string pays tribute to the designer, “Rhuigi”, responsible for creating the clothing company “Rhude”, which often features yellow draw strings on their pants. A brown leather strap was sewn around the bag to further secure it and add to the layered leather aesthetic. The satchel experienced a range of distressing in hopes creating a more “worn”/“classic cowboy” aesthetic, due to the fact the leather originally looked so shiny, and almost plastic like. The bag was sprayed with rubbing alcohol in order to crumple and stretch the leather, adding more texture to the look. Sand paper was applied to the surface of the bag to again increase texture and give the bag a more “rough” look. Finally the bag was painted down with some black leather varnish in order to give the majority leather of the bag a more complimentary tone and to match better with the darker parts of the bag.
The original hopes to construct the “Make My Day” satchel felt slightly shortsighted as I assumed the materials would be expensive, was inexperienced in sewing and the project itself seemed too complex to create by hand. The leather was surprisingly low-priced, probably due to the amount of cows slaughtered in America for meat. I was able to order all the materials for roughly $60 online and received far more than needed to complete the project. Supplied with the right raw materials the bag could be largely produced. Sewing by hand was a nuisance and the project would have been far more feasible with an actual sewing machine. The use of a sewing machine would have greatly contributed to the quality of the bag and reduce the work level required. Considering this was my second time sewing the stitching takes on a bit of a primitive look at times, though development of the skill set can be seen as the sewing tightens. The task of leather working itself also proved quite difficult, often having to employ the use of several tools such as an awl to make a simple stitch. The workload of the project was spread out over several days in order to have the time needed to get all the sewing done, again a sewing machine would have reduced the production time dramatically. Though the satchel does not feature the most professional of craftsmanship in some areas it would serve well if needed and also can be used as a reference for a future more well put together design possibly. The “Make My Day” satchel is a practical object and contains a high level of design in order to be something people would hope to wear as well.
