BondBlog

Large Tan Tote from Batwinged Jacket

Ever wondered if you can use that old 1980’s coat again?

So the jacket was sourced ready to make a large tan tote. Bat-winged leather jackets are always was favourite to fashion into bags, loads of extra leather in those massive sleeves. I knew this was going to be an unusual deconstruction, I wasn’t just ripping the seams apart I needed to remove some of the jackets key features, this isn’t what I normally do, my bags always take on the original jacket tucks and pleats etc but for this tote my customer said she wanted it as plain as possible which is also just fine and works really well with the style of the bag. I like a challenge so the deconstruction began, I needed to remove the pleats from under the two front pockets and replace with some flatter leather from the back section.IMG_8684-1 copy (1)

After meeting up with my customer we discussed lining choices and hatched a plan to use her daughters small hacking jacket and pretty spotty skirt teamed with her husbands jeans. These bags are always the most satisfying where the inside carries sentiment and special memories for the customer. Adding a large zip pocket to one side of the lining, as a rule I add a phone pocket but the back part of the jeans includes the back pocket suitable for the phone so job done! The hacking jacket was super cute and with cute things it’s always difficult to get the scissors to it. Her daughter had long since grown out of the jacket so it was a perfect choice to re use. Mens jeans are a great choice inside for the lining too with the big back pocket, just right for a large smart phone to slip into.

To finish the bag I sourced a rather nice brass buckle and made a simple plain belt.

 

 

large tan tote     large tan tote    large tan tote

Take a look through my gallery for the other totes that have evolved from other jackets. Here’s one from a goat skin jacket.

All scraps left over leather from the larger bags all get resused again into small leather accessories like these handbag pouches and earbuddys and the left over scraps from those small items gets reused the third time round and made into these necklaces

Thanks for dropping by my blog, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading and seeing the process. If you’ve enjoyed it feel free to share and comment below. thank you