New Plate for Messenger Bag

This wasn't done to be sold to anyone, but it turned out pretty well all the same.  I've had one of those Bag of Holding messenger bags from Thinkgeek almost since they started selling them and when I started leatherworking I used the leather from a starter kit (originally meant for a checkbook and wallet) to make some plates that I stitched onto the lid the of the bag.  Those plates were complicated and intensive and they weren't perfect but they were the very best I could do at the time.



Of course, that time was some years ago.  The picture above was taken when these plates were brand spankin' new and in some of the subsequent pics you'll see how they've weathered over time.  Now a days I can accomplish a fair bit more with my leatherworking.  I wanted to keep the upper plate, it's mingling of lone star and gears and triweaves just appeals to me, but figured I could replace the lower plate with something more indicative of what I can do now.

Working over the weekend, I made one "draft plate" that tested the design I had in mind but didn't really turn out as nicely as I wanted.  But from that I figured that what I really wanted was an overlay, two layers of leather that overlapped to form the desired design.  I kept the triweave and the gears and I replaced "Bag of Holding" with my maker's mark because all of these things seemed entirely appropriate.  And here's what I got:


Just for bemusement, here's the "draft" plate and the old "bag of holding" plate.  I really like how it's weathered over time but I can't say I'm too sorry to see it go. =)