Griffon Saddlebags

It was an honor and a privilege to be selected to make a pair of bags for Griffon Saddlebags (makers of excellent Magic Item cards).  I broke my brain against the design for almost two months before they were finally done but all that effort made some gorgeous bags.  Each one has a matching shoulderstrap and a pair of removable backpack straps.  The buckles are a little fiddly but only necessary when the bag's in "backpack mode".  I'm told one of these bags is on its way to feature in an upcoming episode of Critical Role on 12 March!  So I'll definitely be watching for that! ^_^

In the meantime, if you're the sort who likes D&D props or just good art you should take a gander at Griffon Saddlebags.  Those cards are top notch!

5e Bag of Holding

This was one of those orders that took buckets of blood, sweat and tears but it was all worth it in the end.  My wife's been saying I should make a 5e bag of holding out of leather since 2015 (or at least I have notes going back that far) but I never had the opportunity to invest the time and materials to really develop the idea.  That changed back in May when I received back to back requests from two apparently separate clients for exactly this idea.

Turning my notes into a draft took a month and then my first swing at production turned out to whiff.  I'd been planning to engrave oiled leather then inlay canvas to make the various designs with some sturdy layering.  Once I got to it though I quickly realized that once it was cut the canvas wasn't stable enough to inlay.  It would deform or fray or generally not be up to snuff.

So mid-production I had to shift approaches.  I swapped the oiled leather for milled veg and replaced the inlays with paint and stain.  I'd been afraid the paint would be patchy or uneven but paired with engraving it came out fairly clean.  To get the cleanest cuts and engravings I often had to pass the same component through the laser cutter multiple times.  That introduced the challenge of how to get the alignment even for each cut.  I used everything from jigs to very low power scores to to get that sorted

For all that the result is pretty grand.  The bag has a nice feel and heft to it.  It holds its shape pretty well but it's flexible enough to swish if pushed.  And it perfectly fits the core books and a little extra.  I have a few tweaks I'd like to make but it came out so well I've already added it to the shop!

Handbag for everything with the Kitchen Sink

My mother-in-law and I have been chatting for awhile about making a new leather handbag that would let her carry her entire kit (laptop, books, etc) all in one thing.  We went through a few drafts before settling on the details and the final measurements (5.5" deep x 13" tall x 17" wide).  I budgeted 60 hours (about a week) for the production which seemed pretty conservative at the start.  Thanks to a timing app I've been using this year I can look back and see that it took about 140 hours (in about two weeks).  So clearly I could be better at forecasting ETDs for big projects.

The shell of the purse, including feet and handles, was made from tan stone oiled leather that's got just the right mix of flexibility and rigidity.  The interior is a drop in lining (to allow for a pocket) made of poly-cotton and a deerskin edging that interfaces between the lining and shell.  Wrapping around the top is a carved strip with a sheridan-ish design featuring daffodils.

All that sheridan carving, especially with all that bargrounding, took about 3 days to finish.  Fortunately I'd already assembled some of the shell before I started the long strap that would go on the front of the bag.  All the measurements had been checked several times in the drafts but geometries have a fun way of warping with complex projects.  I realized the 27" strap I'd planned was going to be at least 3" short.  I added a couple inches for "wiggle room" and redrew the design for a 32" strap.

Most of the production time went into stitching everything together.  The feet complicated that a fair bit but I solved a lot of problems by assembling the shell while it was inside-out.  I ran into another hiccup stitching the lining into the shell.  At the start of all this the fabric was cut to mirror the peices that went into the shell.  Somewhere along the line the opening of the lining seems to have lost about an inch.  I rechecked the measurements and it wasn't a cutting error so I'm not sure where that inch or two went (maybe gobbled up by the crafting deities).  In any case, this left gaps in the sides and I used some cotton lining to cover them up and at least make them pretty.  That'll be something to watch for if I ever do a drop-in lining on such a large bag again.

Large Camera Case

The client wanted a case that could be hung from a strap and was large enough to fit a couple cameras and a lens or two (essentially 4 x 5 x 10.25").  My first impulse was to create what was essentially a padded box with a shoulder strap but that turned out to be too expensive.  So after some rounds of drafting we came up with a box entirely made out of stone oiled leather but stitched in such a way that its own structure would keep it from deforming.

I knew the seams could grant some structure but the result was a good deal better than I'd expected.  Even when I put about 4 lbs inside the final case there was barely any bowing.  The case is solid but without any lining I strongly suspect it could be rolled up and it would pop right back up (though I didn't get the chance to test that).

In fact, the case came out so well that I'm pretty sure I'll add it as a stock item in the shop.  Probably a smaller version of it though...