A Lovely Leather Bag

No one was more surprised than me when I won a prize on the Ruth Loves to Knit podcast.

Ruth has very clever hands and her handknits are beautiful.  Originally from Northern Ireland, she now lives in Devon and her chats to camera where she shares her making and her thoughts on her spiritual life, regularly keep me company whilst I'm knitting.

A few episodes back, Ruth showed off the lovely bag she'd made from a Babylon Leather kit.  After the company offered her another bag kit, she generously decided to give it away.  I was the lucky winner of the kit she chose at random - the zip top tote bag in this gorgeous caramel colour.  

I was so excited to open the box when Ruth's parcel arrived.  I'd seen other podcasters making Babylon Leather bags - now I'd be able to make one of my own!

The kit contains absolutely everything you need from lovely soft, pre-punched leather to thread, snips and hardware.  As we were about to go on holiday, I decided to take my kit with me to make whilst we house-sat for some pals and cared for their lovely labradors in the Scottish border town of Peebles.

When we weren't walking the dogs along the banks of the River Tweed in the beautiful sunshine, I made a start on my sewing and completed a section of the bag each day.

Instructions are provided via a QR code in the box but a wee glitch recently on the website meant I couldn't gain access.  I joined the Facebook group, Babylon Leather for Beginners, to ask for help.  Very quickly other makers found a YouTube video for me to follow.  It got me started and soon I had the back, front and base in place.  Next, I had to sew in the inner pocket and zip - at the same time.  

That didn't go entirely according to plan.  I managed to sew my zip in upside down.

The thoughtful Facebook group members sent a link to another video for me to watch.  It was clearer but I missed the lady mentioning that she'd made a mistake.  So I made exactly the same mistake! Duh!!  Third time lucky I got the zip in correctly.  

Sewing in both the side panels was fortunately incident free and the body of the bag was complete.  Time to turn it outside in and attach the hardware and handles.  

These just screw in so, in no time, my bag was finished.

It's so lovely - I can hardly believe I made it!  Beautiful and practical - it holds a lot.

Don't be put off by my mistake!  The installation tutorial is now available on the website so making this bag in future will be much more straightforward and you, too, could have a lovely leather bag!

Catch up with Ruth's podcast here

Peruse the many Babylon Leather bag kits here