Making Leather Tote

A couple of iPhone pics I took while I was making the tote bag.

Here's the body of the bag cutout and the first handle rivetted on.

Here's both handles on, and getting ready to start sewing on that baseplate.

The photos make it look small, but that cutting board is big. A 15 inch laptop just fits in the bag.

Bulletproof Tote

I've made the new bag. I'm calling it the Bulletproof Tote.

It was hard work to make, a lot more difficult than the satchel.

The body is a single piece of leather again, but there was a blemish/hole in the base, so I covered it with a rectangle of leather to match the base, which also gives the bag enough structure to stand on its own.

The side seams are fully double hand-stitched. They are also riveted at the top and bottom corners.
All together the tote has 24 rivets.

If I make it again I will leave out the side straps and the baseplate (which was a lot of work to stitch around)... and makes the bag a bit heavy.

Here are some pics of the satchel which has been getting a lot of indigo rub-off that highlights the grain.

You can also see the brass fittings that I used to change the strap. A couple of dees and clips. It's a definite improvement.

You can also see on the flap some stains from rainfall.

Rakuten Ichiban

Techcrunch have an article about Rakuten.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/05/japans-rakuten-can-the-biggest-e-commerce-site-you-never-heard-of-become-a-threat-for-amazon-globally/
It’s mostly e-business guff, but there is a small section which is relevant to buying goods from Japan.

... About a fourth of all items available for Japanese customers can be ordered from selected countries through a service called Rakuten International Shipping Services . Non-Japanese users can access Google-translated item pages (24 languages are currently supported), place an order, pay via credit card and then wait for direct delivery from Japan (it’s even possible for foreigners to collect Super Points ).

I’ve never ordered from Rakuten, but it looks like you can search for products from this page:
http://event.rakuten.co.jp/borderless/index_en.html
It looks easy:

http://event.rakuten.co.jp/borderless/infoservice/en/shoppingsteps/

I'll let you know if I make a purchase. Let me know if you have any success too.

Levis 4th of July Campaign

http://goforth.levi.com/
Redefine the declaration of independence in your own words, in the spirit of today's America.

It's the ultimate mash-up, mixing Nationalism with a Corporate brand.
Whatever! I just like the boots in this pic.