I am so happy to see this saddle bag restoration that was carried out by one of our Makers.
A couple of months back Margaret joined one of our Tote Bag Workshops, and even having never worked with leather before, she was able to make her very own stunning Tote Bag, and it's inspired her to do more.
So jumping straight in, her very next project was the restoration of this well loved Saddle Bag.
The corner gusset panels have come apart and someone in the past has made a valiant attempt at keeping it together, but not with a saddle stitch.
The outside seams are easily accessible but it would be very very awkward to saddle stitch those corners from inside the bag.
Great leather bags are always worth restoring, and you can see someones previous attempt at a running stitch.
As the outside panel seams needed to be re-saddle stitched it made sense to remove the old stitching repairs from the front and back panels, so now the two pieces are removed from the centre piece, and now Margaret has got excellent access to repair the corner gusset joins. This can look a little scary seeing your bag in pieces and with this only being Margaret's second build project, it's great work along with a really good confidence builder to take on any large or intricate project.
And here it is! Ready for another 30 years of use.
Margaret chose a brown thread for the restoration and I think it looks stunning. She also re-saddle stitched the shoulder strap and treated the bag with a good application of Neatsfoot Oil.
Quality leather and bag design is always worth repair/restoration. It does though take time and skill and I'm so pleased to share Margarets photos of each stage of her fabulous restoration.
Richard