How to Make a Hand-Stitched Leather Tote with Jimmy DiResta

How To Make a Leather Tote

1. Start by finding a sample bag that fits the rough size and shape of your bag. Lay the bag flat on a large thick sheet of paper and trace its outline onto the paper. Mirror and refine the shape as needed to create a template.
2. Place the template on the face of the leather hide. Trace along the edges of the template with a fine marker or scratch awl. Use the razor knife to cut out the body of the bag, using a steel ruler or straight edge as a guide for clean cuts.
3. Set the dividers to the ideal setback (typically 3/16 to ¼-inch is usually sufficient) and lightly drag them along the edge of the bag to make the stitch lines.
4. Place the stitching fork on the line so that each tine is touching. Tap the handle of the fork to drive the tines through the leather. Remove the fork, place the first tine in the last hole you just made, and repeat the process until the stitch holes are all punched.
5. Remove a piece of wax string that is roughly 3.5 times as long as the seam. Slide one end of the wax string through the eye of a needle, pull it through a few inches, and then poke the needle through the middle of the tail end of the wax string. Pull the tail end down over the needle onto the string to secure the needle. Repeat the process on the other end of the string, attaching a needle to both ends.
6. Align the seams. Starting on the outside of the bag, push one needle through the first hole, and the other needle through the hole adjacent. Both needles should be inside the bag. Take the first needle and cross the seam inside the bag, poking it through the second hole. Take the second needle and repeat, pressing it up and through the first hole. Both needles should be on the outside of the bag, entering through one hole and exiting through the opposite hole. This creates a strong first stitch.
7. Stitch down the length of the same with an X-shaped stitch. At the end of the seam, double the stitch back a few holes, cross them as you did to start the seam, and tie them off.
8. Use a leather skive to remove some of the material from flaps on either corner. Fold them up, hold them in place, and use the scratch awl to poke through both layers of leather. Stitch the flaps to the bag using a standard saddle stitch.
9. Apply PVA glue to the knots tied at the ends of the stitches.
10. Cut two pieces of leather of equal width and thickness to serve as handles (between 12 and 16 inches long). Attach them to the back using copper rivets and the rivet setter. Cut off the extra rivet with the pliers and pound it flat with the rivet setter.
11. Apply Edge Kote to the edge of the leather for a finished look.

Resources

Jimmy traces out the shape of the leather fabric using an awl. Then, he cuts it out with a razor blade and a ruler to keep the cutting line straight. Then, he uses a rubber mallet to help shape the folds of the bag.

To stitch the bag, Jimmy uses a fork punch to poke holes in all the sections of the bag: two sides and the bottom. He then stitches the leather using a needle and leather sewing thread, going in a crisscross pattern through each hole. To ensure the stitching won’t come undone, Jimmy applies a bead of PVA glue to the bottom stitch on each side of the bag.

Jimmy applies a small amount of leather edge finish manufactured by Fiebing’s to finish the edge. To secure the handles, Jimmy secures them with saddle rivets.

Materials

• Leather hide
• Large sheet of thick paper
• Waxed string and leather needles
• PVA glue
• Rivets
• Edge Kote leather edge finish

Tools