Handmade Leather Bags & Accessories (Design Originals) 28 Simple Strategies to Enhance Any Wardrobe; Step-by-Step Instructions and Over 300 Photos & Illustrations for Satchels, Totes, Handbags, & More

A refreshing aproach to leather and fabric bags from a quirky, interesting artist. Ms Ho is Korean and studied in Japan. The articles presented in this book could be described as both homespun yet elegant. Be advised however that Ms Ho is a Master at her art and the articles are more challanging to make than they appear. That said, the patterns given are better than average and no problem for anyone who has worked with patterns. Instructions are thorough but brief. Introductory chapters cover supplies, tools and techniques, but not overly so. As a professional leather worker I quickly saw that this is less a how-to book than a subtle introduction to the artist's philosophy and systematic aproach to bag making. Many of her construction techniques are cleverly simple and used throughout the book. Also, rather than jumping from one technique to another within a wide range of different bag construction, as with other, even great books, there is here a clear method even a beginner can follow. As an experienced leather worker I found this method an invigorating aproach to new design as opposed to a copy or detail reference. For anyone with limited experience working leather here is some advice; a home sewing machine may penetrate leather but WILL NOT consistently sew leather (the feed dogs always slip at some point and ruin the work, no matter what the seller claims!). As a companion piece I strongly recommend "The Art of Hand Sewing Leather", by AL Stohlman, which is readily available from Amazon. Also, check out Armitage Leather on you tube.

In looking for bag patterns & techniques for my handwoven fabrics with leather, I was drawn to this book. I'm an expert seamstress with an industrial walking foot machine, so I wasn't looking for sewing advice, and it's a good thing, cuz there isn't much here.First off... I HATED the layout. There is a showcase of the designs first, then you must flip to the back of the book for instructions. So, you are flipping back and forth, and it's annoying. I like instructions for items to directly flow the main photos to instructions, not flipping back and forth.The descriptions and writing were just.... WEIRD. Half the time, I had NO idea what the heck she was talking about! (WHO is "Mr. Zebra"?) So, no biggie I guess. A quirky artist, haha! However, when I picked out a design and began to go over the instructions, I notice errors, right out of the gate. One of the pattern pieces for the lining was completely omitted in the cut-list, yet was shown in the diagrams. And I noticed instruction to "turn down the top edge of the lining 3/8" (I'm assuming press it under? It doesn't say) when I noticed that the next step showed SEWING that top edge...? Do I turn it down, or sew it down? Also, the side panels show (what I assume to be) snaps (black dots) thru the entire construction, but those snaps aren't put on until the end.All in all, it's a good book for EXPERIENCED sewists... Those who can look at instructions and find errors, and know the techniques to sew the bag together, including some gluing and leather-specific techniques. The cutesy banter of "inspiration" is unnecessary and not helpful at all.... Just wierd.So.... Good book, but you gotta know what you are doing.

I love this book. I am so excited by the projects and all the sophisticated bag designs. I often buy books like this and really want to make one or two projects but every bag in this book is beautiful and simply constructed and something I want to make. With that being said, it's definitely not for beginners, which I do like because I would prefer the focus to be on bag construction and design. It's not a one-size fits all book and does not cover topics such as leather selection or even specific tools needed for each project. If you're looking for a beginner book, this is not it. But when you're ready for it, this book will be a breath of fresh air as you won't be interested in any beginner boilerplate topics. I am very glad that there are project books that cater to a more advance audience!

I was very dissapointed in the instructions part of this book. There are a lot of cute projects in this bag but there is little to no disscussion on techniques for beginners. I am new to leather craft and many techniques required to make these projects work are not covered with enough detail. Basically the book is layed out like this:- A big picture of the tools needed and their names but no descriptions of how to use them.- 58 pages of photos and short quips on what inspired the author on the design. Cute but useless.- 1-2 pages per design (28 projects) on how to assemble them. Only hand drawn sketches and minimal words of explination.- Full-sized patternsThe instructions are the part that I have a problem with. Some instructions only have 5 steps for the whole bag. There are hand drawn illustrations which are cute, but more like artist's personal construction notes rather than helpful guides to novices.There is no real discussion on leather weights, what to look for in leather, or basic leather sewing techinques. If you don't know how to hand stitch, there are a lot off tools that require explination, such as how to use a stitch groover, stitching pony, or over stitch wheel. Some of those tools aren't even listed. Also, there is no discussion on if you can you machine stitch and no sewing machine is listed as a tool, but use of one is implied in several. No discussion of leather dying or finishing at all.The full sized pattrerns are very good, the sole reason this book was given a 3 not a 2. The projects themselves are darling and with practice and another book (I recommend Basic Leathercrafting by Bill Hollis), I might be able to use this book.In closing, I think I could have done without the project gallery entirely and have had that replaced with real instructions.

This books has some really great patterns and bags.

鞄を作りたくて買いました。色々な鞄が載っています。上級者には物足りないと思う内容です。

patterns are very rudimentary and I think look unprofessional and unfinished. You would be wasting leather to make bags that looked like that

This book has some good designs and is easy to follow. There are some paper patterns in the back that one can use or adapt. The designs are fairly modern and not at all stuffy. I adapted the plans to make a tote bag...nothing wrong with the plans given but I just wanted to change the size a bit.I have several leather craft books and this is certainly one that I refer to a lot.

Exactly what I wanted as I'm just beginning to make leather bags. The terminology is such that I could understand and follow the instructions straight away.

Useful for ideas, but not a particularly helpful book for the beginner. A good set of patterns in the back, but this is largely a book showing what the author has made with some pictorial instructions in the back part of the book.