Leather Carrier Folder

This is a project I did last year, I’ve only had time to take some pictures of it now.

The assignment was quite clear, very straightforward. we had to design a bag or carrier which of course had to be sustainable, and so had to comply with the three R’s of design, if you will. (Reuse, Recycle, Reduce). this meant pretty much that our teacher wanted us the find something old and make it into something new, but the material also had to be recycable. the criteria it had to meet were simple: it had to fit a skecthbook and a notebook and some of your tools (pencil, marker, etc). I came up with a carrier folder, which was at first inspired by the civil war bags and the western carrying pouch’s. after talking to my teachers about the idea they made it clear that this wasnt just a reproduction of something, but your own design. so i started looking up other things, such as old medical wallets/ bags, etc. then arrived at the idea of combining the two. the next step was looking for material. first i wanted to make it with canvas but soon i found some problems with it such as the unraveling ends which would have to be sewn back, etc. so then i arrived at leather, which was quite strong, had a nice texture and seemed aestheticly pleasing. long story short, one of my moms friends had some leather laying around which i could use.

the process of making it was not too bad. everything is handsewn with hemp as well as the booklets inside the folder. i didnt look up any sewing techniques, i just tried out some techniques myself on how to make the ‘holders’ for the pens. in the end i was very pleased with what i made. the contrast of the navy blue leather against the greyish look of my sketch and notebook were very evident and gave a nice aesthetic look to the inside.