My first handmade purse: pyrography, dye, carpal tunnel syndrome, and tears on leather. Not for sale. Hopefully I’ll be able to make more purses available for adoption, but this one I consider a prototype and too rough around the edges for selling.

Plus, I think I am a little too emotionally connected to it to let it “fly”. 😉

I am new to leatherwork. I am probably doing everything wrong! But if you’re interested, here’s a bit about the process I used in making this handbag:

1. I used the Vista Handbag Kit from Tandy Leather. (I replaced with clasp with an antique nickel one instead of the gold one that came with the kit. I am not a fan of gold.) The kit contains pre-cut leather pieces, hardware and latigo lace. It came with a tan latigo lace that I replaced with black.
2. I drew the owl face and skull onto the separate leather parts for front and back with pencil. Then, I burned the design (pyrography) with a Razertip burner.
3. I used Tandy’s Eco-Flo leather dyes (Canon Tan, Timber Brown, Bison Brown and mixes thereof) to color each piece of leather.
4. I distressed the leather by adding rubbing alcohol and sanding with sandpaper.
5. I finished each leather piece with Eco-Flo Carnuba Cream by applying the cream, allowing it to dry and buffing with a soft towel.
6. I assembled and stitched up the purse per included instructions (but chose to attach the clasp and strap with rivets instead of latigo lace.)