I HATED MY OLD GOLF BAG SO MUCH THAT I THREW IT AWAY A WEEK BEFORE I HAD A TOURNAMENT THINKING THAT I COULD WHIP UP A NEW ONE OUT OF A SHOULDER OF LEATHER I BOUGHT FROM TANDY LEATHER.

BOY WAS I WRONG. A LOT OF WORK. AFTER ABOUT A WEEK I WAS HALFWAY THROUGH THE PROJECT BUT I HAD A TOURNAMENT TO GO TO AND NO BAG BUT I TOOK THE ONE I WAS WORKING ON ANYWAY. IT HAD NO BALL BAG, HANDLE OR A TOPPER BUT IT HELD CLUBS. THE TOURNAMENT WAS A BUST ANYWAY BUT I GOT SOME COMPLIMENTS ON MY BAG EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T COMPLETED. THAT GAVE ME NEW ENERGY AND AFTER OVER 5,000 STITCHES I THINK IT LOOKS PRETTY GOOD.

Step 1: OAKLEAF SHOULDER

YOU WILL NEED TO SELECT YOUR LEATHER THAT WILL BE STIFF ENOUGH TO STAND ON ITS OWN ONCE IT IS SEWN TOGETHER. I SELECTED A OAKLEAF SHOULDER THAT IS 9 TO 10 OUNCES AND IS THE THICKEST AVAILABLE FROM TANDY LEATHER. I PURCHASED MINE FROM THE TANDY STORE. SHOULDERS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AS WELL AND ALL ARE OF GREAT QUALITY.

Step 2: THINGS YOU WILL NEED TO START

HERE ARE THE BASIC ITEMS YOU WILL NEED THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS.

1. PEN TO DRAW LINES FOR CUTTING AND PUNCHING

2. TAPE MEASURE TO PLAN YOUR LAYOUT. I LAID OUT A BASIC RECTANGLE 21 INCHES X 36 INCHES

AND CUT A SEAM THAT IS 2 1/2 INCHES WIDE BY 21 INCHES

3. STRAIGHTEDGE TO DRAW LINES.

4. UTILITY KNIFE TO CUT THE LEATHER FOR YOUR LAYOUT.

5. NEEDLES. GET PLENTY OF THEM BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK THEM PULLING THE THREAD THROUGH WITH YOUR PLIERS.

6. PLIERS. EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE PUNCHED HOLES AND WIDENED THEM THERE WILL BE A FEW THAT ARE STUBBORN.

7. WAXED THREAD. I GOT THE BEIGE 1MM X 25 YARDS. GET TWO, OR YOU WILL RUN OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR PROJECT.

8. SNAPS. THESE WILL BE FOR YOU BALL BAG AND HEAD COVERS.

9. SWAGING PUNCH TO SECURE YOUR RIVETS.

Step 3: LAYING IT OUT

1. PLACE YOUR TALLEST CLUB ON THE SHOULDER LEAVING ABOUT1 1/2 INCHES EXTRA FOR THE BOTTOM. MY MEASUREMENT WAS 36 INCHES.

2. DRAW STRAIGHT LINES ON THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE SHOULDER AND CUT OFF THE EXCESS.

3. ROLL THE CUT SHOULDER AND ESTIMATE THE DESIRED DIAMETER THAT WILL HOLD YOUR CLUBS. IN MY PROJECT THIS TURNED OUT TO BE 6 1/2 INCHES IN DIAMETER AND 21 INCHES IN LENGTH.

3. CUT A SEAM 3 INCHES WIDE AND 36 INCHES LONG. THIS WILL BE UTILIZED TO SEW THE ENDS TOGETHER

Step 4: PUNCHING HOLES

1.PUNCH HOLES ON 3 SIDES OF THE CUT SHOULDER. LONG SIDES FOR THE SEAM AND WIDE SIDE FOR THE TOPPER .

2.PUNCH HOLES ALONG EACH SIDE OF THE SEAM.

3.CUT A STRIP OF LEATHER 3 INCHES WIDE AND 21 INCHES LONG FOR THE TOPPER AND PUNCH HOLES ON EACH SIDE OF THE TOPPER.

Step 5: SEWING IT TOGETHER

1. STARTING AT THE BOTTOM, STITCH THROUGH SHOULDER UP THROUGH SEAM THEN NEXT STITCH DOWN THROUGH SECOND SEAM AND SHOULDER BRINGING YOUR NEXT STITCH UP THROUGH THE FIRST SHOULDER AND SEAM STITCH. THIS WILL INSURE YOU OF A CLEAN LOOK WITH NO MISSING HOLES THAT ARE EVERY OTHER HOLE AND MAKE FOR A STRONGER BOND.

2. REPEAT STITCHING PROCESS OUTSIDE AND INSIDE BAG MAKING SURE NO HOLES ARE MISSED

Step 6: HARDER THAN IT LOOKS

1. BY NOW YOU ARE READY FOR THE TOPPER. TAKE YOUR PRE CUT 3 INCH WIDE X 21 INCH STRIP THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY PUNCHED HOLES IN AND FOLD IT IN HALF OVER THE TOP OF THE BAG.

2. START STITCHING AT THE END OF THE TOPPER GOING THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THE TOPPER CONTINUE THROUGH THE HOLES IN THE TOP OF THE BAG AND THROUGH THE SECOND HALF OF THE TOPPER.

3. CONTINUE USING THE STITCHING METHOD DESCRIBED IN STEP. 5.

Step 7: CONTRUCTING AND SEWING ON BALL BAG

BE CREATIVE HERE.

1. I JUST SEWED ON A STRIP TO THE SIDE OF THE BAG THAT WAS APPROXIMATELY 10 INCHES WIDE X 8 INCHES LONG. I MADE THE STRIP BULGE TO ACCOMMODATE ROUGHLY 8 BALLS. (If you need more balls than that you should give up golf)

2. I DREW A LIP COVER AND A BOTTOM ON A PIECE OF PAPER THAT I TRACED FROM HOLDING THE PAPER TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BALL BAG IN ORDER TO COPY DIMENSIONS OF THE BULGE ADDING AN EXTRA TAB FOR THE SNAP TO THE LIP COVER.

3. TRACING MY PAPER TO THE REVERSE SIDE OF A SCRAP PIECE OF SHOULDER I THEN CUT OUT THE PATTERN LEAVING EXTRA MATERIAL OF 1/2 INCH THAT I COULD STITCH TO THE BAG. YOU MIGHT CONSIDER A LIGHTER PIECE OF LEATHER FOR THE BALL BAG FOR IT WAS EXTREMELY HARD SEWING SUCH DETAIL.

Step 8: CLOSING UP THE BOTTOM

1. I CUT A CIRCLE THAT WAS 6 1/2 INCH IN DIAMETER OUT OF A PIECE OF 1 INCH X 8 INCH X3/4 INCH PINE BOARD.

2. STICKING THE CIRCLE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG I THEN CUT THE OVERLAPPING EDGES OF THE LEATHER TO FIT THE BOTTOM AND SCREWED THE LEATHER TO THE CIRCLE.

Step 9: MAKING THE CLUB COVERS

1. I TRACED THE CLUB TO A PIECE OF PAPER ,CUT OUT THE TRACING AND TRACED THAT TO A SCRAP PIECE OF SHOULDER WHICH I THEN CUT THE PATTERN OUT. FLIPPING IT OVER ONTO ANOTHER PIECE OF SCRAP LEATHER , I MADE A DOUBLE IN REVERSE PATTERN GIVING ME A TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE CLUB COVER.

2. I THEN CUT A STRIP 2 1/2 INCHES WIDE AND 12 INCHES LONG TO SERVE AS THE SIDES OF THE CLUB COVER.

3. PUNCHING HOLES IN THE TOP, BOTTOM AND SIDE I THEN, SEWED THE PIECES TOGETHER USING THE STITCHING PROCESS IN PRIOR STEPS.

Step 10: HANDLE

1. TO MAKE THIS HANDLE FOR THE GOLF BAG I CUT FROM SCRAP SHOULDER A PIECE 10 INCHES X 1 1/2 INCHES

2. PUNCHING HOLES IN BOTHE SIDED AND END OF THE STRIP

3. FOLDING OVER THE STRIP AND STITCHING THE MIDDLE 7 INCHES TOGETHER LEAVING 1 1/2 INCHES FLARED AT EACH END

4. STITCHED THE FLARED ENDS TO THE GOLF BAG

Step 11: FINAL PRODUCT

THE FINAL PRODUCT READY TO ROLL. HARDLY ANY LEATHER LEFT OUT OF SHOULDER.

A CALCULATION OF STITCHES MIGHT GO LIKE THIS.

36 YARDS OF THREAD EQUALS 36YDS X3FTX12INCHES=1296 INCHES. BUT WAIT WE ARE NOT DONE AS THE HOLES PUNCHED ARE 1/4 INCH APART WE NOW HAVE TO MULTIPLY 1296X4=5,184.

IF MY CALCULATIONS ARE CORRECT I HAVE SEWN 5,184 STITCHES AND THIS DOES NOT COUNT THE DOUBLE STITCHING METHOD WHICH I DON'T EVEN WANT TO KNOW WHAT THAT WOULD AMOUNT TO.

i REALLY NEED TO WIN THAT STITCHING MACHINE. PLEASE VOTE FOR ME