Oliver200

Jake, sent you a PM. For some reason I can't attach photos on these replies.

Congratulations to your win too! You do nice work as well, and it looks like sore fingers will be a thing of the past for you! Way to go!!!

Wow! If you just whipped that together you've got me beat! Mine felt like it took forever! You made a beautiful briefcase!!!

It's holding up great! God help me I'm making plans to start another one for my wife in black leather with a light gray leather interior.... hoping like crazy to win the sewing matchine in the Tandy Leather Contest!!! Lol

Lol...... NEVER!!!

Thank you! It seems like Saddleback took the old pony express leather messenger bag and added a carry handle and two straps. I really like the rugged look, and also drew some inspiration from Saddleback, Colonel Littleton, Kendall & Hyde, etc. I took all of the options I liked and rolled them into one bag. Thank you for the compliment!

Thank you mike! You can do it too!

The side of Kodiak leather was the biggest single expense.

It was the 1mm Ritza 25 Tiger Thread.

Thank you Dani! I didn't know I had it in me! Happy to show it to you!

Thank you Daniel. It seemed like forever!! I put an accent stitch about 1/2" in all the way around on the big panels and pocket closures During the project I was kicking myself for starting that accent, with ALL of those stitches, that didn't really hold anything..... but now that it's done, it's one of the first things I notice when I look at it. Well worth the extra effort. Thank you so much for the compliment!Tim

Thank you! I hadn't done anything remotely like this before. I'm so blessed that I didn't quit and that it turned out so well! Thanks again!

Thanks Steven. Unfortunately there are no patterns. When I wanted to build, I looked all over but couldn't find anything. It was frustrating. Then I realized that every one is different, and you decide/modify as you go. I looked at other briefcases out there, figured out what overall dimensions I wanted, and just started cutting the leather. It's not as bad as it sounds! I know that's probably not the answer you wanted to hear, but that's how I did mine.