Ayu

On the last week of December, Alia's friend,... Ayu came for a visit. She was carrying an interesting looking handbag. Caught my attention,... must make one,... but with a Brown Garden twist. After much thought, research and some sketches I came out with this design,.... thus I name it Ayu.

A big spacious bag measuring :
L 18" x H 10 1/2" x W 5"

Ayu can be worn over the arm


or

over the shoulder.


The leather trimmings and hardwares are very interesting and creatively used in the whole ensemble.
It was quite a job but I was happy with the results

I really enjoy the making of Ayu and I want to share it with you.

First I work on some sketches and figure out the best proportion in terms of length, width and height.


After I was satisfy with the proportion, I prepare the paper patterns


















I was still in the mood of patchwork, so I decided to use all my remnants from the previous projects. No rules here, both warm and cold colors are patched together but I am still careful with the balance and distribution of colors.

I prepared the patchwork first. There's 3 different combination of colors.









Here I am tracing the patterns onto the leather.













Cutting was done with a sharp knife, along the traced markings.









All cut leather trimmings are prepared for stitching.
Ends of strap to be skived to avoid lumps and difficulties when sewing.










Straps are stitched with my faithful old machine. (Love it so much)



All required straps edges are stiched.
All together there are 33 straps long and short
The sling strap is the longest - 62" long.

A big piece of leather for the base.














Here I'm inking the raw edges for better finishing.











Preparing the leather trimmings and the hardwares for stitching.









.
Strap holders are riveted in position.

















Straps sewn in position

Both sides of the bag are not the same. It was a bit messy sewing and unpicking, but I had fun. This color combination is for Alia.










Sewing the sides of the bag together.







.







Riveting the side strap in position











There are parts the can not fit on the machine, so these are to be sewn by hand.






Handles strap are done. Here I'm fixing it to the strap holder and buckle.














Ayu bag for Alia. Alia's color combination have a little dash of red.













This Ayu is the warmest,...with lots of red all over













This one is mine. This the first Ayu bag. It has all my favourite swatches.

Here I present all three Ayu that I have completed.
All three are similar but they are not the same.

Thanks Ayu.