Late Christmas gift for my mom – Small leather satchel
February 9, 2026
The Christmas time is always crazy in my family. Both of my kids have their birthdays, and of course the whole holiday season doesn’t make it any less busy. I was planning to finish this satchel already for Christmas, but I simply didn’t have time for that. Now after my workshop v3.0 is ready, I rushed to get this done before I’m travelling to Finland for some skiing and spending time with my family.
I’m very happy about the result.Even the small details turned out good.My mother was also happy about it, and it fit’s her needs very well.The backside has a spot for her phone that’s easily accessible by opening three magnetic buttons.
Build log:
I used my well-proven method of 3D modelling and printing a form, and vacuum forming the leather.The satchel is made out of three parts: larger front pocket, smaller phone pocket at the back, and a lid in the middle of them that folds over the front pocket.I used 3mm thick vegtan leather. I want the bag to be quite sturdy, and this leather is still soft and is easy to vacuum form.This time I used my smaller maker’s mark, and I will add it off-set to the front of the bag.I still haven’t decided on the shape of the flap, but the lower right corner should be a good spot.I will use antique brass hardware for it, and to be able to use Chicago screws for the strap loops I had to drill the holes larger. It’s a good thing that I have a workshop filled with metalworking tools!The maker’s mark is going to be sewn on – punching holes for it…… and sewing it on with saddle stitch. I use reddish brown synthetic thread across the whole bag with 0.7mm thickness.Trying to figure out the shape of the flap wasn’t as easy as I thought. This was the first version.Ok, it looked like crap. I think I corrected the shape four times before I was satisfied with it. I’m adding a brown bridle leather strap to the flap that is used for closing it. The sides of it is dyed black to match the rest of the bag.It has a large magnetic button that is used for the closure. I’m very happy how the shape turned out. I creased the edges of it, and will sew it with 2.5mm hole distance. I’m getting quite proficient with sewing, so it didn’t take as long time as it usually takes. I’m very happy how the flap turned out. It looks great in my opinion.I did the same kind of creasing and sewing on the top of the pocket as well.It works very well together with the flap. Those wrongly placed cut lines on the inside of the flap is part of the design if someone asks…The other side of the magnetic button is riveted in place as well…… and the front pocket of the bag is ready!Time to focus on the back pocket. This is modelled to be the exact size of an iPhone 16 Pro Max.The idea is that the top of the pocket has a small flap that I vacuum formed so that it can fit smaller magnetic buttons under it. To make the bag more personal, I 3D printed a die and stamped her name to it with my fly press.The back pocket got the same treatment of creasing…… and sewing around the flap.There will be three smaller magnetic buttons that keeps the back pocket closed. It was quite tricky to find the right placement for the buttons. These buttons are not amazingly strong, so if they are out of alignment they will not stay closed.As a final touch before I sew the whole thing together, I added a small strap inside the bag that will hold your keys safe. I used the same leather, and attached the strap and the small carabiner with few stitches.Time to prepare for stitching the whole thing together! All layers are glued together.It looks like I managed to get a perfect alignment for those small buttons on the back. It’s very satisfying when they all snap closed at the same time.Strap time! It’s 20mm wide and has antique brass carabiners riveted to the ends.I’m not going to sew the strap, but I’ll try to make it look nice. Bevelling all sides is a good start.It’s done on two parts. The shorter part has a buckle riveted to the other end.As I’m using a simple buckle, I also need to add a loop to keep the leftover strap in place. By using snaps on it, it will be possible to open it.It is riveted next to the buckle to keep it in place.The strap is simple but functional.To add a bit more detail to it, I creased the edges with 2mm spacing.The gift was well received. It was also more special as my maker’s mark is inspired by my mother’s family crest.The backside has a spot for her phone, and it’s closed nicely with three magnetic buttons.It was pretty tricky to align the button locations. Next time I need to include those on the template so I don’t need to measure it.Overall, it turned out well but I learned a lot and the next one will be better again!
