Today's Project. I Hope.

Eeesh. I bought this a while back. $15 at an antique store. I saw it, saw that it needed Some Serious Rehab, and walked away.

And, of course--you know this!--couldn't get it out of my head. Old. Soft. Leather. Tooled! Perfect!

What is perfect, you ask? Well, The Perfect Bag is leather (I'm sorry, I want to shun leather, I really do. It's my weakness, and I admit it). It's old and broken in but sturdy. It's maybe a little stained but clean. Soft. It has pockets that make sense:  I need an interior zipper pocket for my wallet (I carry a men's bi-fold and have for as long as I can remember--if I get a chance to do something exciting, like go ride a horse (it's happened) or something physical, I can put the wallet in the back pocket of my Levi's, and it will stay, snug and secure. Otherwise, it needs a zippered pocket), an exterior pocket for the iPhone in its large-ish fringed leather case (the one I made here), and at least one other pocket for business cards and Stuff. (This one has three sections, each separate from the others.) Not too big--I've got big bags, and I try to carry them only when I really need them. Carrying huge bags crammed full of stuff is not the path to Good Back & Neck Health, let me tell you. But not too small--if the bag is too small to hold the stuff you need, then it's just An Accessory, like a big bow stuck on the back of your head. Eh.

So I went back for it, thinking it was $45 and not knowing whether it was worth it, never mind that I'd fallen in love. Turns out it was $15. What can I say? But then, once I had it home, I couldn't figure out how to mend the inside. The lining that separates the outside pocket from the inside pocket has pulled loose. To repair it The Right Way, I'd have to rip out the seam in the leather, iron the lining, insert it between the two pieces of leather,  and re-stitch the seam.

I don't think that's going to happen, but I don't know what's going to happen instead. What I've got to do is figure out a way to mend it. I can't turn the bag inside out--the cardboard bottom panel would be ruined. It's too small to get my hands in there to stitch. I hate glueing fabric--it's so tacky. Like safety-pinning your underwear. So I've got everything out on the table--leather scraps, the bag, needles, various kinds of adhesive. I'm going to figure out SOMETHING today; I just hope it's something I can live with.

Wish me luck, please~~