Back in Spring 2023, I was talking with my budyy Bill at District Leather Supply about getting down to Atlanta and spending some time in his shop teaching a class. I wanted the class to be something students would really learn a ton from, and elevate not only their skills, but the way they think about design in general. As far as I've seen, most classes don't go in depth into doing leather work with machines or bags. We decided to create a class for the adventurous leather worker and teach a small group of students how to make the most ambitious bag I've designed: The Field Pack.
I've personally made several hundred of these bags, and even with all the proper machines, my own studio, and the familiarity of my own shop, it takes me roughly .8-12 hours to make one Field Pack.
There are several dozen pieces to this bag, including a full leather exterior, a fully lined interior, 3 different types of foam for comfort and structure, and not a single raw edge anywhere except the grab handle on buckle end of the shoulder straps. Every single edge gets folded, burnished, or stitched. If it takes me 1-1.5 days to make one bag, then we had our work ahead of us taking 4 students on at one time, plus working in an unfamiliar and busy-in-its-own-right shop.
The classes ended up comprised of:
Chase from Saltwater Leather Co. in California
Odin Clack from Odin Leather Goods
Odin's 13 year old son (who at this point hadn't spent much time sewing on a machine. he crushed it!)
and
Barry Tuggle of Claude and Company
This class did take longer than it should have due to a few machine issues, but in the end, all students went home with a beautiful bag that they were extremely proud of.
I ended up not taking any photos during the process, but enjoy the finished products:
Barry Tuggle of Claude and Co. Barry's experience mostly revolved around wallets and small accessories, with only a tiny bit of machine experience. He really absorbed every detail and his bag looked amazing. Barry was a huge personality in the class and approached every step with determination, care, and with a jovial attitude.
Chase of Saltwater Leather Co. Chase had a good bit of bag experience, but it mostly revolved around tote bags and fuddle bags. This was his first backpack. There were a few small set backs on his bag as the leather ended up a bit too thick and tough to work with, but Chase was determined to push through and make it work. In the end, he had a beautiful backpack, and --like a true craftsman-- any "mistake" made is unnoticeable. It isn't lack of mistakes that makes a great craftsman, but how you handle them. He gifted the backpack to his dad upon his return to California.
