DIY box: The Business Bag *round flap*

The Business Bag - here comes your masterpiece in handbag form, elegant and modern at the same time. Whether you're at work or in your free time, you'll always be stylish and chic with this bag. It also offers plenty of storage space, so you can take a little more with you.
Thanks to the many different variants and style options (see next section), you can tailor the bag exactly to your needs and style.

Size of the bag
External dimensions: 38 cm wide at the bottom, 35 cm wide at the flap, 26.5 cm high, 12 cm deep at the bottom, approx. 6 cm deep at the top edge of the bag (flexible).
Internal dimensions of the bottom: 35.5cm wide and 11cm deep. The top opening is 28-34cm wide and 7-9cm deep, depending on how far you open the bag (all measured without bulging the bag).
Handle opening: 22cm wide and 13cm high (at the highest point). The business bag can hold laptops with a screen diagonal of up to 15" (sometimes also 15.5"), a large water bottle (1 liter), a lunch box, an additional removable inner pocket such as a pochette or pouch, a large wallet, and various other small items such as charging cables, keys, glasses case, etc.

Carrying options
The business bag contains a reinforced and padded flat handle that is attached to the bag flap. To ensure stability, this is processed with a stainless steel strut in the flap.

In addition to the permanently sewn-on handle, you can attach other carrying options such as chains, leather straps or statement straps to the double D-ring on the flap.
You also have the option of attaching additional D-rings with edging parts to the sides of the bag if you prefer to attach your carrying option there. To attach the D-rings to the leather, you have to pierce the holes in the leather of the side parts yourself (template included in the instructions).

Interior processing
The canvas-lined bag contains an interior pocket with a leather slip pocket and a leather-covered inner bag base.

Voting options:

• Pocket flap in round or square
• Various closure options such as twist clasps, click clasps or magnets, optional decorative ornaments (if magnet selected)

Note: The screw holes and cutouts for the different clasp variants must be made in the leather yourself. You will receive templates to print out to determine exactly the right position. At the end of this section you will find detailed explanations of the necessary steps for each clasp variant.

Optional additions:

• Pocket feet
• D-rings & edging parts, e.g. for attaching an additional carrying option to the side parts, instead of to the double D-rings on the bag flap, or for attaching to the bag as a key finder (small carabiners available in the individual parts shop) > the seam holes must be pierced in the side parts yourself
• Outside pocket with zipper (including leather parts, lining parts and zipper) > the cutout for the zipper and the seam holes for sewing in the zipper as well as the seam holes for sewing onto the body of the bag must be made by the owner himself, templates and instructions are provided (increased additional work, but easily doable). Alternatively, the outside pocket can also be used as a loose inside pocket or supplemented with additional D-rings and edging parts to create a pochette.

Detailed explanations of the necessary work steps for each closure variant:

• Vertical twist clasp: Punch six holes with the awl (very easy)
• Landscape format twist clasp: pierce holes with an awl, cut out a rectangle with a cutter knife or slotting iron and cut slots into the leather (easily doable, it is easy to do with a slotting iron 4mm and optionally 10mm, instead of a cutter knife)
• Click clasp: pierce holes and make small cutouts and slits in the leather (easy, especially with a 4mm slitting iron)
• Magnets: pierce holes and make small slits in the leather (easy, especially with a 4mm slotting iron)

In the DIY box you will find everything you need to make your bag:

Leather, reinforcement and lining

• Leather pieces in the colour and structure of your choice, cut out and provided with sewing holes
• Cut-to-size reinforcement parts made of leather fiber
• Cut-to-size canvas linings in the color of your choice

Metal accessories in light gold or silver

• Selected closure variant
• 11 book screws (6x for attaching the bag bottom and 5x for processing the exchange flap)
• 2 book screws and stainless steel struts to stabilize the handle on the bag flap
• 2 double D-rings for the handles

Additional materials & tools

• Sewing thread in the matching leather color
• Saddler needles
• Document clips to hold the leather pieces together when sewing
• Leather glue for bonding lining and leather
• Brush for applying the glue
• Edge colour in the colour of the leather
• Basecoat as a primer before applying paint
• Awl for applying edge paint and base coat and for piercing seam holes where necessary
• Sanding sponge for edge processing
• Mini screwdriver with slot for fastening the book screws

Step-by-step instructions & videos

• Download link to the detailed, illustrated step-by-step instructions for making your bag (DE, EN, FR)
• Download link to detailed instructions for the basics of leather processing (DE, EN, FR)
• Access links to our three explanatory videos for the basics of leather processing (DE, EN)

You may receive additional optional items if you selected them in the configurator. You can also deselect the reusable tools if you already have them.

Choose between embossing, the trapunto technique or use pocket patches and rivets to personalize your bag.

Embossing

The embossing is applied to the leather during production. Letters are clamped into our machine, heated and pressed onto the leather with or without foil. The letters/shapes are approx. 8 mm high.

You can choose:

• Embossing colour: foil in silver, light gold or blind embossing without foil
• Position on the bag: Bag body front center or back center, inside pocket, statement strap (if selected)
• Text or motif (e.g. made by me lettering, our logo or an individual monogram)

Trapunto technique

Here, shapes made of leather fiber are glued between the leather and the lining and formed against a solid base using an edge former. This creates a raised 3D effect that is more noticeable than the embossing due to the letter height of 6 cm.

The technique is implemented by you yourself (video tutorial available) and is best achieved with our smooth leather or another thinner leather.

Here you choose:

• Prefabricated letters or motifs with a height of 6 cm
• Alternatively, use material in one piece to create your own patterns and shapes

Patches, bag charms, rivets

We offer additional personalization options, such as leather bag patches, bag charms and rivets. You can order these as separate products in our online shop.

Feasible for beginners with enough patience or for anyone who has already made one of our DIY boxes!

Whether you're a DIY pro or have never worked with leather before - with our step-by-step instructions and video tutorials on the basics of leatherworking, you'll get all the important information you need to make this bag yourself by hand.

Since the materials are already cut out and provided with sewing holes, they fit together exactly. This means nothing can go wrong and you can start manufacturing immediately after receiving your DIY box.

Despite everything, we only recommend this project to people who have the time and patience for this masterpiece.

We estimate the production time for this bag to be 20 - 25 hours, of which around 8 hours are spent making the flap with handle (rough estimate, difficult to make general statements). The bag is more complex in its construction and the number of steps involved than other of our bags. However, the individual steps are not complicated. So if you follow the instructions step by step, even a beginner can make this masterpiece. Let's go! 🙌🏼

Payment options

• SOFORT transfer (login via your online banking)
• Payment via PayPal
• Payment with VISA, Mastercard or Maestro
• Payment via ApplePay or GooglePay

Shipping & Delivery Time

The delivery time is between two and twelve working days.

Sounds long? It is!
Since we produce most products manually to order with great attention to detail, we need this time. The process of producing to order also allows us to offer you several products in the different leather colors instead of just one pre-produced model. Furthermore, we only produce what has actually been purchased - for responsible use of our resources.