THURSDAY NOVEMBER 12

i've always been fascinated by war times and actually went to school for history (i wrote my thesis about the GI movement during the vietnam war). the bags that i end up being really, really excited about are those with the most history behind them.. hence the long-winded blog post about the bag that i just finished sewing.

i've been looking forward to constructing this bag ever since i set my eyes upon that linen postal bag. parts of it were tattered beyond repair, but luckily the section with '1937' printed on it was still very much intact. these old linen mail bags are by far the best material i work with (and the hardest to come by). even though it's so old, the fabric is still so sturdy. and they always smell really incredible! like a nice old barn.

i came across this barber strop a few months ago at the flea market and it was one of those finds that almost made me tear up. i immediately put it aside until i found the perfect fabric to pair it with. the leather is approximately 100 years old but it's incredibly soft and the woman who sold it to me was able to pass along a bunch of details about its history. also.. it's made out of seal leather. now i'm not one to support seal fur/leather anything.. but i'm looking at this as a historic piece and in that respect the seal leather aspect totally blows my mind.

so basically.. bags like this one are why i spend so much time searching and digging and trying to find beautiful old materials to work with.