The starting idea here is simple and appealing: take vegetable-tanned leather, dye it midnight blue, and turn it into a women's clutch with a fold-over flap. James Berry - LeFrenchCrafter pulled it off with an angular, faceted profile that looks far more architectural than most flat pouches I see on forums.
The construction is the part that impresses me. The panels were cut for a back, front and flap, and the 1.4 mm lining leather was laminated inside the 2.5 mm exterior. That lamination hides the interior gusset stitching and adds rigidity, which strikes me as a genuinely clever solution to a problem every bag maker runs into. The curved hinge section was pre-formed around a tool handle before sewing, and every seam was hand saddle stitched with waxed Lin Cablé Au Chinois thread. The maker has said saddle stitch is the only method used on all their work, and it shows in the consistency.
The finishing details stand out too. Fiebing's midnight blue oil dye gives a slightly mottled, hand-dyed patina that darkens toward the edges, followed by conditioning with neatsfoot oil and a final buff with neutral shoe polish. Edges were beveled, sanded, dyed to match and burnished with gum tragacanth and beeswax, using a Dremel with a wooden burnishing bit. The polished silver-tone oval turn-lock suits the blue nicely, and the maker agreed that silver reads as more elegant than gold or brass here.
One open point: no edge paint was used on this bag, so I am curious how those dye-and-burnish edges hold up to daily handling over a year or two. That would be my only lingering question about an otherwise complete build.
Project by James Berry - LeFrenchCrafter. Watch it on their YouTube channel: