Restauration of US Mail Bag 1968 by Merit Leather. 60 x 42 x 12 cm.
It was a hell of a work but for sure worth it. Merit leather sadly used a bad thread or did not wax it, so all the stitches were breaking apart. Good news however they used good leather. So to rescue this unique piece I did it right and completly took the bag apart and redid everything. I used solid copper rivets and waxed Gruschwitz Linen thread 18/5. It was all saddlestitched by hand and I´m very convinced that falling apart seams are no issues for the further decades of use of this bag.
It was quite a time consuming project but I have to say I learned a lot. One thing is to use the best materials you can get and do stuff the right way or leave it. E.g. the Swiss Army Leatherpieces I collect are sometimes nearly twice as old but I never had a breaking thread. So something the saddlers there did obviously better. This piece will find a nice place at my leatherworkshop.
be-cause - style, travel, collecting and food blog 