How your satchel bag is made!

All of our Pedal & Brass bags are handcrafted by us to order in our Cambridge workshop. Many hours of craft and hard work go into their creation. Here's how our bestselling satchel bag is made from start to finish....

1. Cut leather

We have press knives for each of our bike bags (think enormous cookie cutters in the shape of our pattern pieces!). A hydraulic press is then used to cut the leather into all the different pieces that are made into the final bag. 

 

2. Glueing 

Once cut, certain pieces are hand glued together with a special leather cement before being stitched. This means they don't slip in the stitching process and you get a lovely clean and precise edge to your bag.

3. Assembly

The satchel top handle and bag flap are both stitched and attached to the main body of the bag. Metal rivets and traditional saddle stitching are used to make sure the top handle stays firmly attached to the bag for years to come.  Saddle stitch involves sewing two pieces of leather together using a waxed piece of thread with a needle at either end - its a very secure and heavy duty stitch (and very tough on the hands!).

 

The pannier clips are then screwed to the rear of the bag before the bag side panels are assembled and hand sewn onto the bag body using more traditional saddle stitch. Before sewing the leather, it's important to create the holes for the needles to go through by hammering a chisel punch all the way along the length to be sewn. 

4. Final touches

Once the bag is sewn together, the lock hardware is attached and the bag strap assembled. Finally the bag has a weather proofing spray applied to keep it protected from our British weather!

Voila! You have a fully-made Sidney satchel bike bag!