Leather Bag Handles

I made some leather bag handles this week.

Because I'm poorly equipped to do leatherwork, I constantly have to find ways to make the stuff I want with the tools I have. This is not really a tutorial as I don't really know what I'm doing, it's just a method that worked for me. 

You'll need some leather, some plastic tubing (found in a hardware store), a large quilting ruler you can hold, a rotary cutter, a cutting mat, a zipper foot and a tiny bit of scotch tape. If you are on a home machine, you should use a leather needle.

You can sew thick leather on your home machine, it might be a little longer as you may have to turn the handwheel yourself so you don't burn the motor but it works, so don't let that stop you. 

Set your machine to the longest stitch length, adjust the tension on a scrap. 

Cut the desired length of plastic tubing, 35cm in my case. Cut a generous strip of leather, enough to go around the plastic tube plus a generous sewing allowance on the side and on each end so you can sew them in. Put the tiny bit of scotch under the zipper foot so it glides on the leather and sew as close to the tube as you can manage.

Put your ruler perpendicular to the table and cut away your seam allowance very close to the stitching line. Voilà! You have your own bag handles ready to sew into your bag whichever way you want.
Here is a sneak peek.