This case is one I picked up on an auction site. It was made by a company using the trade name Pendragon. It is a high quality leather case and I believe the case is over 45 years of age,
I knew when I purchased the case that the stitching would need to be replaced
As you can see from the pictures the leather was in pretty good condition.
Once all of the stitching was removed and I had all of the pieces separated I could see that the gusset piece was very badly worn.
I fact it fell apart in my hands as I removed the stitching. I cut a replacement gusset from a suitable piece of leather. I started by dying the replacement part brown and then added oxblood dye on top until I got a colour that was somewhere near to the colour of the rest of the case.
After stripping and cleaning everything with saddle soap I added some leather conditioner to make the leather a little more supple before starting re assembly.
I had always planned on lining the case in suede and had purchased some red suede for this purpose.
I used a latex glue to join the suede and the leather panels together. I had chosen a 0.8 mm Tiger thread in gold.
This is the front of the case and you can see the buckles have been sewn in place with the new thread and I had started to sew the detail along the top line.
This is one of many trial fits to check on the gusset and the lining
As I sewed the case back together I added some extra stitches to the upper corners to add a little extra strength.
At this point in the restoration I was approached by someone who wished to purchase this case but requested a shoulder strap be fitted if possible. I purchased two straps from my supplier and set about making a shoulder strap
I also ordered some extra bling
The ends of the strap were an opportunity to add a little extra detail so I cut them into a stylised fountain pen nib shape.
The dye was still wet when these pictures were taken so the colour is a little dark
The strap was unlined so the stitching along the edges is for show rather than serving any useful purpose
As the strap was added after the gusset had been fitted and I did not wish to unpick all of the stitching I made these saddles to attach to the centre of the gusset I added some chicargo screws to add extra strength.
After fitting the strap the case was complete and was dispatched to its new home in the USA.
Thanks for reading