Virginia Kariuki crafted a beautiful, durable black leather handbag for Stefanie, ensuring it was both practical and elegant, with strong handles for daily essentials. What's your wish?
A request by Stefanie from Berlin, Germany
Hello, I had a great handbag, unfortunately of inferior quality and only imitation leather. can you make me a relatively identical bag of leather! In black. The long carrying handles are important so that I can carry them across. The hangers of the original bag were also not sewn properly and are torn out. I carry an average of 3-5kg in my handbag and this should hold. I look forward to your offer. Thank you in advance. Stefanie. https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01N6Z4EIE/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_b-fEBbSN6QW3E
The Journey of Creating Custom made black leather handbag
Negotiation & Planning
Artisan's Proposals
Hi Stefanie,
My name is Virginia, thanks for choosing to work with me. Sorry about your bag.
Before I give you a quote, I'd like us to first decide what material we'll use for your new bag, what size and colour.
Genuine leather will be a bit more expensive thank a canvas bag and on the canvas bag we can mix it with leather to make it more durable.
Or you can share the size information and I'll give you a quote on both leather and canvas 🙂
I hope this is helpful.
Kind regards,
Virginia K
20 Aug 2018 9:36 pm: Stefanie
The bag should please correspond to this bag, but in leather. The dimensions are included in the link. https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01N6Z4EIE/?coliid=I37LHGJ46MHVN7&colid=261N6JVONOJHV&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Hi,
Ok. Here's the price estimates.
Also, I usually use African fabric for the lining. Would you mind if I used this type of fabric for the bag?
Regards,
V
21 Aug 2018 11:46 pm: Stefanie
hello, do you have a photo of the fabrics/materials?
Hey,
This is how it looks like.
24 Aug 2018 12:07 am: Stephanie
Oh, no, I don't want to. I don't like pattern. I would like the bag black on the outside and black or brown on the inside.
Lol! Ok no worries. I can use black then 🙂
I think we're good to start?
24 Aug 2018 11:58 pm: Stefanie
Oh great... then you can start! Many greetings
Hi Stefanie.
So am a bit busy this week, would you wind if I started working on it from Thursday?
Regards,
Virginia K
Crafting Process
Artisan’s Progress Updates
Hey Stephanie,
Apologies for the delay.
I've been looking for the leather and the tanneries I get leather from are out of stock on this print leather in black but I got a friend willing to sell me hers. I'll get it on Monday. I'll send you photos when I get it
01 Sep 2018 7:56 pm: Stefanie
great!
Hey,
Hope you've been well.
Here's the leather I was thinking of using.
04 Sep 2018 3:39 pm: Stefanie
That's great!
Great.
I'll try my best to finish it by Saturday.
08 Sep 2018 11:56 am: Stephanie
very nicely
Hi Stephanie,
So sorry for the delay. I got held up doing fulfilling a backorder that I thought would take a shorter time.
I've however finished in that and started preparing your bag. Today I did the pattern and cut it out. Tomorrow I'll start on the lining and hopefully will be done by Thursday latest.
Apologies for the inconvenience again.
Regards,
Virginia K
17 Sep 2018 9:25 pm: Stefanie
No problem.
Many greetings
I worked on the skeleton of the bag, I still have to figure out the handles then it'll be done cause the lining is straight forward.
23 Sep 2018 2:53 pm: Stefanie
ah super... the material looks very good, thank you very much... Please make the handles long enough. about 100cm ... the bottom is a little narrow, it should be twice as wide and was an extra inserted part of leather. About 16cm. the Meuse of the sketch was unfortunately only measured up to half. Can you put another piece in there so it's wider? Otherwise the bag is too small for me. I put in another picture of the link, it's just the wrong color, but that was the plan.
OK, I'll see how I'll go about that
Quick question, did it have any reinforcement or was it just 2 layers of leather?
26 Sep 2018 6:28 pm: Stefanie
no, it didn't have any extra backup, is also not necessary... all I care about is the inside volume of the bag. Thank you so much!
Hi Stephanie, I used the dimensions that you'd sent earlier. Am still trying to figure out how I'll add the extra piece of leather
08 Oct 2018 11:27 am: Stefanie
okay... yeah, the measure was apparently unfortunately from the opening up and not from the floor area. First I sent you a link where you could see the pictures of the bag and the floor. If the bag has no bottom, then it has too small an inner volume for me and I cannot use it as I had planned.
Hi Stephanie,
I've bee. Trying to think of how to make the bag bigger and the only options I've come up with are
1) I start from scratch and do the bag from begging
Or
2) use what we have already but change the design. This will mean the bottom will be rectangular instead of oval
09 Oct 2018 4:35 pm: Stefanie
Then gladly option 2 ... rectangular is no problem. Thank you very much.
Hi Stephanie,
I undid the bag yesterday. One more thing, do we maintain the straps or do I make them in this flat design? Also do you still want them to be long cause now it'll take that green tore design
17 Oct 2018 7:39 pm: Stefanie
The belts can also be flat. However, they must still be about 100cm long. What do you mean, green tear design? The hangers must be black, not green. What makes you think it's green? The whole bag should be black. Only with the inner lining you have the choice between black and brown. If you have higher material costs and labour costs due to the misunderstanding with the floor, you can adjust the price in any case.
Ok, no problem, working on it right now. Will update you later.
20 Oct 2018 8:08 pm: Stefanie
okay
Hi, this is how it looks like. I also used a leather board at the bottom to make it firmer.
Let me know if there are any more changes you need.
About the price, I'll consult with our local operations manager and see if the price is adjustable.
23 Oct 2018 10:39 pm: Stefanie
Mm... the bag looks in the picture as if it is wider than high... so it's a landscape instead of a portrait. Is that the photo or what are the measurements?
Hi Stefanie,
Your observations are accurate. Here are the measurements, L 40cm W8 H36, top36
So why it ended up like this was cause when I undid to make it bigger, because I had already put the magnetic button, if I removed the button it would have reduced the size of the bag.
25 Oct 2018 9:29 pm: Stefanie
I don't get it. I sent you the new pictures, where you could see that the bottom is a big oval circle, which gives the bag a big inner volume. You wanted to see how you could do it and say it was possible with rectangular. Why is the new floor only 8cm wide again? I had written that this was apparently only the measure of the opening and not of the ground. On the pictures you can see that the floor has at least 25cm. Have you ever looked at the link? https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01N6Z4EIE/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_b-fEBbSN6QW3E .... Your new bag now has a different format, but still only an 8cm wide bottom and therefore a too small inner volume, so that it is absolutely useless for me. I have to work with this bag and I need a lot of storage space... and you also used gold rivets. I find rivets totally horrible and ugly. I wanted a stylish bag in a simple black design. Rivets are something completely different and should have been discussed.
I have pointed out that, should additional costs arise as a result of the soil, we can talk again. However, I am not willing to pay this price for a bag that does not match the way it was ordered.
Hi Stefanie,
The rivets can easily be changed.
This bag as is has A LOT more space than the original bag, this said, remember I had made the bag to size according to the dimensions you sent and you requested to make the bag bigger seeing that you said you couldn't use the original bag as you'd intended because the size was limiting and i gave you the option to either make a whole new bag from beginning or to use what we had and change up the design so you could get a bigger bag and you agreed to it? I even sent you an example of how the bag might look like when we change the design? So now am confused cause I feel like your asking for the original bag that i had done in those dimensions and with an oval bottom.
Kindly refer to our earlier messages and advice.
Regards,
Virginia
26 Oct 2018 10:07 pm: Stefanie
No, I think there's a translation problem here. The dimensions of my original bag are perfect. Your first bag would have become too small, because the bottom is too small with 8cm width. I wanted it changed. That the photo of the bag in green was a design suggestion was not translated to me. I asked extra what the "green crack design" means (quote: "What do you mean by "green crack design"? The hangers must be black, not green. What makes you think it's green? The whole bag should be black") and never got an answer. I just confirmed that the floor has to be square and not round, never anything else.
Since it's up to the translator here, it doesn't help if I read through our previous agreements, because I had written exactly that ....
How big is the floor space now? If you want the bag to be bigger than before? You had at the beginning 8cm and later also, there I do not see really a larger floor area.
Hi Stefanie,
Hope the weekend was good. I have an idea that could get the bag back to the original design but let's be clear now cause there wunt be more that can be done after this.
1) I could reduce the size of the sides at the top to give it that narrow look at the top and wider at the top.
*the height will remain the same because we'll use the same leather.
2) seeing that the top will be narrower, and you wanted a bigger base, please advise on the size you would like.
Again,
Same height, narrower top, wider bottom, same handle no rivets.
If there's anything I've missed out, let me know.
Hopefully we'll get it right this time 🙂
Hi Stefanie,
Decided to do the bag a fresh. It would be too much trying to work with what we have at the moment. Please let me know what size bottom you want cause i feel like that's the only problem you had with your original bag.
Thank you,
Regards,
Virginia
08 Nov 2018 9:04 pm: Stefanie
Yeah, I also think that's the best idea. I will make a sketch with exact measurements this weekend and hopefully everything will be fine. Many greetings
Hi Stefanie
Great. That will help a lot as I source for the leather on Monday
11 Nov 2018 2:45 pm: Stefanie
Hello, Virginia, attached are the measurements of the bag. Please also have a look at the original photos. Many greetings Stefanie
Ok. I finally got the leather on Tuesday so I'll be working on it today n tomorrow.
16 Nov 2018 10:42 pm: Stefanie
very good.
Hey Stephanie,
Worked on the bag today, here are the updates including the measurements.
I hope this times the charm.
Regards,
Virginia K
21 Nov 2018 10:05 pm: Stefanie
Hello, Virginia, thanks for the photos. Don't quite understand why you are sending me the measure of the upper opening, when there has always been a misunderstanding about the floor and the format. Can you send me the measurements of the bottom, length and width of the bag? Otherwise, the bag looks really great. Thank you very much.
I'd sent them I guess they hadn't uploaded. Let me try again.
I've included the "diameter" of the oval base plus it's length and also the height of the bag.
24 Nov 2018 11:42 am: Stefanie
Yes, now it worked... Thank you very much, the bag looks great.
Ok great! That's perfect. I'll saw the straps then we're done
30 Nov 2018 12:34 pm: Stefanie
super
Hi stefanie,
The bags complete.
15 Dec 2018 3:00 pm: Stefanie
great.
Final Delivery – The Completed Piece in Photos
Customer Photos After Delivery
The Finished Unique Piece – Individually Handmade
Reference: ON001764E-6083
Detailed Cost Breakdown
| Price | |
|---|---|
| Cost of material |
43.18
|
| Cost of labour |
24.42
|
| Cost of packaging |
1.31
|
| Cost of delivery to local operations manager |
0.87
|
| Subtotal – payout to artisan |
69.78
|
| Customer acquisition costs (advertising etc.) |
6.98
|
| Handling fee Urban Change Lab |
6.98
|
| Shipping costs from Kenya to Germany* |
15
|
| VAT (Germany)* |
18.76
|
| Total |
117.5
|
*Shipping costs and VAT vary depending on your location.
