POPSEWING® Leather Men Messenger Satchel Bag DIY Kit

This was my 4th DIY bag from Popsewing. This is an opportunity to bring two of my favorite things together, sewing and handbags. It is so peaceful and I love the end result. I have utilized customer support and they are very helpful. One suggestion I may have, do a rewards program for those who purchase multiple times. It so awesome to receive the current free items but, I might shop more to earn discounted or free items that I can choose.

I originally bought this kit to make a gift for my brother in law. The kit has everything needed when it arrives. The final product is gorgeous. When my BIL unwrapped the completed bag, there were oohs and ahhs. My husband liked the bag so much that I have since bought the kit two more times so that I can make a satchel for my husband and my boss.

That said, I want to share more about my experience.
Firstly, the leather pieces in the kit are all prepared and sealed with leather protectant. The coloring is consistent across all pieces. The edges have been rounded and the holes have been punched in each piece so as to speed up the process. This kit is a DIY product for leatherwork beginners, like I was when I started making my first POPSEWING bag. It does require patience.

Making the bag takes 20-25 hours. The website suggests less time, but I have now made two complete bags and started a third. Perhaps, I have gotten faster, yet it still takes many working hours.

It is not hard, granted I do have some sewing experience. But be prepared to either sit down for a few days, wherein this is all you do, or spread it out over a couple weeks, spending time each day. Following the tutorial, as others have mentioned can feel funky. The video is in Chinese with English subtitles, and in my case, I could only access it on YouTube through What's App. I did not find the language reality to be a huge deal, as I would have had to pause the video if it had been in English intermittently anyway to make sure I had the right pieces at the right time and to follow the directions accurately. The clunky part is that if What's APP or the video time out, then you have to scroll forward to where you are each time, and if like me, you spread the project out over a couple of weeks, then scrolling through the video each time feels silly and redundant.

Others have mentioned that there is a need for glue, which is not included. I chose to use the alternate set by melting method demonstrated in the videos rather than use any glue on the bag. I personally found this to work very well. I have not needed glue at all with any of the bags I have made.

These kits are fabricated and sent from China, which means they take a while to arrive. This did not bother me. POPSEWING is clear about how long the shipping takes, and each time, my kits have arrived accordingly. Perhaps, the anticipation of watching the kit move around the globe created excitement in me to get started when it finally arrived.

Lastly, I have a recommendation. While the kit comes with a thimble and latex finger protectors, I might recommend getting some silicone finger sleeves. Pushing the needles through three layers of leather at some points of the project can require using exacted force from one's fingers, and it can hurt. I found using my own silicone finger sleeves gave me dexterity to work with the needles and leather, yet also protect my fingers from expected slips of the needle.

It is dubbed in English text only, so it's hard to follow. You have to read the words on the screen. I am having a hard time following it.

I was very impressed with this kit: all of the materials provided were of a high quality, as was the preassembly preparation of the leather; the video tutorial was easy to follow, even without any English being spoken, and the finished bag is lovely. Although everything necessary for making the bag was provided, something I happened to have myself that I found useful was a piece of beeswax; perhaps this could be considered for inclusion in future kits.

I use it as my work bag. Have had a few people mention wanting to get one and have me put it together for them. Only down side is I wish they gave us a little.more thread. You are 1.medium size mistake from using it all. I think I had roughly a good left cut in smaller pieces fom cutting the extra off.