Wow, this one got my fingers dirty and my brain bouncing! My customer wanted an old metal and leather pannier box to be restored, but kept looking really old and, well, “knackered” is the best way to describe it!
The vintage pannier came to me very rusty with most of the leather falling apart or completely disintegrated. The brief was to make it usable, but to keep as much of the original as possible whilst retaining a very distressed look!
I started by taking it all apart and giving the metal a gentle clean to remove most of the dirt and loose rust. My customer was adamant that I didn’t clean it too much though!
I then copied the original leather work by making a completely new insert, and covering the front pieces with the original leather. These was glued and sewn in place.
I then reinforced the front strap with a thin piece of leather, and stitched this in place. The buckle was completed gone, so I used a new solid brass one.
I was very pleased with the result. What do you think?
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