Assembling Molded Leather Handbag

This is assembling the leather purse after molding the front piece.  You can see the post on molding the leather here...

I have all my pieces cut, edges beveled, and stitching holes punched.  The small pieces in the bottom right corner are already dyed with the Fiebing's (leather dye) in Tan.

The hole is punched in the front of the bag for a button stud to be screwed in after dying and sealing the leather...

Here the pieces have all been dyed with two coats of the Fiebing's in Tan.  I use a rag to rub it on so you get some variation in the color with darker and lighter areas....

Here you can see the button stud screwed in to the hole that was punched earlier...

We are lucky enough to have a Tandy Leather store close by.  The gentleman we talked with highly recommended this to finish and seal it and I have to say I really like it.  It is the consistency of vaseline and you apply this with a rag as well.  It doesn't really give a "shiny" finish but you can buff it once it's dry and it has a very nice sheen to it.