Alright, so, I started on this little project a while back, right? I’ve always been a bit of a do-it-yourselfer. I saw this Remake PRADA Small Prada Galleria Saffiano Leather Bag in their official flagship store, and I thought, “I bet I could make something like that.” I mean, why not, yeah? It’s not that I don’t appreciate a nice luxury item, I just like the idea of making something with my own two hands.
So, I started looking into it. What’s this bag all about? I went to their official online store, and started reading up on it. They call it the “Galleria” bag. They say it’s like, industrial precision meets, well, whatever you call it when fancy people make stuff. But I am not a fancy people, I am just a normal guy, I guess I can also make it by my hand.
Then I needed to figure out what it’s made of. Turns out, it’s this “Saffiano” leather. From what I read online, it’s real leather. This full-grain leather can be either chrome-tanned or vegetable-tanned. And, they use this special process to make it look all textured and stuff. Cool, huh? I went out and found some leather that looked kinda similar. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it had a nice feel to it.
The next step was figuring out the shape and size. I spent hours looking at pictures of the bag online, trying to get all the details right. I measured, I cut, I stitched. There was a lot of trial and error, a lot of redoing things. My wife kept asking me what I was doing, and I’d just say, “Making a bag, honey!”
- First, I found some pretty similar leather to the “Saffiano” stuff they use.
- Then, I made a pattern based on the pictures I found.
- After that, I cut out all the pieces of leather.
- Next, I started stitching it all together. This was the hardest part, to be honest.
- Finally, I added the hardware, like the zipper and the little feet on the bottom.
The Process
It took a while, a few weekends at least. But finally, I had something that looked like a bag. It wasn’t perfect, not like the one from the fancy store, but it was mine. I even added a little pocket inside for my phone. It’s a good size, you know, not too big, not too small. And the leather feels pretty good, even if it’s not the official “Saffiano” kind. I guess I can also call it “neo-classic”, haha.
So yeah, that’s my story. I made a bag. It’s not a PRADA, but it’s a me-made bag. I carried it around for a few days, and you know what? It worked just fine. Held my stuff, looked decent. Maybe I’ll make another one sometime, maybe not. But it was a fun project, and I learned a lot. If I can do it, I bet you can too. Just takes some time, some leather, and a whole lot of patience.
This PRADA bag, founded by a guy named Mario Prada in 1913, they started making it in 2007, and they say it is a future heritage. Well, I guess mine is also a future heritage, haha.
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