July 9, 2015 by retoolsf

Sporty Vegan Bags

I’ve been working on a new batch of bags just in time for Renegade Craft Fair at Fort Mason Center on July 18 & 19.

Sporty vegan bag in black and blue

Here’s the low down:

The bags are made of nylon pack cloth, so they are lightweight, water resistant and sturdy. The interior and pocket linings feature a recycled nylon fabric made entirely from post-consumer materials.

Interior zipper pocket

There are two zippered pockets – one on the flap for easy access without having to open the bag and one interior lining pocket. The adjustable strap can be worn crossbody or over one shoulder.

Magnetic snap closure

The flap closes with a magnetic snap. Flap fronts come in solids and stripes. As an added bonus, the small pieces that make up the stripes give me a way to use scrap pieces of fabric left over from other projects.

Flap fronts in progress

There are two sizes. The small version is approximately 7″ X 10″ X 1.5″. The standard version version is approximately 9″ X 12″ X 3″.

Come see them (and me!) in person July 18 & 19 at the Renegade Craft Fair. The .retool. booth will be in the Herbst Pavilion.

February 4, 2015 by retoolsf

Glenn’s Bag

Last week I wrote about the bag I made as a holiday gift for my friend, Pam. This week I’m back with details on the bag I made for Pam’s husband, Glenn.

Glenn wanted a messenger bag around 12″ x 12″ x 4″ with two 5-6″ interior slip pockets and one exterior zippered pocket.

The body of the bag is made of 1000D Cordura® nylon. The print used for the flap is cotton. It reminds me of brushstrokes, which is especially cool since Glenn is a painter.
The flap pocket is lined with nylon made from recycled plastic bottles.
As requested, the inside has two slip pockets to help keep things organized.
The flap closes with a side release buckle.

I was pleased with how the bag turned out. I decided to make a few tweaks to the design and add it to the shop. More on that later!

January 27, 2015 by retoolsf

Pam’s Bag

Late last year I was making a lot of wallets in preparation for a couple of holiday shows as well as stocking the online shop and local shops that carry .retool. products. I decided I needed a break, so I got in touch with my friend Pam and offered to make her and her husband Glenn each a bag as a gift.

I suggested a new design I was testing out, but she threw me a curve. For her bag, she countered with a list of features that bore little resemblance to my initial offer. This gave me the opportunity to try something different that I would not have come up with on my own. It also sparked some ideas for some new designs, so it was well worth it!

Pam wanted something similar to this toiletry case I made for her a couple of years ago. She loved the size, but wanted some more depth, instead of a flat pouch. She wanted a black print, a 1 inch strap, and an interior pocket. So, basically she wanted something more purse-like.

Here’s what I came up with:

Pam’s a cat person, so I decided on this adorable CoCoLand print from Kokka. I moved the zipper to the top of the bag. The bag is about 1 and half inches deep.
Back view. The 1 inch wide strap is adjustable and clips on to the bag.
The grey lining is made from recycled plastic bottles. My favorite part is the lining of the interior pocket.

I’ll write more about Glenn’s bag next time.

November 26, 2014November 26, 2014 by retoolsf

What’s New?

Jacob recently took a break from making wallets to work on some new products (just in time for the holidays!).

A small selection of the newest items are posted in the shop already, but most will be making their debut at a couple of local holiday shows – the SF Etsy Indie Holiday Emporium on November 29/30 and San Francisco Bazaar on December 13/14.

Here’s a sneak peek:

Tote Bags

We’ve updated our Tote Bag to include a zipper top closure. The new batch features eye-catching prints paired with durable nylon. The bags have one exterior zipper pocket, two side pockets and a small interior zipper pocket.

Laptop Cases

We’ve got a fresh batch of laptop cases ready, too. They have an exterior zipper pocket and a layer of 1/8″ closed cell foam.

Yoga Mat Straps

We’ve been planning to make a batch of yoga mat straps for ages and finally got around to it! The straps are available in three sizes to fit mats ranging from 1/16″ to 1/4″. The straps can be worn crossbody or over one shoulder and can even be used during class to assist with various stretches. Check them out in the shop here.

Seatbelt Webbing Pouches

Our new seatbelt webbing pouch is great for everything from pencils and pens to makeup. It even has a d-ring so you can clip it to a bag or attach keys or a strap.

April 26, 2014 by retoolsf

Duffle Bags!

This week’s post features a couple of duffle bags I made over the past few weeks.

The first was a modification of a custom bag I made a while back. Here’s the original version:

It’s difficult to tell from these photos, but the bag has a sort of teardrop cross-section. The bottom is rounded and the sides taper as they go up. The top of the bag folds down and clips to the sides to create a more typical duffle bag shape. This version had one external side pocket and one interior zipper pocket.

After several months of use, the owner asked for a wider mouth to make it easier to pack and unpack the bag. In order to make the mouth wider, I had to make a bunch of other changes as well. I ended up changing the profile completely. I replaced the sides and the lining, added a second zipper to the top of the bag and a second external pocket. Here are some photos of the modified bag:

I was pleased with how the bag turned out and wanted to make another one. Fortunately, my vacation trip to Kauai was rapidly approaching – the perfect excuse to try my hand at making a carry-on sized version. Here are a few photos:

This bag has a zippered pocket on each end and two interior zippered pockets in the lining. The outside is made of 1000D CORDURA® nylon and the lining is 4 oz. pack cloth.

I scavenged the shoulder strap from an old laptop bag – it’s way too long for me and needs to be replaced. I just haven’t had a chance to make a new one yet.

The bag performed well on its inaugural trip. It held all of my stuff with room to spare. It was comfortable to carry and fit easily in the overhead compartment. I used one of the outside pockets for a pair of water shoes and the other for snacks. The inside pockets worked well for small stuff like my camera battery charger and more snacks.

The new bag will get its second test this Sunday, hauling wallets to and from the 16th Annual Glen Park Festival in San Francisco. If you are in the area, stop by and see it (and us!) in person. Here are the details:

Date: Sunday, April 27, 2014
Time: 10am – 4:30pm
Location: Diamond St b/t Chenery and Bosworth; also extending down Wilder St

Note – Our booth will be on Wilder St.

Hope to see you there!

March 29, 2014 by retoolsf

Custom Order Roundup

It’s been a while since our last roundup post and we’ve had a bunch of custom orders lately – everything from credit card wallets to messenger bags. Have a look:

Credit Card Wallets

The simplest custom job we’ve had in the last few months was a custom color combination for our Classic Credit Card Wallet – black and foliage green.
Jim contacted us about making a variation of our slim mini credit wallet. You can see an example of our standard version here. He wanted an extra row of pockets and a strip of velcro running the full width of the wallet.

We posted photos of Jim’s wallet on our Facebook page and one of our customers saw it and wanted one for himself in red and black.

ID Wallets

We have had a couple of recent requests for variations on our ID wallet.

Brett wanted an ID wallet in one of our favorite color combos – grey and foliage green. He also wanted an extra row of card pockets and an extra bill divider.
Matt wanted an ID wallet in custom colors – blues on the outside and purple on the inside. Colorful!

Standard Billfold Wallets

Donald wanted our standard billfold wallet with a twist – no velcro. All black, with just a hint of grey in the inside. Nice.

Coin Pocket Wallets

Here’s an orange and black coin pocket wallet in a non-standard height and width (smaller in both dimensions). We overlapped the webbing and trimmed off as much length as we could.
Mathilde wanted a coin pocket wallet with grommet hole in custom colors – blue and yellow.