When one of our customers (the same one who designed the Lucera Phone Wallet) requested a custom pouch for his rolling tobacco, I was excited. I had been asked by a few people to make a tobacco pouch but I hadn’t gotten around to it, and here was a perfect opportunity.
He sent me photos of his existing pouch, explaining what he didn’t like/use and what he envisioned this new one to be like. He needed somewhere to hold his tobacco, obviously; somewhere for the cigarette papers, another place to keep filters and other odds and ends.
This is his existing tobacco pouch, which has definitely seen better days!
He wanted it in Espresso Brown to match his existing Lucera Phone Wallet, and he asked for a raw edge and antique key to be included as well.He asked if I could take some photos along the way since he was curious to see the process of creating something like this from scratch, so I took some shots on my phone. There’s a lot of steps missing but the general idea is:
I started off with a piece of leather that had a nice raw edge in the Espresso Brown he requested.
I then cut the piece with a sharp knife to the length required, taking into account that part of it would fold in on itself.
Once I had the main body piece in place, I cut the next piece for the top pocket.
Next came the cigarette paper holder and the flap for the pocket
Then the accents got top-stitched, which helps the leather retain its shape (not stretch) as well as adding to a cleaner look.
These parts are then lightly glued into place before being sewn to ensure they stay put, and then the whole case is sewn.
Once the case has been completed, it’s time to finish the edges. They are burnished with Gum Tragacanth for a slick feel and then coated in edge paint. This smooths down all the fibers of the leather.
And the case is complete!
Here’s how it looks closed, with the key accent he requested
And this is the case open.
As it’s our custom, whenever a customer requests a completely custom product that we then make available for sale, we invite them to name that product by choosing a place (all our products are named after cities, towns, states and countries). He chose Puglia, the region in Italy where he is from (Lucera is the city, hence the Lucera Phone Case), and so the Puglia Tobacco Pouch was born!