Comacchio Leather Bag HowTo

[Martin Moser]

Preparing the drop shaped applications:

I decided to dye those bits black for contrast. From the original nothing more is mentioned in the find report than that they are drop-shaped (only 2 of the 4 are still existing and in place). Size is about 4.5 cm high by 3.5 cm wide.

For dyeing I use a mix of vinegar and iron dust (very fine steel-wool also works well). Normally I do the dyeing twice for intensity, then after drying oil the leather with neatsfoot oil. This deepens the up to then somewhat grayish black and gives the leather its flexibility back.

Here are the various stages, the form of one of the applications can be seen marked out with pencil: