Hi from London!, I'm new and very happy to be part of this forum!
I have been asked to mend this leather suitcase and not sure the best way to go about it. I've struggled with it and would really appreciate any suggestions!
The corners are where most of the damage is and I already attempted to box stitch 2 corners which worked out fine but the 2 corners at the back - the cardbpoard inside is so frayed and weakened that the needles or thread will not go through it anymore, so theres nothing for the thread to hold onto apart from very thin leather on top/cover. also one of the corners, the leather has split at one of the stitch marks.
Is there a way i can patch or reinforce the corners without having to take that side panel apart?
Or would it be best to replace the whole cardboard inside and keep the top leather? would i need to put some sort of reinforcer or leather on the part where the leather had split on one of the stitches.?
Or should i use some bridle or harness leather on the side panel instead of cardboard or will that look terrible? Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks, Quyen
Thanks for the reply. That was very helpful. I tried a few ways and glued solvent contact adhesive, a thin bit if that nylon/polyeter and extra thin piece of leather. It worked out fine , neat and secure in the end. Cheers!
@quyen_vy1 Hi Quyen,
Firstly, welcome to the forum!
It's very difficult to properly advise without taking a look in person, however I have successfully recovered corners on vintage cases by carefully separating the leather from the board inside (only where affected) and placing thin polyester or rip-stop nylon over the board to secure it.
If it's old, they probably used paste glue which will soften if you dampen the leather (not soak).
Then you can glue the leather back down over the patch-up, which should give you some strength in that area.
For glue use PVA or solvent contact adhesive, not water based contact adhesive as it's too weak on synthetic fabrics.
Another alternative would be to glue thin fabric directly to the flesh side of the leather for reinforcement (same colour of course).
I hope this helps.
Philip