Made By P8: Lederhosen Bags and Co.
Upcycling of old leather and jeans
Everywhere I buy old leather pants (German Lederhosen), vests, skirts, jackets, etc. on flea markets, which are then washed and cut into usable parts. Thereafter I process these parts into beautiful leather bags.
The old jeans pants and jackets also come from, for example, flea markets, friends and (un)acquaintances. They are also washed first, cut into suitable pieces, and then sewn to funky patchwork bags.
Hardly any piece of leather, jeans or other fabrics (eg old curtains, clothes and sample books) is thrown away. I change them, for example, in small bags, key chains, pendants, bookmarks, etc.
Who is P8 ?
Made By P8 is a small company headed by Petronella Luiting. Petronella or briefly Peet / P8 began with bag making as a hobby besides her work as an academic in Scotland in the years 1996 to 1999. In order to relax from the strenuous headwork she needed something where she could work creatively with her hands. She noted that she was not only creative in her academic career, but also more and more at an artistic level. She was inspired by her mother, who was a professional seamstress, as well as by her two grandmothers, who wore traditional folk costumes. Inspiration also came from the traditional costumes she often encountered at international conferences.
When she came to Germany in 2000, she dreamed of being more artistically active, which she then gradually realized.
Now she dedicates all her time to bag making and she discovered how much she loves to give a new life to old things. Inspired by the children's Lederhosen (leather pants), which are often found on flea markets in Germany, the idea developed to turn these robust leather pants into robust leather bags. Many mothers find it regrettable that their children no longer wear leather pants because they were so practical. They only needed to brush them off and they were clean again, they were indestructable. Lots of beautiful Lederhosen are therefore wasting away on dark roofs and in dark closets. But now they get a striking colorful new life. They become eye-catching leather bags like you have never seen before. Often they are also lined with fabrics that deserve a second life: a beautiful old blouse, a well-preserved tablecloth, or a piece of fabric hidden for more than 20 years in a closet .... All these things are sampled together with love, washed, cut, glued, stitched and decorated until P8 is satisfied. All her bags are therefore unique, beautiful and practical at the same time.
In the meantime, P8 not only converts leather pants, but also leather jackets, leather vests and skirts, leather chair cushions, etc. into bags and co. Also jeans pants are recycled and made into funky bags.
There are no limits to P8's imagination. She often wants to do more than her sewing machines can handle ...... when they protest, hell breaks loose in studio P8.