It's the Links page!
Bagsmiths
For a longer list see the blog. (Probably a lot of broken links. This is more a snapshot of the mid-naughties bag scene at this point.)
>Bagaboo (bagaboo.hu/en) Pac-influenced Hungarian messenger bags. Sharp applique/embroidery work.
>BagJack (www.bagjack.com) Hot bespoke Berlin bags. They're big in Japan. Now in English!
>Black Rainbow Project (www.instagram.com/black.rainbow.project) From the ashes of Archie's Grobags...
>Blick's Bags (blicksbags.com) Cleveland bagmaker.
>Brisbane Outdoor Gear (www.bogear.com.au) Bagmakers from Oz. No longer sewing. Just consulting.
>Cocotte (www.cocotte-equip.com) Montreal company. They have the only true messenger bag that uses a hook/d-ring setup on the main strap. Super cool.
>Bailey Works (www.baileyworks.com) Small New Hampshire-based shop. Top notch.
>ChicagoWIG (chicagowig.com) One-man Chicago bagsmith. Big, big bags and backpacks. Where'd you go, man?
>Crank (cranktokyo-store.com) The Japanese Zo.
>Lazy Monk (lazymonk.moonfruit.com) Zo copies with awesome traditional Japanese needlework.
>Lemolo (lemolobaggage.com) A one-man Portland stitcher. He mostly makes backpacks.
>Pac (www.pacdesigns.com) Some of the coolest bags around. Originator of the much-copied x-strap. Not quite gone yet.
>R.E.Load (reloadbags.com) Some of the best applique work around.
>Resistant (resistant.jp) Simple, sleek bags from Japan.
>Revelate Designs (www.revelatedesigns.com) Formerly Epic Designs. Bike frame bags!
>Seagull (seagullbags.com) Giving R.E.Load a run for their money in the applique department.
>Under the Weather (under-the-weather.ca) Another cool Canadian company.
>Zugster (www.zugsterbags.com) One-man part-timer from SF. Very cool.
Fabric & Hardware Suppliers
>Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics, Inc. (www.owfinc.com) One-stop shopping for all your bag-making needs. My favorite closed-cell foam source.
>Rockywoods Outdoor Fabrics (www.rockywoods.com) Outdoor DIY outfitter.
>Perfect Fit (www.perfectfit.com) Upholstery shop. Good source of snaps and thread.
>Rochford Supply (www.rochfordsupply.com) Upholstery supply. Where I get bag-liner material. Their roll ends are a great deal.
>DJ Associates, Inc. (www.dj-associates.com) Hardware, webbing.
>Seattle Fabrics (seattlefabrics.com) DIY outfitter.
>Para Gear (paragear.com) Small-quantities webbing & hardware. More exotic webbing than usual DIY shops.
>Bally Ribbon Mills (www.ballyribbon.com) Where I get my mil-spec edge-binding tape in bulk.
>The Rainshed (www.therainshed.com) DIY outdoor fabric & hardware.
>Quest Outfitters (www.questoutfitters.com) Outdoor fabric & hardware for the DIYer.
>Hi-Tex Corp (hitexcorp.com) Bulk buckles.
>Hudson (www.hudson4supplies.com) Small-quantities buckles, wide variety of ITW stuff..
>Lowy USA (www.lowyusa.com) Webbing, including mil-spec cotton webbing.
>The Ribbon Factory (ribbonfactory.com) Nylon & cotton tape. Small rolls available.
>Ripstop by the Roll (ripstopbytheroll.com) Not just ripstop, not just by the roll. DIYer-centric. Source for silicony things.
>Beacon Fabric (beaconfabric.com) Source of flag cloth.
>John Howard Co (www.johnhowardcompany.com) Webbing by the roll, bulk buckles, shock cord, etc.
>Elastic Cord & Webbing, Inc. (www.theecwcorp.com) Bulk elastic from Illinois.
>Springfield Leather Co (www.springfieldleather.com) Everything you need for working with leather.
>Brettons Village (www.brettunsvillage.com) Leatherworking stuff from Mainers.
>Pacific Blue Denims (www.pacificbluedenims.com) Denim & canvas, no min.
>American & Efird (www.amefird.com) Thread. Minimum's not that high if you need a bunch of thread.
>Wawak (www.wawak.com) General sewing shop. Good source of YKK zippers & Gutermann thread.
>Tennessee Attachment Co (www.tennattachment.com) Custom binders, folders.
>Atlanta Attachment Co (www.atlatt.com) Custom binders, folders.
>Suisei (www.tohki-ind.co.jp) Off-the-shelf binders, folders from Japan.
>AustriAlpin (austrialpin.net) Cobra safety buckles for your tech/tactical bags.
>Fidlock (www.fidlock.com) Magnetic buckles from Germany.
>Tennessee Webbing Products (www.tnwebbing.com) Overstock & discount webbing. Good source of seat belt webbing.
>Kwok Hing (www.kwokhing.com) Binders, folders, feet etc. directly from China.
>TVF (Top Value Fabrics) (tvfinc.com) Fabric by the roll.
>Fairfield Textile (www.fairfieldtextile.com) Waxed cotton.
>Whiskey Two Four (www.wtfidea.com) Everything you need to make a nice tactical bag.
Sewing Machines
Here are some of the companies that make popular upholstery machines, and companies who make copies (clones) of those machines.
The ideal bagmaking machine is a compound-feed machine, usually in the upholstery weight class, unless you're working with thick leather. This means it has both needle-feed and a walking foot. It's also known as a triple-feed or unison-feed machine. The number of machines out there is bewildering. I've written blog post on how to select an industrial sewing machine to get ya started.
>Adler (www.durkoppadler.com) Super nice machines from Germany.
>Artisan (www.artisansew.co) Clones. Peep the 618-1SC.
>Cobra Sewing Machines (www.leathermachineco.com) Clones. Leather- and heavy-duty machines. DIYer-friendly.
>Consew (www.consew.com) See the 206RB-5, a popular machine.
>Cowboy (www.cowboysew.com) Clones. Heavy-duty sewing machines for leather and upholstery.
>Ferdco (www.ferdco.com) Modified clones. Well known for their leather machines. They've made machines for NASA!
>Highlead (www.highlead.com.cn) Cloney. One of China's largest machine manufacturers.
>Juki (www.juki.com) Check out the DNU-1541S, a popular entry-level bagmaking machine. Also: 241, 563, 1508, etc.
>Pfaff (www.pfaff-industrial.com) Zee Germans. See the 1245, 145, 545.
>Reliable (www.reliablecorporation.com) Clones. Also, servo motors.
>Sailrite (www.sailrite.com) Their Ultrafeed machines are nice if you're looking for something portable. Well supported for the DIYer.
>Seiko (www.seiko-sewing.co.jp) See the STH-8BLD-3. They used to make these for Consew (the 206RB).
>Singer (parts.singerco.com) Lots of old machines out there that'll do the job. The 111 series will get you started.
>Solent Sewing (www.solentsew.co.uk) Crazy big sailmaking machines. (See also Cordes sewing machines.)
>Tacsew (not on the Tacony website...) For the budget-minded sewer. I have the T111-155. It's treated me well so far. A few other bagmakers use it too
>Techsew (www.techsew.com) Clones. Machines for the leather- and upholstery trade.
Where to buy
Buy local if you can. Using a machine before you buy it is the way to go.
If buying online, keep in mind that there are companies that just drop-ship, and there are companies that set up, tune and test the machine before sending it to you. Also, it's a good idea to confirm that the seller is an authorized dealer in case you have any warranty issues. Many of the clone companies above will sell machines directly to you and have great customer service. It's worth the extra money to buy from someone who will support it when you have a problem. Give 'em a call first and see how they are on the phone. If you run into a problem, chances are good that you'll be troubleshooting it over the phone.
USA/Canada
>All Brands (allbrands.com) All kinds of machines.
>Atlas Levy (www.atlaslevy.com) I like his YouTube videos.
>Industrial Sewing Machine Man (industrialsewingmachineman.com) He's a man made of machines!
>Industrial Sewing Machines (www.industrialsewmachine.com) Pictures of every machine ever, I think.
>Keystone (keysew.com) Philly. DIYer-friendly.
>Miami Sewing (www.miamisewing.com) Lots of crazy used machines to look at.
>Nick-O Sew (nickosew.com) Tennessee. DIYer-friendly.
>Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines (www.tolindsewmach.com) US Cowboy dealer and home of Cowboy Bob. DIYer-friendly.
>Zamir Sewing (www.zamirsew.net) Western Pfaff dealer.
UK
>College Sewing (www.college-sewing.co.uk)
Material Brands (no direct-sale)
>Cordura/Invista (www.cordura.com) The fabric of our lives.
>ITW Nexus (www.itwnexus.com) Fastex buckles.
>YKK (www.ykkfastening.com) Zip zip.
>Riri (www.riri.com) Zip zop.
>Coats (www.coats.com) Ultra Dee!
>Marlen Textiles (formerly MarChem CFI) (www.marlentextiles.com) They make Top Gun and other boat-cover fabrics.
>Duraflex (www.duraflexgroup.com) Plastic buckles.
>Dimension-Polyant (www.dimension-polyant.com) X-Pac sailcloth.
>Polartec (formerly Malden Mills) (polartec.com)
>Glen Raven (glenraven.com) Sunbrella.
>Dyneema (www.dsm.com/dyneema)
>Velcro (velcro.com) Hook & loop, baby.
Sewing Resources
>Leatherworker.net (www.leatherworker.net/forum) All things leather. A great resource for troubleshooting industrial machines.
>Gearmaker.org (gearmaker.org) Lots of quality bagsmith talk ... if you can stomach the occasional sovereign-citizen crap.
Friends of Leif Labs
>Maude Vintage (www.maudevintage.com) Clothing & costumes, downtown Columbia, Mo. Buy LL wallets here.
>Ben Chlapek (neversleeping.com) Freelance illustrator / musician / printer / designer / composer.
>Cavins Guitars (www.cavinsguitars.com) Luthier.
>Love and Worn (www.loveandworn.com) Recycled leather jewelry.
>One to One Print Shop (www.onetooneprintshop.com) Mom & pop CoMo screen printing.
>J.B. Winter (www.jbwinter.com) Illustrator, cartoonist, author.
>Uprise Bakery (www.uprisebakery.com) The Bakery, Columbia, Mo.
>Hitt Records (www.hittrecords.com) New & used vinyl, downtown CoMo.
>Sailor Pie Studio (www.etsy.com/shop/SailorPieStudio) Retro-inspired jewelry.
>Potter Press (www.instagram.com/potterpress) Art nomads.
>RIPCSE Studio (www.instagram.com/ripcsestudio) Micro-batch clothing.
>FABFAB Designs (www.etsy.com/shop/fabfabdesigns) Meditation cushions & more.
>Yonder (yonderstudios.bigcartel.com) Canvas totes & screen printing.
>Berlin Bazaar (CoMo) (www.berlinbazaar.com) Sometime-annual popup market at Cafe Berlin.
>Wild Man Vintage (wildmanvintage.com) Lawrence, Kansas.
>Mold & Deckle (www.instagram.com/moldanddeckle) Handmade notebooks & paper.
