Klum House Woodland Dopp kit

This is one of my most enjoyable and satisfying projects this year....everything you need in one kit and an impressive looking product at the end. It's so much simpler than it looks and only took 90 minutes! As part of #sewmystyle2018 I attempted bag making for the first time with the Klum House Portsmith Tote and was surprised at how easy it was to achieve a professional finish, so had no qualms about having a go at this cute pattern. This is the Woodland pouch by Klum House, which is a waterproof, boxy pouch with a sturdy zipper closure, leather tabs at the ends and is fully lined.

The kit

Klum House are super helpful in putting together kits with the perfect combination of supplies so you know you have the correct materials for each project. Personally I like the fact that you aren't over supplying - many times I've bought items for one project and still have left overs because of the pack sizes they come in. With the kit everything is precut and you have exactly what you need so you can just get started making. There's ten different colours that you can select from for the outer waxed canvas shell, as well as a range of zippers and leather trims. I chose the Berry/Tan colourway.

The tube includes:
- Waxed canvas fabric: Cut & ready to sew
- 12 oz canvas lining fabric: Cut & ready to sew
- Ready to install 3” leather tabs: Medium weight leather at 3/4” wide
- Double-cap rivets: 6 pcs (includes 1 extra!)
- 12” brass zipper
- Leather zipper pull
- Physical pattern & instruction booklet
- Template for drafting fabric & leather yourself
- Access to pattern resources page, including video tutorials
- ‘I MADE THIS!’ label

Pattern and Instructions

The kit includes a pattern template so that you can later recreate your pouch with self-sourced supplies. As everything is precut and ready to go, you don't need it initially. The mini-booklet has really clear instructions and diagrams, taking the time to explain everything in detail so you don't get it wrong. There is a fair amount of switching inside and outside in order to make sure your zipper is properly enclosed, but it isn't that confusing because of the instructions. They even remind you of when to sew in your 'I made this' label.

However, what I will say is I wasn't thinking properly when I was finishing my inner seams and for some reason thought they would be hidden in between the lining and the shell. They aren't, so when you are finishing these, just remember to make them look nice. 

In all this took about an hour and a half. I didn't need to unpick anything or go back a step as it's quite straightforward. The boxed corners are easy to create and I am confident I could make another even more quickly now. I didn't have any specialist equipment for installing the hardware, using a seam ripper to create holes in the fabric and a hammer (with padding) to see the rivets home. The leather has holes cut in it already to again this is one step saved by having the kit.

Thoughts

There is definitely something in having a kit where everything is ready for you. Sometimes I enjoy searching for materials, but not when it's so specialist. I appreciated having all my parts cut to the correct size so I could get on with making. Now that I've made one with the kit, I would be more confident in making something similar with different materials using the pattern you get with it. I think this kit itself is an excellent gift for a maker, as well as allowing makers to create lovely handmade gifts for others.
This is my second project using waxed canvas. Klum House do give you a lot of help with how to use this fabric, and you can see that the kit itself comes in a tube to make sure that the fabric isn't marked before you start. I managed to keep mine looking fairly good until I worked the corners and it certainly has a more 'distressed' look to it now (which I prefer to be honest). I think that they have a great eye for colours that work well together too.


I also love the 'I made this' label that you can insert in the corner...how cute!