Grandpa asked if I could make use of a piece of leather he had rolled up and stored in the rafters of the backyard shed. It was his cut from his old welding apron from when he was an engineer.
He had also shown me his working permit from that time: a document that gave him permission, as an apprentice engineer, to board supply ships on the docks during the WWII years.
With the apron being a trade tool, I considered turning it into a (hardware) tool case, but eventually settled on a case for a more modern tool: my laptop.
I took a scan of the working permit and etched that into the inside flap of the new case (it bears grandpa’s name and signature and profession). I cut “toggle-buttons” from some steel rod and used a simple hand stitch to keep with the tough aesthetic.
