This bag has been sitting in my closet for years...

May 10, 2011 8:49 PM

I have a beautiful leather satchel I bought on a study-abroad trip to Italy, but unfortunately I didn't take into account the size of my laptop. Is there a way to stretch the bag so it will fit?

My laptop is about an inch longer than I can make the bag stretch. I've read a few articles about stretching leather shoes and jackets, but obviously I can't wear the bag to stretch it, and I'm not comfortable sticking my laptop into a wet leather bag until it's sized.

I have considered: getting the bag wet (or using leather stretcher) and then putting a piece of wood or something a little larger than my laptop into it to stretch it... But I'm afraid there will be a strange stretched area, and the rest of the bag will be the same. The inside is similar to this, but with only one divider.

How can I stretch the bag evenly?

posted by lockstitch to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (3 answers total)

Take it to a professional. A really good shoe repair place should be able to help if anyone can.
posted by decathecting at 9:05 PM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

I agree: a high end shoe repair place would be your best bet. When I worked at a mall shoe store for a while, we would stretch out the toe box of shoes by sticking a broom handle into a shoe and rubbing the leather until it stretched. I was always amazed at how much we could stretch out some leather shoes.
posted by elmer benson at 11:24 AM on May 11, 2011

That will probably mess up the bag, buy a smaller laptop!
posted by citron at 11:05 PM on May 11, 2011