Leather tote: Buy or DIY?

I have long been interested in learning to work with leather, but have been intimidated by working with natural materials because they are expensive, unforgiving if you need to remove stitches (needle holes will show!), and I really wasn't sure if my machine would be able to sew leather. 
Last time I was in SF I picked up a medium size cognac medium weight super soft leather hide at the Fabric Outlet. It was time to try leather work! My favorite purse was getting worn out, and I really liked the look of the Madewell totes, but couldn't bring myself to spend that much on an unlined tote.
This project was surprisingly easy and fun! Working with leather was a real joy too - I love the smell and texture.

I wanted to make this tote with 2 pieces of leather, similar to the Madewell tote, but my hide was not quite large enough. I ended up using 2 pieces (14x20 inch) for the body, one piece for the base (14x6 inch), and two (22 x 1.5 inch) pieces for the straps. I was sure to pick the thickest and strongest parts of the hide to be used for the straps and base.
The lining was made mostly with left over pieces that I had on hand - denim for the inner shell, blue leather to rim the top of the bag and face the straps. The blue leather was re-purposed from an old pair of thigh high leather boots! The straps had to be faced with leather. A single piece of this leather was not going to provide the strength and structure I needed for this project. Finally, I didn't want to destroy the tote with a little water, which I am sure could happen easily from condensation from a water-bottle inside of the tote. Following my mother-in-law's suggestion, I added an inner pleather layer between the denim and leather. One yard was more than enough of pleather, and it was on sale for $4.50 at Jo-Anns!

My trusty Travelmate Janome was up to the task of sewing leather! This was a big unknown variable at the start of this project. I followed advise I read online - use leather needles and corresponding heavy weight thread, and change the needles often as they dull quickly. This project took 2 needles. The straps required sewing through 4 layers of leather - that was a bit tough on the machine so I went slowly. My machine also had trouble with reverse on 2+ layers of leather, so I would just finish seams by rotating the fabric and forward stitching in both directions over the end of the seam to lock the ends.
All in all this was a fast and easy project, and the tote seams very sturdy. Quite the fashion statement for the price!