Upcycled firemans uniform

I just finished one of the most unique custom orders that I have ever done. A wife brought me her husbands old firemans uniform. They had cut it up, planning to try to make a bag out of it, but then were overwhelmed and didn't know what to do. She thought of me and brought it to me asking if I could make it into a bag for Christmas to surprise him.
Upcycling is my fav, so yeah!
I came up with a design for a duffel bag.
Here is the result:

This is the bottom of the bag, I thought the leather knee would make a good support for the bottom.

 

I also went through 2 blades, 10 needles and lots of time with a seem ripper.

I even used the inside of the suit for lining. That is possibly the messiest material I have ever used. It was all over my dining room.

Fireman uniforms have really cool hardware, I would have loved to use, but they had cut it out so close I couldn't sew it onto this bag. This duffel bag is probably my all time favorite order!