THE NECESSARY EQUIPMENT
To make the cachepot you need:
- 2 pieces of PREMIUM natural vegetable collar leather - 20 x 30 cm - Thickness 2.5 mm
- 1 strip of Meisi M50 thread - 0.55 mm
- 2 round-tipped saddler needles
- 1 beeswax bar
And the following tools:
A : a pen for tracing
B : a shaper to mark the stitches and an awl to pierce the leather. I have not yet invested in a real diamond awl to pierce the leather, it is more of a punch. In any case, he does the job required for this project correctly.
C : one or more cutting tools (scalpel or cutter). Precision: take new blades.
D : a bone screed / smoother. These two tools are used for finishing the slices.
E : sewing needles / brown thread. Needles are round or curved tipped. The thread, on the other hand, is synthetic, sold as “special leather”. It is very resistant.
F : paper, pencil, ruler, printer. Used for the pattern making step.
1. MAKE THE PATTERN
This is the basic step. As stated in the introduction, I kept it simple and stuck to a round shape.
To draw the circle, if you are equipped with a draftsman's compass, this does not pose any particular difficulty. In my case, I used for tracing... a salad bowl!
We then draw the neck. After a few alterations, we obtain a pattern of this type. 
Here, the diameter is 25 cm which is a fairly large size. I would recommend starting out on a smaller size, 10 centimeters for example.
I also pre-marked the stitches on this pattern. If you have a marking wheel, it's not necessary... although it can be very useful for beginners in sewing.
2. TRACE AND CUT THE LEATHER
Position the pattern on the leather, split side and trace the outline using your silver pen/pencil. You get a first face. 
If you have marked the sewing points, turn your pattern over before tracing the second side: thus, when drilling, the marks of the future seams will coincide without problem! You get two circular faces which you can cut out using your cutter.
3. SEW THE LEATHER PARTS
- Pierce your leather using your awl (or a sharp needle). Beforehand, slightly wet the leather and let it dry until the leather regains its initial color: your piercing will be cleaner.
- Sew saddle stitch. The main difficulty of this step is the positioning of the two pieces of leather. I recommend using sewing pliers, or if you don't have one, small size clamps.
I made a double seam: the solidity of the gourd is reinforced.
I chose not to glue the pieces before sewing with neoprene glue since it is an object intended to contain a liquid I preferred to avoid contact with all kinds of solvents. 
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To finalize, flatten the outer sides and lightly sand the edges with sandpaper (120 grit) after moistening them. 
4. SHAPE LEATHER
The purpose of this step is to give volume to what is still only a two-dimensional shape.
First, completely saturate the leather with water. The easiest way is to fully immerse the bottle in a basin of water. Pay attention to the water temperature! It must be hot but not boiling, otherwise you will "cook" your skin...
To avoid an accident, it's very simple: dip your hand in it... If it's too hot for you, tell yourself that it's also too hot for your leather!
From the moment you immerse the gourd, small bubbles will form on the surface. It's perfectly normal, the skin soaks up water through all its pores. The disappearance of these mini-bubbles after a few tens of minutes will tell you that your leather is waterlogged. 
Let's move on to shaping, for this you need a rigid jig to hold your water bottle in place by tightening it only on the sides. It is advisable to make wooden contours that will enclose the gourd using clamps.
Here is the model used for this water bottle. You will of course adapt its size to the size of your own water bottle. 
Install the clamps on the water bottle. 
5. FILL THE BOTTLE
Fill the bottle: you can use sand for example, or any other similar element (grain of corn, wheat, clean litter, etc.) 
6. PACK THE SAND
Regularly pack the sand with a stick to give the shape of a gourd little by little. 
7. HUMIDIFY LEATHER
Remember to moisten the leather regularly with a cloth saturated with water during this step. It must remain malleable and flexible. 
8. SHAPE THE GOURD
Gradually fill the gourd and remember to pack the sand well on the sides. The gourd will take its final shape little by little. Regularly look at the profile to check that the filling is well balanced. 
Leave to dry for approximately 24 to 48 hours. Visually, the leather will change color and lighten. To the touch, it will stiffen and take on a cardboard side.
Once dry, empty the sand by turning.
Personally, I add an air compressor to blow out all the grains that could get stuck in the seams.
The shaping step is complete, you can move on to wax dipping.
9. BEESWAX DIP
- Before you start, make sure the work surface is well protected to avoid getting wax everywhere.
- Protect your hands with gloves or mittens thick enough to avoid burning yourself.
- Put on a blouse or old clothes that you don't mind damaging.
Prepare the amount of beeswax you will need.
For a volume of 1 liter, count about 250 g of beeswax. In my specific case, not having enough wax, I supplemented with paraffin tablets. It is easily found on supermarket shelves, it is used for homemade jams.
10. MELT BEESWAX
Melt your wax or your wax/paraffin mixture in a bain-marie. Be careful not to burn yourself! 
Watch the boil carefully. After about ten minutes, your wax will begin to melt, stir with a wooden spoon to homogenize the mixture. 
11. POUR THE WAX INTO THE BOTTLE
Stand over a basin (not plastic) and pour the wax into the gourd.
Using back and forth movements, coat the inside of the gourd and pour the overflow back into the basin. 
Work quickly, the wax as it cools will harden and risk forming an extra thickness.
I recommend doing the following:
- Fill
- Stopper and turn the gourd once or twice
- Empty immediately
- Repeat the previous steps (2 or 3 times maximum).
The leather will darken gradually, this indicates that the wax has penetrated well. Here is a photo after applying a single layer: you can see that the gourd is only partially soaked, the clear zone being devoid of wax. 
As you can see, I have already punched holes for the hanging strap. It is useful to do it at this stage, in this way, you will be able to handle the gourd more easily.
12. PASS THE FINISH ON THE BOTTLE
This step is optional but allows you to get a nice finish on your bottle.
- Spread a thin layer of beeswax on the outside of the gourd. This will strengthen the seal, especially at the seams.
- Arm yourself with a lint-free cloth and rub until the sticky side of the wax is removed and you get a nice shine.
