La Roulotte – Romani Travellers’ Wheel Embossed Leather Patch

La Roulotte
This patch features the 16-spoke wheel of the Romani flag, adopted in 1971 at the first World Romani Congress, near London. This wheel, the chakra, recalls the Indian origins of the Romani people and symbolises travel. In the community it is often called “La Roulotte” (the caravan): it stands for family, the road and respect for the elders.

The spirit of the road
In the custom world, this wheel speaks of freedom and nomadic life. From the wooden caravans of old to today’s motorcycles, the love of the horizon remains the same. This patch pays tribute to travellers, fairground people and bikers who ride their own road, with respect for the clan.

Cut out and inlaid
The spokes of the wheel are cut out of the leather, then inlaid with green leather at the bottom and blue at the top, in the colours of the flag. Two versions to choose from: red wheel or orange wheel. To put on a vest, a jacket, a saddlebag or anywhere else you like.

Pre-punching option (+€5)
Sewing your patch on yourself, by hand, is the personal touch that makes all the difference on a vest. On a leather vest, you also need to punch the vest leather to pass the needle. With the pre-punching option, we punch holes around the patch in advance, one every 2 mm (0.08 in). The patch then becomes your template: glue it onto the vest with leather glue so it stays in place, punch the vest leather through its holes, and both line up perfectly. All that’s left is to sew with a saddle stitch, using two needles and waxed thread: it’s the strongest stitch for leather, and you’ll easily find a tutorial by searching “saddle stitch leather” on YouTube. For machine sewing, the unpunched patch is better.

Made in our workshop
In our family workshop, since 1989, our patches are cut from full-grain leather made especially for Traveller Shop by a French tanner, then embossed. The relief doesn’t really show in the photo: in real life, the design stands out by about 3 mm (0.12 in), and the patch looks even better.

Technical details:

• Shape: round
• Width: 72 mm (2.83 in)
• Height: 72 mm (2.83 in)
• Colours: red, orange
• Material: embossed, cut-out and inlaid full-grain leather, 2.5 mm (0.1 in) thick
• Fixing: sew-on (pre-punching optional)
• Made in our workshop in France