As to a nice reddish brown color for the leather - well.... everyone seems to have a bit different view of what color a deep reddish brown might be. I don't think most folks are happy with the one bottle colors usually offered. What I would suggest is you get a bottle of Fiebings medium brown as that has some red color in it. Take some of that in a small plastic bowl type container. Take a piece of scrap leather from the leather you use and dye a small area. Then add a little of Fiebing's Ox Blood and try another small section of the leather. Before you do anything else, let the stain dry thoroughly and then put some finish over both test areas as it could look good until you put the finish on it. Then if you want it a bit redder, add some more Ox Blood. Or you could do much the same with Cordovan and then add the medium brown to tone down the red of the Cordovan - just know that will wind up with a darker brownish color though.
Boy, it would sure be easier if all of us were close enough to hand pieces of leather back and forth. Even posting photos doesn't really solve it due to differences in lighting and computer models. And then there's the difference in the way each of us would probably define "reddish brown."
With all that as a preamble and apology against sounding argumentative, I don't find the Fiebing Cordovan color to be red at all. It's headed more toward the Chocolate or Medium Brown, with only a very slight red to it. Anyone I've made things for doesn't see the red either.
I've found a couple of things help. When I want to move toward the red, I blend in successive amounts of their British Tan into the Cordovan rather than Oxblood. By itself it's decidedly yellow-red and does a better job of "redding" the cordovan without darkening too much. I've also found that the red comes through a little better if you cut your dye blend in half with the Fiebing reducer. In fact, if you want the leather "color" to show through and help with the effect, you might be happier with 3:1 reducer:dye. You might also try the 3:1 mix with plain Cordovan, allowing the leather color to influence the brown a little more. For my eye that combo make a really pleasing dye.
Not trying to argue, rather I guess I'm suggesting alternatives if you find other blends aren't quite hitting the color you want. It might well be that a blend of oxblood/cordovan/reducer gives the best reddish brown of all for your eye, but I haven't tried it.
As for TC's great little double pouch, I found the dimensions in the pattern too small for my chunky hands, but enlarging the pattern slightly took care of my fist tangles without producing a bag that was bulky. Increasing the width by 1" did the job, while keeping the same depth helped keep the bag "small" while providing plenty of space for the small kit I carry in it.
I got curious about that center seam and made a bag with a fold there instead. Won't do that again. Once the wider bag was broken in, the seamless center fold tends to collapse in the middle and jumble the contents, while the seamed version provides just the right stiffness to prevent it.
