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Tooled Floral Belt



Western style belt, hand tooled, hand stitched, lined, with brass hardware

From the album:

Alex Ostacchini Arty Things

· 75 images
  • 75 images
  • 2 comments
  • 32 image comments

Photo Information

  • Taken with NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D50
  • Focal Length 62 mm
  • Exposure Time 10/1250
  • f Aperture f/7.1

Recommended Comments

  • Members
YinTx

Posted

The colors are really stunning.  Nicely done!

  • Members
AlexOstacchini

Posted

Cheers, this was fiebings mahogany I believe, with black antiquing paste and tan kote over the top :)

  • Members
jynelle

Posted

Alex that is beautiful!  What do you use to line your belts?

 

  • Members
AlexOstacchini

Posted

6 hours ago, jynelle said:

Alex that is beautiful!  What do you use to line your belts?

 

Many thanks :) Thinner veg tan is the standard I think but I've always used upholstery leather- This particular one is remnant automotive upholstery, which I figured should be good at taking wear and tear.  

  • Members
jynelle

Posted

Thanks for responding, I appreciate it.  Here is a strap I recently finished. I too did not use vegetan leather but milled calf.  Upholstery would be a good choice!  Again, thanks for sharing.

 

Strap - 1.jpg

  • Members
jynelle

Posted

Oh, while we're chatting, quick question on thread!  I've been using the LIN Cable (waxed linnen) thread for hand stitching--which really needs to be re-waxed before sewing.  What thread do you prefer?

  • Members
AlexOstacchini

Posted

Lovely stuff, very clean, that looks like a lot of work right there.

7 hours ago, jynelle said:

What thread do you prefer?

I pretty much exclusively use 4 ply waxed linen now, but as you say it does need re waxing now and then with longer pieces. This particular belt may have been polyester though

  • Members
jynelle

Posted

Thanks Alex--yes, it was a whole heap of work!  I'm going to try my hand at carving soon but will start out really simple. Can you recommend where to buy decent carving tools?  I have a few from Tandy leather, but really I'm not crazy about Tandy's workmanship as far as most of their tools go. 

 

  • Members
AlexOstacchini

Posted

14 hours ago, jynelle said:

Can you recommend where to buy decent carving tools? 

I am still using the same cheapo tandy swivel knife i started with 7 years ago, needs a lot of sharpening/stropping but works for me, can't suggest anything else because it's all i've tried! I'm sure there are plenty on here more skilled than me who could give a better answer. For stamps Barry King has an excellent reputation and are well worth it, I am in the UK and had to pay huge shipping/customs charges but do not regret the purchase at all. Instantly improved my work over the tandy stamps.

  • Members
jynelle

Posted

Thanks Alex!  I appreciate it.   I went ahead a placed an order with Barry King for some basic carving tools--really cool.  I also ordered a lightweight tapered maul (from him too) that will be a lot easier to work with I think than the rawhide mallet I've got now.  It's fun to venture into a new area within the craft, and really great to be able to ask someone whose work I admire for advice.

So stop me if I'm asking too may questions, but I thought I'd show you what's fresh off the bench.  Not having the carving tools yet, this is just beveled and backgrounded.  So it's in the beginning stages.  For stitching, I usually use a machine, so hand-stitching is a bit new.  ...How do you make the holes??  With a stitching wheel, or the punches?  I do have 7-prong punch that makes parallel diagonal holes--but your stitching looks very straight.  There's also not a lot of room on the border for diagonal cuts yeah?  My instinct would be to use a large needle (without thread) on the sewing machine to establish the holes, but I'd guess that's not how you are doing it.   Thanks again Alex, I appreciate your sharing.

Cheers,

Janet

On the bench.jpg

  • Members
AlexOstacchini

Posted

Not at all, I'm not a fan of keeping secrets, though am very much still at the learning stage myself. If you haven't already I would suggest looking at Don Gonzale's youtube channel for tooling tips- helped me a great deal. 

I did exactly the same and upgraded from rawhide mallet to a tapered maul, they are excellent tools and I'm sure you will get on well with them. 

That's a lovely looking piece so far- hope to see some pictures when it is finished. Based on the background I think I am jealous of your workspace haha

I do not have a sewing machine, and have actually never used one for leather. If yours can punch through then I suspect that would be the way to go, it would certainly be much quicker. I started out using diamond stitching chisels but although these looked neat on the front, they never turned out quite so nice on the back for me. I think that unless they are hit perfectly square to the leather the line ends up a little wobbly, especially with thicker pieces. I now use stitching pliers that punch from both sides at once. Google 'leather stitching nippers' and you will find them, i got mine from Goods Japan and they fixed the line on the back straight away. The only reason my stitch lines are straight rather than angled is because i pretty much always recess them into a line carved with a stitch groover. Personal preference really, although i think in theory it should also be less susceptible to wear and tear this way. Then once the stitching is done I run an overstitch wheel over the top and that really helps to neaten everything up. 

Hope this helps :) Alex

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