Grey Drakkon

Haha they're awesome, I love the little skulls!

Nicely put together, and very eye catching.

O_o I'm trying to picture just how long a strap you'd have to have and how wide to make that feasible.

Now that I'm not ruining the surprise, here's two "mirror" braids made for twins. The colors are the same on both, but I started the braid at opposite ends which changes the way the braids look. I didn't add on the snaps since Cseeger wanted to experience the joy of setting snaps himself. >

That is some super clean work!

Pretty good! My guy would be all over that.

o_O

Wow that's a unique one. Closest thing I can find are the center bar with a roller, like on this page: http://www.sdtradingco.com/belts-utility.htm except the two shown are missing the "under bar".

::gnashes teeth and carries on:: Woe is us, who lack such masterful cutting surfaces!

Well your first try blew mine out of the water.

So in my back yard I have a huge old Mulberry tree, which drops a metric ton of berries that stain everything, up to and including my chickens. (pretty easy to tell when they've been eating them, beaks are all purple stained on the edges and backs have splotches where berries bounce off of them) Should have taken a before pic, but as you can see the scrap of veg tan I used had plenty of surface flaws which turned out to make it look pretty neat. I just cut the strap and the 5 strands, took it outside and started squishing berries (with gloved hands, learned not to pick up the berries if I didn't want to get stained a while ago) and rubbing the juice onto the leather. It ended up making a nice dusty rose color with darker flecks where the flaws in the leather caught more of the juice. After letting it mostly dry, I burnished the edges with a scrap of canvas and that made a really nice burgandy, pretty much the same color as the darker spots on the leather. Then I rubbed beeswax over it and braided it up, I'll have to see how the stain lasts long term but for now it's sealed in pretty well, just rubbed it on some white paper and not a bit of color came off. I'm thinking next I'll try juicing a bunch of the berries and reducing it on the stove to get a more concentrated liquid. Looking online it says add salt to berries to use as a mordant (something to make the dye "stick") but I worry about how that will act with the leather. Maybe I'll do a few batches... Anyone else try doing it the old-old school way? I know some people have made vinegaroon (which I'd also like to try). and for that matter, try out some of the colors/plants shown on this page: http://pioneerthinking.com/crafts/natural-dyes

Thanks! ^_^ One day I WILL make sandals from your tutorial, wouldn't it be a riot to have braided straps sprayed like these?

Another 3 strand 3 color, this time purple-red-green.

...why not just stop logging on if you don't want to be on the site? That way down the line if you DO need to ask a question, you don't have to sign back on.

What about making mock ups out of cardboard and ribbon for the straps just to get the general feel/look of it?

I like the detail of the grooves on the straps, really gives it that extra something.

I just got my hands on a whole bunch of leather stamping tools, and what's the first thing I do? Make a polymer clay egg. >_< If you ever want to see how a pattern will lay out on your leather though, polymer clay is a great way to do it.

I know many a pony owner that would be proud to have such gorgeous tack! Beautiful job!

A couple more bracelets, one 5 strand horween that I think turned out pretty nice, and a tri-color Red-turquoise-purple veg tan 3 strand that I sprayed a few coats of diluted resolene over. I like the finish it gives, and don't worry about the colors running with the coating on it. It does make the leather stiffer, but it seems to amp up the color intensity so good trade off in my opinion. Also I painted the edges with black lumiere acrylic paint (a heat setting acrylic) and love how it makes the colors stand out even more as well as gets rid of the fuzzies.

Oh and sorry, meant to clarify what I meant by the rainbow ends. I tweaked a pic in gimp to illustrate what I'm talking about (pictures being so much clearer than words and all ) As you can see, adding black on the ends cleans up the look of where all the colors end, plus they help disguise where the cuts end.

Couldn't make it into a bracelet, way too short and inflexible. It's over 1/4 thick!

"Banned" is the wrong word since you can still make as many of those as you want with zero repercussions.

I like the second one, it reminds me of scandinavian folk art a bit.

Hah I actually did a super fat mystery braid but it's only one weave since it was so short! Wanted to see if it would work on something that thick. Very nice bracelets, the rainbow one in particular will catch a lot of attention. The area where all the colors merge though could use some sort of tidying up, maybe pick one of the colors, or black, and make a thick straight line going across all of them? That way you'd still have the natural leather at the area around the snap.

Ideal placement of straps really depends on the shape of the foot they're going on. Arch height, width, length, toe placement, heel depth, they're different for every person and what fits great on one will be uncomfortable for another and not just because of the size. I remember going to a renaissance faire and there was a custom boot maker that was doing booming business despite his boots being well over $100. (can't remember the exact price, it was some years ago) Why were they going for so much with a line around the tent even though you didn't walk away with a pair of boots? Because the cobbler would take your measurements and make a "duct tape cast" of both your feet (did you know that lots of people have one leg shaped differently than the other? That also applies to feet) and he would make a pair of boots that were the perfect fit the instant you put them on, and they looked it. You'd pay up, get your fit taken, and a few days later show back up and pick up your boots (or have them delivered to you if you were only in town for the day). In any case, that was a long-winded way of saying that a truly custom shoe/sandal is different for every person, and to some people the cost and effort are worth it.