AlexOstacchini

Hi all, Had some time to spend on my own stuff again, so here are some Western style wet moulded belt pouches. Hand tooled and stitched, with matching liners and sam browne stud closures. All the same except for colours, so a good exercise in batch production. Quite fun and relatively quick to make compared to a belt or bag. After a bit of reading I think that in hindsight stitching across the belt loop was not the best idea in terms of strength but as these are small and won't be taking any substantial weight I don't think it will be a problem. Cheers and I hope you like them, Alex

Glad you like them- the antler was bought as a bulk lot of tines from ebay or etsy I think, it was quite a while ago so can't remember exactly, but I don't recall them being especially expensive. Then it's just a case of drilling them out, chamfering the ends and varnishing. Antler pieces are sometimes sold as dog chews so I've found it's worth looking round pet shops as well- As much as I have found Tandy useful it doesn't surprise me that they are expensive!

Second all of the above, superb work. Was also curious about the cartridge bag construction, looks like that would take some working out, so thanks for extra pics.

Thanks all, don't mean to come across as overly pedantic as there are of course elements i am happy with, but as these are intended for eventual sale it is difficult not to be critical of aspects that I know in hindsight could have been done a lot better! All part of the learning process i suppose. Thanks, mostly fiebings oil dyes with antique gels/ high lighters over the top. A lot of experimentation really, before I had discovered a working formula and not really how I would go about it now, but thankfully came out in relatively even coats! Alex

Very tidy- What resist was used on the lighter areas?

6 to be precise, not really lots, but seemed like a good part 2 to 'Lots of tooled belts'... Would combine into one thread if I knew how to change the title so as not to clog up space. These are in the same style as said belts, but although the finishing touches and assembly was recent, most of the tooling was done over a year ago and so unfortunately is not at the same standard as the belts. Since making these I have imported some lovely new tools courtesy of Mr Barry King which has made life much easier, and become a little more familiar with Western patterns. They say a bad workman blames his tools but good ones sure make a difference, as well as putting more time into drawing and planning the floral design, which is where i feel these suffer most. This was early days, but maybe a good 'before' and 'after' comparison can be made between threads... Anyhow, excuses aside, moving on. These are all (obviously) built to the same pattern and were my first attempt at building up stock in lulls between jobs. Hand tooled, hand stitched, fully lined, and with double loop edge lacing. Closing pins are laquered antler, which laces through a pair of eyelets on the back. Shoulder straps not in the photos but will of course be included... Many lessons learnt with these but I hope you like them anyway. thanks, Alex

Thanks again all for the kind words. I foolishly never timed one from start to finish and always had a few on the go at the same time, but i would estimate somewhere around the 12-15 hour mark, with most of that being tooling and 4 hours for stitching. Not the quickest production line in the world but getting steadily faster i think. These are all cut from the same 3.5mm hide, with 1.5ish mm lining, so a total thickness of 5mm or just under. I think that is 12oz but don't understand the US gauge so well. Quite chunky really but at least they shouldn't break... Cost is difficult to quantify exactly and will have to be UK currency i'm afraid, but assuming you mean build cost then as a rough figure £100ish for veg tan and £100 for lining for the whole lot, £5 per buckle, £1 per set of screws, estimate of £5 per belt to cover glue, thread, gum, dye, oil, antique, edge dye, finish etc and we have a total of £19 material cost per belt. Add in a realistic hourly rate on top of that and you have probably more than most people would be willing to pay for one. So no going full time just yet I don't think... :/ Mutt - looks like Chicago screws - 4th picture down has a pretty clear view of reverse side and you can see slots in the heads Yup, Gary is bang on. The stitching on the reverse side of the buckle plate (or whatever the foldy over bit is called) is purely cosmetic, so although it looks like it's sewn shut, different buckles can still come in and out easily enough. Thanks, although cannot take full credit as this was pinched from an illuminated border pattern in the Book of Kells, in an attempt at something a bit different to a standard knot. But whichever 9th century monk came up with it did a good job I think. I realised there are no images of the tail end or close enough to see any real detail, so for completion's sake here are a couple more.

Thanks for the feedback all, i'm glad you like them. There is somewhere between two and three months work in the whole pile, and some are definitely better than others, but as pointed out it's one way to track progress I suppose. As I'm sure anyone here will testify, there is always an element of doubt in your own work and any small mistakes become very glaring as soon as you've made them, so the kind words are nice to read. Quite an insightful post, thanks for the advice. All hand stitched- not sure therapeutic is the right word but thankfully it's mindless enough work that I can watch something at the same time. I imagine stitching is an aspect which often gets overlooked by a layperson so it's nice to share with a community who can understand the hours of tedium involved haha Cheers, Alex

Hi all, First time poster but have been following for quite a while now. I started leatherworking around 5 years ago and now work mostly as a junior prop maker and armourer in the UK film industry. Had a bit of a lull between jobs so decided to take the first steps in a small personal enterprise, so here is an initial batch of stock pieces. As a general rundown, these are all 38mm/1.5", lined, hand stitched, and allow for interchangeable buckles. Keepers not quite finished yet but haven't been forgotten! There are a few designs going on but most are either oak leaves, Sheridan style floral, or a zoomorphic celtic interlace taken from a 9thc manuscript. Not up to the standards of many of the artists on here, but thought i should say a big general thanks as I have found a huge amount of knowledge and answers to any questions I could think of. There isn't as much of a tradition of leather crafts over here as in the US, particularly when it comes to tooling, so reading through posts has been invaluable. Cheers all!