PJ234

Thanks for the advice, Kevin...strangling of pets doesn't sound worth it. Your sewing machine prompted another thought. Could I assemble it and then take it somewhere (like maybe a saddle shop or shoe repair or something) and have it machine sewn for a reasonable fee, or at that point am I better off just buying a belt from someone already made?

Yes, it would be for me and I have lots of time on my hands currently so that's not a big problem. One thought I had was to stitch it in sections using several shorter starting pieces of thread and over/back stitching where the sections meet. This would be easier to handle, but would it make a big difference in the strength or appearance of the finished product? Thanks for the input.

Hello, I'm a newbie hobby leather maker (made a few knife sheaths and holsters so far) and I've been thinking of trying to make myself a nice heavy gun belt. Is it possible to hand stitch a belt? I'm thinking about how long and fumbly the thread is at the beginning of something small like just a knife sheath, so I think my thread would have to be 30 ft long to stitch all the way around a belt. Is there a trick to stitching a belt that makes it easier or more practical to do by hand? Thanks for any suggestions!

Kate and Frank, thank you (and BearMan) for the help, I appreciate it!

Frank, this is very helpful and now I feel like a dope for not thinking of doing the same thing myself. Would you mind if a omit your name, and copy/paste this email exchange to another forum where I've asked the same questions? Thanks!!!

While I'm at it, how about drying time of a finish such as the Satin Sheen from Tandy I'm using? Same guidelines as the dye?

Thanks BearMan, I appreciate the tip!

I'm new to leather work, and I can't seem to find this information anywhere on Fiebings or Tandy's websites or product containers. How long should you wait in between dyeing and applying a top coat finish? If it makes any difference, I have dyed a knife sheath with Fiebing's Dark Brown Pro Oil dye, and the finish I'm using is Tandy's Satin Sheen. It's very dry here, and about 80 deg F today. The sheath was dyed about 2 hours ago, and is dry to the touch but still smells of dye (solvents still coming out?) Thanks in advance!

I'm starting to think that although Eco-Flo dyes might be fine dyes for certain applications, that for holsters and similar items that get wet moulded it might not be a good choice. I'm thinking that a spirit or oil dye (I need to learn more about these dyes) might be a better choice for my application...I'd welcome any additional input. (By the way, I went ahead and dyed the inside of two more knife sheaths, one brown and one black, before sewing them up and wet moulding them. The brown seems more or less unaffected, but the black ran quite a lot when wet and unfortunately bled the bluish color all around the inside of the sheath mouth. I rubbed it a little bit so far and it didn't seem to come off at all.)

Thanks for everyone's input, and for Kate's demonstration. I did some more careful buffing of the brown knife sheath, and it does look better than it did, so hopefully the sealer coat will take it the rest of the way. One final question if you don't mind in a similar vein I guess...I've had a hard time getting the dye inside the sheaths and holsters and belt loops, so this time I thought I would dye the insides first before sewing them up to get good coverage. I will still want to wet mould these pieces after I've sewn them. If the color bleeds some on the inside, I don't really care; but if it causes me problem with the finish on the outside, then I won't do it this way. Will this be an OK approach? If so, will I want to also go ahead and seal it too, or will that cause problems with the wet moulding once sewn up and assembled? Thanks again, everyone!

Thanks again for the additional input. Do you all do any buffing or rubbing when the dye is wet, or do you leave it and do nothing until it has dried?

Thanks for the input, folks. The black pieces have been sealed so there's no hope for them now. They did improve with the Satin Sheen...I wanted to show the pics where it was most dramatic so that I could get some advice on what was happening to prevent it in the future. I buffed quite a bit, and I tried both just after applying the dye and also after letting it dry for a while, and I didn't see any change when I did that. So is this normal for leather dye, or normal for the Eco-Flo dyes? What about the blue-greenish stuff on the magazine holder...is that the same or something different than the metallic/purplish hue?

Thanks Rayban, I appreciate the advice and the compliment. This was my first carving and second sheath, so I was pleased with how it turned out (although I messed up the layout as you can see.) I don't know what Spirit dyes are, I'll have to research that to learn about them.

I'm brand new to leatherwork and have made a handful of holster and knife sheath projects. The local Tandy store sent me home with Eco-Flo dye and some of their veggie tanned shoulder, and these are what I made: Coal black...has a weird, iridescent purplish look More coal black...shows some bluish-greenish 'stuff' Bison brown...I think the metallic look is not as noticeable but still there The black pieces were first wiped down with alcohol per the video I was following along with recommended. The brown sheath did not get the alcohol wipe after the strange results of the black pieces. The black pieces looked better after I applied Satin Sheen, but still not perfect. The brown piece has not been treated yet with the Satin Sheen. I'd appreciate any advice on what's happening here, or if I should just swithc to a different kind of dye, or if I need to do something different before or during the dyeing process. Thanks!

Thanks for the advice abn. Do you have any suggestions on how I could further mould this sheath, or am I pretty much stuck with it the way it is?

Hello and Merry Christmas! I'm a newbie learning leatherwork, and I have a knife sheath (the 2nd I've made so far) that I wet moulded and then dyed using Tandy Eco-Flo dye. (I'm having problems with this dye as well, but perhaps that's another post topic.) Now that I'm at this point, I've decided I want to do some more shaping of the handle which will make it no longer a snug fit to the sheath. Can I still we mould it at this point, or will that screw up the dye job that's on it now? Thanks!