Leather bottle holder

[crazytailorlady]

Hey guys! Here is the bottle holder for my bicycle I've sewn using old ( >30 years) veg tan leather. Was a real challenge due to its tendency to crack. I used the butt joint and the box joint. Gave up on leather straps and used laces for fastening to the downtube. Metal is to help stop up-down movement. Thoughts?

[crazytailorlady]

[Dwight]

Three word question:  does it work?

If it does . . . it is great. . . marvelous . . . wonderful . . . excellent.

Fancy billfolds . . . gun holsters . . . some knife sheaths . . . some belts . . . they all need special cutting, some tooling . . . some stamping . . . just so they are really presentable to the general public who will view them . . . and criticize them given the opportunity.

This is a utilitarian leather tool . . . be glad it works . . . that is all it needs to do.

AND . . . you are braver than me . . . I don't tackle them round projects . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited June 13, 2022 by Dwight

[chuck123wapati]

its a great first try. Often designing takes a few tries to get prefect but I agree it works and doesn't look bad at all. That old leather has an awesome patina.

 

[PastorBob]

Great use of some old leather.  I have yet to tackle a round object yet.  That is fantastic.

[johnnydb]

Depending upon how much you like the finish on your bicycle....

I'd use pressure sensitive adhesive velcro hook and loop.   One part in my leather one the other glued to the bicycle.   

 

Maybe use some contact cement that you let dry to secure the bottle straps to keep it from sliding into the pedals.  

Just some suggestions.   Otherwise it's a great job for a first round, wet-formed project.  Round is frustrating in a LOT of ways.   

[crazytailorlady]

1 hour ago, Dwight said:

Three word question:  does it work?

If it does . . . it is great. . . marvelous . . . wonderful . . . excellent.

Fancy billfolds . . . gun holsters . . . some knife sheaths . . . some belts . . . they all need special cutting, some tooling . . . some stamping . . . just so they are really presentable to the general public who will view them . . . and criticize them given the opportunity.

This is a utilitarian leather tool . . . be glad it works . . . that is all it needs to do.

AND . . . you are braver than me . . . I don't tackle them round projects . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

Thank you! I am pretty proud of it as my first round project. It does its job perfectly - I did a road test and no problems. Easy to reach for and not in the way. I did consider stamping it but I decided not to so it matches my seat. Cutting and edges are rough but there is time to improve.

1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:

its a great first try. Often designing takes a few tries to get prefect but I agree it works and doesn't look bad at all. That old leather has an awesome patina.

 

Thanks! Its one of the reasons I left it untouched. I love the look of it.

1 hour ago, PastorBob said:

Great use of some old leather.  I have yet to tackle a round object yet.  That is fantastic.

Thanks! Wasn't easy and not perfect but I'm happy with it.

[crazytailorlady]

1 hour ago, johnnydb said:

Depending upon how much you like the finish on your bicycle....

I'd use pressure sensitive adhesive velcro hook and loop.   One part in my leather one the other glued to the bicycle.   

 

Maybe use some contact cement that you let dry to secure the bottle straps to keep it from sliding into the pedals.  

Just some suggestions.   Otherwise it's a great job for a first round, wet-formed project.  Round is frustrating in a LOT of ways.   

Thank you! Good ideas but I try to avoid sticking anything permanently to the bike, both to preserve the paint (I restored it) and for practical reasons like removing things and cleaning. Btw, I didn't use molds or wet the leather to bend it. Just treated it with some leather grease(idk whats it really called, saddle soao may be it) and put it in a vice for a while.

[Northmount]

What about using a leather thong or lace looped around the bottom of the seat where ever it is convenient, and attached to the side or top of your holder?

 

[chuck123wapati]

18 minutes ago, crazytailorlady said:

Thank you! I am pretty proud of it as my first round project. It does its job perfectly - I did a road test and no problems. Easy to reach for and not in the way. I did consider stamping it but I decided not to so it matches my seat. Cutting and edges are rough but there is time to improve.

Thanks! Its one of the reasons I left it untouched. I love the look of it.

Thanks! Wasn't easy and not perfect but I'm happy with it.

i just noticed that metal strap on your bike under the bottle holder that you are using to tie off on. You can easily sew it or rivet it to the bottle holder with a small strap and problem solved. Maybe get two one for top and bottom

[crazytailorlady]

16 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

i just noticed that metal strap on your bike under the bottle holder that you are using to tie off on. You can easily sew it or rivet it to the bottle holder with a small strap and problem solved. Maybe get two one for top and bottom

I like that idea, might use it if I make another one. I'd rather not add anything to this one in case I might damage the leather, plus its hard to work with from the inside (might appear wider than it is).