Elastic

[yuma]

I want to make some ammo belts and pouches with elastic bullet loops.

Can you sew them by hand or do you need a machine ??....if by hand , how ??

 

Roger

[fredk]

By hand would do.

The way I'd do it is to pre-punch sewing holes in the leather with a stitching chisel. Spacing at about 4 to 6mm. Then use a sharp glovers' needle of the appropriate size to sew through the elastic material. You can do a straight running stitch, or by going one way then back wards you get a sort-of one needle saddle stitch, and that is what I'd do

[TomE]

Agree with @fredk.  I would pre-punch the holes in the leather then sew with a harness needle to pierce the elastic without cutting the threads.  The single needle backstitch that Fred refers to is a good choice for sewing woven fabric/webbing to leather.  The overlapping stitches on the fabric side skip a hole and gather more threads in each stitch.  This method is used to sew billets/girth straps to the webs of an English saddle to distribute the load on the webbing.  This video shows backstitching for making a leather loop/keeper.  The inside of the loop with overlapping, double length stitches would correspond to the elastic side of your project.

 

[Frodo]

Yuma,  I am going to say to scrap the elastic idea. I have found over the years that elastic  does not hold up.

if you do not use your loops often then the loops last a long time

but if you actually use the loops then the elastic will stretch out on you 

your rounds will drop out the bottom

i propose  you sew the elastic so the bullet pouch is  a Z pattern with the small end on the bottom making it impossible for the bullet  to “drop” out

 

 

 

 

[yuma]

Thanks to all for your help.   Frodo, I would agree with you but the customer specified elastic....I'm using girth elastic so it should last fairly well, and at the very least I'll learn something new.

 

Roger 

[AussieTanker]

9 hours ago, yuma said:

Thanks to all for your help.   Frodo, I would agree with you but the customer specified elastic....I'm using girth elastic so it should last fairly well, and at the very least I'll learn something new.

 

Roger 

What is Girth elastic?

[yuma]

That striped elastic that is used to under a horse to hold the saddle on.....girth strap....

 

Roger

[TomE]

13 hours ago, yuma said:

Thanks to all for your help.   Frodo, I would agree with you but the customer specified elastic....I'm using girth elastic so it should last fairly well, and at the very least I'll learn something new.

 

Roger 

The best elastic that I've used for horse tack is sold by Abbey England.  It is used on girth straps, side reins, and other items that see a lot of wear and tear.

[Frodo]

Girth elastic?

I have never heard of that before

 

[TomE]

15 hours ago, Frodo said:

Girth elastic?

I have never heard of that before

 

The buckles of an English girth attach to the leather girth with a short piece of heavy elastic.

[Frodo]

21 hours ago, TomE said:

The buckles of an English girth attach to the leather girth with a short piece of heavy elastic.

This is interesting to me

i have made a frodotype shoulder holster using 2” elastic as the strap around the chest,  very comfy and holds the gun high and tight

but, ….  The elastic I have used is not a good quality so I abandoned the effort. I am thinking this girth strap is what I have been looking for

[TomE]

11 hours ago, Frodo said:

This is interesting to me

i have made a frodotype shoulder holster using 2” elastic as the strap around the chest,  very comfy and holds the gun high and tight

but, ….  The elastic I have used is not a good quality so I abandoned the effort. I am thinking this girth strap is what I have been looking for

Here I doubled up on 1" heavy elastic for these side reins.  Abbey England sells this in a variety of widths including 2".  For equine tack, the ends of the elastic are typically sandwiched between leather or nylon webbing chapes.    These side reins attach to the bit and to the saddle and are used to maintain head position (with some give from the elastic) while working the horse from the ground.