Belt extension, tooled English bridle

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

I recently posted a tooled belt that I made it is English bridle leather. Well my client gave me his pants size instead of his belt size. I didn't question this because I had made him a belt for his son recently and thought he had given me his belt measurement. Y'all know what they say about assuming. Another lesson learned, question everything. 

He told me 30" which I thought was a little short but he does have a smaller frame. I verified twice before I cut the blank to length and went to work. When I delivered it to him, it was way short. About 4" too short and this belt was 100% personalized, difficult to tool and a lot of work went into it. If the personalization wasn't on it I'd have just made a new belt and sold the shorter one. So I told him that I would figure something out. This is the second time I've had to extend a belt. The other was a short simple extension. That was years ago, and I have learned a few things since then. Which sometimes makes for more work, but I'm the end it's higher quality.

After looking around a bit online reading some information and looking at pictures on this site, I decided to go with a stitched billet extension over the buckled billet extension that adds a second buckle and set of holes. Two buckled on one belt looks funny to me. 

I didn't have any more English bridle to work with. I purchased the strap and used the cutoff (about 12") to practice carving since this is my first time working with english bridle.

I tried to color match as best I could with what dye colors I work with. I added some tooling the the extension to help blend the build together. I think it came out decent, and the extension is mostly hidden when the belt is worn. My only complaint is the color difference but I know he'll be happy with it. Buckshot isn't perfectly centered anymore, but it's really close still. 

 

Hermann Oak English bridle strap (weaver) 

Hermann Oak holster (veg) tanned side (weaver)  extension

Weaver's Water Buffalo for lining

Jim Linnell's montana inspired belt pattern. He's an excellent leathersmith and artist. I don't do his work justice but I love his patterns

Solid brass Chicago screws and rivet on the extension

Stainless steel roller buckle (weaver) 

Ritza 1mm cream thread, hand stitched

Feibings Dark brown antique with Feibings leather balm

Edited 9 hours ago by DoubleKCustomLeathercraft

[Mulesaw]

Ouch, having incomplete (or false) information to start out with is so frustrating. And I thjinbk you made a nice save!

I promised my son to make a set of chaps for Christmas for his good friend (a farrier who does western riding). I was told that they should just be exactly like those that I had made for my son the year before, I asked if he really was the same size etc, and yup, just make them the same.

Turns out that he would have liked his legs 4" longer..
I had to improvise to make it look decent, and I was pretty fed up with the project since redoing it was much more trouble than just making them correct the first time. But lesson learned 🙂

 

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

27 minutes ago, Mulesaw said:

Turns out that he would have liked his legs 4" longer..

I had to improvise to make it look decent, and I was pretty fed up with the project since redoing it was much more trouble than just making them correct the first time. But lesson learned 🙂

 

It's something I think we all end up having to deal with at some point. I've had my share of "improvising" several things. It usually end up being a complete hassle, and disappointment because it wasn't part of the plan. Sometimes it'll look really nice and sometimes you wish you could just throw it in the fire pit. I hate improvising because it usually doesn't look like the quality I like to represent. Miscommunication is probably the biggest culprit. I know with belts, there's no standard to measure. Some makers measure one way while others measure it right...Oops I mean measure another way lol.

Kids are the hardest because they're growing, and sometimes it's fast. I've only made a couple belts for kids. Not many people want to spend hundreds on a belt for a kid that's going to outgrow it. I add length so that holes can be added while they grow. And I know the belts I make will last a lifetime if not abused

[Mulesaw]

18 minutes ago, DoubleKCustomLeathercraft said:

It usually end up being a complete hassle, and disappointment because it wasn't part of the plan

The disappointment and annoyance of suddenly having to deal with producing a product that doesn't live up to your own quality goals is exactly what is so hard to accept.
Knowing that suddenly instead of a flawless product out there representing your skills, there is something completely different that you know ytou could have made better.

The only good thing is that usually those who see it will still think it looks amazing, They don't know how it looked from the start, but it is still not much of a comfort to me.

 

[BlackDragon]

Great way to save the project!

Just the other day someone asked for a belt, when I ask for the belt size they said "about 30inches". I told them I couldn't make their belt if I dont have the correct measurement. I instructed them how to measure their current belt and it turned out to be 34". 

People are pretty vague when you're trying to get product info from them. 

What color do you want?

Brown.

What shade of brown?

Like wood.

What type of wood, like pine or mahogany?

Yes