The Beavers Back

[Beaverslayer]

Now to place the gusset in the right position. You want to set the gusset down on the shell, then by folding the edge over on the side, so that the outer edge of the shell you see a small thin bit of the garment leather showing. Straighten the gusset so that all the way along the edge the space is the same.

Next, do the same thing to the top corner, moving the gusset up or down to get in the right position.

And again do this on the bottom of the gusset.

Now that the gusset is in the right place, using your gel pen, mark the inner edge of the gusset on the insed of the linner. To do this, you want the mark to be just underneath the edge of the gusset. Hold your pen on an angle when marking.

Now apply a liberal amount of glue to the area that you've marked off, also a liberal amount of glue to the inside of the gusste.

Place the gusset onto the shell, using the line to be sure it's in the right position, roll this seam real well to make a good bond.

Now, fold the outer edge over the gusset, and make a mark where the inner edge is. Measure the distance from the outer edge to this mark. It should be right around 1 1/4". Whatever your measurement is, this is the one you want to use to mark all along the outer edge as shown in this picture.

[Beaverslayer]

Long day...I forgot to show you something...

To get the right mitre on the corners, fold one over the other and from where the two meet on the inside, make a mark to the outer point of the corner. Cut this bit off.

Then fold the two down again and use the cut edge as a guide to make the second mark. Cut this bit off as well.

This will give you the proper mitre. I know it looks like hell now, but once it's in place, it looks real good.

Now, using a sharp knife, cut the edge trim away from the edge of the gusset as shown here. Be very carful to just cut deep enough to cut the suede. Then sand this marked off area around the edges.

Apply a bead of glue to the entire are that is shown here in this picture. Let this get tacky, then fold the edge over and press and roll together. Be sure to get the fold nice and straigth.

After folding the edge over, marking and measureing the distance from the outer edge (yes do this each time to be sure, in most cases it will always be the same as the first measurement, but let's just be sure) continue on with the rest of the outer edge. Notice the mitred corner doesn't look bad at all.

Here's waht the edge should look like from the outer side of the vest.

[Beaverslayer]

Once I have this section of the vest done, I like to place the grommets, this will help to hold everything here in place when we are pulling and turning the vest when we lace it.

Find and mark the centre of the gusset and make a mark. From this mark, measure up 1 1/2" and place another mark, then 1 1/2" again. Do the same in the other direction. This will give you 5 locations evenly spaced apart.

Now using a grommet, place it centred with each hole and mark the circular centre.

Punch these holes and insert and assemble the grommets. Always put the grommet ring on the inside of the vest, as this gives the outer side the finished grommet.

[Beaverslayer]

Now we are ready to start punching a million holes.

You want to punch these two holes first. These holes are placed as close to the mitre corner as possible, allowing enough space on the inner edge not to beak the mitre. From there you can start to mark your holes 3/8" apart.

Do the same thing on all the corners as you've just done on the last one.

What I do is work from both directions, and if the last 2 holes are not 3/8" apart, I will correct this in the middle of the run.

[Beaverslayer]

On the outer edge of this, your first hole is NOT 3/8" away from the mitre hole. As shown, it is inline with the first hole on the inner side. This is to keep the lace seam straight from the corner on down.

This is what the holes should look like when punched. The corners will all look the same as this.

[Beaverslayer]

Where the vest fron meets the yolk, you will have to punch two holes just under the lace that holds the yolk to the vest. You can see in this picture what I mean by this.

Now, flip the vest over, and working from the inside, you can start your marks from these two holes. Again work from both ends and make any correction in the middle.

Here's what the holes should look like.

[Beaverslayer]

Start your lacing where the yolk is attached to the front panel. Use a piece of lace NO LONGER than your arms length. The reason for this is twofold.

1: It is way easier to work with short pieces of lace, rather than 10 or 12 feet of it.

2: As you lace, the lace will wear away, as you'll notice from all the leather dust on the floor. We do not want the lace so long, that it starts to get thinner as we go along. This will make your lacing look real bad where you splice it, as one will be thinner than the new one.

Run your needle under about 3 laces back, and out between the first and second lace loop on the bottom of this seam.

Then run it into the second hole on the inner side of the seam, pull the lace through and snug. On the back, go back to the first hole and run your lace through, and lace away as you have done before. These stitches you can pull a bit snugger, and also be sure to give them a bit of a twist where they come out of each hole to make them nice and straight.

If your getting close to the corner, make your splice before you go around it. Always make your last stitch to the inside hole and back to the front before doing a splice. Sand off a small area between the two rows.Then cut your lace off as long as the sanded area.

Glue and roll this tail down.

Now from about 3 stitches back, run your needle underneath and out he end of the seam on the outer edge of the glued down tail.

Run your needle into the first outer hole, and continue on lacing.

This picture shows you the reason why we made thos holes close to the mitred corners. As the backside stitch is put in place, these will hold the mitred corners from coming apart.

This is what the outer lace should look like...quite a nice look I think.

And here we have the inner lace look. Again, this is a real nice looking finish to the inside of the vest.

Now you can continue on lacing, as I will be, and as soon as I'm finished I'll post the finished work.

There is a few more lessons to come, but that won't be for a few hours anyways.

Thanks again for all that have left comments and compliments, they are much appreciated.

[Beaverslayer]

When lacing the front of the vest, you want to lace in 2 directions, working towards the bottom point of the front as shown in this picture. This will give you the same lace design on both sides of the front panels. Rather than lacing all one direction, and having the lace going a diferent directiom as it runs back up the front.

When you reach the bottom point, you want to got one stitch past so the joint in the suede edging is secured.

This is the completed front panel.

On the back of the vest, you also want to lace from 2 directions, starting where the back meets the shoulder piece and working down and across to the middle of the back. Measure the middle of the bottom of the vest, and this is where you will stop your lacing in each direction.

I know the holes are not punched in this picture, but i wanted to be sure I remembered to talk about this.

[Beaverslayer]

When it comes time to mark the other side grommets, what you want to do is to line up the curved corners, that's the top of each side under the arm. Then with your gel pen, mark the centre grommet from the side that's already done. This will give you the location of the centre grommet, and now you can measure 1 1/2" between each to locate the rest.

[Beaverslayer]

When it comes to marking the nylon mesh to glue the edge trim down, I find the easiest thing to do, seeing as the nylon does not like the gel marker. Hold the edge trim down, and with small pieces of painters tape, slide them just under the edge and press down. Once you've taped off the whole edge, then you will have a marked off area to glue.

Also, with this water based glue, it tends to tack up very fast on the suede and the leather, this is not the same on the nylon. Once you've applied the glue to the nylon, you will have to leave it for about 10 minutes before it is ready to attach the edge trim. Make sure you roll these seams REAL good.

[Beaverslayer]

If you've done a weave or extra something on the back, or anywhere else that you decide, and this weave goes to the outer edge, you will have to be careful when punching the edge trim holes when you reach this point.

The thing to do, is once you've marked your holes along the trim, punch up to the area that has the weave on it then stop punching.

Flip the vest over, so that you can measure and mark, then punch the holes from the outside. This will prevent you from punching through the weave lace and making a big boo boo.

Once it's laced up along the outer edge, you can see how the 2 laces kind od merge together.

[Beaverslayer]

The holes you need to mark and punch for the lacing along the edge of the shoulder piece need to be 1/4" apart. The should also be 1/4" in from the edge of the shoulder piece. Start marking the holes from the first hole that already has a lace through it from attaching the shoulder piece to the back of the vest.

Work your way to the middle, and as before, then measure and mark fro the other side to the middle, making any correction at this point.

[Beaverslayer]

Well I'll bet a bunch of you have been waiting for this to be updated and the rest of the tutorial uploaded. I've been a busy Beaver, but here it is at last.

When your lacing this section, keep your lace to a minimum length, no longer than an arms length. If you notice that the lace is wearing a bit too much before you've reached the end and splice. The splice it now, you do not want it to get too thin as it will show.

To start the lacing that goes around the edge of the shoulder piece, you will start in the first hole of the lace that goes down the side of the outer edge of the back. You can see in the picture. Run your lace though and leave about a 10" tail, this will be used to finish the beginning of this a bit later.

Now, run the lace OVER the shoulder piece, and through the forth hole, start your count at the hole you just pulled the lace through.

Now go OVER the shoulder again, and back up through the second hole.

Now go OVER the shoulder again, and through the fifth hole.

Go OVER the shoulder, and OVER the first lace and UNDER the second, as shown here.

Then run your lace throught the third hole.

Now go UNDER then OVER tha laces, then OVER the shoulder and through th sixth hole.

From here you carry on by going back OVER, then UNDER the second lace, through the hole and so forth until it's time to splice.

[Beaverslayer]

When it's time to make your splice. Run the lace OVER and BACK towards the edge that you started on. As shown in the picture, run your lace under the last 2 loops, and come out under the tightest section of the third back lace. Pull this tight and snip it off.

Now with your new lace, run it under the second last loop as shown. Pull it all the way through, until the end of the lace is just under the loop. You can tuck any tail that shows with your fid.

Now, run your lace under as shown in this picture, and through the third last hole, and your off lacing again.

[Beaverslayer]

When you reach the end of the shoulder section and have the tail left to hide, the best way is to run it up under the weave that is on the front yolk.

You can now continue on and lace the other side of the shoulder piece, and also all around the inside neck area. Finish the ends off as neatly as you can and hide the tails. Again remember that if your lace is getting a bit worn as you pull it through all the holes, splice it, we'd rather waste a bit of lace than to have a funny looking product.

[Beaverslayer]

Once you've laced all the edges of the shoulder piece, you have to go back and finish off where you started. Put yoyr needle on the tail that you left when you started.

Then your first lace will go UNDER the first loop.

Then OVER the second loop, and through the thrid hole.

On the back side, you go OVER the second, and UNDER the first.

Then over to the front, and OVER the first and through the second hole.

Follow the next three pictures to see just how to bring the lace back to the front, so that you can hide the tail under the weaved lace.

And here's waht it should look like when your done.

[Beaverslayer]

To lace the inside section of the gusset, run your lace under about 3 loops of the outer edge lace, from the top of the run.

Then run it through the first hole closest to the grommets.

On the backside, run it back through to the front, using the hole that is best in line on the outer edge lace, as shown here in the picture.

When you get back to the second stitch on the backside, do the same as you just did, by going through the hole of the outer edge lacing.

Now carry on lacing until you reach the end of the run. When you do, you want to finish it the same way you started, by using the holes that are on the outer edge lacing. This will hold the two pieces together at the joint and prevent them from curling out.

Here's what the inside should look like.

[Beaverslayer]

Well everyone, if you take 1/2 a cow, 1 pig, a bit of nylon mesh. Punch 2040 holes in it all, dab some glue onto it here and there, then run 530 feet of lace through each of those holes 2 times, this is what you should have when you're done. Simple as that...LOL

I hope that you've all enjoyed this tutorial, and that it has and will be helpful to someone.

Thanks

Ken

[Gremlin]

Many thanks for the tutorial Ken. Very informative. I am using some of the tips you give in the one I'm building for myself. And yes, pics will be posted when it's done.

Folks, for what it's worth, since I don't make vests for other people, Ken is one of the two vest makers I recommend on my website or when asked. You can see why from this tutorial.

[tonyc1]

Many thanks for the tutorial Ken. Very informative. I am using some of the tips you give in the one I'm building for myself. And yes, pics will be posted when it's done.Folks, for what it's worth, since I don't make vests for other people, Ken is one of the two vest makers I recommend on my website or when asked. You can see why from this tutorial.

Great job. Just out of interest how many photos were there?Tony.

Great job. Just out of interest how many photos were there?Tony.

And how many hours would it take you to make a vest like that?

[Beaverslayer]

I think I counted 271 photos, and I used 2 batteries...LOL

This vest took 47 hours in all to make, that doesn't include the pictures and typing.

Just a basic vest without the tooled shoulder and the extra lace takes about 40 hours.

Thanks for the compliments guys, greatly appreciated.

Ken

[tonyc1]

I think I counted 271 photos, and I used 2 batteries...LOL

This vest took 47 hours in all to make, that doesn't include the pictures and typing.

Just a basic vest without the tooled shoulder and the extra lace takes about 40 hours.

Thanks for the compliments guys, greatly appreciated.

Ken

Ken, I take my hat off to you!

Tony.

[halfbreed]

Now that's a tutorial!!! This is so inspiring. I'm going to have to give this leather stuff a go. Thanks Beav. (how much lace would you really have used?)

Don

[Beaverslayer]

Don, thanks for the compliment, and I really used 530 feet of lace.

Ken

[Spider]

Ken, I can't even begin to touch your toenail of skill. This is such an awesome art and you are awesome for sharing it with us.

THANK YOU