Want To Make Personalized Belts At Craft Fairs, How Do You Do It?

[corporaldale]

Hello,

I'm new here. I am a seller, and want to be able to offer personalized belts to people on the fly.

I am wondering how that would be done. Anyone here who does that now?

I have done stamping of letters on small bracelets on the fly, and there is the issue

of moisture, and drying. I have been wondering if some kind of light heat with a

fan would be good.

Anyway, if anyone does this now can you tell me about you process?

-dale

[stanly]

Hello,

I'm new here. I am a seller, and want to be able to offer personalized belts to people on the fly.

I am wondering how that would be done. Anyone here who does that now?

I have done stamping of letters on small bracelets on the fly, and there is the issue

of moisture, and drying. I have been wondering if some kind of light heat with a

fan would be good.

Anyway, if anyone does this now can you tell me about you process?

-dale

You know, I've wondered this myself. And subject to hearing from someone who has actually done it OR me going into experimenting mode....would think that a heat box using hair dryer would be the way to go. Of course I'd experiment on some scraps before just sticking a good belt in a shoebox with a hairdryer.

[41mag]

what about hanging in front of a blow dryer?

Also, how wet does the leather need to be b4 stamping?

I'm about to stamp some peoples initials into some 1/8" thick leather straps.....

Soak a sponge and let it sit about a minute?

sorry for hijacking this thread......

[Ferg]

You can wet a sponge and apply to the leather but you need it to begin returning to original shade/color before stamping. You may find that this simple and quick process gives you

questionable results, just keep that in mind. I have done it and on occasion it works okay but other times the impression of the letter stamp is very shallow.

Try on several pieces of scrap. Time the different semi drying times. That will give you some idea anyhow.

I am not hot (no pun intended) on using a heated blower, it tends to make the leather a little hard. Leather is natural remember.

ferg

what about hanging in front of a blow dryer?

Also, how wet does the leather need to be b4 stamping?

I'm about to stamp some peoples initials into some 1/8" thick leather straps.....

Soak a sponge and let it sit about a minute?

sorry for hijacking this thread......

[wildrose]

I'm speaking from experience here:

I set up at an event, this was a while back, with bracelet blanks. As people came to me, I would stamp on their names and then used Fiebings Antique Paste to color them. It was messy and time consuming and I don't recall I've done it since (and I do know Fiebings doesn't make the paste anymore). Since then, I have often done bookmarks and other small projects where they can either stamp for themselves or I do it for them. Then I tell them they can take the piece home and color it either with paints, markers or even crayons (I'm dealing usually with 4/5 oz veggie tan).

Rarely does a show go by that I don't get asked about making stained name bracelets or belts on the spot. I tell them I'd be happy to take their measurements and send the piece to them at no extra cost. I rarely lose someone this way. It also gives me the chance to educate them about the process (i.e. "why can't you bring stained pieces and just stamp the names on here?" Me: "because the stamp won't show as well once the piece has been finished")

[$$hobby]

Hello,

I'm new here. I am a seller, and want to be able to offer personalized belts to people on the fly.

I am wondering how that would be done. Anyone here who does that now?

I have done stamping of letters on small bracelets on the fly, and there is the issue

of moisture, and drying. I have been wondering if some kind of light heat with a

fan would be good.

Anyway, if anyone does this now can you tell me about you process?

-dale

buy some scrap material and begin trying some different techniques on wetting and drying.

ime, using any heat source to dry the leather can cause issues. when i was working @ my cousins clothes store that sold shoes, we always told the buyers that if they got them wet DONT PUT THEM NEAR ANY HEAT SOURCE INCLUDING CAR HEATERS!. of couse you would always get someone that didnt pay attention and would bring back a shoe where the leather upper was hard a concrete, but they didnt do anything wrong of course.

you havent made anything yet, so do some experimenting. It will only cost you some time and scrap materail. try the hair dryer at differetn settings, temperatures and times and see what happens to the leather.