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Dove

Repairing Vintage Purse Lacework

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Hi everyone! I've never done leatherwork before.

I bought a beautiful vintage leather purse that has significant wear on the lacework in some spots.

A coworker does do leather work, and gave me a book called "leatherwork manual by al stohlman and others" as well as some lace, a modeling tool and a 2 prong needle. He identified the lace style as a double stitch and showed me the section in the book on splicing and how to do a double loop.

My questions are: how far into the old lace should I remove to splice in the new lace? I want to do each repair while retaining as much of the original lace as I can. I don't want to relace the whole purse. Do I just pull the old lace out? Please see attached photos regarding the worn areas:

D929D11D-E0A9-45F1-A78B-D2AEA02897BC_zps

67A59398-7384-43BF-9B3D-303321F69CC6_zps

61656F1A-D971-4FA5-8EBD-F50E17C99C88_zps

B1CEA95A-5C33-4F88-98A3-9407F63A0474_zps

6A5C5EE5-B65C-4211-88BB-DA89D0C30CFB_zps

Edited by Dove

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Personally, I'd replace it all .. no splicing to the old. You may notice from the book, you'll need to remove 4-5 stitches each side of each break to tie in anyway, and by the time you 'fix' all of that, you've got a bit many splices (thus, lots o short pieces).

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if your realy set on just splicing , check out http://kingsmerecrafts.com #96 shows lacing & splicing, also has a video.

But that said, I agree with JLS, redo the whole bag.

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Would it be possible to relace just the front panel without going around the entire back panel. The tape measure sits at the joint between the actual purse and the front flap panel. The damage starts at the joint and is spattered around the front flap. The back panel (behind tape) has no torn lace. I am mostly concerned with taking apart the "bag" part and then not being able to connect it again. The only other damage is on the inside panel on the bottom corner which I think could be spliced in.

88A02CD4-4AC6-46CC-AEA5-0ACA270CFF85_zps

Damaged corner on inner panel is seen in top right of below image.

279F656B-BAE6-407E-B4FA-7AFDA55B3012_zps

EA57DBBB-EE31-4BAC-890A-5A8EC78247E5_zps here is the entire back. It's 16x11" squared off.

The book mentioned nothing of gauging lace length, but I read online you figure 6x your length? The front panel is 10x11" squared off. The lace I have is 170" in length.

I guess I'm just afraid to pull the "bag" part apart and then not be able to put it back together.

Furthermore, the leather along the edges (where I pulled out some lace) feels kind of dry. I was also given some mink oil and saddle soap, should I put one or the other on before lacing? It looks like the outer decorative leather has a thinner leather along the inside it's softer but I don't think it's suede.

Eta: after pulling some of the old lace out, the stitch looks to me more like the "running" stitch than a double loop. It just goes under and through the loop, makes another loop and through again.

Edited by Dove

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You can pull out as much lacing as you wish. If you get into an area where it is holding 2 or more layers together, you can use small zip-ties every 10 or so holes so everything stays aligned.

Tom

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I would also relace the whole thing. You will never match it if you don't . Kangaroo is the best lace (yknotlace). You did not say if you are going to do this because you want to... If you don't, buy me roll of kangaroo and I will replace it for you.

Aaron

Edited by electrathon

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Got to agree on a complete replacement, all of the lace on this item appears to be well worn and after a successful patching job, I fear you would continue patching for some time as the old lace continued to deteriorate. It will look real nice with new lace. I agree with Electrathon on Kangaroo, however, if that is too expensive then the second I would recommend would be good quality calf skin lace. 1:6 lace length ratio is not sufficient, most books claim a 8:1, I have always used a 9:1 to make sure I get to where I need to be. This lacing stitch is the Double Loop Stitch.

Chief

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Thank you all for the replies!! I'm going to take a stab at it. I'm not sure what type of lacing coworker gave me, but I can ask him tomorrow as it seems I'll need a great deal more. I'm also having a lot of difficulty pulling the "eye" or pronged part of the needle through the hole, if I use pliers and pull pretty hard it'll go through. Could this be because the lace is too thick, or just how it is?

Era: while watching a video I noticed they skive the lace, which I didn't do, which I assume is why it's too thick at the needle head.

Edited by Dove

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Skiving the end of the lace will help, but you may still need to use pliers occasionally.

Before you do much work on the purse, recondition the leather so it is a little more pliable. Else you may start getting cracking and even tearing out some holes. Don't pull outward putting strain the lacing holes, pulling through the edge. And when you get all the way around to make the final slice, pull out a few of the starting stitches so you get the slope of the lace consistent across the splice. The first few stitches are usually too vertical, so need to come out.

You should do some practise lacing around a piece of leather say about 4x4". It will help you a lot with the purse.

Good luck.

Tom

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Couple of things here ....

1) As a rule, you'll need about 7.5 - 8 times the length for that type of lacing stitch. Your bag is 10x11 (front) and 11 x 16 (body) yes? That would be a length of 96" (from your numbers) which would require about 768" of lace (translation, 64feet, or 22 yards). Judging the size of the bag from the pictures, you may need a bit less than that - but that's a guess from a photo.

2) When I re-lace something, I don't take it completely apart. Cut the lace about 6-8" along one edge with a scissor. You can run the scissor right along the edge, cutting the "loops" off of the lace without harming the bag at all. You could use a knife as well, but the scissor can't hurt the bag if it slips, where a knife very well could. Then just pull the 'bits' through just like in your pictures. Begin lacing there, and when you're close to where the old lace starts, just cut back some more. The bag never actuall comes apart (no holes to meticulously line up).

3) For all it's simplicity, that's still a nice looking bag. Certainly there are people who could do this for you quickly and for not so much money. Unless you'd just like the experience of doing it yourself, Aaron's proposition sounds more than reasonable.

Oh, and

4) The products you mentioned are really not for "dry". You'll get any number of recommendations for this, but Neatsfoot oil or Lexol conditioner would likely be a better bet than the things you have. If you're going to attempt the project yourself, I would do any conditioning before beginning to cut the lace... but that may be just personal preference.

Edited by JLSleather

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Oh, you may look at the bag, then look at the purse, and wonder why they don't quite look the same. This could cause someone to wonder what he's doing wrong while lacing.

So, here's the thing... those lace stitches are angled 'right' .... like this / / / / / / / / / /

the book likely shows the stitches angled to the left, ................ like this \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \

Not that one is right or wrong, and since the holes are slits in a straight line, likely don't matter (if you do the whole bag the same way). Likely done either from the inside (which makes the stitches look the 'other way' from the outside) or by a 'lefty' . Just observation from the poop deck ....

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Well I took a stab at it! My first bit of lacing looks kind of junky but I think I'm just going to let that be, It took me quite a few hours to get this far, but I think I have the hang of it now. I was brought up with needlework and such, and was always taught if it isn't right you do it again, so that's what I did!

I like the idea of just taking out parts as I go around, rather than the whole bag at once, I think it makes it less daunting. I really appreciate the offers of doing it for me <3 they are deeply appreciated, unfortunately, I just don't have any money right now, and I'm a rather crafty person so I think it's kind of fun. I do crochet and knitting and needlepoint too so this is just another fun handwork skill to learn. I think the lacing will start to look better once I get my tension right, and consistent. I'll try to find some neatsfoot oil down at the old mule barn, they have all kinds of farm-ey things.

1AD3FA5B-8E14-419F-B2E0-8C03A53810C4_zps

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Don't put too much NF oil on at once. Light applications and leave soak in. If you get too much on, the leather will get soggy. You will find lots of threads here about how to apply NF oil, and also how to eliminate the excess oil when people put on too much.

Tom

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Tom, I found some, an 8oz bottle for 5$ would that be sufficient? also, will it darken the leather? I like the color it is. I also have coconut oil and olive oil at home if either would be better suited. the lexol conditioner is $9.99 for 8oz so I'd rather get the cheaper neatsfoot if it's comparable. I'm not sure which is better suited, or will soak in better. The top of the bag (where it bends) is getting finite spider crack wearing and so I'd like to treat that as well so it doesn't crack with use.

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The NF oil should be pure, not a compound containing other stuff. NF oil does darken leather. The purse has a finish on it that may not take oil very easily. It is probably a lacquer which really seals the leather. If the oil doesn't reach the leather evenly across the surface, it can be blotchy looking. It may even out over an extended period. Some people are using extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). They say it doesn't darken the leather as much. I have a contour belt that I made in 1969. It was finished with NeatLac. It sat in the drawer for most of the time since. It was getting dried out, so applied a little NF oil to the front and to the back. The back was raw, no sealer or conditioner. It turned to a dark brown. I'll attach a couple photos so you can see the difference.

Before

post-16698-0-88839600-1395423974_thumb.j

After

post-16698-0-36591300-1395423946_thumb.j

Tom

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8 ounces of oil should last about 30 years. Well, maybe not that long, but seriously you need like half a teaspoon for the WHOLE bag.

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