Trouble With Leather Covered Belt Buckle! Any Advice Appreciated.

[miel zaphia]

Hey everyone. Just want to give an advance thank-you to anyone who takes the time to help me out with this.

I've been doing leatherwork casually over the past year (I have a new baby so that's all the time I can afford).

Tooling and dying are very fun and comfortable for me however I have been avoiding projects that involve stitching and hardware.

I want to get over this hump so I have tooled up a few belt buckles and am ready to stitch them up with a metal hardware interior (see attached photo).

This is my second attempt at stitching up belt buckles. The first one went quite horribly to be honest and I am hoping to avoid some of the pitfalls i experienced my first time around but haven't been able to find too many tips and tricks online.

Here are some of the problems I encountered my first round sewing a leather belt buckle onto metal hardware:

1. Couldn't seem to get the holes aligned, and the layers would shift around when adjusting the buckle in my stitching pony which was quite frustrating

2. because the front leather piece has to stretch over the curved metal hardware, it seemed "smaller" than the back piece once stitched, and the edges of the front and back piece of leather would not align giving it a sloppy appearance. It looked like there was a small gap between the two layers of leather rather than a nice solid edge. The back layer also overlapped the front. I tried to remedy this by gluing them together, and carefully trimming and burnishing the edges while sewn on the metal backing. This was quite a challenge and didn't go so well and I lost the perfect oval shape of the belt buckle in the process! Yikes.

I'm sure some of you have sewn hundreds of leather belt buckles with a nice refined edge. Is there some essential step i'm overlooking? Any hints to keep things aligned and make the edges look professional and neat?

I have worked hard at tooling and dying these pieces and would be sad if I destroyed them in the final steps of finishing the belt buckle!

Once again, I would appreciate any tips! Thanks.

[DS STRAPS]

can you cement the front layer to the metal then glue the second piece that is over sized and trim excess when all dried, then add holes and stitch? Maybe sand the edges even so you don't ruin the oval shape by burnishing.

Sorry if this is not help, not familiar with buckles just looking at it from a process stand point

[penguineer]

I've made a few of these buckles that turned out OK.

Here's what I do:

After tooling don't trim the leather to size.

Leave it oversize before cementing into the buckle.

Don't mark the stitching or lacing holes.

Lightly dampen the front when glueing down and work the edges with a bone folder to get a defined edge around the metal.

Glue the back down the same. Oversize and should cement to the front piece. Work the two pieces together from the front though to keep that edge.

Metal should be fully encased in leather.

When dry, mark out stitching and stitch.

Use a dividers to mark the edge of the leather and trim with a knife.

Cheers!

[miel zaphia]

Thanks DS Straps! That is kind of what I did, but unfortunately trimming the edges after it is assembled is quite challenging to execute! It just doesn't leave a professional looking edge. I did end up doing what you suggested and gluing the two pieces together before stitching, but it just resulted in my needle and thread getting gummy (I just have leather rubber cement type glue). There must be a cleaner and easier way to do this! Hmm… Well hopefully someone chimes in.

[miel zaphia]

Thanks penguineer. Leaving excess room seems like a good idea. However, I bought those prefabricated pieces from Tandy (the front and back pieces are cut out to exact size, and already have their stitch holes punched). At this point I have a bunch on hand and am hoping to use them….

Wet forming the front pieces to the metal hardware seems like a good idea. Is it okay to wet form leather that has already been tooled dyed and finished with a top coat????

Edited October 5, 2015 by miel zaphia

[penguineer]

Got a few more thoughts might help but in a rush...will post later....

Quickly though what glue and how much are you using?

Cheers!

[miel zaphia]

I was using a sort of rubber cement glue. (made for leather) its from germany. maybe I was using too much? Its hard to apply thinly. perhaps the cement isn't the best option as it is so tacky.

[JLSleather]

Keep the portion you have tooled. Cut NEW back pieces, using the prepcut things to mark the location of teh slot for the buckle hoop. Pitch the "pre-fab" back pieces. Trim, and punch through the holes in the front piece to make holes (which WILL line up) in the back.

[penguineer]

OK, a few more thoughts based on rereading the above....

(Not in order)

Rubber cement should be very thin. Use an old credit card or gift card to scrape off excess glue. One the glueon the buckle and leather is tacky line it up and press firmly. It should not move after that.

Scuff the metal with a bit of sandpaper to make a rougher bonding surface.

Light wet forming is plenty OK! Just dampen/spray the back of the leather before putting the cement on and use finger pressure to work into place. Use a bone folder only around the edges to press the two leather pieces together.

I would use wet forming more aggressively on the backing piece, rather than fingers, as you won't lose and detail.

I normally use roo leather for my backings and fully hand stitch.....I guess if you must line up holes maybe use lacing needles as guides?

If the pieces move after glueing you have used too much glue......

Hope that helps!

Cheers!