Three Little Projects

[Bree]

I had some time this weekend so I made up three projects to be given as Xmas presents for friends. One was a matched belt and wristband set; another was a wide belt for someone who wanted a simple brown belt with a fancy buckle, and the last was a replacement belt for my friend Liz's blingy spotted Harley Belt that broke at the buckle sending her into a tizzy.

For the first, I had some old Nature Tand leather that I cut into straps then I sanded down the fuzzies on a drill press drum sander. The brown belt got some water-based dye and Super Shene. The edges got burnished and Edge Koted. I took this buckle with an agate in the center and coupled it with the simple brown belt as requested! LOL!

The second... belt/wristband set... got a triple oiled & rubbed finish and was stitched with 277/207 poly. The belt hardware is a stainless steel roller buckle with Chicago screws. The wristband has 2 line 24 snaps. I gave them a light wax burnish with the Sampson burnisher to smooth out the fuzzies on the edge. I didn't put any edge coating on because I wanted it more natural.

Liz's belt was made from some utility side I had lying around. I used my Heritage Spot Setter (for the first time) to bling it up and put some segma snaps on to hold in the keeper et voila! No finish was needed.

I hope the recipients will like them.

Liz got her's last night at our Christmas party and she was thrilled cuz she loved her old broken blingy belt so much. Now she has a solid replacement. The new belt wasn't really all that good technically but then beggars can't be choosers. The spots were larger and the leather was much more substantial so she is a very happy camper!

I did enjoy getting a chance to fool around making these projects!

[CitizenKate]

I think this is the first time I've seen your work... very nice, beautiful tone, and clean cuts and stitching. This is the best kind of gift anyone could receive. Made by the hand of the giver.

Merry Christmas! Ho-ho-hooooooo!

Kate

[ArtS]

Great job Bree! I like the way that you did them and made the matching wrist band!

Art

[leatheroo]

lovely clean work, great colors..

[TroyS]

Very nice gifts! The recipiants will be very pleased! I know I would!

Merry Christmas...

[Bree]

I think this is the first time I've seen your work... very nice, beautiful tone, and clean cuts and stitching. This is the best kind of gift anyone could receive. Made by the hand of the giver.

Merry Christmas! Ho-ho-hooooooo!

Kate

Thanks Kate and all...

I don't get to do much leatherwork because of my computer job that is sucking the life out of me. But it has the plus of allowing me to get very nice equipment for when they finally cut me loose and I can do some work!! LOL!

I have a couple of surprises in mind for the winter when I hope to have more time available. I can't compete against all these leather experts around here as far as skill goes so I will have to use old age and treachery to make some kind of respectable showing!!

Tonight I have to repair a guy's fringed suede coat which has been on a hanger for over 20 years. He roped me in a couple of weeks ago and has now pinned me down to a specific date and time. So I have to figure out how to fix his irregularly torn elbow. And he is going to watch as I do it. Lovely. He is expecting a frankenstein fix. Maybe I can do something a little nicer.

[bustedlifter]

Nice work, Bree! I have a question, though. I've tried using that white poly thread a couple times and I couldn't get it to not come apart. How do you tie it off so it will not come apart? Thanks.

[Bree]

Nice work, Bree! I have a question, though. I've tried using that white poly thread a couple times and I couldn't get it to not come apart. How do you tie it off so it will not come apart? Thanks.

I cheat. A little dab of FabriTac glue to the ends helps keep it under control. Use a medium size needle to pickup the glue and "paint" it in without being visible (like the fly tying trick with clear nail polish).

I also lock the stitches 3 back and one forward which gives me a long time before I'm in real trouble. The best stitching is hand stitching but I'm WAY too lazy to do a belt by hand!!! So my Artisan 4000 and a tiny bit of treachery.

On the white poly... Steve over at Artisan has been wanting me to use their Natural Linhanyl nylon. He even sent me a spool to test. They are top flight over there at Artisan and I love Steve. But I still like the poly for this kind of project. It looks whiter than white. It wears very well especially if it's outdoors a lot. And it sews beautifully.

I don't think there is ALL that much of a difference between the bonded poly and bonded nylon. If Steve had the white Nylon, I might have gone with it and I would feel fine about it. I have about 20 pounds of various color nylon threads in #69 and #92 so it's not like I have anything against nylon. But I do like my white's looking very white.

The Natural looks kind of dingy white to me. There are some projects where that may be better than the pure white. And the difference isn't huge. Many folks wouldn't even notice a difference. I know lots of people PREFER the Natural. I just fall on the other side of the fence I guess.

I did get some fraying with the 346 poly as well as with the 346 Linhanyl. I think I may have a little microburr on the needle bar thread guide. I'm going to rouge up some thread when I get a chance and run it up and down that guide and smooth it out. I sized down to 277/207 and it solved the fraying problem teporarily.