31cmp Report post Posted December 2, 2016 I'm very new to leatherwork but I've always wanted to try it out so forgive me if this is a dumb question. I want to make some lined leather belts for christmas gifts and I was wondering if using 2 layers of garment leather and hand stitching them would look good and be durable? I'm kind of aiming for an hermes mens belt look with black leather on one side and brown leather on the other Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jmatthews7157 Report post Posted December 3, 2016 I use 8-9oz vegtan for the outside and 3-4oz vegtan for the inside rough sides together. After glue and tooling operations I apply dye, stitch, and finish. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
31cmp Report post Posted December 3, 2016 14 hours ago, jmatthews7157 said: I use 8-9oz vegtan for the outside and 3-4oz vegtan for the inside rough sides together. After glue and tooling operations I apply dye, stitch, and finish. Do you have to skive any of the leather that you use or can you buy it in those weights from tandy or weaver? I don't want the belt to be too thick either, are the belts that you make really thick? Would 2 strips of 3-4oz garment leather be good for a belt? Sorry for all of the questions, I'm very new to this. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Cent Report post Posted December 3, 2016 Unless the wearer is fit and trim and does not cinch the belt tight, the thin stuff works. I also use 8-9 ounce for the outer and 3/4 or 5/6 for the liner. Besides I don't think my Cobra would sew 6 ounce leather Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halitech Report post Posted December 4, 2016 take 2 pieces of garment leather, hold them together and pull. If you can live with the 3" of stretch in a belt, it will do great. If not, get some 6oz (minimum) veg tanned leather and line it with the garment. Make sure you glue it and then stitch it well (by hand, not on your home sewing machine) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnv474 Report post Posted December 18, 2016 If you like you can take two layers of thin leather and hand stitch them together, but sandwich between them a material that is flexible but won't allow stretch. One example would be 1" nylon straps, such as used for backpacks, buried in the adhesive. I'll save you some fuss and say to punch out oversized belt holes in the nylon ahead of time. 'oversized' because lining up the two thin straps can be a challenge and because you don't want nylon fibers peeking out. It could also be a piece of canvas, etc. This has been done for ages, and still is in many commercial pre-made straps. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
