First watch band!

[motocouture]

So, in order to convince hubby that I needed a another croc hide, I had to promise him a watch band for his shiny new Apple Watch. This is my first watch band, so learning as I go. Outer is Nile croc scrap, liner is HAAS Zermatt (?) calf in tan, stitched with 532 Lin Cable using KS 3.0mm stitching irons. 

[motocouture]

For the strap hardware, I’m using Stouch Apple lugs (slide into the body of the watch) and a stainless steel deployant claps from Bob Davis (18mm width)

[battlemunky]

If this is as awesome as your usual fare, I can't wait!

[motocouture]

1 hour ago, battlemunky said:

If this is as awesome as your usual fare, I can't wait!

Thank you! I’m enjoying working on something that’s not 16 x 6 in lol 

[RockyAussie]

2 hours ago, motocouture said:

For the strap hardware, I’m using Stouch Apple lugs (slide into the body of the watch) and a stainless steel deployant claps from Bob Davis (18mm width)

If its not to late I have to say on croc or ostrich leg or similar I usually do one of 2 things where the strap folds over the pin that connects to the watch. I do not know the thickness of an apple Stouch lug so one method may not work. The cotton wool ear buds you get have a plastic tube that normally fits nicely over a normal spring pin (not all)and I have found them an easy one to fold the skin over and glue on to. Cut over long to start then trim down to size after. You can cut through the skin and it if you like as well. The other method is to put a very thin (.5mm) veg strip onto the croc at the pin fold area. This is normally about 3/4" long and thinned at the ends to hold the croc shape better and to support the weakest area that is normally the area that fails on a watch band. I generally give this a tight curl when I stick it down to avoid any wrinkling as much as possible. because of the depth of the grooves in the scale areas they tend to break away on a watch band quite easily if you go with croc alone. The veg or the plastic tube help to take the drag of of the croc skin. I prefer the tube method when I can use it. Brian

[motocouture]

5 minutes ago, RockyAussie said:

If its not to late I have to say on croc or ostrich leg or similar I usually do one of 2 things where the strap folds over the pin that connects to the watch. I do not know the thickness of an apple Stouch lug so one method may not work. The cotton wool ear buds you get have a plastic tube that normally fits nicely over a normal spring pin (not all)and I have found them an easy one to fold the skin over and glue on to. Cut over long to start then trim down to size after. You can cut through the skin and it if you like as well. The other method is to put a very thin (.5mm) veg strip onto the croc at the pin fold area. This is normally about 3/4" long and thinned at the ends to hold the croc shape better and to support the weakest area that is normally the area that fails on a watch band. I generally give this a tight curl when I stick it down to avoid any wrinkling as much as possible. because of the depth of the grooves in the scale areas they tend to break away on a watch band quite easily if you go with croc alone. The veg or the plastic tube help to take the drag of of the croc skin. I prefer the tube method when I can use it. Brian

Thanks for the detailed advice! I think I remember seeing you mention the wool bud tube idea (awesome idea!). The Stouch lugs are a little thicker than an average pin, so I nicked a couple of fine coffee stirrers from the last hotel I was at, and used those. The diameter aligned nicely with the depth of the padding at the top. Also tried to make sure the fabric interfacing ran up past the bend - I noticed as I was flexing it just how weak some area felt, like you said. 

Here are the templates laid out, along with the trimmed calf. I reinforced the croc with some finally woven cotton I had in my stash (not very neatly, but ah well...), then used some scrap Horween Essex to pad the upper part of the strap.

[motocouture]

Stouch Apple Watch adapter (Amazon image)  22mm internal width on the bar

Edited December 16, 2017 by motocouture

[RockyAussie]

Apple watch and coffee stirrer all in one.......what will they come up with next???

[YinTx]

2 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

on croc or ostrich leg or similar I usually do one of 2 things

Brian, I have been contemplating a watch strap with exotic leather, but wasn't sure where to start.  You are a fount of knowledge, and I truly appreciate it when you share.  

Motocouture, I watch with bated breath...

YinTx

[motocouture]

11 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

Apple watch and coffee stirrer all in one.......what will they come up with next???

Ha! Exactly!

10 hours ago, YinTx said:

Brian, I have been contemplating a watch strap with exotic leather, but wasn't sure where to start.  You are a fount of knowledge, and I truly appreciate it when you share.  

Motocouture, I watch with bated breath...

YinTx

Couldn’t agree more on the first, and thank you for your kind words!

[motocouture]

Here are a few more progress pics. First one shows the top edge of one strap skived, turned and glued (over the aforementioned coffee stirrer), along with the calf liner skived on one edge.  The next one shows the croc glued down onto the liner; I then used one of my 1lb diving weights (lead shot in a mesh bag) wrapped in a handy tea towel to apply pressure without crushing the croc. 

[motocouture]

Some more pics of the process.  Here are the two halves stitched, followed by an inside view of the Apple Watch adapter installed on the band. 

Edited December 17, 2017 by motocouture

[RockyAussie]

Looking good and on the right track so far for a deployment type. @YinTx thanks for the compliment and I do likewise admire both yours  and motocouture's abilities and willingness to share as well. Like you I am excited to see the end results. I do think they are a lot more effort to get right than people think. Brian

[RockyAussie]

Wow ......Wow that was quick for a first time around and the results are better than I expected even from you. Don't think I've had to use this emoticon before.

PS. PM me your dads address before you come next and I'll shoot down a few more bits for you to practice on. Not that it looks like you need much more practice to me.

[motocouture]

4 minutes ago, RockyAussie said:

Looking good and on the right track so far for a deployment type. @YinTx thanks for the compliment and I do likewise admire both yours  and motocouture's abilities and willingness to share as well. Like you I am excited to see the end results. I do think they are a lot more effort to get right than people think. Brian

Thank you! And agreed on taking more effort than it looks like....Unfortunately, it turned out that I overestimated the size of my hubby’s wrists, and clasp side of the strap was waaaaaayy too long   ....so, back to the bench  to do some, ahem, rework....undo the stitching in preparation for cutting and seeing if I can rescue it...

[battlemunky]

Sorry you have to do some rework but even that part I'm appreciating following. This is an even more excellent thread!

[motocouture]

2 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

Wow ......Wow that was quick for a first time around and the results are better than I expected even from you. Don't think I've had to use this emoticon before.

PS. PM me your dads address before you come next and I'll shoot down a few more bits for you to practice on. Not that it looks like you need much more practice to me.

Making me blush here!  It’s such an enormous help to have the tips and input from this forum

thanks so much! Will do!

1 hour ago, battlemunky said:

Sorry you have to do some rework but even that part I'm appreciating following. This is an even more excellent thread!

Thanks! I tell ya, it was hard making that first cut into finished work lol

[A6C5O7]

Im excited to see the outcome! Keep up the stellar work! 

[bikermutt07]

It is looking fabulous.

[motocouture]

11 hours ago, A6C5O7 said:

Im excited to see the outcome! Keep up the stellar work! 

Thanks! Will post more pics today

 

2 hours ago, bikermutt07 said:

It is looking fabulous.

Thank you so much! Makes me laugh, whenever I stitch I think about gravy now 

[motocouture]

I managed to shorten the one end, folded over, glued and restitched the side seams, with an extra two stitches to help hold the turn. Avoided stitching right across the strap so that I didn’t weaken the stress point any further.

For the edge finish, I first trimmed off some with my awesome knip head knife (so, so sharp), then sanded a little. Reapplied edge paint on both the exposed area and the previously done edge, then when dry, used my fileteuse to smooth the overlap, re-sanded and reapplied.  Not as completely clean a finish as I’d like, but it’s hidden under the overlap somewhat on the underside of the wrist. It was good to learn that you can work in a new edge if need be and refinish the edge. 

[motocouture]

And last but not least, some pics of the finished band on the watch (really hard to get good shots lol). Hubby has already suggested some refinements for the next one - he’s “selflessly” offered to be my test dummy , including tweaking the band lengths, including a keeper and trying a single fold deployant clasp instead of a butterfly / double fold.

Also of note for the Apple Watch, as it measures your biometrics, ideally it needs to have good contact with your wrist, so the band can’t be too stiff.  I think this one will wear in ok, and shape to his wrist, but I definitely wouldn’t put any more padding in or make any thicker. 

[motocouture]

[battlemunky]

Looks outstanding and ridiculously classy. You have done well again!

[YinTx]

stellar.

YinTx