Leather projects.

[Zephaniah W Nash]

Thought I'd try my hand at something new -- and while I had plenty of respect for you craftspeople out there, there's even more now.

Found our old leather tools, and bought a bit of scrap at Tandy's, and started a few small projects.

Pouches -- Started with a pretty basic drawstring pouch, and no problem, though I'm not sure that I'm using a good weight of thread. Any suggestions...?

Flintlock holster -- Not too bad, though it is a bit messy here and there. I don't mind a bit of a rough look, but the first one may be a bit too rough. More practice should help out, I would think.

Baldric -- Pretty much a huge failure, apart from the learning experience. Used too light of a leather, to start with. Left some of the lengths wayyy too long, in places that, to fix, I believe I might as well start over, salvaging what material (buckles and such) is still useful, and use the leather for any light, smaller pieces I need.

I think I'm off to a fair start, though, and will post any progress, if anyone is interested. And, any advice that I can't already find by surfing through existing threads would be appreciated.

[julius27]

Me own baldric started out fine and turned into a slight failure over time. The explanation be that at first, all I wanted was a place ta hang me sabre that was more mobile than a belt frog. The solution was ta make a one an' a half inch belt strap with rings in the ends ta hang the Elizabethan frog from. I added a dagger upside down from the shoulder an' it looked great. I ran inta trouble when I wanted ta start loadin' meself down fer true intimidation factor. By the time I'd added two pistol holsters, a kukri knife, an' a cutlass on the back, the bloody thing weighs about fifty pounds an' hangin' on a one an' a half inch spot on me shoulder hurts a lot! Now a baldric really needs ta be made out o' a heavy leather; 7 - 8 oz vegtable tanned is what I use. Ye can also just buy a belt strap from Tandy. That's definitely the way ta go if'n yer makin' the other stuff fer lighter duty such as pouches an' the like. The holsters I've made were from the heavy weight leather I mentioned, are simple, eligant an' functional. I can send ye a pdf file o' the pattern if ye like. Good luck on all o' yer work, mate!

[Silkie McDonough]

Julius,

If you offering to share I have some leather that is looking for a project or two and a baldric would be a good one to start with. Could you PM me that pattern also ...it may take a while to get to it but I would appreciate the help.

[Silkie McDonough]

Also, a good portion of this leather that I have acquired is teal suede ....any suggestions on what to do with that? I can make a bodice but I don't need two or three the same color and ...teal may not be historically correct. Any input would be appreciated.

Thank you for sharing your thread Mister Nash. As a pirate I have discovered that it is easier to get forgiveness than permission. :)

[Zephaniah W Nash]

Julius-

Would greatly appreciate any patterns you happen to have. I've been mostly using my existing - purchased - belts and baldrics to follow as best I can.

You can send me a PM here, or just e-mail to thtrgoon@hotmail.com

Silkie-

The suede I found makes a nice pouch - though I can't vouch for period correct-ness, either. Plus, some of the larger scrap pieces and the remains of the not-so-good baldric cobbled together a nice little flogger. Finally, I can keep me crew in line. Or, they'll enjoy it too much -- time will tell...

[Scupper]

I have a pattern for a multi piece baldric. I got it out of an old No Quarter given. Works well. And it dosen't ride up my neck. have a pattern for rawhide tabacco pouch which can also be used for leather flask. Email me and I can snail mail them.

Scupper