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A Practice Piece for the Leather Bench

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BrokenolMarine
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A Practice Piece for the Leather Bench

Post by BrokenolMarine » Sat Jun 04, 2022 7:01 pm

Miss T picked me up a book at Hobby Lobby with some cool techniques in it for using non-border tools for borders on the leather. Plus, I have the new Cowboy 3200 sewing machine in the shop that I hadn't gotten a chance to use yet, so since it had rained for two days, I thought I'd go out in the shop, since I couldn't work on the berm wall.

I re-read the pages on the creative borders, and gave that a shot, and it turned out okay. I didn't get the spacing exactly right and the curve at the bottom of the "sheath" blank wasn't perfect, but it was a practice piece. I wasn't actually going to make a real sheath, right? ;)
(My usual rule is to ALWAYS work as if the piece will be fully finished, but it was raining and arthur was working on me.)

Okay, I had the border done and had the blank center... Basketweave practice. THAT went well.

220602 sheath.jpg
220602 sheath.jpg (140.73 KiB) Viewed 807 times

I thought the completed piece looked a bit too "busy" and was going to toss it, but Miss T loved it. :? Now I had to finish the dang thing.
I went back in and cut the back and did the rest of the steps. Beveled the edges... and set it up to sew. Then I remembered, I don't have a clue.
Miss T came in and stood behind me, and gave me a running coach's commentary over my shoulder.

"Slower, watch your line on the right side."
"Good, WATCH that LINE.'
"Good, good, line.... line."
"Now backstitch to lock."
"Perfect."

sewn 220603.jpg
sewn 220603.jpg (149.71 KiB) Viewed 807 times

Anal that I am, in the future, I'll have a mark where the stitching starts and stops so that I am not ONE stitch off between one side and the other. It stands out to me. :twisted:

So, went back out and applied the various finishes. I dyed the back and edges black, then burnished the edges. The front panel was dyed golden, then antiqued. The entire sheath was treated with Mink Oil to keep it supple. Dye will make the sheath stiffen up.

It's done.jpg
It's done.jpg (138.19 KiB) Viewed 807 times

It was all practice, and if I redo the project again, I'll apply all the lessons learned. The important thing here is that Miss T Loves it.

What? :roll: That hole at the top? Miss T wanted to be able to hang this sheath from a lanyard around her neck and tuck it inside her shirt and carry a small knife around the farm until needed. She has several I have made that fit it.
You can tell a lot about the character of a man...
by the way he treats those who can do nothing for him.

I don't look back at the things I can no longer do, I just look forward to the things I still can.

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BrokenolMarine
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Re: A Practice Piece for the Leather Bench

Post by BrokenolMarine » Sat Jun 04, 2022 7:13 pm

Note: After several hours drying time, the finish evened out. I'll post another pic soon. Sorry.
You can tell a lot about the character of a man...
by the way he treats those who can do nothing for him.

I don't look back at the things I can no longer do, I just look forward to the things I still can.

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BrokenolMarine
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Re: A Practice Piece for the Leather Bench

Post by BrokenolMarine » Sat Jun 04, 2022 7:26 pm

Here is the sheath after the colors evened up a few hours later, pictured with the knife I made Miss T a few years ago. Curly Cherry Scales.


sheath and Curly Cherry Knife.jpg
sheath and Curly Cherry Knife.jpg (72.5 KiB) Viewed 803 times
You can tell a lot about the character of a man...
by the way he treats those who can do nothing for him.

I don't look back at the things I can no longer do, I just look forward to the things I still can.

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fortyshooter
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Re: A Practice Piece for the Leather Bench

Post by fortyshooter » Sat Jun 04, 2022 7:59 pm

For a first try that looks darn good!

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BrokenolMarine
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Re: A Practice Piece for the Leather Bench

Post by BrokenolMarine » Sat Jun 04, 2022 9:26 pm

fortyshooter wrote:
Sat Jun 04, 2022 7:59 pm
For a first try that looks darn good!
Thanks.

Not my first sheath, just the first not sewn by hand.

:)
You can tell a lot about the character of a man...
by the way he treats those who can do nothing for him.

I don't look back at the things I can no longer do, I just look forward to the things I still can.

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Hatchdog
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Re: A Practice Piece for the Leather Bench

Post by Hatchdog » Sun Jun 05, 2022 11:02 am

Nice sheath but I have to say that the knife looks very useful. Nice

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daytime dave
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Re: A Practice Piece for the Leather Bench

Post by daytime dave » Sun Jun 05, 2022 11:42 am

Nice leather work Marine.
Some days I'm Andy, most days I'm Barney........
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