Sewing – Projects

May 26, 2022

Basket Weave Holster and Belt

My leather work only improves through practice, so practice i do. I saw this great YouTube video from Adams LeatherWorks who also sells beautiful holsters and magazine pouches as well as patterns which are available at https://www.adamsleatherworks.com. I decided I had to give it a go, and fortunately Tandy Leather was having a sale on culattas at my local store.

The Culatta from Tandy was pretty nice Veg-Tan leather, but I always try and layout personal practice stuff from the less desirable areas like the belly, so I can save the nicer portions for gifts for others. You can see that there was a ton of real estate left once I did a basic layout. I hope to share what the rest went too soon.

The pattern from Adams leather work was pretty easy to follow and like I noted above with a link. A great tutorial video on how it was created and how to use it is available. I really think buying the pattern was worth the under $10 kongbucks it cost for the results.

Tooling Practice, finish, and Basket Weave

BasketWeave_Holster_antique — BasketWeave_Holster_oil

I also got in some practice “tooling” a basket weave pattern on the holster. Really the only way to improve your tooling and stamping is to do it. I had to do several test pieces before I was comfortable enough to move on. Once it was no so wonky I did a oil and antique to the panels prior to assembly. I have referenced Don Gonzales’ https://dgsaddlery.com tutorials before which are also very great.

Assembly of Holster and Magazine pouch

I did saddle stitch the holster by had so the stitch lines did not match the pattern completely. I also joke around that I figured out why they are called pancake holsters as they look like pancakes prior to wet molding them to the gun. I need to practice my saddle stitching to improve the look, but the point of this holster is practice! I know the mahogany edges and purple thread were not the combination I envisioned, but like how it came out.

A Belt to match

A new basket weave holster would not be right without a matching belt, so I did a little more practice. I joked on Instagram that I need to go on a diet, so my future belts are less work. I did get lazy and sew the belt stitching on a machine so the thread is not a match. I also got some nice straps out of the culatta, so bonus. The stitching was not perfect but it still amazes me what a Sailrite LSZ-1 will sew. It got a 8-10 oz culatta strap with an 4-8 oz double shoulder liner sewn together. I’ll admit it was not perfect sewing as the 6-ish mm (about 1/4 inch) barely fit under the presser foot and needle. I did not feed the belt smoothly it would vary the stitch length or break the needle. Oops! I am really wanting to try the new portable servo motor upgrade but cannot justify the expense when I can hand crank. I got the Sailrite as I wanted portable. If I continue to do thick leather maybe giving up portable for a cylinder arm machine may be another option.

Not a bad result considering it was my 3rd holster attempt. I am proud of the outcome but see things I can improve on. Having a multimold gun to form the holster is nice, so I don’t have to wet mold leather around a gun. I will need to expand beyond the 1911 commander, so either more multimold or blue guns are in my future.

Like I said I’m proud of the results of a third holster attempt.

November 6, 2020November 6, 2020

Tin Foil Hat Wallets and more leather craft updates

TinFoilHat_Wallet_MissionDarknes_TitanRF

I went to a talk ages ago at DefCon that discussed “drive by” attacks for RFID credit cards. My bank refuses to send me a card without “tap to pay” so I started making my own Wallets to protect myself. This Tin Foil Hat Wallets TM building is really why I started Leather craft, and here is my latest.

Tin Foil Hat Wallets TM

I use a single layer of Mission Darkness TitanRF Faraday fabric bonded to the outer shell to provide the protection for the wallet contents. My last 3 Personal wallets used this construction technique. I am just now getting into the electronics of RF testing as being from Missouri the “Show Me State” I don’t believe anything I have not seen for myself. I will update accordingly as I determine the fitness of this Faraday fabric. I will post an electronics blog post once this is proven good.

You can see the improvement in the new form factor on the right over my last revision which went a year. The new “card wallet bi-fold” doesn’t have a bill’s pocket which was a hang up for me in the past. I just don’t carry cash like I used to. The old revision had the Titan RF in the cash pocket.

I will miss the Natural Veg-Tan patina but like the combination of the Wicket and Craig Slate Skirting sourced from District Leather Supply and Sunguard Sunflower from Sailrite made a much nicer compact wallet. The Skirting is very nice to the touch, and I see myself using some more of Wicket and Craig’s fine leather in the future. District Leather treats even small crafters like myself very well, and my orders from them have always processed promptly. It is why I do business with companies like them and Sailrite. Treating the small guy like one of your regular large volume customers always gains my business.

Sewing at the Limits for Leather Craft and more

I made the decision over a year ago to go with the Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ-1 It is a great compromise for hobbyist like myself. I want a cylinder arm machine but would never do with out my LSZ-1. I push the boundaries of sanity sewing things it may have never been designed to sew, but it has taken everything I have thrown at it and only broken down once. Sailrite made it right by sending me a replacement next day even after I told them what I was doing. I self repaired it and it continues to amaze me. They provide great YouTube videos for their customers on How To sew and repair. Here I sewed 3 layers of 5.5-6 Oz Wickett and Craig Skirting, just over 6MM about 1/4 of an inch. It handled it. I did get the thread tension mal-adjusted so it was not the prettiest stitching as after pulling the first attempt the existing holes in the leather caused the needle to wander and break a few times. Operator error.

You can see here during my testing before I messed up the tension adjustment. Smooth even stitching and even backed up into existing holes evenly on top with the Size 22 needle. The bottom with the Size 20 was fraying the V92 size poly thread just a touch, so I moved up a size.

Hybrid Sewing

I Decided on the Ultrafeed LSZ-1 because I do a lot of hybrid sewing so it was a great compromise. Even if I push its limits. This padded chrome book case is an example. Canvas and leather sewn with a rubber backed carpet padding sandwich construction. Zig-Zag stitches to keep the padding in place in the panels and leather accents and gussets. I even used binding to give the inside a finished look with the Sailrite binding attachment. I could have gotten a bigger machine but would have had to give up zig-zag and sewing more delicate things with smaller threads. I just have to get creative on setup to sew some things like the leather handle loops.

CanvasAndLeather_ChromebookCase_zig_zag — CanvasAndLeather_ChromebookCase

Up Coming Leather projects

I have been testing steel rule dies to click out Leather craft project parts as I may start gifting or selling small scale goods. Here is a teaser of the Journal covers, card wallets, and flap top card wallets I’m testing construction on. Tin Foil Hat wallets TM will be as always a special request item. I tested pre-punched stitching holes too, but my hand sewing is worse that improper tensioned machine sewing. Not to mention I would have to charge a ton for my time. I could always sell kits like the people on that annoying pin subscription site which clogs google image search with mandatory sign up request before you can see image. Must be good business as he who pays google the most gets the top two pages of search results.

August 23, 2019August 23, 2019

Box of fabric shorts learning

Almost every order from Sailrite, I throw in a box of fabric shorts, as it is a great challenge to me to make something from the highly discounted fabrics inside. I never know what I will find inside, but they have been great fun. Previous boxes have yielded trix-or-treat-market-tote market-totes-again The August 2019 box was especially fun, and here are the things I built to learn.

Box of fabric shorts first piece

I got a great solid oak table as a hand me down from a friend, but my backside needed relief. I made some cushions for it. It was great practice for zipper plaques and getting the pattern to line up on the edge consistently. It was odd as the fabric had an 10 inch repeat on an 12 inch cushion.

Box of fabric shorts cushion plan
Box of fabric shorts cushion
Box of fabric shorts cushion2
Box of fabric shorts cushion twice

Box of fabric shorts second piece

The second piece out of the box was twenty seven inches of a nice vinyl coated fabric. I decided it would be a great protective bag for my folding solar panes for my Off grid Solar setup. Planning and layout was a challenge as the panels even folded are 24 inches square.

Box of fabric shorts twenty seven inches
Box of fabric shorts planning
Box of fabric shorts cut list

Once the plan was done and the pieces cut. I assembled them including a zipper plaque and continuous zipper install. The thin strip is the 24 by 1/2 inch remnant of the original piece it was a tight fit.

Box of fabric shorts zipper plaque
Box of fabric shorts zipper plaque2
Box of fabric shorts leftover

Once I got it sewn I turned it out and tested the panel fit. Perfect all 300 watts, or three by 100 watt panels and the extension cord fit inside perfectly.

Box of fabric shorts folding Solar Panel
Box of fabric shorts panel test fit
Box of fabric shorts cable too
Box of fabric shorts three all fit

Box of fabric shorts Still surprises in the box

There is a lot of learning and fun in the box still.

August 14, 2019August 14, 2019

Every Day Carry Shop Apron Intermission

Triple digit temperatures make me lack motivation to work in the garage on the work bench, so I decided to solve one of my project working issues. I have a tendency to set tools down and have to spend time searching for them. I have decided a shop apron is the solution to this issue. Now my EDC items while I’m working on projects is ready and at hand.

The Internet is a buzz of EDC (Every Day Carry) list, so this is the list of things I built my shop apron to hold while I working.

Pencil I love the old Pentel click in 0.9 mm with soft HB lead.
Utility blade folding knife either the Gerber or the Workpro I switch.
BIC lighter
Sailrite vinyl measuring tape
12″ Steel ruler
A combination square or my scissor holster.
flush cutting side nippers
Sharpie

I forget how much I like my Sailrite Ultrafeed. It has handled everything my mind can come up with, and has only suffered minor setbacks due to my operator errors. However, their support team has always been able to get me sorted either by sending parts or having YouTube videos available to show me how to reverse the things, I have done to make it a mess. A lot can be said in this day in age as companies that truly stand behind what they sell are getting few and far between. It handles going from “cotton duck” fabric to leather and back again without issue. I use “cotton duck” fabric sourced from the big box store canvas paint drop cloths as it is the cheapest way to get the fabric short of bulk wholesale.

Sailrite also have other tools that can be super handy. I got the Vinyl measuring tape on a whim but it has become my go to measure. For the price( under $2 kongbucks), I have started to collect them, so one is always at the ready. It has Metric on one side and “Freedom Units” on the other. This allows me to move towards the future where the world will be all Metric, but with a safety net for “Freedom Units” I know they are “Imperial units” but since America is the last stubborn hold out. I have nick named them “Freedom Units” in jest as us Americans are a stubborn lot. It also self retracts so much handier that the old seamstress/tailor’s tape used in the past.

I know I have shown my scissor holster before, but it was a quick wet molded leather holster with a belt clip to hold my Gingher scissors that I have had since I was a teenager, and a sharpie. You can still buy them today, and they will last beyond your lifetime and my have been sharp for over 25 years. It is sometimes annoying to have a waist holster to hold things while sitting so I added the leather loop to the Apron front to hold it while sitting, or a combination square if I’m doing woodworking.

Stretchy

I also don’t like the apron to flop in the middle around my beer calorie storage unit, so I have added an elastic stretch gusset to the waist strap. It takes up the apron flap so I can switch between sitting or standing comfortably without need to adjust.

Apron in progress
Apron Straps done
Apron Test fit
shop apron EDC

I still hope to find some cooler times to continue work on my workbench now this brief intermission is over.

July 13, 2019

Market Totes Again.

I made the Trix or Treat insulated roll top market tote, It was a hit so I made some more roll top market totes. I gave those away as a gift, so it took me awhile to make some more. I went for the classic open top and make them with canvas for simplicity.

Roll Top Market totes revisited.

I made some non insulated roll top market totes from some some of the fabric i found in my favorite Sailrite Box of Fabric Shorts. The box is a great fun as it holds lots of possibilities.

RollTopToteRevisitedPair
RollTopToteRevisitedLayout
RollTopToteRevisitedBuild
RollTopToteRevisitedClosed

Basic Market totes

I have based all of these totes on the Sailrite Market tote, but have adjust the bottoms and the pleats to remove the flap. The latest version is a basic duck canvas with the same black vinyl found in the box of fabric shorts. I also used webbing for the straps as I was too lazy to make the straps from scratch like on the last two. I also made these in a practice production run to improve my sewing skills and planning for making items in volume.

MarketToteParts
MarketToteDetail
MarketToteLayout
MarketToteLayout2
MarketToteDone

August 26, 2018

Trix or Treat Market Tote

I watched Sailrite’s Market Tote howto which was the basis for the Insulated trix or treat tote bag. The Halloween color scheme was great. You got to have a way to keep the beer cold while your trick or treating.

I had been trying the blue apron meals for recipe ideas. However there was a lot of packaging in getting meal ingredients delivered. It piles up when you don’t have curb side recycling. Well the knock off reflectix was just begging for a project not quite electronics upcycling but recycling is good.

low R value insulation — recycling the Blue apron packing

The tote was kind of built on the fly. It is hard to make a pattern when using scraps and recycling materials. It came out pretty nice. A bit crooked on one seam as the faux leatherette slipped a bit. I will need some more projects before I get into the fresh leather. You don’t want to make a mistake in leather and have extra holes.

August 26, 2018August 26, 2018

New Sewing Machine.

My interest in Leather Craft had led me get a walking foot sewing machine. I looked at the big commercial units used. However I went for the portable Sailrite LSZ-1. Since I already got the pile of hand me downs machines including the “sweat shop” Singer 241-12, A Sears Kenmore 148.295 from my Mom, and my grandma gave me a Singer 690U, which are all is some need of tuning and repair. I went new and have been having a blast.

I ordered a Box of Fabric for Sailrite to have some things to test before getting into the leather. It has been fun to get the surprise box and there were a lot of fun projects spawned from it. The first was the little lined zipper pouch to keep the tools in for the LSZ-1 made from some faux leather which I suspect is vinyl. I got some duck canvas for the lining which spawned the second project. The roll top stuff sack to keep my fleece sweater in.

Because I love the simplicity of the roll top bag. This led to project number three. I made a insulated market tote with some of the remnants from the box, and some knock off reflectix from the blue apron packaging. It has more of the faux leather/vinyl on the outside to protect the insulation and make it more durable.