Halloween Distractions

Halloween came and went - and it stole my brain away from the kidney belt. Instead I made this.

Slacking

Yes, I have been slacking. I really need to go to Tandy and buy 4 things and then finish it! but I have been slacking, or just insanely busy with work and not wanting to do much when I get home. I am definitely not fond of election season!

Update on the Kidney Belt!

Here is the back and front all tooled and dyes - next step is doing the protective coating which will also brown/tan the white sections. This is the fun part! Tomorrow I have to figure out how to do buckles. This'll be good.

Kidney Belt - Treasure Map

The design got approval from Jon, so hopefully tomorrow the kiddo will let me tool it and get pictures up to show everyone :)

We will see though, its gonna be a crazy day tomorrow with an extra small one in the afternoon, and a SERIOUS need to clean.

Treasure Map - Kidney Belt

So - Here is the first drawings for the Kidney Belt - He has said he wants the background green (which I am really hesitant on, I think it will take away the treasure-map look) But I am waiting for him to approve the picture plan before I start tooling.

The plan is to do 3 quarter-inch buckles from the front on each side into the side panels in addition to the lacing, and to have the rear just lace. I am hoping that it will more clearly define the "masculinity" of the belt. :) We will have to see. Thankfully, the guy this is for can pull it off no matter what!





They are a little hard to see since they are just pencil-scans, but...Hopefully they give an idea of what I am working on.

Any thoughts?

Treasure Map - Waist Cinch for Boe

So - Success!!! I finished it and got it in to her on the Saturday I said I would. It did take an 8:00 trip to Tandy's and doing the final eyelets at a picnic bench at the festival site - but Hey, at least I got it to her.

Fail points on a different side - It was a little too small :( I am checking to see if she wants me to make her a quickie small extra back panel to make it the bigger she needs - It'll be easy to do and might make it more useful. It was a real bummer to see how small it was after I worked so hard to make it large enough.

I absolutely LOVE how the gloss/protective coat dulled the white into more of a tan. Really love how it all worked out :)




I didn't remeember to get any pictures outside - but I got a TON of awesome compliments on it - most importantly, from other leather workers. Like Professionals! It was very awesome, and one of them offered to teach me how to do beveling on the edges to make them all more comfortable. I wasn't able to take him up on it, but I may look it up online and see if I can figure it out.

AND...One of my long-time guy friends asked if I could take the same idea and make him a Kidney belt - so I am on my first (non Husband) project for a guy! YAY!

Photo - Compass Waist Cinch

Finished with the dye - may have a few more touches left tomorrow, but first I really need to know what Boe thinks... Here is hoping she likes it!