Well I wanted to share with you guys my attempt to put together a homemade MKVII. Working with photos gathered from this site. I was able to put together a pattern. And with a large amount of my wife's help on the sewing machine, I'm really happy with the results.
It still needs a little tweaking. There are a few details that were left out and a few that came out wrong. But with 1 yard I think I have enough for two bags. On the second attempt if your interested Ill put together a tutorial and share my pattern. I still need to go and get the brass snaps. I got the rings at Lowes (1-1/4"). Please any comments or criticisms or corrections will be greatly appreciated. Sorry that was so long.
On to the pictures
FRONT Bag overall Dimension 10"wide x 9" Tall x 3" Wide
IdahoJones wrote:Thanks, Im headed to the local leather shop at lunch today to see if I can find a good strap. Any suggestions? Things to look for or think about?
This is probably too late, but I bet you can get a "belt blank" along with the right closures... chicago screws, I think???? Probably less then $30 out the door. You'll have to dye the leather, but I don't think that'd pose a problem for you. ;-)
Raider S wrote:Duplicate post. But it's great you will share your patterns and give a tutorial. This looks great.
Your more than welcome.
Indiana O-Town wrote:This is probably too late, but I bet you can get a "belt blank" along with the right closures... chicago screws, I think???? Probably less then $30 out the door. You'll have to dye the leather, but I don't think that'd pose a problem for you.
No the saddle shop was closed during the lunch hour, but I put a call into the local Tandys and I think I can get all the stuff here locally. Any advice on finishing the leather for a Raider look? I haven't done any leather work since BSA summer camp days....
I'm no good in that department, that was just my idea that I had thought of trying out... but I'm running low on cash and not confident I could pull it off. You can read all about my bag woes (as if you haven't heard my belly-aching yet!) here...
Little update- Found the brass snaps and got those installed. I also spent some time in the shop trying to form a disk out of some thin aluminum sheet metal we had at the shop. No luck with that, I'm just glad I didn't cut myself. I also started drafting out the pattern in Autocad. No real distressing yet.
IdahoJones wrote:Thanks, Im headed to the local leather shop at lunch today to see if I can find a good strap. Any suggestions? Things to look for or think about?
Like you seem to be, I'm a do-it-myself kind of guy, but for less than the cost of the materials, leather dye, rivets, chicago screws, tools, and time involved in making your own strap, you could buy yourself one of Todd's straps. You would even have an acceptably SA slide buckle instead of one that is "close enough."
I don't mean to completely endorse Todd's straps as there are others out there that have a great reputation. It's just that his is the only one that I'm personally familiar with.
This posting is just a suggestion. But, if saving money isn't your motivation for doing it yourself, and you have plenty of time, then definitely do it yourself. I find a lot of meaning in creating my own "toys."
Cammer wrote:This posting is just a suggestion. But, if saving money isn't your motivation for doing it yourself, and you have plenty of time, then definitely do it yourself. I find a lot of meaning in creating my own "toys."
Thanks for bring this up. I took another look at his site and you make a good point. He also seems to have a good rep. Ill have to explore this option further.
NatiJones wrote:WOW!!! I'm quite impressed!! That looks amazing! I love the way you put such great work on the detail in the stitching!!!
Yup still planning on putting together a tutorial, with picture goodness.
It just may take me a while to get my wife to sit down at the sewing machine again before we leave for our 10 year anniversary cruse to Ensenada the 2nd week of November. She's working nights now and that leaves very few Saturdays to get everything together.
IdahoJones wrote:Yup still planning on putting together a tutorial, with picture goodness.
It just may take me a while to get my wife to sit down at the sewing machine again before we leave for our 10 year anniversary cruse to Ensenada the 2nd week of November. She's working nights now and that leaves very few Saturdays to get everything together.
