Изделия из кожи

POUCHES SEWN ON THE BELT

There are two schools of thought as far as sewing pouches directly onto the belt. Some stockmen dislike the idea firstly because the belt will no longer fit through the loops on their trousers, and secondly because they can no longer use their belt to temporarily tie up the legs of a

and also be used during cattle work, and another on which pouches for their working tools are sewn.

The belt without the pouches

This typical stockman's belt with three pouches was lent to me by Lee Bones of Kuranda. It is quite an old belt, and made by a bush craftsman.

On the left of the sketch there is a p o u c h f o r h o l d i n g a s m a l l sharpening stone, a very important

item when knives have to be kept with a razor edge.

The stone measures 76x26x6 mm, and the pouch was made a snug fit.

The buckle has come adrift on the belt, but the stitching holes show where it was placed.

An anvil can be improvised by

The press studs are put together as shown, using a hammer to strike t h e s e t t e r . D o n o t u s e t o o m u c h force or the stud will distort and not make a good fit .

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The problem with using this type

of press stud on a belt pouch is that sometimes after a lot of use they

will come loose, and spring open when only rubbed accidentally.

Once open the knife can easily slip out and become lost. The only

way to avoid this is to make the

knife a tight fit in the pouch.

As explained a little further on this is done by moistening the

leather used to make the pouch and forming it over the knife. When sewn

down the pouch will be an exact fit for that knife.

There is a longer lasting

type of fastener that has no moving

parts, and is usually known simply as a pouch stud.

The sketch shows two sorts that are available at present, but

unfortunately not all saddlers stock them.

The one on the left is in two pieces which simply screw together.

The one on the right has two legs which are hammered over to attach

the stud to the leather. Note that the washer goes on the top side of

the leather.

It is best to hold the head of the stud in a vice when hammering over

the legs. If no vice is available the head of the stud can be dropped into

a hole drilled into a piece of timber. Use something round, such as the

shank of a screwdriver, to first open out the legs before hammering them down.

This sketch shows a pouch a t t a c h e d t o a b e l t , t h e f l a p h e l d down with a pouch stud .

The flap has a small hole punched in it, and a small slit joins the hole. The hole is smaller than the head of the stud.

When done properly the flap will fasten easily, but will not come undone by itself. I have worn a watch pouch with such a stud for years and never had it come undone accidentally.

The sketch of the belt from the back shows more details of the

construction.

The main problem with sewing

pouches directly onto the belt is that the belt will then not fit through the

loops on your trousers.

The only cure for this is to fix the

pouch close to the buckle end of the belt.

However this creates another

problem, because the loose end of the belt will then cover the pouch

when it is done up.

There is a neat answer to this problem. A short distance from the buckle a rin g is fitted to the belt.

as

shown. If desired the flap of the pouch can also be sewn on with the

same row of stitching that secures the belt to the ring.

In this case the pouch has been made to fit any shape of knife. A piece of timber is shaped as shown.

A scrap of leather is then soaked in w a t e r f o r a s h o r t t i m e , t a c k e d

shape and sewn onto the belt .

The sketches show the beginning of an 8 plait

belt. To

do a 10, 12 or 16 simply add in more strands as

desired. The

first strand of lace is looped around the nail, making

sure

that the good side of the leather is facing upwards

all the way around.

Beginning on the left side at the top turn down all the strands in an under-over-under sequence.

The right side is then turned down in the same way. Now the centre left strand is moved across as shown by the dotted line,

then the right side inner strand is brought across as shown in the next drawing.

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30 Each strand is brought over in sequence. Once this has been done the work can be removed f r o m t h e n a i l a n d carefully pulled f i r m to make the point of the belt.

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MATERIALS NEEDED

4. 5mm lace used for the job. Flap, 5 at 400mm =2000mm. Front, 7 at 450mm = 3450mm. Sewing on front = 800mm Keeper, 3 at 350mm = 950mm

TOTAL 6900mm(23 feet)

This handsome knife pouch is permanently attached to the belt. It

looks best if it is made with the same lace that

was used to plait the belt. The techniques used for the

pouch are the same as for plaiting a belt. I would not

recommend this pouch to anyone who cannot

already plait a belt.

However there are b o u n d t o b e r e a d e r s

foolish enough to attempt this project without any

previous experience, and so for their benefit I am

including a small segment showing how a belt is begun.

Begin an ordinary 10 plait belt using 5 strands

of 4.5mm lace, each 400mm long. (All the

measurements are for an

ordinary pocket knife 100mm long, and will need

to be adjusted for longer or shorter knives.)

Complete 105mm of plaiting.

Begin fixing the ends into the belt about 100mm from the

marked A&B have not been fixed in.

The strands marked A&B are taken right through the flap and also

the belt, and are then worked into the back of the belt. This is

necessary so as to anchor the flap in the middle.

When weaving in the other strands

try and keep them away from the edge of the work, otherwise this

looks thick and clumsy when the job is completed.

Weave the strands in far enough so that they will not pull loose.

Trim off flush and the flap is complete.

FRONT OF THE POUCH

The front of the pouch needs 7

lengths of 4.5mm lace, each 450mm long. This will be worked into a 14

plait.