What's everyone working on?

For all of the Talk that doesn't fit elsewhere.

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Iodo
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Re: What's everyone working on?

Post by Iodo »

cool :P
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Manveruon
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Re: What's everyone working on?

Post by Manveruon »

Okay, tossing my own hat in the ring here finally! This is just one of a few personal projects I’ve been working on lately, and the first I’ve actually completed (the others are mostly still in the patterning stages).

As some of you know, last year I started trying to make a soft-sided “bota” style waterskin, by converting a commercial bota bag into something a bit more correct to “period,” but unfortunately that kind of crashed and burned when I accidentally tore the new goatskin cover I was making for it, and then pierced the inner plastic water bladder with a needle while trying to repair it. I was SO STINKING MAD that I basically threw it in a corner and haven’t looked at it again for a whole year. It absolutely IS my intention to completely re-do that project at some point, but in the meantime I decided to take a closer look at the water canteen I already have in my kit.

I made this waxed leather flacket a few years ago with the help of a reenactor friend here in CO, and other than it coming out just a tad unevenly shaped at the bottom, I’ve been extremely pleased with it, and it has served me well on many an outing! However, I was in a bit of a rush when I first needed to use it, so all I did was cut a strip of pre-finished oil-tan leather I had lying around and quickly sewed it up as a shoulder strap. It was… fine, I guess. But I was never really satisfied with how it looked, since the flacket itself was so nicely done. The leather of the strap also stood out like a sore thumb to me as being very manufactured-looking. The other problem I ran into was that it was not easy to access the flacket when wearing it with my whole kit, because I had to somehow take it completely off over my shoulder, when it was usually being carried alongside my quiver, bedroll, etc. and it would frequently get caught. Just terribly inconvenient, really.

So I set out to fix this all by making a brand new strap for it!
I used a medium-weight oak-tanned leather for the strap, and then hand-tooled and dyed it to match up a little better with the rest of my kit! I’ve been trying to add layers of detail for a while in the form of some simple decorative stitching, leather tooling, etc. and I was very fond of the design Elleth used on the brass bands of her cooking pot, so I added a design to the strap that is based very closely on that (although not 100% exact).

Then, to fix the problem of conveniently accessing the my water while on the trail, I made two leather toggles and added them to tabs at the ends of the strap, which fold over and button on and off! I actually got this idea from looking at the gorgeous flacket strap a member of the Middle-earth Rangers Facebook group made. Her version is fabric rather than leather, but it buttons on and off in a very similar way, and I just loved it, so I thought I’d give something similar a try! Now, I can simply reach down, unbutton one or even both of the strap attachments, take a drink, and button it right back on, without having to take the entire strap off over my head without somehow getting it tangled in the rest of my kit!

I am very happy with how this came out, and I’m just thrilled with the richness of detail my kit is starting to take on! I actually have Elleth to thank for that in large part, because a lot of the motifs she herself has invented have found their way into multiple pieces of my kit (as can be seen in the pics below)!
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Last edited by Manveruon on Wed Dec 21, 2022 6:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: What's everyone working on?

Post by Cimrandir »

Absolutely brilliant Manv! That looks fantastic and functions even better. Just might borrow that idea for a couple projects of my own.
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Iodo
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Re: What's everyone working on?

Post by Iodo »

I am lost for words! that is stunning :P
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Re: What's everyone working on?

Post by redhandfilms »

I was bored yesterday so I made a pouch from my leather scraps bin. I love making pouches like this. No pattern. Just digging through scraps and finding what kinda fits together with minimal cutting/waste. I've got a lap desk, so just sitting in front of the TV, watching Star Trek, cutting and stitching bits together. Good for an otherwise lazy Sunday afternoon.
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I like how the strap worked out here. I realized I can use it to hold a small roll of something. A roll of bandages if this becomes a first aid kit? Perhaps a small tool roll or tobacco pouch? Maybe just a bandanna or a place to put my gloves?
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Re: What's everyone working on?

Post by Taylor Steiner »

Great job!
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Turgolanas
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Re: What's everyone working on?

Post by Turgolanas »

Finished up my tool roll today, now I just need to replace all the modern items in it lol.

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Re: What's everyone working on?

Post by Manveruon »

redhandfilms wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 2:54 pm I was bored yesterday so I made a pouch from my leather scraps bin. I love making pouches like this. No pattern. Just digging through scraps and finding what kinda fits together with minimal cutting/waste. I've got a lap desk, so just sitting in front of the TV, watching Star Trek, cutting and stitching bits together. Good for an otherwise lazy Sunday afternoon.

I like how the strap worked out here. I realized I can use it to hold a small roll of something. A roll of bandages if this becomes a first aid kit? Perhaps a small tool roll or tobacco pouch? Maybe just a bandanna or a place to put my gloves?
Wow! Love this little pouch! What a great design! The ability to strap a roll of something to the top is a fantastic feature! Like you say, it would be a great place to store a pair of gloves, or a pipe and tobacco! Now you’ve got me wanting to try something like this out! :lol:
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Re: What's everyone working on?

Post by Elleth »

Very cool guys!

Mostly back to mending here... darning lots of socks. :)

But I've been looking at a couple old old projects that I think need to get actually wrapped up soon. I put off doing the finish dye on the penner case I received from Taurinor a couple Yules ago because I wasn't sure how to proceed - I've been thinking the Professor mentions so much black leather that it probably wants to be black, maybe the incising decorated with illumination paint -- ooh! -- or a bit of leaf if I can figure out how to do it. That would be awesome. A couple other little things, but nothing worth showing off yet.

Manv I LOVE LOVE that water bottle strap! I've been meaning for ages to make a proper long belt with that pattern. What do you use to incise the designs - swivel knife? scribe of some kind?
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Re: What's everyone working on?

Post by Cimrandir »

Oh, tease tease tease…
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Manveruon
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Re: What's everyone working on?

Post by Manveruon »

Elleth wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 2:45 pm Very cool guys!

Mostly back to mending here... darning lots of socks. :)

But I've been looking at a couple old old projects that I think need to get actually wrapped up soon. I put off doing the finish dye on the penner case I received from Taurinor a couple Yules ago because I wasn't sure how to proceed - I've been thinking the Professor mentions so much black leather that it probably wants to be black, maybe the incising decorated with illumination paint -- ooh! -- or a bit of leaf if I can figure out how to do it. That would be awesome. A couple other little things, but nothing worth showing off yet.

Manv I LOVE LOVE that water bottle strap! I've been meaning for ages to make a proper long belt with that pattern. What do you use to incise the designs - swivel knife? scribe of some kind?
Love the idea of decorating that case with paint or leaf! Can’t wait to see what you do with that!

And thanks so much about the strap! I’m really please with how it came out! Still have to field-test it, but it rides a bit higher than my old one, and with that as well as the added convenience of the toggled attachment I think I’m going to be much much happier with it than with the last one.
As for the tooling, I didn’t even own a swivel knife at the time (I actually bought one AFTER I finished it, because I went, “y’know what? This is dumb. I need to get an actual swivel knife finally.” :lol: ). So instead I just used an X-Acto to incise the lines, and then a stylus from Tandy to widen them and add definition. Not the most perfect or elegant solution, since it’s hard to control the depth with an X-Acto, but I think I managed it quite well!
I would love to see a belt done up with this design, incidentally! I’m really very fond of it!

Cimrandir wrote: Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:32 pm Oh, tease tease tease…

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And Cimrandir - OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH BOY what have you got there???? :O
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Re: What's everyone working on?

Post by Elleth »

Oh.. I don't think I showed off a simple 18th c. style trekking snapsack I made sometime back. Less for actual use and more just because I wanted an example of the style to play with. Same hemp fabric as my "New Invented" from a year ago, same strap and buckle, and with a nice linen lining. I have no idea how non-farby it might be, but I do rather like it -
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Much more medievally - and even MERS-y - things to show off soon I hope!

Edit - Cimrandir, that is really clean leatherwork! I'm jealous :)
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Re: What's everyone working on?

Post by Cimrandir »

Elleth wrote: Sun Feb 19, 2023 10:25 pm
Edit - Cimrandir, that is really clean leatherwork! I'm jealous :)

Oh, I can in no-way take credit for anything but the crazy idea for what I've been posting. I've taken a page from Eofor's book and commissioned a far more talented artist than I for something really fun. All photos are from the artist's workshop until I get it into my hands.

That snapsack is really quite fantastic! I think it's the striped linen that puts me in mind of Hobbits. Perhaps a Bounders lunch-sack?
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Re: What's everyone working on?

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Turgolanas wrote: Wed Jan 25, 2023 8:03 pm Finished up my tool roll today, now I just need to replace all the modern items in it lol.

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Sir, this is fantastic! You did a great job! Don't know how I missed it before...
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