To all of you who have been faithfully visiting this blog I
want to offer a heartfelt apology for not getting this post out sooner. About
the time I began preparing this post I started a new job and I have been trying
to adjust to the different schedule and the commute. It took too long to get
this one done and it is my fault. I will try to get more done, possibly much
shorter than this one, as soon as I can. I will share some tricks that I have
learned from someone or on my own.
To pick up where we left off, with the fold made in the belt
loop it is a good idea to let it dry so that it will retain its shape. Having
this fold already in the leather will be a little bit of a challenge when the
top part of the loop is sewn on but it will make the loop a bit flatter against
the back of the pocket. It will also help to align the top of the belt loop to
the height you want it.
To align the belt loop on the back of the carrier pocket I
will once again rough-fit the belt loop so that I can mark the outline of the
areas onto which I want to apply Barge Cement. I believe that you will find it
better to rough-fit the loop and mark the glue points before either machine or
hand sewing it to the back. The photo below shows the alignment of the loop
with the excess leather to the left side of the back. It is not mandatory that
you allow for the excess leather in this manner but you will want to plan your
mode of attack before actually cutting the leather.
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| Belt loop on back after being folded |
The photo below shows how the belt loop might look after
being attached. Doing this will also give you an idea of how you want to place
the top of the belt loop in relation to the top of the multi-tool. Variations
may come from the different lengths of the multi-tool and the way in which you
might like it to sit on your belt. Again, this is just a trial fit and placement
to see how it will look and for marking your glue points.
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| Side view of belt loop before being attached |
In the photo below, you can almost see a rectangle marked in
pencil. This rectangle area is where I will place the glue to attach the
portion of the belt loop to the back of the carrier pouch. It might be
possible to get by without gluing the piece down and successfully stitching it
in place but I would not take the chance. At this point if the loop slips while
stitching it on it will be difficult to relocate the whole loop and then poke more
holes in the leather. What will happen is that the holes could be so close
together that you would run the risk of the leather tearing or that you might
have such large holes in the back of the pocket that sewing would be difficult
as well.
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| Belt loop glue area marked on back |
The area, which is marked for applying the glue, is on the
grain side of the pocket and it is smooth. This means that the glue will not
adhere as well to this surface as it would the flesh side of the leather. If
you have read the earlier posts, you will see that the smooth side of the
leather is the grain and the rough side is the flesh. What I like to do before
applying the glue to the grain of the leather is to scuff it up a little so
that the glue will adhere much better. The photo below shows that I roughed up
or scuffed the area in which the glue will be applied. To scuff the leather I
used the tip of a flat-bladed knife. Coarse sandpaper can be used to scuff up
the leather but caution should be taken to make sure that you do not scuff too
much or too deeply. Either way that the scuffing is done it is a good idea to
blow the leather dust off from the scuffed area to ensure that the glue will
stick to the leather. At this point, it is also a good idea to scuff the area
of the belt loop that will be attached to the back of the pocket.
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| Glue area on back after being roughed up for better adhesion |
The photo below shows the glue applied to both of the pieces
of leather mentioned in the above paragraph. The glue I used on this project is
Barge Cement, which is my favorite adhesive to use on my projects. I have tried
rubber cement and the results were all right immediately but it did not last as
long as I would have liked. I learned that rubber cement does not last as long
as the Barge Cement on projects that might have any oil applied to it. In most cases,
you will probably not have any problems with the longevity of rubber cement
unless you are gluing lining leather to the inside of a project that might be
oiled.
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| After the glue has been applied to the upper areas |
In the photo below, you can see that the belt loop has been
glued to the back of the pocket. I evidently forgot to take a picture of the
upper portion of the belt loop after it was stitched to the pocket. The black
rectangle superimposed on the photo is there to show the basic stitch lines
that I would use. The only thing that someone might want to include would be to
add stitching diagonally across the rectangle shown. I do not think that it is necessary
to do that but you might want to consider the thickness of the leather used as
well as the weight of the tool to be carried in the pocket.
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| Upper portion of belt loop glued to the back of the pocket |
Once the upper portion of the belt loop has been stitched
onto the back of the pocket it is a good time to rough up the area where the
lower part will be attached, that is if you have not already done it. Do not
apply the glue to both ends of the loop or the back of the pocket at the same
time. Doing so is a good recipe for a disaster or some headaches with sewing an
alignment of the loop in general. Besides that, it is extremely difficult to
complete the stitching the upper part of the loop with the lower part already
attached.
The photo below shows the lower portion of the belt loop
after it has been glued and stitched onto the pocket. I sew/stitched it on with
my sewing machine because it is much faster than doing it by hand. You will
notice that the distance between the two lines of stitching are spaced at the
length of one stitch apart. I did it this way to make sure that there was ample
room for a belt to slip through the loop and because this area will not be
carrying the majority of the weight of the tool on it.
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| Closeup of belt loop as stitched on the back |
Okay, by now we have the belt loop stitched onto the back of
the pocket of the tool carrier and now it is time to attach the pocket. I like
to line up the pocket with the center of the back, mark the upper edges of the
sides of the pocket, and make sure that the lower part of the pocket can be easily stitched I then apply Barge
Cement to the areas below those marks. Place about a quarter-inch wide strip of
glue all around the bottom part of the back where the pocket is to be attached.
Put glue around the outer, flat edges of the pocket on both the edges and the
bottom. It will not hurt it you get more than a quarter-inch strip of Barge
Cement on either piece. A little extra is better than not enough in this case.
Remember to put cement on both surfaces where they will meet each other.
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| Pocket glued to the back - with edges untrimmed |
In the photo above you can
see that the pocket is narrower than the back piece. You might also notice that
the edges of the pocket are not straight. There are at least a couple of ways
you can manage the task of trimming off the excess leather from the sides of
the project. Using a ruler, the edges of the project can be marked with a
pencil, making sure that the same width is kept the full length of the cut and
that enough surface area is left to perform the stitching. With the pocket
attached to the back it is a little more difficult to put a straight edge on
the leather where you want to cut it and hold it in place while cutting. I
prefer to mark the line and trim the edged with a sharp knife.
In the photo below you can
see that I trimmed the corners of the bottom of the pocket simply by cutting
them at a 45 degree angle. I made these cuts before I trimmed the edges. It
does not matter when you trim the corners, just be sure that you do not cut too
close to the edge of the pocket and leave enough room to stitch around it.
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| Bottom corners trimmed off |
After I have trimmed the
corners of the pocket I do not want to leave them with the blunt angles that
you see in the photo above. Generally, with two smaller cuts I can trim the
points from the corners left by previous cuts. You will notice that the corners
are not perfectly round but they are closer than before. The photo below shows
the corners after the points have been trimmed a little more. What I have found
is that when I complete the cuts previously described, by the time that I bevel
the edges on the project and burnish them the corners will look very well
rounded.
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| Bottom corners of pockets trimmed more |
The next step in the process
is to sew or stitch the pocket to the back. If you look closely you can see
that I used my sewing machine to sew the two pieces together. I simply did this
for the speed of completing this stage. Something that you might want to
consider when stitching your project by either hand or by machine is to double
stitch the top three to five stitches on each side of the pocket. That means
that to have three double stitches on the side where you begin stitching you
would need to start at the fourth hole down and sew backwards to the top. In
the same manner to double stitch the side you finish on it would be necessary
to backstitch until the desired number is reached.
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| Pocket after being sewn onto the back |
Once the pocket and back have
been sewn together I like to set the snaps on the pocket and the portion of the
back that is to be the flap that covers the multi-tool. The photo below shows
the four parts of the type of snap that will be used on our project. The upper
left piece is the cap, which is the rounded piece you will see on the outside
of the flap. The socket is just to the right of the cap and it will be attached
to the cap to form the outer portion of the snap. The third part of the snap is
the post, which is the piece that the socket will be snapped onto. The piece in
the lower right hand corner is the rivet portion of the post. Holes will be punched
in the upper-center of the pocket and the lower center of the flap. (Be sure to
look at the photos showing the finished product.
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| The four pieces of a snap |
Setting snaps is a simple
process as long as you have the correct tools and the right length of rivets for
your snaps. Snaps are basically set by a riveting process. If you look back at
the photo above notice the two pieces on the left. The cap on the top is the
finished side of your snap that will be seen on the outside of the flap. The
bottom left piece is the post, which will be seen on the outside of the pocket.
You might consider them as the finish sides of your snaps.
As previously mentioned, it
is necessary to have the proper tool for setting the snaps. The photo below
shows the tip of the snap setting tool. Although difficult to see, the center
portion of the tool is rounded like a nob and it flares out the closer it gets
to the wide portion. The wider portion is concave so that it will give a
rounded effect once the rivet is set. To complete the riveting action, once the
correct snap pieces are put together, place the setting tool with the tip in
the center of the rivet and strike it with a non-metal hammer or mallet. I do
not like to use metal hammers on my tools because it will mushroom the end of
the tool and make it look ugly and give it sharp edges. The snap setting tool
can be purchased at many craft stores and most of them will come as part of a
complete set that will include a small concave anvil and other tools for
setting different types of snaps.
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| The tip of a snap setting tool |
To line up the snaps on your
project it is necessary to know the diameter of the snap to be used. Place it a
reasonable distance from the edges of the pocket and flap. What I like to do is
to find the center of my flap where I will be placing the cap and socket and
mark the center with an awl or pencil. I
place the socket over the center mark to make sure that it will not be too
close to the edge before punching any holes. I then punch a hole that is just
large enough to allow the rivet portion of my cap to fit through it. I want the
cap to show on the outside of my flap and have the socket on the inside or the
flesh side of the leather. The photo below shows how the inside of the socket
will look after the it has been riveted to the cap. You can see that the snap
setter automatically rounded the end of the rivet.
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| View of inside of socket after setting it |
To mark and position of the
post part of the snap I will put the multi-tool into the pocket and close flap,
which now has the cap and socket set on it. I will use it to mark the position of
the post by centering the flap on the pocket and press down hard on the cap to
mark the outline of the socket. This will allow me to easily locate the center
of of the position for the post. Once I have the center marked I will punch a
hole in the leather large enough to place the rivet through. I will then place
a piece of wood or something harder and close to the right size, in the pocket
to be a backing for setting the rivet on the post. Be sure that the base of the
rivet is on the inside of the pocket. Place the carrier on a smooth surface
where you can set the rivet by striking the setting tool with your mallet. Do
not attempt to set the snap using the multi-tool as your backing because it may
render it unusable.
Now, with the multi-tool in
the pockets try out your snap. For all intents and purposes your project should
be complete except for putting the finishing touches on the flap if so desired.
The manner in which you finish the flap is entirely up to your If you would
like to round the end a little to take off the corners you might have something
that looks like what you see below. The only thing I would advise you to do
before applying any stain or oil to the leather is to burnish the edges and do
any additional trimming that you feel is important to give your project the
finished look you want.
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| Front of flap after the snap has been set and snapped in place |
Let me know if you have any
questions or comments. I will try to get another post out sooner than this one.
Have fun!
