A few of my latest project with some new tooling and dye work (for me).

Diomedes Industries

Diomedes Industries

Joined
Mar 19, 2007
Messages
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I finished this project for my wife yesterday. It is tooled and a matting tool was used to make a silhouette. I dyed the figure with black and tried to do a mottled look with British tan, Light Brown, and Chocolate Brown. I stitched it with sinew:

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Here is a sheath I made for a customer. The knife is not the one for this sheath. His is an antique micarta handled. I wanted an antique look with a spider motif (as it is a Fiddleback Arete custom knife):

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This one is simply the latest one in my sheath line:

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Here is a sheath I actually made for myself. ;)

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I know KT. It just don't look right without a few concho's, bullet's, studs, and fringe. I think you may be getting to me!

TF
 
Looking very good man, love the book cover, your sheaths get better every time I look at them. One question if ya dont mind, are you using a machine or hand stitching, either way the stitch lines look great.
 
Hand stitching. I likely will not buy a machine. I am a hobbyist and the space and money is a bit much. Who knows though - that may change.

Thanks for the comments.

TF

P.S. Semper Fi. 93-97
 
Your hand stitching is about as good as I have ever seen, spacing, tension, neatness, the works.......but there are and will be instances where a much smaller stitches (10 or so to the inch) and more delicate look (lighter thread and smaller needle) will enhance your work greatly. Your project for the wife shown above illustrates the point. While it looks oaky, it could have looked great. The sheath shown, on the other hand, looks perfect, using the same equipment and stitching method.

Without a good selection of different sizes of awls, smaller needles and lighter thread, and a very good eye this will be most difficult for a hand stitcher. Enter the flat bed sewing machine and all of a sudden it becomes very easy to do. Hand stitching is adequate, even great, where a bold stitch looks good and adds to the aesthetics of a piece, but it does tend to do just the opposite on a more delicate or smaller work.

That's my story and I'm stick'n to it.

Paul
 
Paul. I went with Sinew on my wife's journal because I wanted a sort of 'Rustic' look and I think it was the wrong choice. I agree totally.

I have thinner needles but have struggled to get the right thread for these applications. I am sure I am not looking in the right spot.

I will post a thread concerning thread (no pun intended) and see what we can learn.

Thanks KT!

TF
 
I do like the way the book cover turned out! :) For a good mottle you really need those smooth transitions between colors. Sharp splotches, like with a sponge, do have their place but its not going to have the same effect.

As usual I'm in another camp when it comes to thread, for the most part what I make gets used hard. I have a bunch that have gone over to the sandbox, get mashed on a cops utility belt, my personal sheaths get ground against concrete under our vehicles during maintenance. I want durable thick thread for these. I do like the look as well, which helps. :)

As said before, that bonded machine stuff is slippery and not good for hand stitching, its great because it doesn't unravel but that is also its undoing. (pun intended) :p I've tried to use it to restitch sheaths that my machine constantly skips stitches and its frustrating at best. Tejas thread is a good all arounder, but the wax is a bit overdone. Tandy does carry a sewing awl thread thats a bit thinner but doesn't have that thick wax issue. Anything thinner than that awl thread just looks weak to me, and where my work goes, I don't want weak. Similar reasons go for why I will not make a machine stitched sheath for a deploying soldier, I can cut a stitch and unravel the whole thing in less than a minute.
 
That leather work looks very very nice
 
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