Hello all, I have recently gotten the watch strap bug, and would like to journal my creations here. I am a leather worker that until now, has specialized in wallets. I'll be uploading progress photos as well as completed straps. I love seeing photos of how things are made, so hopefully these posts will be informative as well as interesting.
24mm Chestnut Bridle Tapered Strap
The core of the straps are Natural Veg-tan leather
First they are split down to the correct thickness
The position for the padded section is marked
Then glued into position
Now the exterior Chestnut Bridle is split to the correct thickness
The straps are then hand saddle stitched and the edges are heat treated with Acrylic
Finally, The 24mm Chestnut Bridle strap is finished. One fixed Keeper, one floating keeper.
Thank you. I came up with the templates over time. I make them with allowances for how I make the straps. I'm sure everyone's patterns are different for straps.
Thank you Kenng. I have been quite busy lately, but have been tossing around a few new strap ideas. Hopefully I will have some new designs soon. In the mean time, here is a Medium Brown Bridle Leather strap and wallet combo.
Thank you very much. Others have asked to see different designs as well, but I'm not sure in which direction to go. I gather people want simpler straps. Any ideas?
How about rally style straps ? They look cool and the vintage heuers and similar are buzzing right now .. A lot of people wanting to dress their vintage watch with a nice aftermarket strap [emoji106]
Very nice! I bet there will be a happy forum user in the future. I think Rally straps are a good idea, they do well on sportier watches and your current work pairs well with dress watches so the two different styles will compliment each other nicely. I do like how you bring your straps to a very sharp point on the tapered end. Most of the time they are more rounded off, or shallower tapers.
I appreciate your feedback. I really do need to add some more sporty straps. The rally is on hold while I finish these two orders up. They are Chevre Sully goat leather from Alran tannery in France. I think that this leather might lend itself to sportier straps also.
Here is the leather prepared to be split down to size on my Bell Knife Skiver
Here it is all split
Now the straps have been creased with my Fileteuse
Here they are receiving the edge paint treatment
Wow, excellent work. Like you, I'm definitely a 'how it's made' guy. The finished product is one thing, but seeing the workmanship that goes into it is fantastic. This is one to follow for sure!
Thank you very much!
Next I have marked the strap with a pricking iron to indicate where the stitch holes will be located and how the stitches will lay. Each hole will be pierced with the awl and saddle stitched by hand with waxed linen thread. The saddle stitch is the strongest method of stitching and cannot be replicated by machine. This stitch is achieved using one piece of thread with two needles that are both passed through each hole in sequence. This photo illustrates a strap before and after stitching.
Thanks Bryan00. Unfortunately there isn't anywhere online that teaches how to make watch straps really. It is just a lot of practice and trial and error. Leatherworker.net is a good forum to learn leathercrafting on. Good luck!
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