One of the things I have been trying to do since I started all of this is to replace all of my current leather gear with something more elaborate and decorative. A mug frog is fairly simple, but my pouch is sorely in need of an upgrade.
It was purchased at an event, and cost was a major factor at the time, so it is very plain, the leather is a little sub-par, and I’m not 100% pleased with the design. So, I’ve made a lot of pouches in an effort to come up with the perfect replacement.
My first attempt was a success as far as construction went, but it was still plain and a little small for the amount of junk that normally gets tossed in there at an event. (Smokes, lighter, mints, flashlight, about half of my wallet – you get the picture.) So, off I went again. And again. And again…
The latest version is yet another change to the overall design – just two pieces instead of three or four in an effort to reduce the amount of sewing. The design works, but again this one is a tad small. I do need to pile up some stuff to auction off for our pavilion fund, however, so I thought I would dress this one up with some tooling.
The leather in the construction won’t tool, so I will be sewing or riveting something on to the flap. I’m leaning toward rivets – I like the visual better sometimes, but mostly I just don’t like sewing. (I really need a deeper jaw on the stitching pony for most of my work.) I was playing around with my drafting tools, and came up with a nice Celtic Trefoil design:
The rivets will go in the center of the three foils and also on either side of each tip, so it will be pretty secure. The closure, of course, is always my biggest headache of the design process because there are so many ways to do it, and what will work best? I really only get one shot at each pouch.
I thought I would give that Walnut oil dye one more chance, and used it on another design that I had screwed up, and I am once again thoroughly unimpressed with the results. There will be a trip to the store on my schedule for this weekend.
This last weekend, however, put another two projects on my list, as J bought a new sword and needs a good frog to hang it off his belt and K got herself a new knife with a lousy scabbard. Maybe I should just buy a hide this weekend while I’m at the store…