simontuntelder

I put a fair amount of time into the burnish on this bag, you cant quite tell from the pictures I posted.

I was thinking about painting the edges dark brown, but decided against it.

Did you cut the leather while it was wet? That makes for a cleaner cut...

And have you considered trying out some solid brass rivets?

Maybe it's just me, but i quite like using brass hardware with brass rivets. Unfortunately I also like how copper ages, but it is impossible to find copper hardware to my knowledge (if someone has a source, please let me know)

Anyways, great work.

I get these buckles custom made for me by a guy in Pakistan. He does a hell of a job

Damascus steel is a very nice feature... How will it react with the acids in the leather?

I have been using hole punches from the Japanes brand Kyoshin Elle - the ones from Tandy are absolute s**t compared to them. Especially when I'm making bigger objects, they are very handy or may I say invaluable. But you still need an awl for tons of other stuff, but it speeds up the process.

According to an expert at my local shop, some American brand called "Crafts something something" made the best hole punches ever, but they went out of business or seized production.

I found a shell (cordovan, of course) at my local leather shop. Apparantly the owner kept a stash in the back for a long time. When I came in, he had just sold some and now he only has one left. It wasn't first quality, I guess. But I was still tempted to buy it.

it was around $75-80 - how is that price?

Hollow, you make such great things. The hardware looks a bit too big, but if you find the right hardware, you have something very good going on. Very nice, first try.

Does anybody know some good Japanese blogs/shops/websites about leatherworks? (not goodsjapan)

The first link isn't showing...

What thread do you use? I mean very specifically?

I have always used Amann thread, as I have always been told that it's the best. I have been using the Saba line, as well as the Seralon.

But I have just noticed their Rasant line, which is poly core and cotton covering, and I have been meaning to buy it for some time now to test it on my first pair of selvage jeans. Unfortunately the Rasant line is not very easy to find.

WOW! You nailed it man. Nice work.

Although I'm not too fond of the thread colour choice, but that is totally a case of preference.

The stitchwork is great - what machinery do you have?

I just keep returning to this thread.

Bill, keep us updated on what's going on in your head - and in production of course.

Well, there is JF Baker, who makes some of the best leather in the world.

I use that leather when I make belts and so does the guy that makes belts for Tender Co, if I remember correctly.

The indigoshrimp blog had a write up on it.

If you a smooth running and nice zipper, you might want to go with Riri (I have them too), as they are really good and equally tough in my experience.

Talon, along with Scovill, GripperZipper and possibly Conmar are the original makers of zippers for jeans, workwear and military stuff. So they would be the authentic choice. Furthermore the Japanese are obsessed with them - if you read the new Mono book on Workwear they have a spread on Talon zippers used in military jackets primarily.

To me Talon is the authentic and correct choice historically that is. They are bit coarse and rugged compared to the smoothness of Riri. But if you use a 2B or 4B pencil on the teeth of the Talon zipper, it improves greatly.

YKK is not a bad choice - as they have a huge range of zippers, but to me that is the very boring choice. I would NEVER use them. As they do not stand out in any way. Not nice to the touch, not great running, not tough, but neither are they bad. Do you get what I'm trying to say? They are just YKK and not cool.

BTW guys, I cam across a HUGE lot of Talon (mostly Talon 42 brass) zippers...

They are all NOS.

Let me know, if there's any interest, I would like to sell some off in order to fund the purchase and maybe some new materials and tools.

I have no idea what they are worth, so I'm not really sure what to sell them for - I'll of course sell them 4 cheap.

So how are you all doing? Any new projects on the table?

I just bought my own sewing machine - a Singer 221, which I'm hopefully able to use on heavy denim fabrics.

I have e-mailed with Premium Denim Outlet and they have been really friendly. I'm having a friend send 12 yards of the 4 different types of selvage denim (from Cone) that they offer. Hopefully, I'll turn some into jeans and some into other projects.

Where can I get brass Laurel leaf doughnut buttons?

Anybody looking for a pair of 1955's 101z size 34?

They have been cold soaked, but never worn.

I could proxy you the denim because i think i may be making an order soon.

even if your jeans dont look good id love to see pics because im trying to make a pair. How did you make your pattern?

That would be great. Let me know, if you order from them.

I took some baking paper actually (very DIY) and put it on top of the jeans, that I wanted to take the pattern from. And then I drew the outline of all seams. Then I added around 1/2" to make room for stitches. That probably wasn't enough and I should probably have taken an old pair apart - like many here suggest.

Where do you get your Riri zippers from? I need some for the bags I make.

I scour thrift shops/flea markets and I always find some. Mostly in the 12-22 cm range, but I do have some 70 cm.

for a couple of years I lived where the Danish textile industry used to be, so that might have helped too. I don't know though, as I seem to find them everywhere.

I have been making some pants recently. I'm not too satisfied with them, so I won't be posting pics just yet. Sorry.

Everything I have made until now, have been made with thrifted materials from thread to zippers (I have tons of Riri zippers, if somebody needs some for a good project), but I'm feeling more and more confident with the machine, so I want to make myself a pair of selvage jeans.

Is there a good source for selvage denim in Europe or UK?

If not someone here should proxy some Cone denim from Premium Denim Outlet.

I was also wondering where I could get some Laurel leaf donut buttons?

Nietenhosen: How the hell do you flatten your rivets like that? Please post some pics or even better a movie :-) They look stunning.

I can photograph my Edwin Lee tags, which should give the proof you need I think - too dark now tho. PM me your email addy.

Thanks, Paul. You're the best.

If more people would like to share some knowledge or rahter proof, please do let me know.

Today I had a talk with a salesman/agent from Edwin and he told me that he had never heard of a link between Edwin and Lee. He was from the Europe division of Edwin though. And we had a talk about this and almost got into an argument. Bottomline is, now I have to e-mail him some documentation along with some pics of my jeans, and if I'm right he'll give me a really nice pair of Edwin jeans - although I'm not really into Edwin generally.

So where do I get this information? I looked on the tags of my Lee 55's (from Speedway) and there where no evidence of them being made by Edwin.

I am looking for some speedy help here fellas.

Today I spotted 2 crescent down works 60/40 parkas in large and tan color for only $60 marked down from 300 at the Steven Alan sample sale. Quality is incredible, get on it.

Proxy??

Please

Thanks, doc.

Does the cut of the 551 Zxx differ much from the '60s 501 repros?

From my experience the 551 is a of a mix between the 501 '55 and '66, which makes sense, as the 551 is between the two years. But it is a bit closer to the '66 though, if you really have to compare the models.

My 551 doesn't have a Talon zipper unfortunately. They have a no-name zipper that is kinda flimsy.

WOW... They are amazing.

Do you know where I can find the cheapest Sierra Designs x Pendleton 60/40 parka in Japan? I have never bought anything from Japan (besides magazines and knives), so I don't know where to begin.

Does anybody here own the Lee 1955?

I would really like to see some fit pics or at least some info on the sizing or thoughts about the fit. From the looks of some sizing tables on some Japanese webshops this model isn't oversized, but that would make it the only model that isn't.

I have been wearing a pair of '54 501z quite a lot, but I bought them true to size, and they fit perfectly, which means I can't wash them or soak them, unless we're talking a really quick cold soak maybe. So I wan't to buy a new pair that I can soak, shrink and wash.

Do you guys know if there is some way to soak/wash them without getting the zipper bulking?

I was thinking about cold soaking them a couple of times really quickly at first, so the shrinking goes a little at the time, but I maybe that is just crazy thinking, and it might just be impossible.

Please help.

anyone know where to get some rivets to make some jeans?

http://shop.ebay.com/landco317/m.html?_nkw=rivets&_sacat=0&_trksid=p3911.m270.l1313&_odkw=rivets%C2%A8&_osacat=0

This seller usually has some good rivets available. But his stock looks kinda low right now.