I used the abbey mahogany available from Joann's fabric store (used the 40% off coupon when it was still good)
I also used the double sided vinyl (it's a faux leather, with a faux suede on the other side) for the edge piping.
I more or less followed IndyMag's tutorial with Shylaah's blog tips... however because the vinyl is a "unique" material to sew I decided to try a couple things on my own regard.
So... this piece is a bit unique as a result.
The story: I have been wanting to upgrade my Jack Sparrow costume fully ever since I "debut" it first about 6 years ago. Since then I've done things slowly... ACME buckles, Yordreem wig-swag, alvine smal curtains/sash, CABoots, refurbished waistcoat, MR rings.... etc etc.
Moving to savannah I got the idea "Oh I can be a jack sparrow!"... no, no time for that, and no time for upgrades. So basically It sat in my closet. I made a fairly accurate PotCII Liz Swan waistcoat for a friend... and then last summer moths got into (and ate) my wig... and I realized just how inaccurate my frock is (let's not even talk about the breeches).
So what I'm doing now is upgrading what I can... in an effort to sell the costume as a full piece before graduating, getting a skill-job, getting engaged, and basically needed as much cash as I can muster! hah.
So here's the progress on the baldric.
I obtained the fabric and approximated the *closest* visual I could from SA onto the vinyl. Though it is mirrored- I'm still pleased with how the pattern is arranged.
secondly, I made the belt blanks 2"1/4" wide... and the edging nearly as wide.
The back of vinyl is easy to sew on with a walking foot...
Once the first stitch was made, the weight of the fabric made the edges too thick, so I trimmed the raw edge down to about 1/8th
What I didn't want however was to totally rely on glue for the back of the belt. Thought it would save a lot of time in production... I knew that with any kind of contact cement the hold might not *always be good... in which case I wanted the edges sewn back.
The difficult part is that with most machines that have moving parts, the facing of vinyl fabric will catch and destroy your progress because the vinyl is basically a rubber that sticks.
So I began using tracing paper and the invisible zipper foot to edge the needle right into the seamline.
Once that was done, I used a rough grit sandpaper to tone down the shine of the belt, and used a thin black wash to get into the recesses. The final step on weathering was a low-grit sanding of the top layer which brought out more of the belt pattern.
The backs were glued with loctite's indoor fabric cement.
This was difficult in some areas with tight curves, like the top of the frog and the shoulder straps' tip.... but in the end it is a FAR superior product than what I had originally made.
Here's some pics.
New baldric style + the untouched abbey mahogany vinyl + my "original" baldric
This is where I was using the invisible zipper foot and the tracing paper to have traction on the vinyl facings
The final baldric, with conchos from Capn Jack Savvy and the ACME buckle
I also used the double sided vinyl (it's a faux leather, with a faux suede on the other side) for the edge piping.
I more or less followed IndyMag's tutorial with Shylaah's blog tips... however because the vinyl is a "unique" material to sew I decided to try a couple things on my own regard.
So... this piece is a bit unique as a result.
The story: I have been wanting to upgrade my Jack Sparrow costume fully ever since I "debut" it first about 6 years ago. Since then I've done things slowly... ACME buckles, Yordreem wig-swag, alvine smal curtains/sash, CABoots, refurbished waistcoat, MR rings.... etc etc.
Moving to savannah I got the idea "Oh I can be a jack sparrow!"... no, no time for that, and no time for upgrades. So basically It sat in my closet. I made a fairly accurate PotCII Liz Swan waistcoat for a friend... and then last summer moths got into (and ate) my wig... and I realized just how inaccurate my frock is (let's not even talk about the breeches).
So what I'm doing now is upgrading what I can... in an effort to sell the costume as a full piece before graduating, getting a skill-job, getting engaged, and basically needed as much cash as I can muster! hah.
So here's the progress on the baldric.
I obtained the fabric and approximated the *closest* visual I could from SA onto the vinyl. Though it is mirrored- I'm still pleased with how the pattern is arranged.
secondly, I made the belt blanks 2"1/4" wide... and the edging nearly as wide.
The back of vinyl is easy to sew on with a walking foot...
Once the first stitch was made, the weight of the fabric made the edges too thick, so I trimmed the raw edge down to about 1/8th
What I didn't want however was to totally rely on glue for the back of the belt. Thought it would save a lot of time in production... I knew that with any kind of contact cement the hold might not *always be good... in which case I wanted the edges sewn back.
The difficult part is that with most machines that have moving parts, the facing of vinyl fabric will catch and destroy your progress because the vinyl is basically a rubber that sticks.
So I began using tracing paper and the invisible zipper foot to edge the needle right into the seamline.
Once that was done, I used a rough grit sandpaper to tone down the shine of the belt, and used a thin black wash to get into the recesses. The final step on weathering was a low-grit sanding of the top layer which brought out more of the belt pattern.
The backs were glued with loctite's indoor fabric cement.
This was difficult in some areas with tight curves, like the top of the frog and the shoulder straps' tip.... but in the end it is a FAR superior product than what I had originally made.
Here's some pics.
New baldric style + the untouched abbey mahogany vinyl + my "original" baldric
This is where I was using the invisible zipper foot and the tracing paper to have traction on the vinyl facings
The final baldric, with conchos from Capn Jack Savvy and the ACME buckle
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