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Message started by Kick on Jun 1st, 2019 at 5:04pm

Title: Help with leather pouch
Post by Kick on Jun 1st, 2019 at 5:04pm
I got this incredible decorated leather pouch from Tomas ages ago and made this sling with it. I had it hidden away and I recently rediscovered it and, though it worked really pretty well despite it being super long, looking at it now... it's ugly. The pouch Tomas made is beautiful but I really dropped the ball. Cotton string in a simple braid is not good enough. I now want to do this pouch justice and give it the cords it deserves but I'm not really sure how to go about it. I know very few braiding techniques and it's kind of unusual with the three holes which limits it to 6 strands. I tried a 6 strand round braid but it pulled off to one side and didn't really work. Anyone got any ideas?

I can't remember now if Tomas gave me any tips; if he did, I can't find then now. He hasn't been around the forum for a little while, but, if you are there Tomas, what would you suggest?

I've added photos of how I attached the cords originally with the simple braid.
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Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by joe_meadmaker on Jun 3rd, 2019 at 8:16pm

Kick wrote on Jun 1st, 2019 at 5:04pm:
looking at it now... it's ugly.

That's funny.  As soon as I opened this topic, my first thought was, "Wow, what a beautiful sling!".  But I get what you're saying about the cords being on the plain side.

Unfortunately I don't have a specific recommendation.  But I was in a very similar, yet reversed, situation not long ago and thought what I did might help spark an idea.  I had a sling from way back when I first started making slings.  At that time I liked braiding them, but had zero idea how to use one.  So a lot of my slings had really tiny pouches that don't come close to holding the ammunition I currently use.

The specific sling I'm talking about was one that had really nice cords, but again too small a pouch.  I decided to cut the pouch out and attach the cords to a leather pouch instead.  Here are some pictures of this sling (I didn't take a before picture, so these are just its current form).

Full sling:


Close-ups of front and back knotting:


As you can see, I didn't put much time into making this look pretty.  I just took what was leftover from the sides of the pouch, put them through two holes, and tied them in a knot.  Again, not pretty, but effective.

You mention having a problem with the 6 strand braid pulling to one side.  You could possibly start the braid from the finger loop side instead, then find a way to knot it to the pouch.  You could also use a three strand braid, again starting from the loop side.  Then at the pouch put each strand through a hole and tie them off.  I don't know how nice that would look, but should be pretty quick to make a braid and give it a try.

Hope you're able to figure something out.  That is a beautiful pouch.  It should be slinging :D

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by NooneOfConsequence on Jun 3rd, 2019 at 10:41pm
I’m always a fan of the look of a diamond round braid. There’s lots of tutorials on YouTube, but here’s one that’s nice and short:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UtWWA6MQXGE
Maybe go with a natural fiber in two contrasting colors like black and tan to complement the leather.
That’s my $.02

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Kick on Jun 4th, 2019 at 12:49am
I had another go at the 6 strand round braid and it seems I've finally managed to get that to work. I'm using jute but I only have the one colour of it. I haven't decided if it's the retention or release side yet, going to see how long it comes out :D I am considering maybe switching up the braid to add some variety and at some point I'm going to need to make a multicoloured sling, for whatever reason I haven't yet.

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by joe_meadmaker on Jun 4th, 2019 at 7:51am
I had another thought on this.  Sort of bouncing off NOC's idea for a four strand braid.  I think this style could work.  Using your bottom two pictures as a reference, what if you brought a piece of cordage through each of the bottom holes.  Then put both pieces back through the top hole together (may need to punch the hole out a little larger depending on the size of the cordage). All 4 strands would then be on the same side and you could start your 4 strand braid.

I think this could also be done with an 8 strand braid if you were using a thin cordage and the holes are large enough to fit 4 strands through the top.  I'm a fan of hemp.  That you could get in multiple colors, and might be thin enough.  I think this would give you a nice clean look on the pouch too.

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Frondeur on Jun 4th, 2019 at 7:53am
Hey!

Seems like Joe here is braiding from the loop/tassel end, down to the pouch. I'm not sure about this, but I think Kick is working the other way, ie from pouch to end.
I do prefer the second way, but it makes repairs a bit harder.

Introducing two-colors braids was really a good thing to me. My slings looked twice better, without me doing anything more than before!



Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by walter on Jun 4th, 2019 at 8:55am
Easier to braid or twist two colors.

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Kick on Jun 4th, 2019 at 10:24am
Yeah I've been working from the pouch to the end. The 6 strand is working quite nicely now but it's taking an age. I'll post some pictures in a little bit. I'm thinking of doing a wool sling sometime soon which I do have a lot of different colours of.

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Kick on Jun 4th, 2019 at 10:31am
Looks way better than the cotton string.
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Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by joe_meadmaker on Jun 4th, 2019 at 11:18am
Agreed!  Looking real nice  8-)

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Mersa on Jun 5th, 2019 at 6:56am
Yeah looks the part for sure !

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Tomas on Jun 6th, 2019 at 11:23pm
Hi! Late to the game I am, I am!!
Kick- you essentially did what I would have done 8-)
I can only suggest adding some whipping to protect the cordage at the connection points.

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Kick on Jun 7th, 2019 at 1:15am
That's a good idea. Looking at it now, it probably would survive a fair while without it but I would hate to have to redo it if it came loose. Thanks for the tip! I'm just glad it's looking so much better :D

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Kick on Jun 16th, 2019 at 3:48am
I actually finished the braiding off a while ago but took a while to get around to the whipping. It's come out looking pretty darn pretty (if I do say so myself). A far better look than the cotton string I think you'll all agree.
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Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Frondeur on Jun 16th, 2019 at 5:49am
oh boy! I just love what you did here!
The whiping makes it so nice!

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Kick on Jun 16th, 2019 at 5:52am
I wasn't sure about the whipping at first because I didn't want to cover up the decorations, but yeah it does help with making it look neat and I extended the whipping on the release end to help protect the cord a bit.

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Tomas on Jun 16th, 2019 at 7:26am
Looks awesome dude 8-)
Have you tried slinging with it yet?

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Kick on Jun 16th, 2019 at 8:20am
Haven't had the chance unfortunately. I'm starting my summer job tomorrow but I'm hoping that will actually lead me to put more effort into using my free time for slinging. When it had the cotton string, it worked great though I did also make it huge. This time it's a little shorter so might be a little more user friendly :D

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Curious Aardvark on Jun 16th, 2019 at 9:51am
lol, I'd have just enlarged the top hole and used a loop :-)

Yours is way prettier :thumb:

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Morphy on Jun 16th, 2019 at 12:49pm
Love it!   :)

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by Mersa on Jun 16th, 2019 at 8:20pm
I think thats a very pretty sling , now you just need to age it through use !!

Title: Re: Help with leather pouch
Post by dork on Jun 16th, 2019 at 10:24pm
When i first saw this i thought use jute..

I love the way the whipping looks. Very nice.

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