Leather sewing tool belt

Leather sewing tool belt

Finished, loaded and ready to wear.

Leather sewing tool belt back

All the stitching is done by hand using traditional leather working techniques.

Initial planning

Working out how to arrange what I need the belt to carry.

More planning

Working out how to shape the leather to attach the elastic belt.

Working out the detail

Using paper to work out the size and shape of the pieces needed for the pockets.

Fine tuning

After making a mock up in paper the next stage is to test the pattern pieces using pattern making card.

Starting to make

After testing and adjusting, the card pattern is used to cut the leather.

This is my solution for keeping my essential tools close to hand when I’m teaching rather than constantly uttering “Has anyone seen my shears?” My piece of leather wasn’t big enough to cut a belt so I came up with the elastic belt idea. It actually worked out really well because the tool belt stays comfortably close and in the right place when it is being worn. I will be adding some sort of quick release catch to keep the shears in place. At the moment, each time I crouch down (there’s a lot of picking things up off the floor in my world!) the shears crash to the floor. Not good for the shears not to mention my toes! There has been unexpected development…now my equipment is safely stowed….Has anyone seen my tea?