[Tobus]

I say try it out and if you don't like it you can make it a gunbelt.

Hmm, not a bad idea. The only thing is that a gun belt is meant to be worn low on the hips, not up at the natural waist. So I'm not sure it would work, unless I gave it enough adjustability in length.

That is some incredibly beautiful leather work! I have a similar project to yours on the go at the moment -- I am putting together a kilt belt from scratch, and my next decision will be just how much ornamentation will go on it! I will put together a few patterns on some scrap material and see what I like the best. My intention is to wear my kilt and belt for mainly casual occasions, and I have designed my belt and buckle accordingly. (I hope to finish it this weekend, and will post pictures of the finished product in the DIY forums!)

I look forward to seeing it! I always enjoy seeing what others come up with in their made-from-scratch projects.

I don't know what you call the straps that are dangling down under the silver 'coins' on the saddle but I had been thinking about trying to find something like that as a sporran strap.

Courtmount, the silver coins on the saddle are the conchos. She made those conchos from antique silver quarters and silver dollars. The conchos are used as a bit of decoration at connection points. The "straps" hanging down from them are just short lengths of 4-part round braided leather. I'd say they're probably 12" long each, and terminate in a Turk's head knot. They are used on the saddle for tying things like a lariat, bedroll, spare halter, or anything else you'd want to carry along. I used the same 4-part round braid as the dangly tassels on the Rob Roy style sporran I made. And I agree, they'd make a nice looking sporran belt, although it would be a bit small diameter and might "cut" into your waist if you're carrying anything heavy in your sporran. It certainly wouldn't be any worse than a sporran chain, though. You can Google techniques for a 4-part round braid - it's EASY to do - and make your own sporran belt! Or PM me if you need help.

Wow! That is some very impressive leather work there! Sadly, I think that amount of "Work" on a kilt belt would be too much. Let me try and explain. From a traditional(lets say the last 150 years anyway) kilt point of view the tartan is the loud bit and the rest is rather understated. Now before some one chips in, there is the exception of the ultra formal outfit with all the bells and whistles and possibly a tartan jacket and waist coat too.In this particular case, apart from the buckles etc, the leather work is plain and to my eyes it does look right that way.

Having said that, Highland attire is, apart from the kilt, is generally rather "quiet", so in my humble opinion some "quiet" leather work would be fine on your belt although I cannot ever recall seeing a tooled kilt belt before. Mind you, if I had a wife who was a skilled artist at leather work, like you have, then I would most certainly want to wear some of her work!

Have you seen the leather work on Ian Grant's website? Google Ian Grant of Edinburgh silversmith and you should find it. Anyway there are some "tooled" sporrans on show there. It is slightly unusual,I think, to see "tooled" leather sporrans, but I do think the thistle design looks very nice. As in most circumstances with highland attire "quiet" is the general effect to go for, BUT some "quiet" leather work would not go amiss.Steady with the spots though!

Jock Scot, as always, I appreciate your input. It sounds like "quiet" is the way to go for a traditional look. And yes, that's a good point that the tartan should be the "loud" bit. Putting too much tooling on the belt that is right next to the tartan of the kilt might be too much of a clash.

Despite the fact that tooling can be highly decorative, I am sure it can be done in an understated way. For example you could stick with your idea of a simple thistle in the back and keep the Celtic knot work to a subtle and delicate pattern at the edges of the belt. It might also be good to keep the spots near the hardware in the front so it's in what appears to be a more natural place for it.

Another way to approach would be go with the thistle in the back and do the rest of the belt in something like the basket stamping on the gun belt. A small pattern like that would look like a texture from a distance and would only look like a pattern up close and would bring a great degree of subtlety to the pattern.

Now that's a pretty good idea! Maybe just the thistle in the back and a basket stamp around the sides to give it a textured look. There are a lot of different basket stamps out there that can give any number of appearances. In fact, there's even a Celtic themed basket stamp that has tiny little Celtic knots in the pattern that you'd never see except up close. She's been wanting to try that one, and this might be a good excuse (the stamping tool is $50!).

Well, I'll think on this some more. The idea of using spots may be out, unless I put them near the buckle. The buckle itself is chrome plated, and I may tone it down a bit by painting it black and then wiping away most of the paint to give it a more "antiqued" look. I suppose a pair of spots on either side of the buckle wouldn't be too terrible, especially if they serve double-duty as strengtheners for the leather connections in lieu of rivets.

The funny thing is, this is Texas where tooled belts and loud buckles are the norm. She has built all manner of custom tooled belts for bull riders, cattle ranchers, and others. Even with my normal attire of boots and jeans, I wear a very decorated belt with silver conchos on it and a shiny belt buckle. It's hard to switch mental gears and don an outfit where the belt is supposed to be plain, so I appreciate all your input. I think I'm getting closer to finding the right balance between the two!

[cloves]

woah......just...woah!...that saddle blows my mind.

I think a highly tooled kilt belt would be awesome....but maybe only with a solid colored or tweedy type kilt. It might just be too much with a busy tartan??

[Brian K]

Originally Posted by Tobus

The funny thing is, this is Texas where tooled belts and loud buckles are the norm. She has built all manner of custom tooled belts for bull riders, cattle ranchers, and others. Even with my normal attire of boots and jeans, I wear a very decorated belt with silver conchos on it and a shiny belt buckle. It's hard to switch mental gears and don an outfit where the belt is supposed to be plain, so I appreciate all your input. I think I'm getting closer to finding the right balance between the two!

I'm a Yankee born and bred but with deep roots in the South. I am not usually a fan of Western wear - up here it screams "dude ranch cowboy" - but I have always admired the tooled belt with silver conchos as worn Texas and the Southwest. I'm not a big fan of large belt buckles but I have seen many tooled and conchoed belts with a more normal size buckle. One of these days I'll find a good one at a bargain price and wear it with jeans and khakis. Most of the inexpensive ones I see are cheap looking and I'd rather not do it at all than badly.

Good luck with this joint project!

Regards,

Brian

[ShaunMaxwell]

Tobus:

Your wife's leatherwork is awesome! As others have said, on a kilt belt, subtlety is preferred. I think if everything were the same color, it could be a thing of beauty.

Check out the Oconee Leatherworks embosseed belt with a Celtic pattern here: http://www.oconeeleatherworks.com/images/DSC00387.JPG

If you were to incorporate your wife's workmanship and design into something like that, I think you'd have a winning combination.

Looking forward to seeing the final result!

SM

[Ryan Ross]

I think the advise thus far is spot on. However, I will throw this in: If you like the first tooled belt and want a second, let me suggest this buckle:

http://www.treasurecast.com/index.ph...t_detail&p=179

It looks fantastic with a kilt, and looks "in place" with a very wide level of formalities.

[BoldHighlander]

Originally Posted by Brian K

Your wife is an artist.

Tobus, Brian K beat me to the punch....your wife is a true artist!

I'd agree w/ the rest that the heavily tooled belt would be great with a solid or tweed kilt, and a wee bit more "understated" for tartan wear.
A bit of experimentation is in order, and I for one can't wait to see the photos of the results!

[peacekeeper83]

I agree with Jock with the subtleness of the leather, but as one living in Texas, I see a black basketweave belt with silver rivets and a silver buckle..maybe not the spots, but a simple pattern... That would be a beautiful belt, and paired with a matching sporran belt, with the silver snap clips, would be sweet.

[piperdbh]

I agree with what's been said already about a belt not "outshining" the kilt, but try this on for size:
You live in Texas, where tooled/decorated leather are the norm. I think a "native-looking" kilt belt would be just fine. Your master leather-working Mrs. could carve in a few thistles to honor Scotland, and a few bluebonnets to honor Texas, with a simple vine and leaves running the length of the belt. And please post more pictures of her work!

I've been thinking I want a dogwood (NC's state flower) belt, and seeing that saddle makes me realize it's possible.

[Tobus]

Thank you everyone for the compliments. I've passed them along to her and she is very appreciative.

Check out the Oconee Leatherworks embosseed belt with a Celtic pattern here:

Yes, I'll admit that the belt you're showing there sort of started this thought pattern. That's the one you (and Jack Daw) were wearing at the Highland Games a few weeks ago, aye? It looks like they do a simple embossing on the leather, and I was considering taking it a step further with an actual tooled pattern - although probably not as "busy" as that one. The deeper impression from the tooling would probably put it overboard with a pattern that busy, although it works well with embossing.

And please post more pictures of her work!

Heh, I could do that all day. I'm very proud of the work she does. I'm a lowly engineer, so even though I can drive through the downtown area of any major Texas city and point to buildings I was partially responsible for, I'm still jealous of her artistic ability when it comes to leatherwork. And while I didn't really intend for this thread to be a showcase of her work, I'll happily oblige.

This is a serving tray she made a couple of years ago. It's the same Sheridan style tooling with a basket stamp in the middle. The sides are made from rough mesquite wood. This tray, like her saddle, has to be tooled first, then carefully dyed with a tiny paintbrush in all the backgrounding between the flowers. Then certain parts are taped off and it's airbrushed with dye to get the faded look in the middle. Then it's antiqued and finished with Neat-Lac. It's a LOT of tedious work, but it sure looks pretty.




Umm, here's a set of chaps she made. No airbrushing here, but she did have to do a lot of the same tedious applying of the dye in the backgrounded areas. And this one has brass "spots" on it. I like the simplicity of the single flower in the middle of the basketweave, and it was partially what inspired the idea of a simple thistle at the rear of the belt I am wanting to do.




This is a set of saddlebags she made for a friend's daughter. It matches the saddle she built for her too, although I don't have a picture of the entire saddle. But the tooling pattern that you see is all over the saddle too. It may not be readily noticeable, but it's a distinctly different pattern than the saddle I showed earlier. She always designs the tooling pattern differently, so every piece she makes is unique.




OK, last one: this is a Celtic design saddle she built for a customer. As you can see, it has Celtic knotwork all over it, as well as a traditional Celtic horse pattern. If you look at the knotwork at the cantle (the rear part of the seat), you can see kind of what I'm thinking about for my belt. Something like that, but all dyed the same color. That wouldn't look too busy on a kilt belt, would it?

[BoldHighlander]

Originally Posted by Tobus

OK, last one: this is a Celtic design saddle she built for a customer. As you can see, it has Celtic knotwork all over it, as well as a traditional Celtic horse pattern. If you look at the knotwork at the cantle (the rear part of the seat), you can see kind of what I'm thinking about for my belt. Something like that, but all dyed the same color. That wouldn't look too busy on a kilt belt, would it?

All I can say is....WOW!!!

As for your question, personally, I think that'd look great as kilt belt!