Time for a new apron

[JHCC]

Here’s mine: a big chunk of naked upholstery leather with straps made from clothesline. Sits high and tight on the torso so although the leather is quite heavy, it’s very comfortable. 

I have a pair of heavy leather sleeves that I add for welding, especially when it’s cold. 

[arkie]

JHCC, those ropy shoulder straps look uncomfortable.  Do like I did with my old apron...get one or two old leather belts and make wide shoulder straps.  Sew them on with one of those hand-held sewing awls.  Easy to use and work fine stitching leather and canvas.  Any thing works for the waist strap.

[VaughnT]

The apron adventure continues!

I really liked the Tillman 48" I've been using for the last couple of years.  If it hadn't dried out and ripped, I'd still be using it.  As such, I thought I'd try modifying another of their aprons to make it infinitely better than the OEM stuff.  First step -- dying the apron so stains don't show up quiet so brilliantly!

After the first bottle of dye didn't do nearly as well as I would have hoped, a second bottle was called for.  Probably going to need a third bottle.... ugh!

Seems that for some reason the dye want to evaporate off rather than staining the leather.  It'll stain some places, and get all the way through the hide.  Other places, it looks like no dye was used even though I know the spray bottle covered every inch of the skin!

No worries, though.

Next step is to research into reinforcing the areas around where the straps tie into the body.  This is where the leather failed before, and I think reinforcing it will be a good idea.  Rivets?  Probably.  Glue?  Don't know if that'll survive any oiling I might do to the hide.

Overall, it's been a fun learning experience.

[Marc1]

Oh my ...  ... leather is not a uniform medium much less when it is split leather. 

It looks well weathered now.

[VaughnT]

21 minutes ago, Marc1 said:

It looks well weathered now.

Yea, that's one way of describing it!!

 

Got the second coat of dye on and she looks much better, though still very splotchy.  Might try a third bottle of the stuff before I call it a day, but I want to figure out what I'm doing about the straps and whatnot before worrying about that.  Fun times, right?

[VaughnT]

The apron project is coming along quite nicely.  The dye stuff has been a nightmare and I've officially quit trying.  I figure that if three bottles of dye can't get the job done, the job doesn't need to be done!

I even tried wrapping the apron up in a plastic bag so the dye wouldn't evaporate off, but it still disappears into thin air.  When wet, the leather was a very nice dark coffee color.  Wait a few minutes, though, and the dye would start to simply leave for parts unknown and the OEM color would start shining through.  Tried wetting the leather first.  Tried adding water to the dye.  Nothing seemed to make the color stick.

The only thing I can think of, now that I've done some searching, is that the dye sold at Hobby Lobby isn't meant for suede.  I'm seeing bottles elsewhere that are specifically labeled for "suede and roughout" leather, and my bottles didn't specify anything of the sort.  Maybe there's something crazy about suede that it needs a special dye all for itself.

The good news is that I found the brass rings and grommets.  I'll never understand why some HUGE place like Hobby Lobby doesn't have that stuff -- it's a craft store, right??

Imagine my surprise when I ran across exactly what I needed at the hardware store.  Yep, I was at Tru-Value to get some screws and anchors when the employee asked me if I needed any help.  I bet he was surprised when I said yes!  Totally out of the blue, but figured they just might have grommets and whatnot.... and they did!   On a trip to Tractor Supply, I found the brass rings and snap link to complete the ensemble.

So, the apron has been rinsed and is drying in the sun.  As soon as that's done, I'll be working on the straps.  Could have her ready for pictures by tonight!

[Frosty]

Yeah, suede and rough out are a LOT more absorbent and they need to really be saturated with "regular" die. Try a bulk leather supplier or taxidermist. The leather suppliers here have dies by the gallon and will happily order a 55gl drum if you wish. The taxidermist should be able to make a recommendation for local sources.

I haven't messed with dying anything but smooth out leather and that took quite a bit, maybe a quart for as much as your apron on the smooth side. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[VaughnT]

On 5/9/2018 at 8:59 PM, Frosty said:

Yeah, suede and rough out are a LOT more absorbent and they need to really be saturated with "regular" die. Try a bulk leather supplier or taxidermist. The leather suppliers here have dies by the gallon and will happily order a 55gl drum if you wish. The taxidermist should be able to make a recommendation for local sources.

If the suede is more absorbent, why didn't it absorb?  That apron was uniformly dark chocolate in color when I applied the dye, then most of the color simply disappeared as the thing dried.  The orange OEM dye is still showing through in some spots, and the splotchiness is strong, but I'm calling it quits as far as the dye goes.  It's been a good learning experience, but....

The brass ring is the important part.  Still have to attach the leather patch to reinforce this area, but that'll be easy enough as soon as I figure out how I want to go about doing it.

[Frosty]

You got me there Vaughn, I haven't dyed leather in 30 years and never suede, I just remember how large the cans of suede dye were.

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

Let's call it "weathered" and charge more for it.

[ThomasPowers]

Is it a chrome tanned leather?  They don't dye like veg tanned leathers do.

[VaughnT]

Well, she's officially finished.  I got the grommets set in place this morning while I was in the shop, and since I needed to get a couple dishes forged, it seemed like a great time to break her in.

The color/dye is splotchy, but the look is growing on me and I'm sure the grime she's soon to get plastered with will even things out a bit.

Here's a close-up of the reinforcing patches.  I removed all the OEM strapping and stitching on the lower section, but left the cotton/nylon upper straps because they are pretty dang comfortable.

On my last Tillman apron, the leather failed right around where the straps were sewn on, so I figured it would be wise to address the issue from the start.  Only time will tell if I made the upper patches large enough.  All the patches are glued on as well as sewn, and I hope that'll do for awhile.

.

The grommets let the lower straps move around as much as possible.  While the left strap is tied loosely to the apron, the right side has a snap link to make it easier to get out of the apron.

Parachute cord for the lower straps as well as nice brass hardware to match the grommets.   I didn't see any sense adding more 1" webbing for the lower straps since the parachute cord is plenty enough for the job and you don't have to worry about the things getting all twisted up.  A couple noose knots join to the brass ring for a bit of embellishment, and simple slide knots at the sides allow for easy adjustment should I gain more weight or put on a jacket.

 

Overall, I'm calling this a win.  Stitching on the reinforcement patches is the most time-consuming part, but I managed to get all four done in just three episodes of White Collar on netflix.

Now that I have all the tools assembled, I'm thinking about buying another apron to tinker with.  The grommet kit came with a dozen grommets, so I might as well find a use for them!

 

 

Oh, and you'll be happy to know that the brass ring at the top of the bib works just as I envisioned.  Not only does it look good and add a bit of panache, it also makes a perfect hanging loop!