The Ending of anEpic.... (Pics Added)

Horsewright

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 4, 2011
Messages
11,580
So if it can be made from leather, we've made it. We've made about everything there is to make outside of a saddle or boots, (I've made moccasins in the past). Without question these wooly chinks from bear hide that we made for our friend Cara are simply the single most complicated and involved project we've ever done to date.

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If you haven't read the thread on making these take a few minutes and give er a look see:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...ctorial-history-of-a-complex-project.1357634/

I mention in that thread that Cara wasn't sure what she wanted to do with the fringe. We might trim it a little so she's not stepping on them as she walks or she was thinking about twisting the fringe. I also mentioned that I would show Cara how to do the twisting as I wasn't gonna do that. Reason...it was gonna take time. Lots and lots of time. It did.

So Cara come over with her woolies one day and said lets twist the fringe. Here's how she did it.

Here they are ready to go. The legs are separated by unlacing one side of the belt. Here's one side laid out on my cutting table. Dang thats a lot of fringe.

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The carved tattoo dragonfly on the yoke of each leg, my wife Nichole, did the carving on these:

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These woolies are double fringed meaning that there is a pink and turquoise fringe piece on top of each other. When making them, they were cut from the solid at the same time so each fringe piece is the same, as they were cut together. So Cara is wetting each individual piece of fringe with a sponge. Turquoise on top and pink on the bottom.

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She gets them pretty wet and then twists them together.

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After each set of fringe is twisted she pulls it straight and pushes a push pin through both pieces of leather and pins it to the cardboard.

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This takes time and is tough on the ole fingers. She said the hardest part was pushing the pin through the leather. She would put the pin upside down and push the leather onto the pin and then stake it out.

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Just takes time. How much time? She worked steadily five and half hours on each leg! Literally eleven hours of twisting and pinning to get to here, crazy:

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I wasn't cutting anything for a day or so, so didn't need the cutting table. We let em dry for 24 hours.

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Ain't it just like life? Takes ya eleven hours to do something and it takes ya eleven minutes to undo it. Ok maybe fifteen and Tyler, my good friend and Cara's husband was helping.

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I've seen lots of twisted fringe leggings before but never a double fringed set. I was curious as to whether the fringes would stay twisted together. They did. Whadya think, somebody happy with the results?

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I laced the legs back together onto the belt and Cara puts them on. Nichole had just come out into the shop to call us in for dinner.

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I'll mirror the legs (lay them hair side to hair side) and even up the fringe by trimming and they are done. Nice day today. If Cara gets home (she and Tyler live across the road), in time from work, we'll get her horseback and get some pics in the saddle. Whadya think? Now ya know why I wasn't gonna twist those fringe. Wow! Eleven hours.

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Quite interesting that they stay twisted together, after the drying. I would have never guessed they'd do that. I, for one, would have never had the patience to do all of that work! Turned out nice.
 
Quite interesting that they stay twisted together, after the drying. I would have never guessed they'd do that. I, for one, would have never had the patience to do all of that work! Turned out nice.

yeah Amy I was kinda surprised they did too. Be interesting to see what happens with some life on em and riding in the wind.

Thanks guys!
 
Dave those are very beautiful and the dragonfly is quite fine too. Very interesting to see another facet of your extraordinary work.
 
Makes my arthritis hurt just looking at that much hand work! Very nice!--KV
 
I guess I tend to think of the riding we do around north Alabama with all the briars and brush snagging all the fringes and fur.

I showed my wife the dragonfly and she was REALLY impressed - as am I. Dave, ya'll do such great work, leather and knives.

Keep posting - we love it.
 
Gotcha. Yeah different leggings for different locales. Our ranch use to be more brushy than it is now. The drought killed off a lot of the brush. Looks more like this now:

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Use to be so darn brushy ya couldn't get between the trees. Funny thing to say but the drought made our ranch a better ranch.
 
oh my, Thats cool as can be. Very nice work. I cant imagine starting on that and the thinking involved of what happens first.
 
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