new sheath, new lacing pattern

D

Doug Lester

Well-Known Member
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This is a new sheath that I just finished up today. This was a new lacing pattern for me. The book called it a round lace or the Mexican basket weave pattern. It's really not all that complicated once that you get the pattern set up, just over and under. You just have to pay attention to the pattern. Again it is a lace hog. I used ten times the lenght to be laced and barely had enough lace left over at the end to tie it off. Comments welcome.

Doug Lester
 
Doug, pretty good for your first time with that style.That's the style I use on almost all my sheaths and holsters.If I could make a few suggestions, I would try to keep your tension more even when pulling through, as some of the loops look a little uneven.That usually comes with practice.Did you use a lacing fid? because that will help too, so your not fighting the hole.another suggestion is to move your holes in a bit, then round your edges a little more and it will help you lace to lay better and the overall job looks better.It's funny because most tutorials say you only need 8 times the dist. with lace, obviously they were talking about two thin layers.I have used over 12 times the legnth on some sheaths and holsters. But overall you did good, now time to try two color basketweave.Dave
 
Thanks for the pointers. The holes weren't a problem getting the lace through with the size that I punched them but the fid would have helped getting the lacing needle under the lace at the "corner" of the edge. Of course, that was so obvious that I never thought of digging it out of my tool box. I agree, I saw where I wasn't getting consistent tension on the lace in places. I also agree on the closeness of the holes. I glued three pieces of leather together and punched them to practice the lace with and it looked better with it but the sheath was a bit thicker. I'll try rounding the corners of the edge a bit the next time and see how that works. For some reason, I think that lacing looks better for sheaths, especially pouch sheaths. Again, thanks.

Doug Lester

P.S. None of my instruction books have anything about two color backet weave lacing. Where can I find instructions, sounds interesting.
 
Doug, I agree lacing looks better , but sadly it's not used by many pro's in the knife world due to the time it takes versus stitching.While it is an upcharge for me, I still don't make any money on it, just like doing it.That being said, I have two worksheets below for ya on two color lacing.Dave
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That is Awesome Doug. Where can I find out how to do this lace work? I like the lacework and find that the edges are to thick for the lace work I was trying. The Mexican Basket weave seems to be the answer.

Brian
 
I got it from How to Lace. It's a Tandy production but I think that I got my copy from Jantz but you might give USA Knife Maker Supply a look see. It's a 14 page pamphlet that runs less than $10. One caution, they underestimate the amount of lace that it takes. They say for the Mexican Basket Weave to allow 8 times the length that you want to lace. I would do a minimum of 10 times the length and maybe 11 if the holes are set very far in from the edge. It is also a very slow process, though I wouldn't consider hand sewing very fast. As DC said keep your holes close together. You can drill, punch holes, or punch slits but remember that you will be having to go through the holes twice and it can be tight the second time. If you slit you holes, enlarge them with a lacing fid as you go along. With most of the pattern in the booklet, it is two stitches to advance to the next hole. With this one it is four. It is, however, good for a thick edge.

Doug
 
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