Teri Grey’s General Leather Crafting – 2″ Strap Design

By Teri Grey

This 2 inch strap design is a basic component of a leather bondage system It also makes a great looking belt as well. (Of course, for a belt, you would need to eliminate the cinch bar, and prehaps the Dee ring.)

Materials:

(1) 2″ wide Leather Strip (8-10 oz.)
(1) 2″ Roller Buckle (1 or 2 tongue)
(1) 2″ Keeper
(1) 2″ Cinch Bar (optional)
(1) 2″ Dee Ring (optional)
(3) 1/4″ Screw Fasteners
Oil Dye
Neats Foot Oil, Lotion
Waxed Nylon Saddle Stitching Thread

Tools:

Utility Knife or Leather Scissors
Stitch Groove Tool
Edge Bevel Tool
Saddle Stitching Chisel Punch
Saddle Stitching Needles
3/16″ Round Hole Punch
1/4″ Round Hole Punch
1″ Oblong Hole Punch
Edge Slicker
Dye Applicator
Bees Wax
Screwdriver (or rivet setter)

Construction

Cut and prepare the leather strip. Make the strip 6 inches longer than the usable length you want. (i.e. if you want a 34 inch long strap then make the strap 34 plus 6 or 40 inches long.) Pre-cut strips can be purchased from places such as Tandy Leather. You can also cut the piece yourself from a larger hide. The later being more economical in the long run.

You might try the following lengths for various uses.
Of course remember these are just starting estimates for a medium size person.

Cut Length Useable Length Usage

16″    10″ One Wrist
20″    14″ Both Wrists or One Ankle
26″    20″ Both Ankles or One Thigh
34″    28″ Knees
46″    40″       Waist or Chest
62″    56″ Shoulders

An alternative to the above “geometric” progress is to start with one size (say 12″) then add multiples of a fixed amount (say 4″).

Choose one end to hold the buckle. This end should have the least structural flaws in the leather. Trim a 1/4 inch off the corners. This is partly for aesthetics and partly to avoid a pointy ridge in case the folded pieces don?t exactly align. Do not punch holes at this stage since the leather can shrink or distort slightly from dying and sewing.

The other end should be cut to form a pointed tip for passing into the buckle. I prefer a simple 45 degree triangle cut. There are special punches that will form a nice rounded point.

At this point I groove a line along each edge for saddle stitching. I make the lines about 3/16 or 1/4 inch in from the edge. Sometimes I use the thickness of the leather strip as a guide.

Now bevel the edges on the front side to make a more rounded edge. Careful as this tool can easily slip and draw blood.

I use a four prong ?chisel? punch to make my stitching holes. Carefully place the punch prong in the groove made for this purpose. Use a plastic or raw hide mallet and a thick piece of rubber or wood underneath so as to not damage the metal punch. After punching the first four holes use the last hole to line up the end of the punch. This means you only punch three new holes at a time. This increases the work need but improves the appearance of the product by keeping the stitching very evenly spaced. Take frequent brakes this can be a long process especially for long straps.

I oil the leather with neats foot oil prior to applying die. I use a good quality oil based dye so as to not have to apply it more than once. Make sure you get down in all the punched holes. Use a cotton swap if needed. I also recommend the use of latex gloves to minimize stained hands. Dye can usually be removed from skin with isopropyl alcohol.

Let dry for one or more days. After dried the leather will often be stiff and hard. This is when I start the saddle stitching. The stiffness of the leather actual seems to help. The process of hand saddle stitching makes you to handle the leather a lot and it should loosen some.

Begin the saddle stitching using heavy waxed nylon thread. I also use the large blunt point hand stitching needles. These are virtually impossible to break by hand but by a few extra in case of lose. See saddle stitching sources for threading the needle and the actual process of stitching. Besides being an enjoyable activity when watching television it is also great hand excersize. Also keep a pair if needle nose pliers around in case the needle gets stuck. You may even want to invest in some special jewelers pliers that have smooth bite that will minimize scratching the needle.

Careful measure and punch six 3/16 inch holes for the screw fasteners as show in the diagram. Also punch three 1 inch long oblong holes for the buckle tongues. Punching three holes allow for the use of either a 1 or 2 tongue roller buckle. I prefer 2 tongue roller buckles myself. However there is an interesting variation where two straps can be put on one large 4 inch double tongue roller buckle.

Starting 3 inches from the tip punching 1/4 inch holes for the roller buckle tongues. I use a ?X-hole? pattern for both aesthetic and functional reasons. I think the pattern looks more heavy duty, rather medieval, and perhaps even a little menacing. Continue punching the holes until you have as many as you want or until you are within 4 to 6 inches of the screw fastener holes at the other end. I would advise to make a few short straps to begin until you understand the process. Besides 10, 14, and 20 inch straps are great for wrists and ankles.

Once the stitching is complete I smooth the edge with an edging tool. Typically I moisten the edge of the leather with neats foot lotion. Then I rub the tool against the edge until it becomes smooth as it seems to want to get. Now since I have lotion on the edges and some elsewhere on the leather I go ahead and give the rest of the strap a good coating of the lotion. Let this dry for a day or so. Also in this step I fold the end to hold the roller buck over at the oblong punched holes. This puts the leather in the position it will spend the rest of its days.

Between the handling and lotion the strap should be a little softer now. As one last step I give the front side a final treatment with a good leather conditioning wax. Again let this absorb in for a few hours to a day.

Now we?re ready to construct our strap. Take your roller buckle and position it correctly in the strap. This takes some experimentation. Work the tongues through the oblong holes. I prefer a 2 inch by half inch metal rectangular ring as a keeper. A keeper by the way is a loop that hold down the end of the strap after it passes through the buckle.

Here is where I add an optional variation. For wrist and ankle bindings I add a cinch bar made from metal rod that has been bent to form a rectangular loop. Make sure to place the ends of the loop inside the fold of the leather. This reduces the chance of runs in stockings, and scratches, etc. This adds the rope bondage cinch effect and helps to tighten the binding. Besides in looks wonderfully sinister.

Try the Following cinch bar sizes as a start.

Cut Length Bent Length Usage

9″       1-1/2″    Wrists
10″ 2″    Ankles
14″ 4″    Knees

I have yet to find a commercial source of such large rectangular loops. The cinch bar can be homemade by carefully bending 3/16″ steel rod in a large vice. Add about half an inch for each of the four bends or 2″ total. Make sure the width is 2″, on the inside, to accomadate the width of the strap. If you are very industrious you may even want to get them welded shut and nickle plated.
(Of course for a belt leave this cinch bar out. )

Fold over and line up the holes for the fasteners. With all the strap has been through, especially the saddle stitching the hole may not align exactly. However the leather should give enough to achieve alignment. Again I use screw fasteners to a variety of reasons. I prefer to place the screw head side on the inside of the strap.

Your strap is complete and time to try it out on your lover. Of course use all the normal bondage game precautions. The strap may be stiff at first. It should loosen and soften with use. Make sure to oil or otherwise treat the leather about once a year.

Teri Grey
PO Box 71463
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

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