Okay, so this is turning into a real series.

I made myself a new sword belt. The old one, which was just a simple baldric of two 2" belts stitched together, didn't support the sword, so the basket would tip upwards, the scabbard would flop around and collide with my legs when I walked, and the whole thing tended to fall out of the belt a lot. That, and the buckle was riveted on, which is inaccurate.

So I got a veg tanned 7oz tooling side of leather, and cut a new belt, this time with a substantial frog. I cemented the pieces together with Gorilla Glue, as well as the double brass buckles, and cut a hole for the scabbard knob. Then I stitched, where the belt segments join, and along the top of the frog. I trimmed the rough edges a bit, then dyed it black, and hit it with a little fine steel wool to even out the dye job. It looks great! I made one little mistake in the stitching - I should have stitched the belt around the buckle along the length of the belt, not across it (the latter weakens the belt, though it is standard modern practice); but you'll never see that error, because it's hidden under the other end of the belt.



(Thumbnails link to full sized pictures)

The new belt supports the sword very well, as the picture shows. All that's left to do is to add a brass heart-shaped thistle-engraved belt tip (currently on order), and it'll be perfect. I may have to cut out brass washers for the tip, which is attached by 3 copper pegs that pass through the leather, and through a brass washer (which I have to make), and then are peened over; so another trip to Fischer's Hardware will be in order to get more of the brass stock.

After a lot more hours with the waistcoat, here's how it looks:



Buttonholes take forever! I didn't make entirely new pocket flaps; I just cut off 1/2" on either side (just enough to remove the original side buttonholes) and restitched them; and I removed another 1/2" at the top, which I had to do anyway to give myself a seam allowance again after two previous attempts to attach the pockets. This achieved the intended goal of reducing the flaps to a manageable size, and even reduced the illusion of how swept back they were. But they don't completely cover the pockets, and I've made patches for the left side of matching tartan to hide it.

The waistcoat is a snug but not tight fit, as it should be - plenty of room for movement. Now it's decision time on the V-shaped dip along the front. I'm hoping these pictures of it with the costume will help me make up my mind... Then I'll stitch up the other arm hole, and the rear lacing eyelets.

Update Sun 8/13/06 9:55 PM: I finished all the eyelets on the back today, and am still waiting for Mara Riley's suggestion on the front. But I can't go any further until I hit the fabric store anyway, as the last eyelet used up my last bit of green silk thread! So I'll pick up ribbon to lace up the back and some white silk for lining the sleeves of the coat, and possibly for the lace-on sleeves for the waistcoat too.

I also bought some 1/4" bar steel, which I'll use to make the castle nut for the dirk. I'd have liked 1/2" steel, but this'll do for now.

And here's the used "Walker" doglock I bought second-hand, along with a wool blanket case and a tow worm. It's a Military Heritage reproduction of a weapon from anywhere around 1680-1750 or so, so it would be good for the whole Jacobite period. The previous owner has drilled the touch hole and fired it too. I couldn't get good pics, so I used those from the maker's website.



Military Heritage lists it as a military piece, though I've elsewhere seen references to the effect that the serpentine plate and French-style stock were the fashion on civilian hunting pieces. The .69 caliber/15 gauge, 42" tapered round barrel is on the short end of the range for fowling pieces, but that length was well-known, if The Rifle Shoppe's fowler reproductions are any gauge (pardon the pun). The caliber makes extra sense in a Jacobite context; since it uses the same ammo as the French weapons imported for the rebellion, it would have been more likely to have been kept around, despite its age. Now all it needs is a flint and a nice patina.