Motorcycle gear and accessories customized and cared for.

Those of you that own motorcycles and like to have leather motorcycle gear and accessories will like this post I believe. My brothers and I used to custom make all types of boots, chaps, saddlebags for bikes & horses, leather bikinis, customize leather jackets & other leather gear, leather vests, and many other leather articles for motorcycle riders. My brother, Paul named the business "Gypsy Custom Leather" and we had so much fun doing what we loved doing. Side by side with our shoe repair businesses we made and repaired all manner of motorcycle leather gear you could think of.

So, if you have a plain ordinary leather jacket, vest, pants, boots or chaps do not think that they have to stay plain and ordinary. You can customize them yourself if you want to take the time and expense and even the possible risk of doing it yourself or you could take the article to a shoe repair or a custom leather shop and have them do something for you to your taste. Now granted, I have been trained by my older brothers to do what I have done in my past and they were trained by our uncle Rod who was GREAT at what he did. You are capable of doing it yourself with the right tools and materials.

First you would need to decide exactly what custom changes you would like to make to your leather article, say a leather vest. Personally, I would want to maybe braid some leather down the side for a different look which would also serve as a air vent to allow air to circulate through without taking away from the strength of the vest.
Tools required:  Multi-hole punch or a 1/4" hole punch or smaller and mallet (Has a ring of about 6
                          different size hole punches on a pliers)
                          Tape measure and a seam marker (A seam marker wipes off very easy when
                          finished)
                          White grease marker (To mark the placement of the holes to be punched)
                          1/4" width, long leather strips (The color you want or the same color as the article
                          working on)
                          Lacing Needles (Flat needles for lacing thin leather strips, the end has small barbs)
All of these tools and supplies can easily be found and bought at a TANDY Leather Company which can be found in several cities all over the place or on the WEB.

Once you have your supplies and tools, you need to mark off on the vest exactly where you will be punching the holes so that you can braid the leather strips into it for your custom look. Start by folding the vest over at the seam that runs down the outside under the arm. Once folded, mark a thin line about a 1/2" in from the seam. This will be the line you will punch your holes down. Now mark small cross lines starting from the top just below the top seam of stitching so as not to punch a hole in any stitching of a seam every 1/4" going down to the bottom. You will end up with a line with small crosses on it and you will be ready to punch holes centered over each cross. Use the grease marker to go over and mark each cross if you wish to ensure you do not miss one or accidentally rub one off while punching the holes. It is very important that while punching the holes, that you do not move the folded seam area of the vest. You want to keep the opposite side lined up exactly. Once you have marked all of the holes to be punched, you are ready to start punching holes. You can use bulk paper office clips, the kind you pinch the handles together to open the C-clamp on to clip onto the seam of your leather vest to hold it together while you punch the holes. Whatever it takes for you to ensure you get straight and even holes on both sides of the vest seam. Once you are finished punching the holes, get the 1/4" leather strips and a lacing needle for each end of the leather strip. Start from the top on the inside of the vest feeding the needles out evenly so that the leather strip is flat on the inside and that you have the same length on either side. Now insert the needle in the third hole on the opposite side and bring it back out of the second hole of that same side. Then do likewise with the other needle on the other side. Now, repeat this skip one hole on the opposite side inserting the needle and come back out of the hole you skipped, then do the same with you other needle on the other side. Remember that if you start from the left side, always start from the left side with each new braid. It will keep it uniform and smooth.  Once you have reached the bottom, feed the excess through the opposite side forming the final cross or braid so that the needles are on the inside. Flip the vest inside out and insert the needles into the braid center and back out about 2" higher above the finished braid. If you have either some rubber cement or contact cement that you can put on the soft side of the strips before inserting them here it could make for a more secure bond, but it is not required. Once you are finished braiding the side, unfold the vest completely and lay the seam over something solid and lightly tap the newly braided seam with a mallet or hammer. Do not hit it hard or you may cut or damage the leather braiding you have just worked so hard to put in. Repeat on the other side of the vest for a uniform look.

You can also put leather tassels on your leather articles yourself if you choose using the same tools, by punching either two holes for a simple look or four holes for a crossed or braided look. You can place all types of metal or other decorative objects into these leather tassels if you so desire.

Like I said before, customizing your leather motorcycle gear is not hard and you can do it yourself or pay to have a professional do it for you.     

For all of you that live in or near WAXAHACHIE, TEXAS you can contact my brother, J.D. at his shoe repair at 972-938-7979. Hours of operation are: Tues. - Fri. 10 am - 6 pm & Sat. 10 am - 5 pm. If you are close to the area, you could just stop by his shoe repair at: 507 N. Hwy. 77, Ste. 1100C, Waxahachie, TX 75165. You can also contact him at: TexasBootRepair.com

For those of you that live in or near WEST JORDAN, UTAH you can contact my brother, Dan at his shoe repair at 801-448-1928. Hours of operation are Tues. - Sat. 10 am - 6 pm.  If you are close to the area, you could just stop by his shoe repair at: 7650 S. Redwood Rd., Ste. B, West Jordan, UT 84084. You can also contact him at: roycecustomleather.com, his business is Royce Custom Leather LLC.