Viking Style Belt

[Wayland]

The weather has been a bit miserable around here lately so I haven't been doing much carving outside. So I turned my hand to a bit of leather work instead.

I've had a hankering for one of these Gotlandic style belts for years and recently got the plates I needed to construct it from the Re-enactors Market in Coventry.

I needed to dye and treat the leather, two strips sewn together to enclose the pins attaching the plates. I also needed to make the buckle plate and the ring for attaching a knife which you can just see on the left.

 

[MartinK9]

Lovely work Gary.

 

[Zingmo]

Awesome work as usual.

Z

 

[John Fenna]

Magnificent!

 

[Toddy]

Very swish
Viking bling indeed

M

 

[Wayland]

Well I do seem to be a bit of a peacock when in Viking mode...

 

[Dreadhead]

some major bling there, nice job! especially love the belt end, cracking stuff

 

[Lizz]

Lovely! ....

 

[Wayland]

some major bling there, nice job! especially love the belt end, cracking stuff

I couldn't resist that one.

 

[Goatboy]

Shiny!

That's pretty amazing and the colour scheme really works. I know I'm a boring old fart when it comes to leather and like burnished brown but that really stands out and is very nice. Think a lot of folk forget how important colour must've been, mainly due to film costume designers making everything either grey or mud brown.

Cheers for letting us see it.

 

[Wayland]

We call it the Jabberwocky Effect. Everything in the past was brown and covered with ****.

Red is one colour that is still apparent on some leatherwork found from the time. I'm not sure which method they used to get it but it was obviously in use.

 

[Macaroon]

If you're going to Peacock, then Peacock with class............You've certainly achieved that, very nice indeed

 

[forginhill]

Astonishing detail and quality! Pleasure to see such things being done today....

 

[Klenchblaize]

Would be nice too in antique acid green.

Lovely bit of kit.

K

 

[Wayland]

Unfortunately, greens are harder to achieve with period correct leather dyes.

 

[Mesquite]

Having seen the plates loose just after you'd bought them you've put them to a fantastic use Gary

 

[Wayland]

It's mainly based on a find from Birka in Sweden.

The original had five less plates but I put that down to a few too many pies.

The belt end is different of course and the buckle plate is based upon a similar one from Gotland.

 

[Gaudette]

Truly a cracking piece of craftsmanship.

 

[Wayland]

I can't take too much credit for this really. Most of the bronze ware was made by other people. I just made a few connecting peices and put it all together.

It does show the sort of stuff that is available through re-enactment crafts people and traders though.

 

[Goatboy]

I do like the yellow that comes from onion skins, don't know if it works on leather though? Plus I don't think that it would contrast as nicely as the colour you chose.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.