Our leather burning project comes from my pyrography book, Art of Leather Burning. It joins Landscape Pyrography, Great Book of Wood Burning, The Little Book of Wood Burning, Pyrography Basics, and Arts and Crafts Pyrography, in my wood burning library. All Available at Amazon.com
Pyrography Leather Boot Belt, Part One Construction
Pyrography Leather Boot Belt, Part Two, Leather Burning
In part one we worked through the leather crafting steps to create your boot belt. Now we will work through the pyrography steps to wood burn a design to that boot belt.
Mayan Boot Belt
Mayan Hieroglyphs are wonderful designs for any leather belt project. Since these little patterns are worked in small squares or rectangles, it is easy to add or subtract the number of hieroglyphs you need to properly fill the length of your leather belt.
Step 1: Create your Leather Boot Belt
Please refer to the step-by-step instructions for creating your own leather boot belt, found on Pyrography Leather Boot Belt, Part One.
The Mayan Boot Belt uses the double-needle stitching with a 1 ½” (38mm) long by 1 5/8” (41mm) wide buckle with a 1 1/8” (28.5mm) wide latch bar. The belt keeper is made with a 1 ¾” (44.5mm) steel dee ring. Cut one piece of 6/7 ounce leather 1 1/8” (28.5mm) wide by 19” (483mm) long, allowing a 2 ½” (63.5mm) fold for the buckle area. Follow the direction for making a basic boot belt.
Step 2: Print and Trace the Pattern
Click on the pattern image, above, for a full-sized printable pattern. Using graphite paper, trace the Mayan Boot Belt pattern to your constructed belt, with the repeated flower squares spaced 1/8” (3mm) from the hole end of the belt.
The boot belt patterns in this book can easily be adjusted to fit your boot size. Each pattern has a 1” (25mm) repeat pattern that is used in the latch hole end of the belt. Simply add or subtract these repeat patterns to resize your belt.
Step 3: One-Temperature Wood Burning Leather Tool
This project uses a low-range, one-temperature pyrography tool and the medium-writing tip. Plug your pyrography burner into your surge protector and turn on the switch. As the burner begins to heat, before it reaches its full temperature setting, start working a tightly packed scrubbie stroke into the background area of each pattern square. Because the temperature is low this burning will have a very pale, lightly spotted look to the strokes. You may need to turn off your burner, allow it to cool, and begin the scrubbie stroke again to keep the temperature cool enough to complete all of the squares.
Step 4: Variable-Temperature Wood Burning Tools
If you are using a variable temperature tool, please do several test burns to determine the maximum heat setting that you will want to use. Variable burners reach a far hotter temperature so you need to avoid the highest setting so not to scorch the leather surface.
For my variable tools I use either a loop pen tip or small ball tip to create the fine lines needed for this project.
Step 5: Fill in the Background Area
To create the stark white and black impression of the Mayan Hieroglyph use light pressure and a scrubbie stroke to fill in the background areas of each square.
Step 6: Outline the Design Elements
Using your wood burning tool in an upright hand position, work your tool tip over the design elements to create a thin, even black line.
Step 7: Outline the Blocks
Again, holding your pen tip in an upright position create a fine line around each square. Add a small fine dot between each square along the top and bottom of the pattern.
Step 8: Cleaning Your Boot Belt
Use a document cleaning pad, synthetic all-purpose eraser, or a white artist’s eraser to remove any tracing lines or pencil marks of your finished boot belt. Remove the erasing dust with a dry, lint-free cloth. Brush two to three light coats of satin acrylic leather sealer to the vegetable-tanned side of your belt.
There are few products that I feel are a ‘must have’ for any pyrographer and the document cleaning pad is one. The pad contains acid-free, ground eraser particles that clean into the finest of lines without damaging your paper, wood, leather, or gourd and without effecting your burned lines.
And you boot belt is ready to decorate your favorite pair of winter, cowboy, or suede boots!
Other pyrography leather wrist bands, and boot belts found in Art of Leather Burning.
Adding bead links to your pyrography leather belts is as
easy as working a line of small holes using an awl. The bead links
can then be threaded to your leather using a jump ring.
This set of wrist bands use readily available jewelry findings to create
the end clamps, lobster hooks, and split rings.
Wrist bands can be thin, as shown above, or made as a miniature
belt with multiple holes to fit any friend.
This boot belt uses an American Indian design.
Hope you enjoyed this free, online pyrography leather project. For more fun please visit:
Leather Purse Pyrography, Greenman
Leather Purse Pyrography, Double-Needle Stitching
Pyrography Leather Bullet Journal
For more boot belt pyrography pattern ideas, pleases visit our pattern website at ArtDesignsStudio.com
