Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Sheath, Scabbard

So, i have a little princess...


who also LOVES princey things like swords and such; I attribute this to Narnia and the fact that she is the adventure type. So the other day when she asked me to mend her princess dress and leave open a little of the hole so she could put her dagger in (hole was in the waist line), I knew it was high time we made her a sheath for her dagger.

Call it green, call it cheap, call it ingenious, call it brilliant, go ahead. :) or call it pack rat. Whatever.
When we moved into our house we installed all the blinds ourselves, so probably a year later or more when Gary decided it was time to get rid of the extra slats that have been chilling on our window sills the past year (still attached to the rest) I asked him not to throw them out.
"WHAT FOR?" (he thinks I am a pack rat)
"To make swords for Olea."
"Oh, okay, that's a good idea... a really good idea."
So Gary used his tin snips to shape swords out of the blind vinyl. At first he made really nice long broad swords, but Olea broke them off at the hilt too fast so now he makes machetes and daggers etc. ehhehe sounds really bad doesn't it?
So we have a stash in the garage and when ever one breaks off Gary goes out and makes her a few more and wraps the hilts with duct tape (a nice leather look right?)

So Olea needed a sheath right? well I figured that can't be hard. Remember the pants that exploded? Well before throwing them away I mined a few things off of them, buttons, ties etc. and the belt loops.
Call it green, call it cheap, call it ingenious, call it brilliant, go ahead. :) or call it pack rat. Whatever.

I pulled out the belt loops and some brown felt and had Olea trace her little dagger sword on a piece of brown felt.

Then cut out at least a quarter inch wider (seam allowance), cut another piece just like it
trim off the top of one so it is a little shorter and at an angle.

sew belt loops on to the back ( I did this after sewing it together and realized that it could be a problem if your beltloops were long enough to get in the way of your scabbard opening)

Then sew the two pieces together. ( don't look at the sewing, it will hold but it's not pretty (good thing it's on the inside) I was sewing with Zurich on my lap)

turn right sides out and decorate if desired, I was in a hurry and so was Olea so we kept it pretty simple. Thread on a belt (Olea happens to have a real cool one with a horsey belt buckle that we picked up second hand).
TADA! (or as me and the kids say: Tadasana!)


"That's really cool mom, thanks!"
I know.

3 comments:

  1. You are such a great mom. If I ever marry and reproduce, I'll probably be calling you frequently for fun ideas and the likes.

    Just sayin'.

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  2. ha ha. what a GREAT idea!
    hey, you know we actually lived in our house for TWO years before taking those extra slats out...

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  3. You are my fav green, cheap, ingenious, brilliant pack rat. Tell her to have fun storming the castle. I would never have thought of using old blind slats for ANYTHING. Nice..

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