The project took around five months, mainly due time and not having the right materials. I used waterproof canvas for the outer, a heavy calico for the liner. The outer was painted with a gloss originally, but then repainted with a matt.
I used some leather sofa samples for the top keepers and a charity shop belt for the strap keepers. The straps were made at a local saddlers, T. Jones and Son. They are black with no side stripes, but I had to use brass roller buckles as that's all he had. Fair play to him, it took him s whole to get his head around the construction, but he's done a bombproof job.
I did used a sewing machine for speed
And decided to go for fabric straps rather than leather mainly due to having no wrought iron buckles and I just wanted it finished!
Fabric (inner and outer) £10, paint £10, straps £50, thread £1.50, belt £1, scrap leather £0.
I also managed to have enough fabric to make a two mess covers a shako cover (unfinished).
