Vinyl Jedi Belt

I have recently come into 5 yards of fabric-backing vinyl. As a vegetarian, I'm looking to make my Jedi Belt out of it, and perhaps pouches. Can anyone point me in a good direction?

 

First off, you are to be admired for the courage of your convictions.

Second, here are some good links:

http://rebellegion.com/jedigarb/pantsbeltpouchesboots.html
http://www.padawansguide.com/belt.shtml

Any time they talk about leather, think vinyl.

BTW, brown is the preferred color for belts and belt pouches.

 

I made all my belts from vinyl. I copied pouches and sewed them like little boxes with sides and top flaps. For Anakins long pouch, I used stitching to copy the "lines" that go through it. And you can top stitch like leather. I also used acrylic paint to "shade" the vinyl to look like leather. You can also get a small plastic container and cover it with the vinyl. I would love to show you pics of what I made but I have to do it through e-mail cause I haven't gotten my pics on the net yet.
I've made Anakin, Obi-Wan, leia, Han solo and I am working on Count Dooku all out of vinyl.

 

Here's some pics of the vinyl belts with pouches

[image=http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l154/SingerSewer/]

 

How well does the vinyl hold up? I am looking to get a good chunk of the upholstery grade vinyl to do the otherside of my reversible tabbards, but if I can do a belt with it that will last a good while that would be great.

 

Thin vinyl is kind of stretchy and will not hold up under the weight of a saber if you only use 1 layer, it will stretch and sag in that spot. If you want to make a belt from this, then I would suggest gluing 2 pieces together, fabric sides together, with some contact cement.

Make sure, if you do this, that you don't let the cement cure with the belt lying flat, otherwise, when you try to put it around you, it will form folds and bubbles on the inside layer. I made that mistake when I tried making a vinyl belt 25 years ago. You need to form it into a circle and smooth out the inner layer and clamp the ends together while the cement cures, you can cut off the excess vinyl from the inner layer later.

That way, you will have a stronger, stiffer belt that will hold up under the weight of your saber. And there will be more material for the hardware to bite into with less chance of it tearing out through a single layer.

 

for some pouches to go along, here is a site with some cool-looking pouches made fromcraft foam. i haven't tried this yet, but i have used the black craft foam on a lightsaber handle, and it worked pretty well. gorilla glue works great with the crafting foam.

http://www.jedielfqueen.com/sw/obiwan/belt/pouches.htm

 

If you absolutely must use vinyl, then do what Lori said and make it really thick. Leather belts are usually about 1/8" thick so you are going to need to layer your vinyl really thick so that it doesn't sag or tear.

 

Thanks, Donny, for backing me up on that.

Interesting idea on the pouches, but personally, I'm not into replica pouches, and have no desire for pouches that I can't use to put stuff in.

 

I've used thinner vinyl that realy looks like leather and it was too flimsy (but very nice looking) . However, I've used like a marine vinyl that is very durable. I've painted the "cloth" backing the same color of the belt. We've used it for boot spats and for Han Solo's belt that held his blaster in the holster. If I was to use the good, thin vinyl again then I would def. double it.