Not bad for a first effort

[simont]

Today I got out needle and thread and made a new strap for my watch.

My diary archives tell me that it was on 4th July 1998 when I last did this. I had been advised by a doctor that wearing a watch constricting my wrist might have been contributing to the wrist pains I had at the time, and after trying various other solutions (e.g. things that weren't actually watches, or just getting good at reading other people's watches upside down very quickly when their wrists turned towards me) I hit on the plan of making a custom strap which velcroed round my belt and had a little loop to fit to the watch. This turned out to be a great idea; I haven't had those wrist pains in years, so I could in principle go back to wearing a watch on my wrist, but I really wouldn't want to any more. It's very convenient not to have to take it off to wash up, and having my watch attached to my trousers makes it incredibly difficult to accidentally leave it at home or anywhere else.

That custom watch strap was the very first thing I ever sewed. I had to more or less teach myself to sew in the course of making it, and my diary archive also records that I sewed my thumb to it in the process. Given that, I think, it's a reasonably decent result that it's lasted until today, when I finally decided it was so close to falling apart that I didn't trust it not to fail suddenly and drop the watch down a drain, so I sat down and sewed a new one.

I'm not actually sure my sewing has improved all that much in the intervening thirteen years and ten months. I didn't sew myself to anything this time, but the actual stitching is in much the same robust but unaesthetic, purely functional style as it was on the first strap. The only real difference is that this time I made the strap out of leather rather than rucksack strapping, in the hope that it would be both thinner and less prone to unravelling.

So, I wonder how long the new one will last! To do as well as the original, it'll have to survive until March 2026.

Comments

[sunflowerinrain]

It sounds impressive, and a very good idea. I don't wear a watch because only a really-gold one doesn't cause a rash, and it would be such a waste of money; a watch on a belt... hm, but since I left BT I rarely wear a belt either.

Isn't sewing leather difficult?

[simont]

I did worry about that, but I got an offcut of quite soft leather from a leatherworker's shop, and it only took a little extra effort to get an ordinary needle through it. Probably if I'd wanted to do anything seriously heavy-duty it would have needed specialised equipment or skills or both, though.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Gosh, I have always found tight watches to be extremely irritating and can't stand to wear a watch unless it's loose enough that it can slide around my wrist easily.

What sort of wrist pain was it?

[simont]

Er, hmm. It was a long time ago. Something tendon-related, I think. Tenosynovitis, possibly? I remember that at the time I was more or less convinced it had to do with having played the violin for most of my childhood and contorted my left wrist round at a silly angle to do so.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Ooh. It wasn't down the side of your thumb, was it? Because I have been getting tenosynovitis there since I started canoeing but it didn't hurt worse when I was actually paddling, so the only thing I could think of was it being from lifting boats and putting too much strain on my wrists. And it got worse when the weather got colder. And I have just had a bit of a brainwave that in the cold weather we wear cag tops with watertight seals at the wrists so as not to get soaked all the time with cold water...hmm. And the doctor I talked to wouldn't necessarily know about that in order to suggest it as a cause when I went to see him.

[twigletzone.livejournal.com]

My imagination is now trying to devise reasons for you to have to flee trouserless through Cambridge...

The trick with that nylon rucksack webbing is to melt the ends with a lighter or a gas cooker before sewing. They have fancy hot cutting thingies in outdoor shops that seal the stuff as they cut. Leather should last ages if you look after it, though - get a tin of leather food or leather oil or something (not saddle soap) and give it a coat once in a while, especially if it gets wet.

[simont]

Melting the ends: yes, I did wonder if I should have done that, but not quite enough to make a new one in order to try it :-)

[twigletzone.livejournal.com]

Heh - my invariable problem with handcrafts as well :)