New leather grip on my first saber

[Thalan the Exiled]

So i decided to put a leather grip on my very first saber. I was trying to give it more of an old republic feel. I didnt go with a wrap or a lace up style. Instead i created a sleeve. I need to order some of the trim rings to help keep it in place and give it a cleaner edge, but it isnt bad looking without. Let me know what you think.

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It looks light brown in the first pick due to the flash, but it is almost black looking in regular light. Got the leather off a ln old leather sofa someone threw out.

[Greenie]

That looks pretty sweet and a good 'salvage' for the leather.

[yoyoy2k]

Looks good! I'm with Greenie -- nice find on that sofa.

[minorhero]

Looks pretty clean! What did you use to join the ends together?

[Thalan the Exiled]

I actually sewed it. To get the clean seam you sew it inside out then invert it. The extra leather you spread one to each side as you slide it on( which was a pian in the butt). I never liked the tied on look and the wraps are ok. I wanted something to look a bit cleaner. If you look at the first pic closely you can see the stiching

[minorhero]

I saw the stitching and having done a lace-up style stitch on my own leather wrapped hilt I knew how hard it must have been to make those stitches from what I suppose was the outside. It really must have been awful sliding that thing on. My leather wrap is stretched really tightly around the saber to the point where it just doesn't move. I like the idea of using trim rings to cap the ends though.

[Thalan the Exiled]

Yeah took me forever to get it on there. But good thing is it only has a tiny bit of wiggle.hardest part was the switch. making sure the hole was cut juat right so it went in but kept the edge covered. Was a game of MMs. Next step is to give it some weathering to finish off the "old" look.