(っ◔◡◔)っ 𝕃𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔼𝕩𝕡𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤

[Son of Kradus]

Gerty is one of my faves! I'm going to build a similar bike someday I think. Looking forward to the current build, the fab is looking terrific!

Me too, im planning the follow up to Blue Meanie based on Gerty!!!
LOve that head stock work, and fix that spring on gerty before you lose any future family benefits!

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Me too, im planning the follow up to Blue Meanie based on Gerty!!!
LOve that head stock work, and fix that spring on gerty before you lose any future family benefits!

Already fixed the spring. Guess I didn't tighten the hardware all the way back down after I put the leather seat cover on it.

 

[LeMad Hatter]

This is one angry piece of metal. Decided to Tig in the gaps, lol. Don't want any water getting in there. When it cools off in a few hours I'll do the final shaping before I start welding it to the frame

 

[SkyknightJohn]

Love the head tube shroud. Might have to try something similar someday.

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Working on the seat cover tonight. Traced the outline of the pan, then cut out the pattern. Made it a little smaller because I didn't feel like sewing through 8 layers of leather when everything is set and done

Then I glued the layers together. This is more glue than I would normally prefer to use, but I needed to be sure the valleys between the diamonds get stuck down thoroughly. Afterwards, I used a modeling spoon to push the leather down to create the padded look.

This was the first pass, when the glue was still super wet. It looks much better after a few minutes when the glue started tacking up.

Still debating on thread color, so I won't sew it up tonight

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Looks great!

 

[SwissGuy]

Working on the seat cover tonight. Traced the outline of the pan, then cut out the pattern. Made it a little smaller because I didn't feel like sewing through 8 layers of leather when everything is set and doneView attachment 231175View attachment 231176View attachment 231174View attachment 231173
Then I glued the layers together. This is more glue than I would normally prefer to use, but I needed to be sure the valleys between the diamonds get stuck down thoroughly. Afterwards, I used a modeling spoon to push the leather down to create the padded look.View attachment 231172View attachment 231171View attachment 231170This was the first pass, when the glue was still super wet. It looks much better after a few minutes when the glue started tacking up.View attachment 231169Still debating on thread color, so I won't sew it up tonight

Cool, now it starts making sense to me. Thought first you gonna sew all this little pieces together...
As I said before: Mad skills!!!

 

[LeMad Hatter]

I've been mulling it over in my head on what color thread to use since last night, so I grabbed a few choices and set them up for a side by side comparison. There really is no other choice, the whiskey color (top) is definitely it.

The whole bike is going to be painted a dark chocolate metallic color, with antiqued brass colored pinstripes and black accents

 

[LeMad Hatter]

I dunno, might be a little too bright in the sun. Opinions?

 

[SwissGuy]

View attachment 231274
I dunno, might be a little too bright in the sun. Opinions?

Maybe one or two comparison seams with the other colors?

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Here it is with the black and brown

I've never been a fan of matching the thread to the leather colors. I usually try to find a complimentary color, or a good looking contrasting color

 

[BobbyStillz]

Here it is with the black and brownView attachment 231284I've never been a fan of matching the thread to the leather colors. I usually try to find a complimentary color, or a good looking contrasting colorView attachment 231285View attachment 231286View attachment 231287

Can you do a paint sample with your base color and the pinstripe over it? Depending on the contrast of the pin, the whiskey colored thread may just tie in beautifully.

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Can you do a paint sample with your base color and the pinstripe over it? Depending on the contrast of the pin, the whiskey colored thread may just tie in beautifully.

Don't have any paint yet, probably won't for another month or so. This is the color combo I want to use though

 

[BobbyStillz]

Don't have any paint yet, probably won't for another month or so. This is the color combo I want to use thoughView attachment 231322View attachment 231323

Nice! I would do matchy-matchy or black, in that case, unless you do a brighter pin. The black would tie in your accents, and the brown on brown will let the other details sing, while the texture will still highlight the diamonds.

 

[SkyknightJohn]

I think that you have a great eye for these things and my opinion is worth the electrons I type this in!
And I just want to commission you for my next ren-faire/steam-punk festival.
As to the seat... I think whatever you think you should do is going to be awesome. But, if I must offer an opinion... contrasting colors, based on the looks of your other leather work.

 

[LeMad Hatter]

I think that you have a great eye for these things and my opinion is worth the electrons I type this in!
And I just want to commission you for my next ren-faire/steam-punk festival.
As to the seat... I think whatever you think you should do is going to be awesome. But, if I must offer an opinion... contrasting colors, based on the looks of your other leather work.

I can do steampunk

 

[user 35233]

View attachment 231274
I dunno, might be a little too bright in the sun. Opinions?

Does the stitching not get darker before the seat? I'm planning on some of my colors fading and getting dirty bringing them closer to my vision for longer term.

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Does the stitching not get darker before the seat? I'm planning on some of my colors fading and getting dirty bringing them closer to my vision for longer term.

It will eventually get darker. But for a long time, the thread will be the single brightest piece on the whole bike. There's not going to be any shiny chrome or anything else bright on it. Now that I've had some time to think, I'm just going to go with black thread. I don't want the bright thread taking away from everything else on the bike

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Gerty and I had a talk and she promised she wouldn't try to take my tender nuggets again. Then we went on an hour long cruise, enjoying the weather and scenery around town

 

[LeMad Hatter]

The top is trimmed to size, and the piping edge is installed. Ready to sew the whole top together. This is going to take forever!

Finally decided to go with black thread. Thank you to everyone for your input. Can't believe it took this long to decide such a simple thing.