targe help

[Woodsheal]

Dipping the leather in water for a few seconds actually wets it enough. I usually cut a "saw-blade" pattern around the rim of the front-face leather (with about 1.5" teeth) which prevents bunching up of the leather as you draw it over the rim and onto the back side of the targe. Fasten each "tooth" down on the backside with an upholstry nail. When the leather dries it will draw up tight. The back-side leather can either over-lap the front piece (this is the method most seen on originals), or the front piece can overlap the back. Both methods are shown here:

[Luckey]

Thank you Woodsheal, that's most helpful.

[Woodsheal]

Luckey,
One more point: you can see that I cut off the points of the circular saw "teeth" once the leather was nailed down and dry....