Quote Originally Posted by Alan H View Post
I've bought buckles and straps from Stillwater kilts and they were fine, but what I did a while ago was buy some tanned leather....basically a belt blank, and some black leather dye and buckles from Tandy Leather. They sell online, but I'm lucky in that there's a store not too far away from me.

I use a razor blade/box cutter and a straightedge to cut out the strap to the width I want, and then a handheld rotating-head leather punch to punch the buckle tang holes. Then I cut the leading edge of the belt in a "v" shape to make it easier to thread through the buckle. Then I put the leather punch on the next-to-the-smallest hole setting and put

about 8 small holes, about 1/4 inch apart, all around the bottom inch or so of the strap. I use those holes to hand-sew....with black carpet thread, not "regular" thread.... the strap through as many layers of the kilt, just under the waistband as I can without having stitches show on the outside. The thread goes through the holes in the leather, instead of my trying to drive the needle through the leather. The carpet thread is pretty heavy-duty, and so far I've never worn out or pulled out a strap.
Alan, thank you for this idea. I do a lot of shopping at the Tandy store near me and I like the idea of making my own straps.