Thread: Poor Man's Linen

After many frustrating attempts to try to get linen to make a linen strop to leave at my girlfriend's house, I decided to try it the DIY way. What you see here is a piece of denim glued with RTV adhesive to a scrap strip of plastic. After it cures, I will trim it to within 1/2" of the sides (leaving enough length to sew around a pair of D-rings), then I will fold the edges over and glue them down to the back. This should provide me with an even surface and edges free of bumps, stitches, etc.

A couple possible improvements to the process:

(1) I think RTV might not be the right glue to use. It's messy and viscous and has seeped through the fabric a little, near the top and bottom. Spray adhesive might be a better choice.

(2) Heavy canvas would probably be better than old denim.

(3) This might be the wrong kind of plastic to use. I'm not sure but I think it's Teflon. Even though I roughed it up with sandpaper, IDK if the glue is going to stick. It might have been better to use some scrap linoleum flooring, or a strip of that rubber bordering stuff they glue to the edges of the drywall in offices.

Anyway, hope this gets you thinking. If anyone wants to chime in with suggestions for glue, please do. The ideal glue would be thin, flexible when dry, and tenacious.

Happy Stropping,
-Johnny