Leather Artisan Handcrafting Traditional Folk Accessories

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Leather Artisan Explains the Basics of a Romanian Leather Beaded Waistbelt

Romanian leather craftsman Iosif Glogovski is a skilled leather artisan from Cacica, Bucovina. He has been working since 1958. During communism, he produced and distributed his leather products all over the country, as a cooperative worker.

Since then, the request for horse harnesses decreased. He continued adapting his job to modern times and began leather crafting traditional beaded waist belts. His son also became a leather belt-maker.
In the rural community, these beaded waistbelts are still made by leather craftsmen and worn by men on social occasions, such as going to church, to proms, to weddings and everytime a traditional outfit is required.
The leather or fabric accessories are worn over the long traditional blouses. With their colorful beads in floral patterns, a beaded waistbelt is super eye catching and a perfect color addition to any outfit.

The making process takes some time and effort, for an exclusively handmade item, where a lot of beading is required, but the result is spectacular.

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Each component of the belt is fully hand beaded on a piece of fabric. This will be the ornament of the belt. You want to consider the length of the belt between 27.3′ – 50.7′ and the desired width;
Trim each component on the edges and remove the excess material;

Spread glue on the entire back surface of each component and stick them on a cardboard. You want to let it dry. Next, you trim the components again and remove the excess cardboard;
You take a big piece of cowhide leather, glue the components on it and let it dry. Trim the components on the edges again, removing the excess leather;
Now that each component is glued on leather, you need to add the edge of the belt: a thin leather is glued and sewn on the edges of the belt.

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