I have posted several videos after the last one I added here. Some of them are about taking apart leather jackets I bought from a charity shop closeout sale for very cheap. You can find them on my YouTube channel, so I'm not adding them all here, but here is the first thing I made using those jackets.
I wanted to know how long it really takes to convert a t-shirt to a long-sleeved one, so I downloaded a stopwatch app and set to find out.
Then I copied several patterns at once as I knew I wanted to make these at some point.
Buying new leather is not something I like to do, so second hand stores are a great source of materials. I got a great deal on some used leather jackets.
Ever since I got this Eowyn's helmet and found out it fits Tyler dolls, I've been thinking of making an entire outfit for the doll to go with the helmet.
The plan has been on hold for a long time, but today I started planning some leather armor. First I made a paper pattern by wrapping paper around the doll and forming the required shape, then cutting that into patterns.
The next step was to make a prototype. I started with fabric. I had to add seam allowances to the patterns for this. The actual patterns won't have them as the edges of the leather will go side by side, not overlapping any.
This bodice turned out to be too big. Fine for a dress, not so for armor. I'll probably make a dress using this at some point, but now I'm interested in making armor.
I reduced the patterns a bit and also got rid of most of the curves in favor of straight lines. I made the second prototype out of thick felt as I wanted material that would be approximately the same stiffness as the leather I'm going to use. Below are the parts of the bodice. I decided to cut the back piece into two separate pieces as there needs to be slight curve there.
This is the felt bodice and it's the correct size considering that there will be some clothes under it. The lower part of the armor will be strips of leather sewn to the lower edge of the bodice. I'm also planning on adding some shoulder and upper arm pieces, but those can be planned later. First I'm going to make the basic piece and additional parts will be easier to plan when I've got that.
I now have working patterns for the bodice, so the next step will be to make it out of leather. I remember doing some leather decorating as a kid, so I'll need to look into that, because it would be nice to have decorated armor instead of one of plain leather.
I haven't thought about the details of the clothes that go underneath the armor, but it'll be at least a shirt and trousers. I've made some repros of historical clothing, so the designs won't be a problem. Some sort of boots are also needed, but I'll need to do a bit of research on that, because I'd like to be a bit more accurate about them.
I've been thinking about the leather I got when I removed the stool cover during the smaller upholstery project. There's quite a bit of it, and I want to find a practical way of using it. One of the ideas I had was to make a bag, but I already have one made of leather. My aunt made it and gave it to my mother and I got it when the house was being emptied for sale. It's probably made from furniture industry's leftover pieces and I'm its third owner so far, so it's a well recycled item already.
On the right in the picture are the pieces from the stool. The rectangular pieces (a few dozen) are from the sides and the rest from the top. The top pieces are thinner and more worn than the side pieces, so they're also softer. I like the worn look of the top pieces, but the area they cover isn't large, so they can't be used for anything big. Another restriction is that I haven't sewn leather with a sewing machine before, so I don't want the first project to be anything too complicated. I guess I'll just leave those pieces alone for now and try to figure out something useful.
I think these were originally pieces left over from making bigger furniture, because there was no need to have so many small side panels in the stool otherwise, considering the amount of work the sewing must have required. Then they served their purpose for over 20 years before ending up this way, waiting for their next purpose.
