Working with leather

Anyone tips or tricks for working with leather?  I would like to learn making leather armor for DD. Not sure where to begin. 

I actually used to make tiny saddles for 1/9th scale model horses, so leatherwork is actually something I know a little bit about!

However, I am going to need a little bit more information from you before I can make any suggestions. Do you have any experience with other crafty things? A lot of the skills you pick up from sewing, sculpting, woodworking, making jewellery, or scrapbooking are applicable to working with leather. Another thing to consider is how fancy/intricate you want to get. If the armour you want to make is heavily tooled or is multiple colours, that will increase both the tools and skill required to bring your ideas into reality.

That all said, I have personally used the Tandy Leather YouTube channel as a reference in the past - just be aware that many of the videos feature elderly white men that can take a while to get to the point of what they are teaching 😅

Actually, I do suppose I have one piece of advice that is applicable regardless of what you want to achieve: Get a new sharp pair of scissors, and only use them for cutting leather.

i'm not sure if this is quite what you're looking for, but maybe this tutorial will give you a few pointers? https://www.deviantart.com/scargeear/art/Shoulderplates-making-tutorial-272917042

i'm planning on making leather armour for one of my resin girls so i've been on the hunt for info myself.

On 6/2/2019 at 12:02 AM, RainbowNanaki said:

I actually used to make tiny saddles for 1/9th scale model horses, so leatherwork is actually something I know a little bit about!

However, I am going to need a little bit more information from you before I can make any suggestions. Do you have any experience with other crafty things? A lot of the skills you pick up from sewing, sculpting, woodworking, making jewellery, or scrapbooking are applicable to working with leather. Another thing to consider is how fancy/intricate you want to get. If the armour you want to make is heavily tooled or is multiple colours, that will increase both the tools and skill required to bring your ideas into reality.

That all said, I have personally used the Tandy Leather YouTube channel as a reference in the past - just be aware that many of the videos feature elderly white men that can take a while to get to the point of what they are teaching 😅

Actually, I do suppose I have one piece of advice that is applicable regardless of what you want to achieve: Get a new sharp pair of scissors, and only use them for cutting leather.

My sewing experience is limited. I have tried two tutorials from Dgrequium on Etsy. Took a ceramics class years ago working with clay. 

I would like a leather chest piece with small diamond shaped patterns. Do you think it would be easier to stitch or somehow carve the pattern onto the leather with a sharp blade?

Thanks, will check out that channel. 

 

 

On 6/2/2019 at 2:07 AM, hellFlower said:

i'm not sure if this is quite what you're looking for, but maybe this tutorial will give you a few pointers? https://www.deviantart.com/scargeear/art/Shoulderplates-making-tutorial-272917042

i'm planning on making leather armour for one of my resin girls so i've been on the hunt for info myself.

The tutorial is helpful. I like the epoxy putty part. The pieces look like they were made of metal with the paint. 

I have thought about making some sort of shin/ankle guard.