Leather Armor - Bracers

The first part of my leather armor is complete! Finally, something was ACTUALLY accomplished!

Now, I give you - Leather Bracers!

I took measurements of my forearms, and then made a cardstock template which was the size I wanted. Once the template was ready, I drew the shape on some 10oz leather and cut it out. I then soaked it in hot water and shaped it to my forearm.

Here, you can see the shaped, undyed bracers next to their cardstock template.

Once the bracers were shaped, I dyed them with simple leather dye. These ones are plain brown with no symbols on them. Once I complete my full armor, I'll start making different colors, symbols, etc.

Here, you can see a dyed bracer next to the undyed.

And here you can see them both dyed

The next step (which turned out to be the longest) was to cut out the buckles. The bracers use six in total, three on each bracer. I used some 6oz buffalo leather I got in Pakistan, which is just as hard as my regular 10oz. Once they were cut out, I soaked them in hot water, allowed them to air dry (which leads to some interesting effects with dying), and then dyed and assembled them.

Here, you can see the cut-out buckles, undyed and unassembled.

Here, you can see them after having been soaked

Here are the final buckles, dyed and assembled.

Then, I attached the buckles to the bracers, and voila! Here they are, complete!