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!

 

Leather Armor - Sketchbook Planning

Here's my next big leather project, and this time I figured I'd give you all a look into it. I'm starting work on a full set of leather armor. Right now, I've planned out the designs, and made some measurements. I'll be adding more measurements, cutting the patterns out of cardboard, and then finally starting to work with leather.

Here are the images of my sketchbook that I've been planning it in. You can also get a peek into how I work on new designs that require more planning.

 Above, you can see me jotting down some notes on what parts it'll have, how many buckles, o-rings, etc I'll need, as well as the first part of it that I designed.

Above are the parts that are similar to each other (I.E. the bracers, greaves, things like that).

This was the most complicated part: the pauldrons. I was planning on having them strap into the cuirass (see below), so I had to make a complicated thing in order for them to be worn separately. Then, I decided against having them strap onto that, so a lot of the planning was wasted. That happens often.

And finally, the cuirass. The last part of the armor.

I took a lot of inspiration from a website called www.darkknightarmory.com. It's an awesome place. I'm going to try to make it SCA/LARP legal, and I got some good buffalo leather for the thin parts while I was in Pakistan. I'll keep posting as I keep working on it!