Shaping a Bodice

[Hoyden]

Okay - we're arguing about this.

I made a hard leather bodice for myself and I plan on shaping it to my figure by putting the bodice on over a tank top and jumping into the shower, then having my husband and daughters help shape it by drying the shaded areas with a heat gun.

So I think that the dying and tooling should come before the shaping.

My husband says that I should shape it, then dye it.

My concern is that the wetting shaping and drying will close the pores and the leather won't accept the dye. I don't want to paint it, but dye it.

So which one is the right way???

[whinewine]

If you dye it before, you're going to be 'a wench of many colors' after your shower.

The leather WILL accept dyes after wetting (after all, when you tool, you "case", or wet, the leather, probably several times in the process of tooling).

[abn]

Another vote for dyeing after the shape has been molded...

[wolvenstien]

Yeah..... Dying after tooling.....

Do a sample piece.... Wet a piece, stretch it and mold it, and then dry it with the heat gun, and then see about dying it..... see how it works... I think it would work great....

I like the idea about taking a shower and then using a heat gun to speed up the drying process.... I might very well do the same when doing a corset soon.....

[ETW Grumpy]

Using a heat gun to speed dry the leather will not be good for the leather and might be painful to you. Once you shape it and it drys a little, you should be able to set it in the sun and have it dry on its own. Definitely oil and dye after you shape.

[ClayB]

Okay - we're arguing about this.

I made a hard leather bodice for myself and I plan on shaping it to my figure by putting the bodice on over a tank top and jumping into the shower, then having my husband and daughters help shape it by drying the shaded areas with a heat gun.

So I think that the dying and tooling should come before the shaping.

My husband says that I should shape it, then dye it.

My concern is that the wetting shaping and drying will close the pores and the leather won't accept the dye. I don't want to paint it, but dye it.

So which one is the right way???

I dont think you will have a problem with tooling or dying after wetting and shaping. I would be concerned with the heat though. Heat wont be good for the leather. Depending on how you do it, it could be painful to you too. I used to do quite a bit of welding and leather gloves will insulate you from the heat, for a whiile. Once the heat transfers all the way through the leather though, you cant get them off fast enough. I am not sure what temperatures your heat gun puts out, or if the leather will be attached to your body in some way when you are shaping it, but just be careful.

Clay

[Peter Ellis]

Heating wet leather is the most effective method I know for making the leather become extraordinarily hard.

I doubt that a hair dryer will actually get to the temperatures needed to make the chemical changes in the leather (167 degrees Farenheit).

There is a definite risk of discomfort/pain/injury in heating wet leather on your person. As Clay noted, by the time heat makes its way through the wet leather, you will likely not be able to get it off fast enough to avoid at least significant discomfort. Think about what happens when one uses a wet oven mitt to pick up a hot baking pan. The water transfers heat right through the insulated mitten.

As has been noted, dye after forming, or be dyed along with the leather. You'll also want to spend some time buffing the piece, and wearing it over a top you don't mind ruining, in order to minimize the dye transfer and for testing how badly it transfers.

If you soak the leather, and then let it dry for a few hours, it will still form well, but it won't sag the way it does when extremely wet, and you ought to be able to put it on and get your form fitting without needing to heat it...