Leather Dressmaking?

[LauraRose]

Hello everyone, I'm new at this, so sorry if I ramble a little

I'm a year 12 textiles student and for my major work I'm crating a Steampunk inspired leather dress. The dress will have a large skirt and a corset top. I want the leather to be quite sturdy, but I'm working with a regular sewing machine so it can't be too thick. I'm really just wondering if anyone can offer any advice on what sort of leather I should think about using (actually any advice at all would be hugely helpful). I need the leather to be supple, to allow freedom of movement, but I also want it to look quite sturdy.

All advice will be taken and considered, I'd really appreciate any help you can give

Thankyou.

[bluesman1951]

I would suggest deer skin . Make a big bucket of very hot water throw the skins in and soak . After a bit remove wring out the water and put them on a sheet of plywood and staple it down streching it tight as you work your way around the edges . Make it tight like a drum . After its dry you can condition it to soften it a bit . Now all the strech is gone and it will hold its shape while remaining soft and supple. Work the hide a bit to take the stiff out of it . Now its ready to use . Hope this helps a bit . Bill

[sherlockian100]

If you were tp use veggie tanned (2-3 oz leather) it might be thin enough, but then if you wet it and then heat it in your oven on its lowest setting, the leather will harden and become very firm (they used to make armor that way. Look up "CUIR BOUILLI." Don't know if you can machne sew 2 oz. leather or not, I only hand stitch. But, I've thought of using this technique to make a strong biker type corset in the past, but haven't actually tried it. But, This is just what came to mind when I read your post. Hope it helps at least come up with some ideas/

[rosiart]

Hello everyone, I'm new at this, so sorry if I ramble a little

I'm a year 12 textiles student and for my major work I'm crating a Steampunk inspired leather dress. The dress will have a large skirt and a corset top. I want the leather to be quite sturdy, but I'm working with a regular sewing machine so it can't be too thick. I'm really just wondering if anyone can offer any advice on what sort of leather I should think about using (actually any advice at all would be hugely helpful). I need the leather to be supple, to allow freedom of movement, but I also want it to look quite sturdy.

All advice will be taken and considered, I'd really appreciate any help you can give

Thankyou.

You could go to a thrift store and purchase an old leather coat or two. Normally they are pretty cheap and the leather fairly thin and supple. It would also have some wear which might be a good effect for your steam punk look. I did that for the first leather corset I made. You could even incorporate buckles, pockets and straps from the existing coat for design accents. It sewed fine on my machine and was a much less expensive way to make one. With leather, anything that may get too thick for your machine, like the binding ,can be glued on. Hope this helps.

[LauraRose]

You could go to a thrift store and purchase an old leather coat or two. Normally they are pretty cheap and the leather fairly thin and supple. It would also have some wear which might be a good effect for your steam punk look. I did that for the first leather corset I made. You could even incorporate buckles, pockets and straps from the existing coat for design accents. It sewed fine on my machine and was a much less expensive way to make one. With leather, anything that may get too thick for your machine, like the binding ,can be glued on. Hope this helps.

I've thought about doing this, but I'm worried about being able to find the specific colour I need and then try and find it again in another coat as I would definitely need more than one (The skirt I'm making is very large), but I will definitely consider doing this for the corset, thankyou very much

[LauraRose]

If you were tp use veggie tanned (2-3 oz leather) it might be thin enough, but then if you wet it and then heat it in your oven on its lowest setting, the leather will harden and become very firm (they used to make armor that way. Look up "CUIR BOUILLI." Don't know if you can machne sew 2 oz. leather or not, I only hand stitch. But, I've thought of using this technique to make a strong biker type corset in the past, but haven't actually tried it. But, This is just what came to mind when I read your post. Hope it helps at least come up with some ideas/

This would be perfect for the corset top, although I'm worried that the corset would restrict movement immensely, Can the degree to which the leather is hardened during the boiling process be controlled at all?

If you were tp use veggie tanned (2-3 oz leather) it might be thin enough, but then if you wet it and then heat it in your oven on its lowest setting, the leather will harden and become very firm (they used to make armor that way. Look up "CUIR BOUILLI." Don't know if you can machne sew 2 oz. leather or not, I only hand stitch. But, I've thought of using this technique to make a strong biker type corset in the past, but haven't actually tried it. But, This is just what came to mind when I read your post. Hope it helps at least come up with some ideas/

This would be perfect for the corset top, although I'm worried that the corset would restrict movement immensely, Can the degree to which the leather is hardened during the boiling process be controlled at all?

[LauraRose]

I would suggest deer skin . Make a big bucket of very hot water throw the skins in and soak . After a bit remove wring out the water and put them on a sheet of plywood and staple it down streching it tight as you work your way around the edges . Make it tight like a drum . After its dry you can condition it to soften it a bit . Now all the strech is gone and it will hold its shape while remaining soft and supple. Work the hide a bit to take the stiff out of it . Now its ready to use . Hope this helps a bit . Bill

I hate to ask this question, but is there any way to buy deer skin that has already been treated this way? Simply because I'm not experienced in these techniques and I don't want to ruin a large sheet of leather and then be stranded for material for my major work. Also how heavy is this leather? And would I be able to boil it to stiffen it? Thank you so much

[Sylvia]

I would give upholstery leather a shot. The whole hides provide a lot more "yardage" than deer and other types of garment leathers. It's thin enough that you can sew it on a domestic machine provided you use the even feed foot and a leather point needle. (Better on an older all metal machine, btw)

It also has more body than typical garment leathers so it will appear more sturdy.

I would recommend Brettunsvillage for both upholstery and garment leathers. They ship free to the Contiguous 48 in USA no matter the size of order.

Here's a page of garment leathers for you. http://www.brettunsv...ghtleather.html

and there is some upholstery full hides in black about half way down on this page. http://www.brettunsv...ather/sides.htm

Btw.. these folks are more of a surplus seller. They buy odd lots so you will never know what awesome leather you'll find at a discount... they also have some hardware and often they have pre-cut sleeves and what-nots.

The hardest part, I think would be, ordering enough to make the dress but still not have too much waste. (don't forget you can glue a stiffener or stabilizer to the back of light weight leather to give it more body.)

Good luck with your project. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Edited November 8, 2012 by Sylvia

[bluesman1951]

I am going to reply here only to the point of your question . No You cant buy toggled leather . No you dont boil it . Use hot water straight from the shower with no cold water on .Thats hot enough .The purpose of this is to take the strech out of the leather period nothing else. This is not rocket science . Take most of the water out of the hide then put it on a sheet of plywood staple one side then pull it tight and staple the other side . This is nearly impossible to screw up .If you leave it outside to dry a bird may poop on your project thats about the worst thing that can happen. I do not understand being afraid of the hide or the cost its just leather . Try a piece of small stuff to see how your hide reacts to your local tap water if the mineral content is high that may change the game a bit . This is a simple process and no big deal at all . Your hide a big bucket ,stapler, hot water ,big piece of wood is all thats needed and of course your willingness to do some work .