Need Help Making A Viking Skirt For My Daughter

[McClaxton]

I told her I would make her the skirt from "How to Train your dragon" .

Anyone have advice on leather weight, and tapering at the waist? I've made lots of holsters and such, but never tackled a project quite like this.

Any help or advice is much appreciated!

[Dwight]

Measure her waist, . . . make the "belt" portion out of suede, . . . doubled over, . . . so that the top of the belt is the folded edge. Overlap the ends and put them together in the back with hook and loop material. I'd probably make the belt about 4 inches wide, . . . which makes your blank have to be 8 inches wide to start.

Looking at the "lady" with the ax, . . . her skirt seems to be made of 12 exterior plates and 12 interior plates, . . . laid out so that the openings in one is covered by the body of the other.

I would use rivets hidden under the elephant tooth protrusions to hold the whole thing together, . . . with the interior skirt plates also sewn to a dark "A" line skirt (ask your wife, she'll show you what one of those looks like) just for modesty sake. The skirt zipper goes in the back.

As for the taper, . . . remember you are using 12 plates. Measure the waist, . . . divide by 12 for the width of the top of the plates, . . . measure the hem of the A line skirt and divide it by 12 for the bottom width.

The exterior would either be garment chrome tan, . . . or suede, . . . and I would probably opt for the suede.

Make a tab at the top of each of the interior plates, . . . the ends of the interior plates go up in the belt to be sewn in, . . . the ends of the exterior plates overlap the belt and hide the stitches.

As for the metal elephant teeth on the outside of the skirt, . . . they will have to be really light weight, . . . or will have to be bonded to a metal piece running the length of the skirt plate. I'd probably opt for turning them on a wood lathe, . . . painting them silver, . . . and putting them on the skirt with wood screws from the back side through the aforementioned metal plate. If there is nothing behind them, . . . they will just flop down, . . . pointing at the ground, . . . and will not look like the lady in the picture.

Best wishes, . . . may God bless,

Dwight

Edited June 1, 2011 by Dwight