Jason Austin

I am in the middle of one of those as well. The shapes are roughly triangular. The bottom edges are straight but the two sides that go up to the top are curved outward. I actually started with rectangles and wet molded those over the appropriate area of a wig stand (fake head). I then inserted the pieces into the "frame" and trimmed until the edges lined up with the middles of the "cross bars". I hope that helps without pics.

You could also design the strap to be adjustable with a buckle. That way you can cut two shorter pieces instead of one long one and you gain a nice "feature" for the item. Jason

Yeah nothing ruins a nice wallet like a cheapo chain. At http://theringlord.com you can get all the rings you can imagine and they also have instructions on how to do various chain weaves. It is really quite easy to do.

I have this problem all the time. What I do is put the post through both layers and cut it off flush with a pair of wire cutters. I then push my awl through the post from the back(they normally have a hole back there). Since the awl blade is round, this will make the end of the post round again. I also use some small pliers to smooth out the end even more. As long as the end of the post is round again it will work. Works every time for me with no reduction in strength.

I would just add that rivets are not the best choice where strength is a concern. I would always use stitching and/or chicago screws in stress points.

Try cutting from the flesh side with a knife instead of scissors. Scissors catch the fur and cut it when you don't want to.

I have always used a sink cutout from a granite counter top but I am starting to feel it is not "dead" enough. If I could choose anything, I would get something at least 2 inches thick. The trouble is finding it. It seems the only things available are counter top remnants (1"thick) and gravestone remnants (4-6" thick and super heavy). My 1" thick piece definitely gets the job done and it was free, just not ideal.

I would just poke it with my awl but I suppose you could get a white pencil from the sewing area of a craft store.

My advice on armor for show/ren faire is to really consider comfort when designing as you will be wearing these items all day. My experience with bracers has been that straps with buckles are much more comfortable than laces. Laces are totally fine but the fit tends to change throughout the day and may require retying. When I make laced bracers I space the holes one inch apart and do not use any grommets. Grommets would really just be for looks. The same goes for the rivets. Use the size that compliments the design. Depending on the thickness of your leather, you may have limited choices for rivets. They make some really cool small rivets now but they are so short their usefulness is limited. I normally use some thick leather laces if I dont use buckles. Not lace made for decorative lacing but lace that has been cut from a piece of leather. Its thick and can stand up to pulling. Paracord is a great choice for functionality if you dont care about "period" look.

Try this one. http://kingsxcustomleatherworks.blogspot.com/2013/02/no-more-plastic-bags-reusable-market-bag.html

Get some modeling clay, roll it out thin, and experiment. It works great.

The hotter the water used, the more shrinkage and stiffness you will have. I use room temp water unless I am making armor.

It appears to be a Springfield stamp. http://springfieldleather.com/34763/Stamping-Tool%2CR452%28B%29%2CBraid/

Don't be afraid of hand stitching. You don't need a machine to do beautiful work. Check out Nigel Armitage's work and videos.

You could also overlap the ends about 1/2 inch, skive them down so they lay flat, glue it up, and do a line of normal stitching in the middle of the overlap. In this project you have the luxury of being able to make the thing off the bottle and then slide it on so you really don't have to worry about stitching/lacing it in place.

You could also run a chicago screw through the tab on each end. That would never come loose even if your stitching failed.

Here's one: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/infoandservices/leatherguide/leatherguide.aspx

On the subject of armor with breasts...I have struggled with this as my spouse is well endowed also. I have found that you really cant get more than a large "A" or small "B" cup out of a single piece of leather. You have to cut smaller pieces with convex edges and riviet them together to make cups. you really need to decide if you want to "see" cups or if you just want comfort room for breasts. Given your original post I would bet on the latter. If that is the case you can just make the upper chest area "swell" out a bit so that there is really just a single large breast area. This would be much easier and ultimately more comfortable. This is basically what is in your first pic. I hope this helps.

I usually backstitch 2-4 times and trim short. Haven't had anything come loose yet! Good luck.

I don't know what its called but I bet Ohio Travel Bag would have one. They have every purse/bag part there is.

That looks to be about 6 to 8 oz to me. Jason

I like to skive both ends to be joined so the overlap is the same thickness as the rest. I then use Barge Cement. And then I stitch a square around the overlap and an "X" across it. Strong like bull.

Hi Luke, I was using the pine pitch from Townsend. Its the only stuff I have found anywhere. Jason

I have not been able to get rid of the tackiness of the lining. Its totally usable but a bit annoying and dust sticks to it like mad. I wonder if my mixture is wrong. I also went down the road of using other things a liners. I have had good luck with stainless steel. You can buy stainless bottles pretty cheap and then cut the tops off. This also makes it so that you don't need to wax the leather and, therefore, you can dye/stain/finish the leather like you would any other project. Jason

I think that is about the thickness I used on my shoulder pieces. They are like lobster tails in that they use successive overlapping pieces and they articulate very nicely. If you were going to translate my assembly method to your chest piece it would be like attaching the plates only at the outer edges. I used nothing in the center of each piece. this may not work well for a chest as the width is soo much greater. So you may end up needing one of strap thingies in the middle of each piece to keep the pieces from separating too much. But the screws would definitely give the the flexibility you need at the edges. I hope that helps. Jason