Sleepywise

I think there is often quite a bit of overlap between steampunk and renfaire styles since both have roots in historical fantasy! My home faire always has steampunk themed weekends, and it's fun to see what people dress up as. And I don't think there's an age limit to loving these styles! In fact, some of the best costumes I've ever seen are from the older patrons who have the time, money, and love to create truly beautiful, one-of-a-kind ensembles. I think that's part of my love of these movements--when you're at a faire or a convention, there's not usually judgement or derision. You're just surrounded my a bunch of people who love dressing up and looking awesome and living out new personas. I hope that when I'm 100 (fingers crossed :P), I'll still be rocking leather corsets and steampunk glasses. If you love steampunk, I highly recommend you go for it! There are some wonderful people in the community. :D

Thank you! Do you mind if I ask a few follow up questions? Would you apply the antique just to the beveled areas/background then? And then remove the resist? And also, is there an alternative to the acrylic finish or a way of applying it that keeps the matte tone of the original leather? My preference is for a rougher finish and all the finishing recommendations I've seen end up glossy or satin.

It's actually quite comfortable to wear as is. Originally I had wanted to keep the side panels, but I measured the sizing a bit off so it fit better without them. And yes, I totally agree with the color contrast. Do you have any advice about how to avoid that? As for the why, I've been spending a lot of my free lockdown time putting together a costume for the renaissance faire (when we can safely attend again that is), so this corset was for that costume. I haven't quite finished all the components, which is why I haven't updated with the full costume yet. Plus it seemed like a good project to really get me started in leatherworking!

Forgot to update the final product! I don't have the full costume together, but here's the finished piece. The flat lay includes side panels that I ultimately removed because of sizing and shape issues.

Hi all! I'm fairly new at leathercrafting and would like to explore dyes a little more. For my last project, due to budgetary constraints I simply used an antique gel as my dye, which I thought worked surprisingly well. I realize antiquing helps to give dimension to tooling whereas dyes are more uniform, but if I was going to antique anyway is there a specific reason to dye beforehand as well? Thanks :D

Hi all! I've been trolling these forums for advice as I worked my way through this project, but am excited to finally post one of my own! I've made smaller things like mug straps and drawstring bags before, but this is my first big project and also my first time tooling. I used a pattern from Yvonne Williams for a leather corset, but combined the front panels to have space for a bigger design. The serpent is derived from motifs I found online and altered to the shape of this panel. I used ecoflo gel antique for the dye applied with just my hands (gloved hands, of course). I have sort of an idea of what I'm doing, but would appreciate any critique or advice. Also, I do have a few questions! 1) It's too late now since I've already finished this part, but I was definitely struggling in some of the smaller areas so you can see where I beveled over a cut. Whoops. Any recommendations for tools to get into those crevices? My beveler is small but not that small (I don't know the brand or number of the tool is since I inherited these from my dad). 2) I'll have to take another photo once they're all dry, but I noticed the tooled panel turned out a shade darker than the rest of my panels even though they were all cut from the same piece, dyed the same, with the same number of coatings. Could this have been an affect from residual moisture? I left the tooled panel to dry before dyeing, but perhaps I was a tad impatient... 3) As for putting the pattern together, the original guide used rivets, but I prefer the look of hand sewn. From what I've seen, many people cement before they sew, but given that the panels will be at curved angles to fit a human waist, I don't think I'll be able to get the cement to set correctly. Can I sew without it? Thanks for your help! I appreciate any and all advice, even not in response to those specific questions. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out! (And will post updates along the way ^.^)