garment patterns (for leather)…and/or general leather garment construction info

[Colinml]

I’d like to make a mens leather jacket, something  sort of western with fringe (see photo).  I haven’t been able to find any patterns, with the exception of a pattern for a buckskin shirt that is rougher than what I would like to do.  In my searching, I’ve come to realize that there doesn’t appear to be much of anything out there for someone wishing to learn about making these sort of garments.  I mean, there are patterns and information for home sewers who might use a very lightweight chrome tan, along with slightly modified fabric sewing techniques, and there is a lot of information out there for making leather accessories, like wallets and bags, using hand or machine technique.  But I can't find anything about garment construction using somewhat heavier suede or something like the 3/4 oz deer tanned cow leather I have.  I have experience with fabric sewing, and I have experience with making leather accessories, but not leather garments of this sort.  For my first attempt at this type of garment, I would like to start with a little bit of guidance, either from a pattern that assumes leather, or a book, or website or video.  I guess what I’m thinking about is things like a pattern that doesn’t have a lot of ease in set in shoulders for instance.  Stuff like that.  Things where the designer is thinking in terms of leather being used, so the seam types make sense for the material.  Any ideas or recommendations?  Thanks.

[fredk]

Some leatherwork books of the 1970s aimed at women have patterns and instructions for making jackets in suede. If you get a few of these you can adapt the patterns

[TonyV]

The first bag I made I had no idea what to do or how to do it.  Zero experience with such an article.  I couldn't find a pattern I liked for the recipient.  One day I was in a second-hand store and found a bag that was very close to what I had in mind.  I bought it, took it home and began to take it apart.  One piece at a time I deconstructed it, took notes and tried to figure out how to put it back together.  I made modifications to make it "my" model, and it took me 2 tries, and I finally had a serviceable pattern and a general idea how to build it.  The resulting bag was well received.  

You are in a better place than I was.  You have experience putting together clothing.  Making your own pattern is a relatively simple thing when you have a good place to start.  Second-hand stores are actually a good source for patterns and creativity ideas.  I'd bet a whole dollar you can do it!

[alfredleatherworks]

One of my mentors taught me to go to Goodwill or a similar shop and find a clothing article you are wanting to make and buy it for a pattern. If it fits the way you want then you can proceed to tracing out a copy or disassembling it as a pattern. If it’s not exactly what you want you will need to figure out where to modify (add/remove ease, change design elements, etc) and then turn it into a pattern. Making a mockup in cheap fabric is a smart move too. 

You can also use patterns for fabric garments and adjust them for leather. You’ll need to consider the difference in material thickness from fabric to leather, and depending on how you want the edges finished you might need to add extra to roll an edge over (like a hem).

When accounting for seam allowance, always give yourself at least 1/2-inch. It’s easier to sew the seams and then trim off the extra vs trying to sew a thin/small seam allowance. 

When considering seams, hems, and rolled edges you will do well to skive the area from the mid-point/fold-point out to the edge and make it about 1/3-1/2 thinner terminating in a paper-thin edge. Contact cement or “permanent” double-sided tape is helpful in seams that need high-strength, but honestly a gluestick and some binder clips are often plenty for regular hems. 

If you’re going to add in “bias” tape and/or piping you’ll want to thin your leather for that by splitting it down very thin. Probably about 1.5oz thickness, or thereabouts. I like using round leather cord as the “core” for my leather piping, but you can use braided nylon rope or other cord as well. 

For fringe, I find it easiest to cut a solid block the shape needed to fit the space and then mark off the seam allowance. Then I take a clear acrylic quilting ruler and mark off the start and stop cut points with a silver marking pen. I go back with the same ruler and a rotary cutter and cut the fringe one strip at a time. By marking the width and start/stop points ahead of cutting I can make sure as the leather shifts that I can keep the cuts straight. I have used fringe cutting templates, but I dislike the results I get with them. I’m more about precision than speed in my shop.

For thread, #69 (TEX 70) is plenty thick enough for jacket construction. I recommend using an LR or RTW point needle for sewing anything where the stitching will show as it will look nicer, however any stitching that will not be seen can be done with a D or TRI point needle. 

The leather I was taught to use, and what I choose when I make garments and related items is 3-4oz chrome-tan. Most things labeled “deertan” are chrome-tan and then milled. Deertan used to mean braintan, however most tanneries don’t do brain tanning these days. It is out there, and I use it when making Indigenous items like regalia pieces, but it’s quite pricy. 3-4oz deertan cowhide is chrome-tan, and I use it a lot. I love it as an affordable stand-in for braintan buckskin, and it will make quite a nice jacket. 

If my mentor ever gets finished writing his book series for Tandy on how to design and make leather garments and garment accessories, and on leather quilting, I’ll be happy to report that on the forum here because I think there will be great interest. I studied under him for three years and I am still planning on buying the books if he ever gets done writing them.

[Colinml]

16 hours ago, fredk said:

Some leatherwork books of the 1970s aimed at women have patterns and instructions for making jackets in suede. If you get a few of these you can adapt the patterns

Found a book from the 70s! Thanks for that suggestion.

[Colinml]

14 hours ago, TonyV said:

The first bag I made I had no idea what to do or how to do it.  Zero experience with such an article.  I couldn't find a pattern I liked for the recipient.  One day I was in a second-hand store and found a bag that was very close to what I had in mind.  I bought it, took it home and began to take it apart.  One piece at a time I deconstructed it, took notes and tried to figure out how to put it back together.  I made modifications to make it "my" model, and it took me 2 tries, and I finally had a serviceable pattern and a general idea how to build it.  The resulting bag was well received.  

You are in a better place than I was.  You have experience putting together clothing.  Making your own pattern is a relatively simple thing when you have a good place to start.  Second-hand stores are actually a good source for patterns and creativity ideas.  I'd bet a whole dollar you can do it!

In the wee hours last night, I found an old simplicity pattern from the 70s on Etsy for 8 bucks, and my son has one he found in a thrift shop.  Can’t cut that one up, but between the pattern and the jacket to examine, I think I’m pretty close to there.  thanks.

[Colinml]

26 minutes ago, alfredleatherworks said:

One of my mentors taught me to go to Goodwill or a similar shop and find a clothing article you are wanting to make and buy it for a pattern. If it fits the way you want then you can proceed to tracing out a copy or disassembling it as a pattern. If it’s not exactly what you want you will need to figure out where to modify (add/remove ease, change design elements, etc) and then turn it into a pattern. Making a mockup in cheap fabric is a smart move too. 

You can also use patterns for fabric garments and adjust them for leather. You’ll need to consider the difference in material thickness from fabric to leather, and depending on how you want the edges finished you might need to add extra to roll an edge over (like a hem).

When accounting for seam allowance, always give yourself at least 1/2-inch. It’s easier to sew the seams and then trim off the extra vs trying to sew a thin/small seam allowance. 

When considering seams, hems, and rolled edges you will do well to skive the area from the mid-point/fold-point out to the edge and make it about 1/3-1/2 thinner terminating in a paper-thin edge. Contact cement or “permanent” double-sided tape is helpful in seams that need high-strength, but honestly a gluestick and some binder clips are often plenty for regular hems. 

If you’re going to add in “bias” tape and/or piping you’ll want to thin your leather for that by splitting it down very thin. Probably about 1.5oz thickness, or thereabouts. I like using round leather cord as the “core” for my leather piping, but you can use braided nylon rope or other cord as well. 

For fringe, I find it easiest to cut a solid block the shape needed to fit the space and then mark off the seam allowance. Then I take a clear acrylic quilting ruler and mark off the start and stop cut points with a silver marking pen. I go back with the same ruler and a rotary cutter and cut the fringe one strip at a time. By marking the width and start/stop points ahead of cutting I can make sure as the leather shifts that I can keep the cuts straight. I have used fringe cutting templates, but I dislike the results I get with them. I’m more about precision than speed in my shop.

For thread, #69 (TEX 70) is plenty thick enough for jacket construction. I recommend using an LR or RTW point needle for sewing anything where the stitching will show as it will look nicer, however any stitching that will not be seen can be done with a D or TRI point needle. 

The leather I was taught to use, and what I choose when I make garments and related items is 3-4oz chrome-tan. Most things labeled “deertan” are chrome-tan and then milled. Deertan used to mean braintan, however most tanneries don’t do brain tanning these days. It is out there, and I use it when making Indigenous items like regalia pieces, but it’s quite pricy. 3-4oz deertan cowhide is chrome-tan, and I use it a lot. I love it as an affordable stand-in for braintan buckskin, and it will make quite a nice jacket. 

If my mentor ever gets finished writing his book series for Tandy on how to design and make leather garments and garment accessories, and on leather quilting, I’ll be happy to report that on the forum here because I think there will be great interest. I studied under him for three years and I am still planning on buying the books if he ever gets done writing them.

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this out.  This is the kind of specific info I needed.  I'm curious if you prefer to cut the fringe before or after you attach the block to the garment?  Do you prefer to attach the sleeves while the garment is flat (before side seams), or do you like to sew the sleeve closed first and attach to the armscye after? I don’t have a cylinder arm machine, just a flatbed, if that matters.  The leather I found is from Maverick.  (I hope it’s ok to mention them.  They are an advertiser here).  It’s Horween Dearborn veg tan cow leather in 3/4 oz.  Just arrived yesterday.  Nice honey color, and it’s very soft, and somewhat drapey, though it is definitely thicker and not quite as supple as real deer hide.  But it’s surprisingly close and much cheaper.  Plus the hides are cow sized   I would absolutely buy your mentor’s book when it comes out.  Thanks again!

[alfredleatherworks]

7 hours ago, Colinml said:

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this out.  This is the kind of specific info I needed.  I'm curious if you prefer to cut the fringe before or after you attach the block to the garment?  Do you prefer to attach the sleeves while the garment is flat (before side seams), or do you like to sew the sleeve closed first and attach to the armscye after? I don’t have a cylinder arm machine, just a flatbed, if that matters.  The leather I found is from Maverick.  (I hope it’s ok to mention them.  They are an advertiser here).  It’s Horween Dearborn veg tan cow leather in 3/4 oz.  Just arrived yesterday.  Nice honey color, and it’s very soft, and somewhat drapey, though it is definitely thicker and not quite as supple as real deer hide.  But it’s surprisingly close and much cheaper.  Plus the hides are cow sized   I would absolutely buy your mentor’s book when it comes out.  Thanks again!

You are quite welcome!

I prefer to cut fringe before attaching it to the project. I also prefer to sew the garment first and then the sleeves, and then sew the sleeves to the armscye. 

My cylinder arm machine is in storage in South America for when I visit my friends there, so here in the US I do all my garment work on a Juki 1541 flatbed sewing machine. Sometimes you have to get creative (like when top-stitching a tube), but generally I don’t have issues with it. 

I’ve never purchased from Maverick, but I hear good things. Horween leather is always a good choice! 

I don’t do a lot of garment work at the moment, but I’m working on getting more of it added back into my work lineup. I really enjoy the garment work and I enjoy talking about it. Feel free to pick my brain any time!

[Colinml]

41 minutes ago, alfredleatherworks said:

You are quite welcome!

I prefer to cut fringe before attaching it to the project. I also prefer to sew the garment first and then the sleeves, and then sew the sleeves to the armscye. 

My cylinder arm machine is in storage in South America for when I visit my friends there, so here in the US I do all my garment work on a Juki 1541 flatbed sewing machine. Sometimes you have to get creative (like when top-stitching a tube), but generally I don’t have issues with it. 

I’ve never purchased from Maverick, but I hear good things. Horween leather is always a good choice! 

I don’t do a lot of garment work at the moment, but I’m working on getting more of it added back into my work lineup. I really enjoy the garment work and I enjoy talking about it. Feel free to pick my brain any time!

Thanks again. I’m sure I’ll have more questions when I get to this project.