How Much Leather Will I Need To Make Chaps

[BarrelPony]

Hello, I am looking into making my first pair of chaps. I'm trying to figure out how much leather I'm going to need. Is there any way for me to get an estimate of how much leather I will need to make myself a pair of the (#34) Arizona chaps from Klenda Saddelry? (http://www.klendasaddlery.com/chaps.htm) My measurements are as follows:

Hip: 34"

Upper Thigh: 20"

Mid Thigh: 17"

Knee: 13"

Calf: 12"

Outer Leg: 38"

Thanks so much for your help!

[Dwight]

Considering you may have to cut around a brand, scratch, etc, . . . for the body of the chaps, . . . . I'd count on having a good 12 square feet of leather.

The belt and pockets can be usually made of "stuff" you have laying around the leather shop.\

May I make a suggestion, however, . . . look on line, . . . get one of those 50% off coupons from JoAnn fabric, . . . go in there and buy two yards of their fabric backed vinyl. It approximates leather for making chaps, . . . in fact, . . . . it IS MY pattern material.

Make your first pair from the vinyl, . . . it'll tell you where and how you need to modify your pattern.

May God bless,

Dwight

[dirtclod]

1 Side if you don't cut two for the same leg.

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I agree with Dirt. With your measurements, you should be able to get them out of one side if it's relatively clean and decent size. Most chap sides are between 25-29 sq feet. And check, double check to flip your pattern so that you are not, as Dirt says, cutting two of the same leg. Yep, done that!

[BarrelPony]

Thanks a lot for the replies everyone! I really liked some stuff I found from Water House Leather, but it's only 15 sq. ft. Would that not be enough? (As long as I don't cut two legs that is!)

[dirtclod]

Make your pattern one for each leg right and left. Then write left and right on the patterns. That way you can move them around on your side to make sure both will fit. I don't think you will be able to get a pair out of 15 square foot and if you do one leg is going to be way down in the belly. Ask the folks at Waterhouse and see if they have anything bigger or look around and see what you can come up with.

[GrampaJoel]

For style #34 you are going to need a pretty good size side. I'd say at least 24 sq ft. Because Your 38" leg will take a lot of material. Plus you are making step-in's and will need quite a bit of material for wrapping around the leg. Think, a pair of pants.

Dwights suggestion was right on target. It is a very cheap way to figure out what you are doing.

I used inexpensive Naugahyde when I first started learning to make chaps and chinks.

Now days I just take measurements and lay them out on a card stock bought from Office Depot to make my patterns.

If you make enough pairs you will soon see how much leather you need just by looking at your card stock pattern.

Remember. Some of the leather will be unusable, so count on scraps.

Let us know how they turn out.

Just a thought. The Klenda pattern might tell you how to figure the leather you will need.

Joel

Edited March 21, 2016 by GrampaJoel

[BarrelPony]

Thanks so much everyone! It sounds like I will need a side then. Any recommendations of a good place to get cheap sides? I kind of wanted to keep this project at $100 or less. By the way, would a side be enough to put some fringe on them as well? Also, what is your preferred thickness for chaps? I don't want a super heavy pair, but I also don't want them to be thin. I was thinking maybe 4-5 oz?

[Dwight]

I know this is not the style you wanted, . . . but just to give you an idea of what you need, . . . and a way to think about it.

I made these a couple of years ago for a parade, . . . made them from suede leather, . . . if you can read the legend on the cutting table, . . . you'll see that the main piece needed to be 29 inches wide, . . . and just about 32 long.

These chaps were for me, . . . I'm 6' 2".

And of course, I made the pattern in the vinyl first, . . .

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited March 22, 2016 by Dwight

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I used to buy most of my chap leather from Siegels of California until they closed. I'm still sad about that. I loved their Friday specials. Now I buy most of it from The Hide House. It doesn't seem like there's cheaply priced leather anywhere anymore, but the Hide House has a phenomenal selection and the colors are pretty consistent. What I buy usually runs between $90 and $120 a side, plus freight. The Leather Guy in St. Charles, MN may be a good choice for you. They offer a lot of odd lot and overrun stuff at pretty good prices. Some of their sides are kind of small, so you may end up having to buy buying two, which would end up increasing your cost anyway with a lot left over. They also have Bison, which I have used and really liked the finished product. They are about 4 hours from me and I don't get over that way too often, but when I do, I like to stop and go through their selection. Most of the chinks and chaps I build are 5/6 oz. The temper varies with the style. I've only built one pair of step-ins, and by customer request it was really heavy, bulky, firm stuff. He even picked out the side. It would never have been my choice, but I wasn't the one ordering them. He was tickled to death with them the last I heard, so that's all that matters. I imagine step-ins have to have enough body to stay open, but if they're too stiff, it'll be hard to move in them I would think, 4/5 oz may be a good choice. Hopefully you will get some good advice from someone who builds a lot more chaps than I do.

[BarrelPony]

Hey there everyone, thanks so much for all the great help! I found a pretty good deal I think from The Leather Guy, it's 22 sq. ft. (62"x37") of 5 1/2 ounce oil tanned. Here is the link to the listing:

The Leather Guy

Would that be enough to make a pair with fringe? Thanks!

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

If you are very careful on placing your patterns you should be able to get it done. You may need to add the fringe as opposed to cutting as part of the chap leather. Here are 3 pics of chaps made of different types of leather.  The pink were made of glove leather the other ones were made of deer tanned cowhide.  In all three cases I made them out of about 27 sq ft with plenty left over.

Bob

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I would not chance the one 22 sq ft side for a pair of chaps.  I'd ask for two matching sides to have your bases covered. If you run short only having ordered one side, and have to order another, what happens if there isn't one to match it then? It's much easier to have them match them up at the same time in the store than to get one now and one later and hope they match. Total square footage doesn't always tell the whole story. If the side is odd shaped or has some blemishes right in the middle of where you need to cut, you're out of luck.   You might be money ahead to order a big hide and then your chances are a lot better. While I like the leather I've gotten from TLG and I like dealing with them, the sides to tend to run small and the yield isn't super. You're paying over $4.50 a ft for that hide, Hide House isn't any higher and they'll have bigger sides. Just make sure to specify when you order. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

[Dwight]

Hey, BondoBob, . . . thanks pal for the picture of the little lady in the pink.

Haven't been feeling all the way up to par, . . . needed something to bust the monotony, . . . erase the fog, . . . y'know.

THAT picture did it.  Seeing the smile on her face, . . . ribbon in her hand, . . . and that beautiful piece of horseflesh she is riding, . . .  just made my day.

Again, thanks for posting, . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

On ‎3‎/‎19‎/‎2016 at 7:49 PM, Big Sioux Saddlery said:

I agree with Dirt. With your measurements, you should be able to get them out of one side if it's relatively clean and decent size. Most chap sides are between 25-29 sq feet. And check, double check to flip your pattern so that you are not, as Dirt says, cutting two of the same leg. Yep, done that!

That was good for a morning laugh, done that too!

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

52 minutes ago, Dwight said:

Hey, BondoBob, . . . thanks pal for the picture of the little lady in the pink.

Haven't been feeling all the way up to par, . . . needed something to bust the monotony, . . . erase the fog, . . . y'know.

THAT picture did it.  Seeing the smile on her face, . . . ribbon in her hand, . . . and that beautiful piece of horseflesh she is riding, . . .  just made my day.

Again, thanks for posting, . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

Dwight, just in case you needed a little pick me up today, here is another pic of the pink girls' sister in her blue glove leather chaps.  Both girls have now grown out of those, but; are still showing on the Arab circuit here in MI. They are both the sweetest things, must have been the chaps!

Barrel Pony, I like to use either, buffalo hide or deer tanned cowhide, for show chaps, they make nice soft, feeling chaps.  You can often fine a nice selection of the deer tanned cow hide at Tandy's. Not priced too steep either.  If you have your pattern with you, you can take it in to the store and actually see it there is enough on the side you select to do the job, before you buy it.  There is an advantage to being able to personally select your hides where ever you go.

Bob

[Dwight]

That's a good one too.............

Thanks, may God bless,

Dwight

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

The Arab pictures take me back about 30 years. There was a time when I thought they were the most awesome horses in the world.  Even though I have moved on, there is still something pretty about a nice Arabian and a well-thought-out turnout.

 

[BarrelPony]

Hi everyone, and thanks for your input and photos. If I did go with the 22 sq. ft. and it wasn't enough, I could always do a seam in the leg right?

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I haven't ever added a seam to complete a pair of chaps, although I've seen them that way, and it always makes me think "lesser quality".   If you choose that route, be very careful where you put the seam, making sure it isn't in a spot that is subject to excessive wear and abrasion or will be uncomfortable to the wearer, such as on the inside of the leg where it would touch the saddle.  Chaps are an item that tend to come un-sewed anyway, due to frequent flexing of material and oftentimes, too light of a thread being used.  Personally, I would avoid a splice at all costs. I price my chaps high enough to cover all my bases. Trying to build a pair on $100 budget is just cutting it pretty close, IMO. Used to be it was sure feasible, but leather has increased in cost so much, and we have to adjust our expectations accordingly. Many of my chap sides will run over $100 before freight. For an extra tall or big person, I plan on two sides and charge for that extra leather.  Years ago, when chap sides started to hover around the $100 mark, a fellow leatherworker said "Boy that's hard to make a pair of chaps work, isn't it?".  I just shake my head at that way of thinking. Everything else goes up. A new pickup can cost well over $50,000, 20 years ago they were half that.  In the horse industry in particular, for some strange reason, folks tend to think a saddle should cost nearly the same as it did 20 years ago.  I believe that is one major reason we're seeing the decline in quality of the production saddles.  To remain competitive and profitable, these companies keep cutting costs in material and methods, resulting in an inferior product.  Or possibly the reverse is true, people expect to be able to pay the same because the production stuff hasn't gone up at the same rate as everything else, but the reasons are the same.  However, I digress.  If a splice doesn't bother you, then a 22 ft side may very well work.

[BarrelPony]

Hey there everyone, thanks again so much for all your great input and help! I think I've decided on this stuff. I feel that from what you all have said 28 sq. ft. should be enough. I agree with Big Sioux Saddlery that a seam does cheapen an otherwise good pair of chaps. Hopefully I can make them out of one piece if I do go with that leather. We will see how this goes, I will keep this active and post a picture of the finished chaps when I get them done! Thanks again!

[buckarooTB]

hi, i have a question. Do any of you have any suggestions on how to efficiently use a hide when cutting out a pair of armitas?

[Pebbles]

Being new to this leather business, I really appreciate this forum and all the great hints and tutorial in here. I´m looking to make a pair of chinks for myself, being a bit on the "anxious side" I really liked Dwight´s advice with the nylon backed fabric as pattern. Since Swedish being my native language I´m not sure which fabric that is, is it "the Tablecloth Vinyl" shown on the online store?

[Dwight]

4 hours ago, Pebbles said:

Being new to this leather business, I really appreciate this forum and all the great hints and tutorial in here. I´m looking to make a pair of chinks for myself, being a bit on the "anxious side" I really liked Dwight´s advice with the nylon backed fabric as pattern. Since Swedish being my native language I´m not sure which fabric that is, is it "the Tablecloth Vinyl" shown on the online store?

 

Pebbles, . . . the vinyl I use is .040 inches or 1mm thick.  It is much heavier than the tablecloth vinyl, and is used for upholstery, cushions, seat covers, and the like.  I use it because it is the nearest I have found to leather in the way it mimics folding, laying, or hanging.  

BUT, . . . I had not thought of tablecloth vinyl, . . . and at least for the pattern shape, . . . it may very well work out for you.  I would, however find some belly leather, or scrap stuff you have laying around for the belt, etc.  I do that with mine and it works out pretty good for me.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Pebbles]

I bought some tablecloth vinyl today, it was great for pattern. It was easy to draw lines with a pencil on it, even better to cut (like butter). It doesn't however behave anything like leather. Now I know what kind of fabric I need, "tusen tack" as we say in Swedish, thats "a thousand thanks" :-D

You mean I should use belly leather for the yokes and belts on the chinks, or for pattern?