Leather, Baby! That's What I'm Talkin' About!
I am making a hat, and I'm pretty excited about this whole idea. No, I can't label this post "Idea!" because it's an assignment for school. But its a pretty cool one.
In my costuming specialties class - the one with the fistfuls of illustrations? - we are also going to make a wig, a hat, and panniers (hoop skirts) a la our designs for The Magic Flute. I'm about halfway done with my wig, which is modeled after the Queen of the Night, and need to have my supplies ready to start the hat project on Monday. I decided to make the tricorn hat that the Speaker wears after my instructor suggested I make it out of.... leather. That had not even crossed my mind. Leather to me seems like this mysterious stuff that requires years of special and secret training, passed on from generation to generation in dark, wooden buildings where young men in baggy linen shirts learn from wizened old masters while getting sweaty...near a blazing fire....throwng a sheen off their...slick....bodies.....
(shakes head)
So, it turns out its not really that difficult, or at least according to the instructions I found online. So I'm going to try it. I ordered the leather today, and that is its own world right there. There's about a gazillion kinds of leather you can purchase (I need tooling leather), that comes in different weights (I need 4 oz.) and thicknesses (which for 4 oz. is about 1/8" thick.) There's clean leather vs. flawed, colors, round leather, half-side, single shoulder, double shoulder, ostrich, deer, textured, sueded -- the list goes on and on.
Another thing I learned is that hides basically come in one size, which is about 22-24 square feet, and is sold at x dollars per square foot. It makes sense to buy big pieces if you are making furniture, or clothing or whatnot, but is frustrating if you only need, say, 6 square feet. I eventually found a place that sold single shoulder pieces for about $18/piece, so I got two, just to be safe (if this hat works, I totally want to make another one!)
I have to admit after trolling the leather stores that I have visions of making chaps someday, but that vision always involves me being skinny, or at least in shape. Maybe later. Until then, I wait with baited breath until my pieces of dead cow arrive via UPS later this week.
In my costuming specialties class - the one with the fistfuls of illustrations? - we are also going to make a wig, a hat, and panniers (hoop skirts) a la our designs for The Magic Flute. I'm about halfway done with my wig, which is modeled after the Queen of the Night, and need to have my supplies ready to start the hat project on Monday. I decided to make the tricorn hat that the Speaker wears after my instructor suggested I make it out of.... leather. That had not even crossed my mind. Leather to me seems like this mysterious stuff that requires years of special and secret training, passed on from generation to generation in dark, wooden buildings where young men in baggy linen shirts learn from wizened old masters while getting sweaty...near a blazing fire....throwng a sheen off their...slick....bodies.....
(shakes head)
So, it turns out its not really that difficult, or at least according to the instructions I found online. So I'm going to try it. I ordered the leather today, and that is its own world right there. There's about a gazillion kinds of leather you can purchase (I need tooling leather), that comes in different weights (I need 4 oz.) and thicknesses (which for 4 oz. is about 1/8" thick.) There's clean leather vs. flawed, colors, round leather, half-side, single shoulder, double shoulder, ostrich, deer, textured, sueded -- the list goes on and on.
Another thing I learned is that hides basically come in one size, which is about 22-24 square feet, and is sold at x dollars per square foot. It makes sense to buy big pieces if you are making furniture, or clothing or whatnot, but is frustrating if you only need, say, 6 square feet. I eventually found a place that sold single shoulder pieces for about $18/piece, so I got two, just to be safe (if this hat works, I totally want to make another one!)
I have to admit after trolling the leather stores that I have visions of making chaps someday, but that vision always involves me being skinny, or at least in shape. Maybe later. Until then, I wait with baited breath until my pieces of dead cow arrive via UPS later this week.
posted by mama pajama @ 5:58 PM
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