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madame_dennaOkay - there's quite a lot that I've done since I posted last. Let's begin...
These pics are a bit older - I just hadn't had the time to post them yet:
This is supposed to be the belt xD Imagine my surprise as I realised that it's of two pieces...... whatever for it is - I can't say, maybe stablility - looks - no idea. But I like it. I attached the belt buckle to come up with a reasonable length, so I could adjust the second belt piece, that begins at the hip (see 3rd picture). In the second pic you can see the rest of the belt buckles (I bet there is a fancy name for these things but I'm to lazy to look it up) I needed to see if they fit, width wise, so I could adjust it before I'd dye it
Since I've decided to make - as much as possible - Denna's leathers *surprise* *surprise*, there are not very much cavings/patterns in the items themselfs - only the ever present lines. I read a lot about how to make them and looked at a lot of fancy tools. But somewhere I read that the back of a knife would do the trick - it did. I used a ruler to have a relatively even line.
If you make the leather wet BEFORE it is much easier and the lines will be deeper - and stay that way when the leather dries. I was lucky that I only made the belt without it... *sigh*
These are the two straps for the Agiel holder. AREN'T THEY CUTE???
The leather strap that goes trough the end will be a strap of the leg-piece later. I just used this one to see if its wide enough.
The agiel holder thing with new pretty lines - it really looks much better this way..
So this is the leg-piece. What you see are the holes for the straps that will be 'woven' through it later. It's a tiresome work to get the holes all even :( I hated this. There is a tool to stamp it out - but it's really expensive so I didn't think it would be worth to buy it.. I was tempted though. Very much.
The sharp cutter is much of a help here, but the edges are tricky. I couldn't reach these spots with the punch pliers - that would have been so much easier. I bought a single tool similar the punch pliers - only that you have to hit it with a hammer. It doesn't work soooo well.. but how was it: patience ...
This is the tool I talked about. The concept is good, but it doesn't seem to be sharp enough to cut fully throught the leather...
HOURS LATER and I was like *yay* finished, but then I remembered the line *headdesk*
I can't remember anymore but I think this must be another day - I can't imagine that I did anything else after the legpiece xD
But now the 'fun' part begins! COLORS!! Okay only red - and a bit black, later. I bought two things to dye with:
1. This fluffy thing on a stick (I'll refer to it as 'fluffy' in the future) and 2. sponges
Fluffy here, makes an extraordinary dye job :P
The color is: OXBLOOD - don't be surprised if it gets pink after the first dye-ing process.
After I had dyed (?) it - I let it dry for about 20 minutes, then began again - and again.
Don't forget the edges!
SO SWEET AND TINY - looks even better in red :)
Btw: Did you notice this ultra stylish tablecloth? I found it on the attic - it was used for handicraft things when I was a kid. Haha.. but it is really good :)
These are the gloves that I used - USE GLOVES!
But not that kind. The color is very.. lasting. Give it a couple of days.
So now the things I did today:
Well at first: Leather
This is the leather I bought for the suit. It's imitation leather. First I was totally against it, but then certain things made me 'consider' it.
1. It's sooo hard to get the real leather in the size I need (without - shoting - holes).
2. The colour - it's almost impossible to get not-dyed leather for clothes. I have no idea why.. and there are different shades of red - but then it's not enough of the same colour for a whole suit or the pieces are too thin or too thick.
3. The prize - I mean I knew that it was kinda expensive and I thought it would be okay. It still is, but I won't pay so much money for something that is not the right color - or something that I'm not okay with.
The imitation leather - the prize is a joke. The color is very decent and I don't have to worry about holes.
Negative => 1. It's not real leather and that bugs me to no end. 2. It has this 'natural pattern'. I don't think I like that.
So I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THIS. (I ordered another imitation leather with no - or just little 'natural pattern' - I'll wait and see how it looks... what the hell I'm going to do with all the red leather?? xD)
Any thoughts? I would really appreciate an opinion to this...
Anyway, you see I've learned from my mistakes: NEW extravagant gloves. Don't I look ravishing?
Today I needed to dye a lot of straps that will go through the leg-piece and the corset. I made it simple and rolled the straps, so I could easily dye all the egdes. I
You can see the gloves were really needed! I looks like I just killed somebody^^ :P And clean fingers!!!
Still a little bit pink - they are only colored once yet.
Oh these are the buckles that I was waiting for (for the corset). After 8(!) weeks they finally came :) You can't imagine how glad I was! Couldn't have done anything without them.
Oh.. well. I just let go of the gloves and opened this flask. AND THE COLOR PRACTICALLY SPLASHED OUT.
Lucky for me - if you go and wash it out immidately, the black colour gets out of the clothing. On the hand however....
Here can you see the difference to dye thrice - the belt and the straps only dyed once.
This is the antique finish, the one that attacked me. It a black paste that you smear over the dyed and dry leather. I used the sponge to do that. (Surprisingly the sponge was awefully to dye with - who would have thought!)
This is the finished product. It looks definitely more antique than before xD I like it.
After I let the antique finish dry I used the leather finish. It's some acryl based thing, so the color won't come off if you touch it. (Tipp => don't do it when it's too cold outside to leave open the window!! If I had known - but I hallucinated before I could open them and get a jacket xD)
It looks pretty dark now in these pictures, it's not that dark really... but shiny.
Again I was more than grateful for my choice of gloves! :D
One thing I noticed though was that the straps look pretty 'new', so if you squeeze them tight, they get this 'used' look that you can see faintly in the third picture.
So as the straps dried I started to finish the agiel holder. I need to attach the cute little straps, that will hopefully hold the agiel. I made a small hole in the middle from where I wanted the small strap, so I could orientate.
I was glad that I could use the punch pliers again to make the holes, because with them everything is soo easy. With the rivets on my hand I wanted to connect the straps and the other thing permanently. My hand looks kind of creepy here :-/
With the eyelet pliers I squeezed the rivet together and it worked! (But why in hell must it be these tiny tiny thing, so I can barely reach the spot??)) (The second pic is upside down idk - but you can see that I used tow rivets, one for each side
Of course - I could use the pliers - both - because they are too small and I can't reach the point I need. So I need to get creative:
I made a small hole with this red iron thing then used the punch pliers in a way not intented. I positioned them vertically and hit them with a hammer. It also helps to use a cutter to get the tiny hole in, or just press the punch pliers down as hard as possible. It takes time, but eventually it works.
So after I got the hole - I still need to get the rivet in - that I would usually squeeze in form with the eyelet pliers. I just used a second hammer and put it on one side and then turned it around and hit it with a second hammer. It's the backside of that piece so nobody will see eventuall hiting spots. It worked quite well, I was surprised myself.
Very important though is that there are no upstanding pieces of the rivet that may scratch the wood when you push the agiel inside. I didn't see it the first time, now I have a little scratch on it. => Mr. Hammer is your friend.
RESUME:
This is the belt that I - mostly finished - I still missing a 5 rivets in the right size xD (Now it would have been too easy if I just could have used the ones that I already have right?)
This is the leg-piece - I'm missing one strap - the top strap where the agiel holder will be attached. I improvised for the picture's sake and used the second strap instead. Also I need to look for pictures of the this part.. I don't know how exactly the end of the straps look where they are closed - the ones that are still too long, and how they are hooked/restraint. I guess with a simple leather loop but I don't know. That's why I haven't cut them back yet
THAT'S - almost - THE ENDPRODUCT (one of the many to come....) After I finished everything, I'm going to wax and polish them, but I doesn't make much sense at the moment.
OMG there is still sooo much to do :/ I guess I will finish the neckguard next. Wish me luck :D
(If you are interested in anything I haven't mentioned, don't hestitate to ask. Unlikely I know.)
=>> And I'd like to mention that LJ has been so kind to me with uploading all these pics *smishes*
These pics are a bit older - I just hadn't had the time to post them yet:
This is supposed to be the belt xD Imagine my surprise as I realised that it's of two pieces...... whatever for it is - I can't say, maybe stablility - looks - no idea. But I like it. I attached the belt buckle to come up with a reasonable length, so I could adjust the second belt piece, that begins at the hip (see 3rd picture). In the second pic you can see the rest of the belt buckles (I bet there is a fancy name for these things but I'm to lazy to look it up) I needed to see if they fit, width wise, so I could adjust it before I'd dye it
Since I've decided to make - as much as possible - Denna's leathers *surprise* *surprise*, there are not very much cavings/patterns in the items themselfs - only the ever present lines. I read a lot about how to make them and looked at a lot of fancy tools. But somewhere I read that the back of a knife would do the trick - it did. I used a ruler to have a relatively even line.
If you make the leather wet BEFORE it is much easier and the lines will be deeper - and stay that way when the leather dries. I was lucky that I only made the belt without it... *sigh*
These are the two straps for the Agiel holder. AREN'T THEY CUTE???
The leather strap that goes trough the end will be a strap of the leg-piece later. I just used this one to see if its wide enough.
The agiel holder thing with new pretty lines - it really looks much better this way..
So this is the leg-piece. What you see are the holes for the straps that will be 'woven' through it later. It's a tiresome work to get the holes all even :( I hated this. There is a tool to stamp it out - but it's really expensive so I didn't think it would be worth to buy it.. I was tempted though. Very much.
The sharp cutter is much of a help here, but the edges are tricky. I couldn't reach these spots with the punch pliers - that would have been so much easier. I bought a single tool similar the punch pliers - only that you have to hit it with a hammer. It doesn't work soooo well.. but how was it: patience ...
This is the tool I talked about. The concept is good, but it doesn't seem to be sharp enough to cut fully throught the leather...
HOURS LATER and I was like *yay* finished, but then I remembered the line *headdesk*
I can't remember anymore but I think this must be another day - I can't imagine that I did anything else after the legpiece xD
But now the 'fun' part begins! COLORS!! Okay only red - and a bit black, later. I bought two things to dye with:
1. This fluffy thing on a stick (I'll refer to it as 'fluffy' in the future) and 2. sponges
Fluffy here, makes an extraordinary dye job :P
The color is: OXBLOOD - don't be surprised if it gets pink after the first dye-ing process.
After I had dyed (?) it - I let it dry for about 20 minutes, then began again - and again.
Don't forget the edges!
SO SWEET AND TINY - looks even better in red :)
Btw: Did you notice this ultra stylish tablecloth? I found it on the attic - it was used for handicraft things when I was a kid. Haha.. but it is really good :)
These are the gloves that I used - USE GLOVES!
But not that kind. The color is very.. lasting. Give it a couple of days.
So now the things I did today:
Well at first: Leather
This is the leather I bought for the suit. It's imitation leather. First I was totally against it, but then certain things made me 'consider' it.
1. It's sooo hard to get the real leather in the size I need (without - shoting - holes).
2. The colour - it's almost impossible to get not-dyed leather for clothes. I have no idea why.. and there are different shades of red - but then it's not enough of the same colour for a whole suit or the pieces are too thin or too thick.
3. The prize - I mean I knew that it was kinda expensive and I thought it would be okay. It still is, but I won't pay so much money for something that is not the right color - or something that I'm not okay with.
The imitation leather - the prize is a joke. The color is very decent and I don't have to worry about holes.
Negative => 1. It's not real leather and that bugs me to no end. 2. It has this 'natural pattern'. I don't think I like that.
So I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THIS. (I ordered another imitation leather with no - or just little 'natural pattern' - I'll wait and see how it looks... what the hell I'm going to do with all the red leather?? xD)
Any thoughts? I would really appreciate an opinion to this...
Anyway, you see I've learned from my mistakes: NEW extravagant gloves. Don't I look ravishing?
Today I needed to dye a lot of straps that will go through the leg-piece and the corset. I made it simple and rolled the straps, so I could easily dye all the egdes. I
You can see the gloves were really needed! I looks like I just killed somebody^^ :P And clean fingers!!!
Still a little bit pink - they are only colored once yet.
Oh these are the buckles that I was waiting for (for the corset). After 8(!) weeks they finally came :) You can't imagine how glad I was! Couldn't have done anything without them.
Oh.. well. I just let go of the gloves and opened this flask. AND THE COLOR PRACTICALLY SPLASHED OUT.
Lucky for me - if you go and wash it out immidately, the black colour gets out of the clothing. On the hand however....
Here can you see the difference to dye thrice - the belt and the straps only dyed once.
This is the antique finish, the one that attacked me. It a black paste that you smear over the dyed and dry leather. I used the sponge to do that. (Surprisingly the sponge was awefully to dye with - who would have thought!)
This is the finished product. It looks definitely more antique than before xD I like it.
After I let the antique finish dry I used the leather finish. It's some acryl based thing, so the color won't come off if you touch it. (Tipp => don't do it when it's too cold outside to leave open the window!! If I had known - but I hallucinated before I could open them and get a jacket xD)
It looks pretty dark now in these pictures, it's not that dark really... but shiny.
Again I was more than grateful for my choice of gloves! :D
One thing I noticed though was that the straps look pretty 'new', so if you squeeze them tight, they get this 'used' look that you can see faintly in the third picture.
So as the straps dried I started to finish the agiel holder. I need to attach the cute little straps, that will hopefully hold the agiel. I made a small hole in the middle from where I wanted the small strap, so I could orientate.
I was glad that I could use the punch pliers again to make the holes, because with them everything is soo easy. With the rivets on my hand I wanted to connect the straps and the other thing permanently. My hand looks kind of creepy here :-/
With the eyelet pliers I squeezed the rivet together and it worked! (But why in hell must it be these tiny tiny thing, so I can barely reach the spot??)) (The second pic is upside down idk - but you can see that I used tow rivets, one for each side
Of course - I could use the pliers - both - because they are too small and I can't reach the point I need. So I need to get creative:
I made a small hole with this red iron thing then used the punch pliers in a way not intented. I positioned them vertically and hit them with a hammer. It also helps to use a cutter to get the tiny hole in, or just press the punch pliers down as hard as possible. It takes time, but eventually it works.
So after I got the hole - I still need to get the rivet in - that I would usually squeeze in form with the eyelet pliers. I just used a second hammer and put it on one side and then turned it around and hit it with a second hammer. It's the backside of that piece so nobody will see eventuall hiting spots. It worked quite well, I was surprised myself.
Very important though is that there are no upstanding pieces of the rivet that may scratch the wood when you push the agiel inside. I didn't see it the first time, now I have a little scratch on it. => Mr. Hammer is your friend.
RESUME:
This is the belt that I - mostly finished - I still missing a 5 rivets in the right size xD (Now it would have been too easy if I just could have used the ones that I already have right?)
This is the leg-piece - I'm missing one strap - the top strap where the agiel holder will be attached. I improvised for the picture's sake and used the second strap instead. Also I need to look for pictures of the this part.. I don't know how exactly the end of the straps look where they are closed - the ones that are still too long, and how they are hooked/restraint. I guess with a simple leather loop but I don't know. That's why I haven't cut them back yet
THAT'S - almost - THE ENDPRODUCT (one of the many to come....) After I finished everything, I'm going to wax and polish them, but I doesn't make much sense at the moment.
OMG there is still sooo much to do :/ I guess I will finish the neckguard next. Wish me luck :D
(If you are interested in anything I haven't mentioned, don't hestitate to ask. Unlikely I know.)
=>> And I'd like to mention that LJ has been so kind to me with uploading all these pics *smishes*
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no subject
Date: 2013-02-08 11:38 pm (UTC)Can't wait to see more!
no subject
Date: 2013-02-09 02:32 am (UTC)Can't 'wait' to have more ;) Let's see how it turns out...
(but please, if you see a big (or small) mistake I've made or sth, please let me know - I really want to try to make it as close to the original as possible, but sometimes - I noticed - I'm blind to it bc I've looked at so many different pictures xD)