Are you curious to know how to make leather armor? Armor protects you when batting mobs, which makes them extremely important when it comes to surviving Minecraft. While leather armor is the weakest type of armor, it is a more excellent starting point for amateurs.
Whether you want to make your next renaissance costume, leather LARP armor, or medieval cosplay, leather does it perfectly. You can craft fantasy cosplay armor and attend your next DragonCon, ComicCon, and Renaissance Festivals in style.
From physical attacks and projectiles to explosions, cacti, fire, lightning, and falling anvils, armor protects you from just about everything in a battle. That’s why you need to craft one before your next to maximize defense points.
In this article, I will help you become a custom leather armor maker. Before you start crafting, you might want to look at our leather armor patterns to better your crafting adventure and unlock the secrets of leather crafting.
Leather Working Supplies & Tools
Leather
When planning to craft leather armor, the very first thing you need is leather. Although the recommended thickness is 12 oz or more, you can choose any thickness for a start. A complete set of armor requires 24 pieces, and so does the leather armor. Tandy is one of the largest leather distributors.
Tools
Leathercraft doesn’t need to be expensive. That said, you need a few tools to get started, including a maker, crafting knife, rubber mallet, a bucket, hole punch, and leather scissors. Interestingly, you can find most of these tools in your local craft store.
Making leather armor
Leatherwork can be a serious adventure, so you need to be careful. Remember that you will be working with sharp tools, probably toxic dye, and other tools that, if mishandled, can cause injuries. That said, let’s craft leather armor.
Choose your pattern
There are numerous patterns that you can decide to use. Prince Armory Academy provides downloadable leather armor patterns for armor templates are a great point to get started. While most of these patterns are standard, you may need to resize them to fit your body. In either case, you’re sure to craft a unique custom armor.
Making the scales
After getting a pattern, you can start crafting the scales—this time, you need to be careful and go slowly not to make mistakes. Unless you want to do a shoddy job, which I know you don’t wish to, it is obvious that you won’t do the cutting job in one day. For each of our patterns, we have created easy leatherworking tutorials to help do it correctly.
Harden the leather
Also known as boiling, this is merely making your leather ready for the battle. After soaking your leather, you can harden it by placing the leather on a cookie sheet in an oven. You can set another cookie sheet on the top side to keep the leather flat.
Dyeing the leather
In this step, you can use your preferred variant of leather staining. A dye stain on human skin can take weeks to come off, so remember to put on your runner gloves when dyeing. In this step, you will need at least two sponges, one for application and another for removing the excess dye. Again don’t rush; there is no pressure. The shade can take up to 10 hours to dry completely.
Finishing your leather
How do you want your leather armor to look? You now have the chance to give it that look you desire. That said, leather armor with a slightly matte finish looks more professional. In this stage, you can apply rot-resistant and waterproof products to make your armor last longer.
Putting your armor together
We’re almost there. You can now assemble your leather parts and start riveting. Before permanently locking the armor, you need to test if it fits you. For this reason, it is advisable you use snap rivets because they can be locked temporarily. Upon ensuring your leather armor fits you, you can now rivet it permanently.
Congratulations! You have made your very own custom leather armor. You can now proceed to the battle and remember to keep the leather in a dry place when not in use.
Conclusion
With your craftsmanship skills, you can make adorable leather armor. With our customizable patterns, you will get a starting point to craft your desired cosplay armor.