Skirt Making the skirt

:love gotta LOVE the scout master... that looks perfect! Then, there is no wasted lacing going across! It is just vertical stitching. AWESOME! I can throw my napkin squares away now :lol: so, its only 15 or 16 squares across, times 12 or 13 rows, times 2 laces at 2" ea. So, being generous, 16x13x2x2"=832"=69.3 feet. Cool! Oh, btw, since it's laced differently on the sides. It sorta seems weird, cause it confusing trying to understand where it would tie up at the top. Got another rendition of how the sides are laced?
 
stitch2.jpg


does this make sense¿
 

Dustin Crops Boy wrote:
Does this make sense¿
stitch2.jpg
skirtlace.jpg

I just had to put these side by side to tell...
It looks like they started at the bottom somehow and laced up according to how it overlaps, but I can't see where they tied it off on the end of the outermost/last square of the skirt. My photo viewing program stinks on my work comp, so maybe I just need to zoom in at home :)
 
Well, here's my lace test
lacetest.jpg

Problem with the oz weight I have for the lace, it might be too big to do a double snake lacing. I don't know if dyeing it and sealing it would relax the leather a little. In the pics, it looks straight in the back, my leather is always bowed because of how stiff it is right now. I might just make my holes wider to fit 2 laces on each side. THat might be the ticket :) First I will try dying the lace, then I will see how it falls before punching another 12x15 skirt squares chock full of oblong holes.
 
That is a 4-5 oz. lace. You mean it should be 2-3oz? If you get a free tandy catalog, you will understand what I mean by oz. It actually means thickness. THe higher the oz, the thicker the hide is. Problem is 2-3 oz might be too thin, like it could snap too easily, then you'd have to re-lace the whole thing? LMK what you think. Do you know if Dying and conditioning might relax the laces up a bit? If worse comes to worse, I could single strand snake lace it like KnC said earlier, just to have one ready for D'c then upgrade later. But I will check if they have lighter oz. hides next week.
 
lacecompare.jpg


i don't think youll have a problem w/ thinner lace. There is so much of it - spread throughout the skirt - that each square has very little pressure on it.. and the lace won't snap.
 
:cry cryin crying crying whatever you do, don't seal your skirt with neatsfoot oil. :cry @#$@#$#@ I dunked half of my skirt squares into that stuff and it changed the color. It's almost dark brown now. That guy told me wrong. Some supposed "master leather maker" didn't warn me it would change color so much. So, now, in order to match color, I would have to cut all those pieces, (i think i dipped like 5 rows)ARRRGGG, hole punch them and spray dye them AGAIN!!!! Why didn't I just test one measley piece? ARRRGG!!! I have never felt so dumb in my life right about now. I so feel like quitting right about now. God help me...
 
No No No...Don't quit!!
You'll get it figured out.. I'm sorry you have to re-do them :( Is it necessary to seal them? I suppose it'll prevent purple prints of the costume wherever you sit? What else would you use?
 
I dunno, I was researching something called atom wax that I bought cause that "master leather maker" guy told me to. I looked it up on the net and it said a lot of people use that to seal. The neatsfoot oil is used to kind of seal it first. But i don't like neatsfoot oil at all! It changed all the color on my skirt and my house smelled like really old nasty bacon for several hours. I know two pieces were cooked a little too long. But regardless, we're going to pray that the sun comes out for several days and dries some of it up.Zam I Aint thinks it might help, but man, that oil's really cooked in there. I am going to cut up more squares in the mean time. I really think it's not salvageable. On the bottle, it said it may darken colors, but man! I didn't think it would be THAT dark. Whatever you do, don't use neatsfoot oil to pre-seal it. Use something else, I know that they have alternatives. Look up atom wax and see if you can find a better "process". I would go with the ideas that are praised the most. Goes to show how I am always doing things trial by fire most of the time. Only this time I didn't "test" like I usually do. Please learn from my mistakes yall.
 
Ok, here is a little "process" to get yall started, I just don't know how to seal it.

First, you cut 2" strips (all squares are 2"tall)
strapcut.jpg


Next you cut the squares (width varies from 2" and less)
cut2in.jpg


Then you punch the holes out, and spray dye to look like thus:
lightsquares.jpg


DO NOT** ADD REGULAR NEATSFOOT OIL LIKE THIS PIC. BIG MESS!!! UGH! Squares are too dark, lace is all crappy...
bigmess.jpg
 
no, I used the oblong 1/4" hole punch from cs?cj? osbourne company. The holes are same. I haven't repunched anything...I just recut the squares today. Waiting for my oblong hole puncher back from someone, then will airbrush dye it again. I bought 1 oz. leather for the laces and recut the laces.
MonCal said:
Is it necessary to seal them? I suppose it'll prevent purple prints of the costume wherever you sit? What else would you use?

If you dye leather, it bleeds if water or liquid comes into contact with your dyed leather. You have to seal it if you don't want the colors to "drain" and "bleed" I think the neatsfoot oil is supposed to have kept the leather from being stiff, due to the alcohol in the dye that dries out the leather. But it's airbrushed, so my leather squares are still very pliable. The laces on the other hand, may need some type of conditioner. So, I am not really sure, but, I think atom wax prevents it from bleeding, but the leather still isn't water resistant, so, the water sprayed/poured onto the squares will do color damage. Therefore, we may need resolene or Neatlac? Still researching.
 
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i cut and hole punched all my squares today. In total - it probably took me 4 hours total (192 squares x 4 holes each = 768 holes :eek: ).

i have to find some leather for the lace and get me some dye. I think I might make some sort of belt to attach the skirt to that will hide under the cummerbund. i was thinking of possibly punching a row of holes along the bottom edge of the belt and tie the loose ends from each column of lace into these holes. This will hold it quite well and all be hidden...

Oh - and i used a much thinner leather then Yvonne did. Mine is a 3-4 oz. - which i believe to be closer to the actual movie skirt. (Yvonne picked a 7-8 oz. for hers) . If you make it too thick - it will not only be way heavy and a pain to cut/punch - it will be stiff and not "flow" very well. Zam's skirt squares buckle and conform around her curves and you can see the thickness in the cardboard cutout - it's quite thinner then it may appear to be at first glance.
 
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:p I will compromise and say 6-7 oz, but no less according to the cut out (it measures at .11 of an inch thickness on the cutout, 7oz.=7/64" or .109 of an inch). I don't think it's 3-4 oz thin only cause I really do think it was uncomfortable and heavy. Thus, the butt pillows. And, 7 oz still can conform a little to one's curves. For comfort, 5-6 would be cool, cause actually, it would be a bit lighter to handle and wouldnt drag down as much. Cause, a belt underneath the cumberbun is totally necessary for it to stay on her anyway. Just my ramblings. Hey the thinner it is, the lighter it is. So whatever you feel is better ie, thickness vs. mobility go fer it.
 
here's my idea for how to attach the skirt...

i'm making a belt (1.5" thick) and notching holes along the bottom:

skirtbelt.jpg


then each time I am at the top with a lace - i'll go through one of the belt holes - then back down a row of squares, etc...

the belt will then be hidden by the cummerbund. This way - each colum of squares will have equal support.
 
it could have been hooked on the last ones - but the strapping is perhaps loose - allowing it to hang lower then the cummerbund. I don't think they would have NOT hooked the last square to something.
 
Mini-Tutorial-Making the skirt

Ok, mini tutorial, after you cut all your squares like in the pics above, "punch" the oblong holes with a poly mallet, poly cutting board on top of cement or a marble block like this-(of course, you wouldn't have dyed the squares until after you punched the holes)
punch.jpg

Then you airbrush dye it.
Ok-- here's how you seal it. You use either super sheen (in a spray) or airbrush resolene. ( I airbrushed resolene)Let dry, then you put leather balm with atom wax last with a sponge, let dry. Then buff. That seals it all nice. This is the stuff from tandy:
sealers.jpg


For the lace, you cut it, dye it, put NON DARKENING NEATSFOOT OIL aka LEXOL. I used a cup full of the stuff and just pulled the lace under a wrench to keep it dipped in the cup, then I used a cheese cloth to wipe it. This causes it to be pliable. Then you airbrush resolene, then leather balm it, then buff with a cheese cloth. I cut out a large piece of card board and wrapped the lace around it, then i did the sealing. More coverage area. Now all I gotta do is lace the skirt...
This is a pic of a lacing needle, you screw the leather clockwise into the needle for it to attatch. Then you lace.
lacingneedle.jpg

lacedneedle.jpg

My leather got stuck into the hole and didn't come out, so i used these pliers instead.
needlenosepliers.jpg

After using Dallas' diagrams above, I laced half of the skirt. Here is the front
skirtfront.jpg

here is the back:
skirtback.jpg
 
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