Leather Parts List- Updated

[Zam I Am]

Seriously, thanks Moncal! You just saved my hide wocka wocka! Good point on the lambskin, but is the plonge too thick? I would think the cowhides would be a bit too thick. White chapsides are cow-in the picture above. And, they are nice, but a bit too thick especially for the flaps on the vest. I wouldn't mind Plounging in, (not easy being cheesy) but lmk if she is willing to send me a swatch. So, I can compare to the lambskin and white chapsides. Or, we could do a leather swatch swap. LMK

Oh, also 180/24 is losta cash =$7.50 ! WOW the chapsides at ebinger brother's is 2.35 a sq foot and lambskin is 3.35 a sq. foot. Not to mention, you only need maybe 12 square feet to do a vest methinks. 24 is way too large.

 

[MonCal]

I have a couple little pieces. We could do a swatch swap
It seems like a good thickness to me. I know the price is high and she said 24 sq. ft. is a large estimate because I'd have to order one hide. She said she could ask for a small hide or whatever square footage we need. It'd work for the cumberbun as well. I am thinking of using it to make gloves also along with the shoe uppers and some of the lacing. If I can get it in a light grey (forgot to ask).

How is the pattern for the vest working out? Has there been some progress in that department?

Edit: Zam I Am, I'm going to drop a piece of the Plonge in the mail for ya.

 

[Zam I Am]

Wow, the plonge is like way better than the lambskin. Lots more durable. woohoo! Lamskin is really stretchy comparitively too.
Ok, money is a factor though, let's price shop around. But definately great stuff! Moncal is the man!
Been a slacker, will mail my lamb/chapsides swatches tomorrow morning.

Edit** Called ebinger brothers today 6/27 on the plonge it's $4.25 per sq. feet they sell it at a 18-21ft per hide. Which actually, since our vest are lined with leather too, we would need the larger of the hides. Oh, i have yet to check out tandy too.Moncal and everyone else--forget what I said about vest requirement on square footage, Let me verify with my seamstress before I get quoted as to how much footage we need.

 

[MonCal]

$4.25?
That's great...like half the price. What would the total be with shipping? I'll check one other place here that I know can get it and see what their price is.
When the lady first told me to consider plonge, I was like " yeah whatever....zam I am already figured it out I'm not here to ask that." But when she showed it to me I was convinced. It's really nice leather!!

 

[Zam I Am]

Seriously, don't ever think that I have anything 100% correct (cept for the soles of the shoes-- and even that was by chance... I am NOT an expert on leather. Oh, I was talking to ebinger brothers, and he said that lambskin can be just as tough as plonge, it just depends on the hide you purchase. Every animal is different, unfortunately, it's not like vinyl, where there is equal consistancy. Even negative ease (how much the fabric/skin stretches) is different per animal, so, when you sew the stuff, you really have to be careful, how you lay the pattern out. It could render the person immovable. Like wearing jeans vs. wearing stretchy swimwear. Now, the sample of lambskin I have is very stretchable but only in one direction. Unfortunately, anything that is like 1 oz, which we have (plonge and lambskin both) will probably have the very very similar tear factors. (this is what the guy told me). So, our safety net is that our vest is lined on both sides with leather. Hopefully that will minimize the tear factor. ie, 2 oz instead of just 1 oz.

Edit** I didn't goto tandy today, because the owner wasnt there. Will try again next week.

 

[Zam I Am]

Plonge leather is from a Japanese cow. The gentleman I talked to at ebinger, said that if he could, he would want to be reincarnated as a kolbi cow. Apparently, the cow is feed grains and beer three times a day and massaged all the time, in order to keep the meat tender. I got my stories mixed a little. I thought they were bathed in beer or sumthing. Anycow, I am going to get a sample of their plonge for the vest and probably airbrush dye or airbrush paint the pigskin suede chamois for the veil/mock hood. That's what it looks like to me from the streaks on the veil in the MOM pics. I probably will be ordering it next week. The pigsuede is 11-14 sq feet (pretty large) but inexpensive comparatively. $2 something a square foot. The plonge I listed before comes 18-21 sq ft. At $4 somthing listed above. Vests should only take at most 9-10 sq. ft. That's a guesstimate. Oh, and this guy told me that plonge is WAY tougher than lambskin. (he's been in the business longer) Tandy doesn't sell plonge.

Edit**7/5 I just recieved the plonge from ebinger. I must say, it is really nice, but it isn't as thick as Moncal's sample. Almost like it's 3/4 the thickness of moncal's. Will ask them on monday if they have a tad thicker version. Other than that, and the color, it's pretty nice. Moncal's is more gray toned, especially on the suede side. Mine has a creamier look to it. If I had to choose between hides, Moncal's hide sample is a bit better. My sample plonge is almost too thin, like the vest woulndnt be as bulky like it should be. Let me see what they did, they may have tanned it differently and cut it too thin. His plonge actually matches my lambskin sample almost exactly, except for the skin texture of course. Apparently my lamb sample has a more pourous hide and stretches a lot more than Moncal's plonge.

 

[MonCal]

Hmm, interesting!
That might explain the drastic price difference. The leather shop that gave me the samples said they order from a company that only supplies the best, meaning less imperfect hides....just a guess on the price, then again they might just want more money.

 

[Zam I Am]

I don't think that the hide was imperfect, just not quite as thick as yours. I will send you a sample of what I got. Zam I Aint liked my plonge better. But I dunno~ could just be preference. I am going to have a cow if we don't get this vest leather nailed soon. Everything is so similar.
Moncal, doesn't my chapsides look like a thicker version of your plonge? Isnt that weird? I am sure that it's probably the way it was tanned. Will talk to the guy tomorrow. '

Edit** ok, the plonge that i have is definately the real stuff... drum dyed, etc. But Moncal's sample matches what we need. My plonge is definately too thin. 1 oz rather than 1.5-2 oz. leather like the lambskin and Moncal's plonge. I am thinking, because of the price difference, I might just go with 3 hides of lambskin. To go with his, you would only need like one hide. I sent Moncal his sample. There isn't much difference between the lambskin and his plonge, but $7 somthing a square foot is wow expensive. So, I am checking one more place, to see if they can match up to that type of leather. I didn't check seigle yet. I guess I should email them. But, if anyone wants to get samples, this leather is definately 1.5-2 oz white leather, cow hide preferable.

 

[Zam I Am]

check this out, I just sent an email, hope they reply with a swatch, and hope this is close, it said 2 oz. in the description.
http://www.justleather.com/remnants/rem0655.jpg

 

[Zam I Am]

Oh, also 180/24 is losta cash =$7.50 ! WOW the chapsides at ebinger brother's is 2.35 a sq foot and lambskin is 3.35 a sq. foot. Not to mention, you only need maybe 12 square feet to do a vest methinks. 24 is way too large.

Sorry about that Moncal, obviously, I didn't count all the facing pieces of the vest.

 

[MonCal]

No biggie.

Hope your new lead on leather pans out.

 

[Zam I Am]

ARRGGGG! I thought that the sample that I had given you Moncal, was the white chapsides, as it turns out, that WAS the same exact thing that just got sent to me... White sleeve on Pearl. It is 2-2.5 oz. leather. WOW, it's amazing how .5oz makes such a difference on the vest. I am running in circles and loosing time. So, it's six lambs, vinyl, or going broke... I have no other choices at this point.

But I did finally get my pig chamois suede from ebinger brothers, it's really nice, and Hope to dye it tonite. Only 27.00 and it's a big pig! 9 square feet of cutting available. so, it's about 3x4 or 3x3 ft squares.

Edit** so, I talked to my seamstress today she chose out of all the swatches- she loved my plonge, but it wasn't thick enuff, then she chose Moncals-- Zam I Ain't did the same thing. LOL I really think that Moncal's is nice, but I am going to go vinyl shopping. Actually, my plonge can be cut to 1.5 oz thickness, but I have to have a mass quantity of hides ordered. UGh. I am not doing a bulk ordering again...

Edit** ok, vinyl shopping I turned up fruitless...All too thick. Crap, six hides of lambskin? Ugh...there has to be a better way.. calling ebinger tomorrow about plonge at 1.5 oz.

 

[MonCal]

Maybe you mentioned this somewhere but what leather did you end up getting? Did you ever find a good source for the plonge?

Thanks,

Cal

 

[Zam I Am]

Lambskin from ebinger brothers. I think I put it somewhere (rustles through the threads-throws out kitchen sink...) I even put the contact name and tell him that you know me, measurements etc. Cause he will know it's for the Zam project. (I sent him pics )
..Ah here it is!! good ol' search function.. Dang-I didn't know I wrote a book on that stuff
Oh, and Maulmaus-there are your cumberbun dimentions.
http://tdh.prop-planet.com/viewtopic.php?topic=6064&forum=10

I didn't use all of my vest leather, I wound up having 2 extra hides, because the seamstress was able to use the center of the facing piece cut outs for the flaps, therefore, she didn't double up the entire vest for sewing, only had facing pieces that were like inches deep on the sides. I think it was something like 3 hides of 6-8 square feet of white lambsin that was used for the whole vest and cumberbun. Costed a LOT less than plonge. And, if you airbrush paint the lambskin, there is no difference in the look between MonCal's sample and the ebingerbro's lambskin. Since there are facing pieces that get glued down, it's pretty durable too.

 

[MaulMaus]

Zam I Am wrote:
Oh, and Maulmaus-there are your cumberbun dimentions.

Thanks a bunch ZIA! Your'e a Zam goddess!

Zam I Am wrote:
therefore, she didn't double up the entire vest for sewing, only had facing pieces that were like inches deep on the sides ... Since there are facing pieces that get glued down, it's pretty durable too.

So basically the vest is un-lined? And the edges/facings are just deep enough to hold the eyelets and the shape in front?

 

[Zam I Am]

well, the facings were thick enough, that no, no lining was needed. Meaning, it wasn't "just enough" for the eyelets, it was more than enough. Sometimes I do get leather shavings on my bodice, but, it's not all that drastic. If you were concerned about lining the rest of the innermost parts, you could always glue a lining to it. That's actually a good idea, I may use that to prevent these leather lint balls.

 

[MaulMaus]

Zam I Am wrote:
That's actually a good idea, I may use that to prevent these leather lint balls.

Ahh... the trials and tribulations of being "Zam!"

Too funny!

 

[Starlett Hunter]

Can you tell me Zam I am..what exact shade of purple would you say Zam's costume is in...Forgive me, Im new to this and attempting to make my zam wear! Thanks!

 

[MaulMaus]

Welcome to the boards Starlett-Bounty Hunter!

Regarding the color of Zam's costume... take your pick! Different parts are different colors. DCB however came up with the following for the body suit:

pantone 5135U(chosen from Dallas's trip to Australia at MOM viewing of the actual zam outfit displayed)

I'm basing the rest of the costume off of that color.

 

[Zam I Am]

Starlett-Bounty Hunter wrote:
Can you tell me Zam I am..what exact shade of purple would you say Zam's costume is in...Forgive me, Im new to this and attempting to make my zam wear! Thanks!

First off, welcome aboard the purple den...
I actually have several shades in my costume. My hubby and I tried to color match as close as possible using different paints and dyes. Everything on my suit is custom done, so all I can give you is like Maulmaus said, a variation of 5135 U.