I'm using a new hide for this project - Absolute from Hide House Napa in "Tamarillo" color - a deep, rich red. They ship without folding the leather, so the mailing tube ends up being around 8 feet long! This one definitely won't fit in the mailbox...
The leather has an almost automotive-looking finish. 1.2mm thickness.
One thing about the hide, it's a bit more distressed than I could gauge from the 3x2 inch sample swatch... You never know exactly what you are going to get until it arrives... and every hide is different. I can't wait to see how this will turn out...
The hide measures just over 51 square feet, and you can see how big that is on my layout table - lots of overhang. My work table is 8 feet wide and 54 inches deep with the extension.
All the pieces cut out and paired up:
Because the 2 leg pocket pieces are similar but different, I want to be sure to mark them so they don't get mixed up. These are the outside leg pieces.
Just a little number in each corner should do it. I also mark the torso with the same numbers, so all I have to do later is match up the leg 2 to the torso 2. It's a good habit to get into...
I'm doing this when I don't want to see the seam allowance on the front side of the piece. It can be more of an issue with heavier leather.
Front panel halves clipped together and ready to sew...
This is the seam at the knee area of the foot pocket. Breaking long pieces down into multiple parts allows you to make more efficient use of the leather.
Cut relief slits around the elbows in the arm pockets...
Rear panels of the arm pockets sewn to the side panels.
Now the front panels clipped on for sewing.
Before I sew the front to the rear of the body panel, I make up a bunch of D-rings to be set into that seam - at the shoulder, under the arm, and at the hips. One extra for the top of the hood. =0)
These D-rings get inserted with just the tails sticking out for sewing. I usually mark the pattern so the alignment marks are symmetrical on both sides.
All clipped up and ready to sew...
Once sewn, it's time to glue down those seam allowances.
And here we have the finished torso:
Seam allowances glued down on the arm pockets:
And the knee seam glued...
...and flattened.
Maybe a quarter of the way done at this point?
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