Laced sleepsack - step-by-step Part 4

Now we're ready to attach the hood and foot pocket to the main body of the sleepsack.
I align the hood on the sleepsack center seam, and hold in place with bulldog clips.
Once sewn, the seams are glued and pounded flat.

Now I adjust the top of the rear panel seam so it meets cleanly with the hood seam. There is some extra room in the rear panel pattern, so I have room to trim it to align with the hood seam and redraw the fold line. I also skive the seam allowances where the edge will fold over to keep it from becoming too bulky.

This happens on both sides of the rear panel where it meets the hood.
Once everything is trimmed and aligned, we can glue the entire rear opening edge seam. Also, it's time to glue up the lacing strip as well.
Wait for the glue to turn clear...
...then fold over and pound with the mallet.
Next up: attach the foot pocket. This is clipped and sewn along the top edge.
Then the seam is glued and flattened.

At this stage we are really starting to look like a sleepsack!
Front closeup:
Rear with opening for lacing and zipper...
Detail of head with lacing strip.
Bottom of foot pocket detail:
We're almost done...

Laced sleepsack - step-by-step Part 3

Here is the next step on our project and another tip - something you should consider doing to increase the comfort of your hoods - especially if you are working in heavier leather. It's called "skiving", and it rhymes with "diving" and "driving". Apparently I have been saying this wrong in my head for years. Anyway...

Skiving is cutting leather in order to reduce its thickness. It takes a really sharp blade, and most leather craft pros use a special knife or even a machine to do this. You may want to skive along an edge before you fold it to reduce the bulk. Or, for this project I want to create a smooth transition on the inside of the hood from the seam to the edge of the seam allowance. If I didn't do this, you could feel the edge of the seam when the hood was laced tightly to your face.

I usually hold the piece I'm working on so I can feel how deep the blade is going. You don't want to cut through the main leather, just through the seam allowance. It's a tricky cut, and I am always amazed at how quickly the blade dulls when doing it. You may make it only a couple of inches before the blade becomes dull.

And now for some skiving action shots:
Easy does it...
When you start having to push hard to get the blade through, you know it's is getting dull.
After skiving: a smooth transition from the seam to the edge of the allowance.
Here's the hood front post-skiving. I know what you're thinking: that doesn't look so great. But, it feels much better, believe me.
Over the years I have tried a variety of tools to skive, from scary-sharp surgical blades to scalpels and straight-razors. It seems like they all dull rather quickly, and I end up going through a number of blades on each project.
One thing I have tried recently to keep the edge sharp is a powerstrop - circular discs of leather that go into your drill press or grinder that allow you to quickly strop the blade back to razor sharpness. You charge the strop with a honing compound that does the actual work of abrading the blade.
I use pliers to hold the blade, and can get about 3 times the use out of the blade before it gives out completely.
I'd be happy to share any tips you may have about skiving, so comments are welcome.

Laced sleepsack - step-by-step Part 2

At this point I want to work on the foot-pocket, and this presents the opportunity to talk about a cool tip - this is a good one.

When you are sewing with leather you often have a point where 2 seams come together and meet a third - this forms a T-shaped seam. I have found that if you trim your seam allowances too closely, you will end up with a gap where these seams meet because of the thickness of the leather. It is even worse when 4 panels come together (like at the top of a hood). The gap can become quite large. To avoid the gap, trim your seam allowances with a flap on one side as shown below:

First we start with a seam sewn, glued and flattened, with the initial trim of the seam allowances creating little wings.
The key is to just snip off just ONE SIDE of the seam allowance (not both)!
Then FOLD OVER the other seam allowance (enlarge the image if you need to) creating a little flap. I also clip off a little corner of that flap so the seam is not too thick with too many overlapping layers.
Same thing for the other seam: Trim one side only...
fold over the flap...
and cut away the little excess to keep the seam from getting too bulky.
That's perfect! Ready to clip and sew...
I know it seems simple, but really this helps a lot. No more gaps!
Here we have the side panel clipped to the bottom of the foot pocket, ready to sew.
And a post-sew, mid glue-up shot. Notice all the little wedges clipped out so the seam allowance will lay flat?
Here she is all glued down and pounded.
And now topstitched above and below the seam:
This concludes part 2, and the foot pocket sub assembly.

Laced sleepsack - step-by-step Part 1

It's time to work on another project together. One we haven't done before - a zippered and laced sleepsack with attached hood. This project is a bit more complicated than others I have shared, but hopefully I can explain it so it all makes sense. Plus, I'll be showing a couple of tips that I wish someone had shown me when I was starting out... It's such a nice day in the studio, the weather is perfect - let's get started.
I'll be using a heavy-weight black buffalo hide for this restraint - the first time I have tried working with this type of leather. It is nice and heavy but soft, traits that can be hard to find in the same hide. It has a glossy, waxy finish which can be buffed to a high gloss, and the feel of this restraint will be very strict when laced tightly on. The occupant will not be going anywhere without her master's permission.
Because there will be a zipper running the complete length of the sleepsack, from the top of the head to the ankles, there will be 2 parts to the rear panel of the hood, as shown above. The other pattern pieces include the shoulders, foot pocket bottom and sides, internal sleeves, 2 front panels, 2 rear panels and a rear tongue. I'll also make a long thin strip to carry both the grommets and the zipper. More on that piece later...

It's time to start clipping to prep the pieces for sewing. You can see the front center seam clipped below:
Also, the front of the hood:
The rear of the foot pocket, along with the lacing strip connected to the rear hood zipper strip. This will make more sense later, don't worry!
Also: the darts that help the shoulder pieces take shape.
On the front I want an access zipper, so the front seam is just sewn above and below the zipper opening.
I glue and flatten the seam around the opening, then set in the zipper and stitch it in place.
Before sewing the zipper in, I am sure to punch a small hole where the zipper slider can rest when it is pulled closed.
Next, I cut a tongue for the access zipper, and hold in place with tape for sewing.
That should keep any skin away from the zipper...

Here are the shoulder darts sewn, glued and flattened. These darts really help the leather conform to the rounded shape of the shoulder.
Notice I left the little wings at the seam allowance? You don't want to trim those yet. More on that later...

On what will become the zippered opening on the rear of the hood, you can see how the parts fit together in this picture. I need the seam allowance to give the leather strength, which is why this piece isn't cut out of a single piece of leather. I need a folded edge on both sides. That makes sense, right?
I placed the front of the hood on the new hood last I carved last month in order to begin shaping the leather. I really love the way this thing helps me get the form I want, especially with this heavy-weight leather.
Here are the darts at the top of the 2 rear panels, sewn, glued and flattened.
At this stage, we're ready to sew the side seam that connects the rear panels to the front panel. It starts coming together pretty fast, but we do have a ways to go yet.
Once sewn, we'll glue and flatten the side seams.



And pound the seams flat with the mallet.


Looking good...
Now we can set in the shoulders, with the usual clip, sew, glue and pound-it-flat technique.

Also, we can sew the top seam for the rear of the hood together. Then connect the front of the hood to the rear by sewing along the side seam.
I put the hood back on the form overnight, held in place with painter's tape. It just looks incredible on the form!
This concludes part 1... See you next time!