Spartan does Steampunk Viking

Never heard of Steampunk Viking?  That's because I made it up.

About ten years ago I bought a large piece of leather for $5 at a thrift store.  SIL Mary says I shouldn't bother to say "I bought it at a thrift store" because I buy almost EVERYTHING at thrift stores.  She says it would be more efficient to only mention it when I buy something that is NOT from a thrift store.

Anyhow, this item was obviously once the cover for a large ottoman.  It had interesting seams and variations in color and was not noticeably worn.  Unfortunately that particular thrift store had a very moldy smell and when I got the leather home I realized that it smelled moldy also.

So I washed it.  In the washing machine.  With hot water.  And detergent and BLEACH.  Because mold is horrible and only $5 was at risk.  And it came out just fine.  I dried it on the line rather than in the dryer though, on the don't-push-your-luck-any-more-than-you-have-to principle.

Then I shoved it in a drawer and it took up one whole drawer of a lateral file cabinet.  And pondered what to do with it.  About 5 years ago I decided that it would make an awesome heavy duty apron.  About 2 years ago I decided that it needed to be a Viking themed apron.  Because Lagertha of the TV series Vikings is my role model.  Except for all the bloodshed and killing, of course.

And this year was the year I finally got that leather out to work on it.

Once I had opened up the corner seams so that it would lie flat I discovered that I could get at least two aprons out of it.  Nice, because I have two daughters.  I only had vague notions of how to Viking it up but I cut the aprons out.

Once of the categories of things I hoard is metal belts.  I pay less than $2 for them (from guess where) and I have accumulated a lot of them over the decades.  By "metal belts" I mean the kind one wears around one's waist, not anything industrial.  Chains, interesting metal shapes, hearts, butterflies, in gold, silver, and bronze colors.  I thought they would be interesting on the aprons.  Because I just never find chain mail in the places where I shop.

So I got the two aprons cut out without any clear idea of where I was going next with this project.  One of the things I do while having insomnia (a nightly occurrence) is plan the sequence of events for sewing or craft projects.  This time there was a sudden flash when all of the pieces fell into place all at once.  I love it when this happens.

And this was my revelation:  Leather loops at the top or neck edge and waist edges.  Split rings in the loops.  Lobster claw clasps threaded on to the split rings.  THREE lobsters per ring.  One is for the neck strap and waist ties.  The other two can hold the decorative chains.  Pockets and other decorations attached to the chains.  All of this in a blinding flash of less than a second, I kid you not.  So much for absorbing lots of insomnia time.

To sew leather you need the right tools and the right attitude.  The tools:  a roller foot, a leather needle, and some heavy duty thread.  The roller foot is cheap, at least for low shank machines.  There's one on amazon right now for less than $5.

roller foot

The leather needle is a must because leather is totally different from fabric.  With fabric, the needle more or less slides in between the fibers.  This varies, of course, with the type and weave of the fabric and the size of the needle you use, but that's the general idea.  With leather, the needle has to punch a hole in the leather and it has a wedge shape to the point to accomplish this.  On leather this weight I used a size 16 leather needle.  On garment leather a 14 would be better.

And you have to have the right attitude because you get ONE SHOT at whatever you are trying.  There is no ripping out and re-sewing.  Once the hole is there it is there forever.  And you had better have a long stitch length because if you have tiny stitches you have just created a line of perforations that could easily lead to a tear along that line.

For the same reason you can't pin it, although leather this thick wouldn't take pins.  Handy little seam clamps work just fine.

I tried a sample of three layers of the leather (mocking up the loop configuration) first on my modern(ish) Pfaff and got the results I expected:  the Pfaff just laughted at me.  Fortunately I knew I had a machine that just might be able to handle it:  A Singer 192 Spartan with a retrofit hand crank.  The Spartan is the budget version of the Singer 99, both are 3/4 size machines.  I keep the Spartan in the studio for sewing persons who are also children to use.  And sometimes even adults get to use it.

Years ago I read a blog post by a leather worker who raved about the abilities of a Singer 99 to handle leather.  Something about superior torque, which I only slightly understand and not well enough to tell you about.

Now there is leather and there is leather.  Thin garment leather can be sewn on just about any machine.  Saddle leather can be sewn on giant machines manufactured specifically for that purpose.  I got to try one once--you stepped INTO the machine which wrapped itself around you.  Awesome sewing experience.  That leather was 1/4 inch thick.

Folks, I won't kid you.  Yes, the Spartan managed this furniture weight leather, but just barely.  It was hardcore hand-to-hand combat all the way, especially over those seams!  I was able to use the hand crank about 80% of the time, but the other 20% I was turning the hand wheel by hand.  And there are a fair number of skipped stitches.

No backtacking either, but you can pull the threads through, tie them, and use some Fray Check on them.

After I had the first two aprons cut out I realized that I had two pieces left that, if sewn together, could create another apron.  Great, because one daughter has recently acquired a fiancee who is very handy around the house.  Nice addition to the family!  He obviously needs a leather apron also.

I had to piece the leather for that last apron and instead of just sewing on some leather loops I had to sew a long seam.  Then once it was sewn I had to find a way to flatten the seam open (it was just too bulky to leave it alone.  The original seams of the leather ottoman had some kind of seam tape glued over them.  I used my enormous hoard of yardsticks and c-clamps and got results that were acceptable.  Just.

There are yardsticks inside also.

After they were finished I wiped them down with neatsfoot oil.  Leather is an organic material that will dry out and crack.  I use neatsfoot oil on my leather shoes and bags twice a year.  It soaks in and disappears.

OK, aprons made, time to glam them up.  I'm sure I had 10 times as much fun making them as the recipients had receiving them.  I used all sort of things from old keys including a skate key, old dog and cat tags, the little tools that come with DIY stuff, and lot of other bits and bobs laying around.  And I went to the dollar store for the weapons.

I experimented with a lot of different designs.

And a bath towel draped around the shoulders that is supposed to look like some sort of cloak.  but sadly looks exactly like a bath towel.

So how do you wrap Steampunk Viking aprons for Christmas?   ummm, garbage bags.....?

Aprons on the 2 dress forms and a giant bolster.  Garbage bags labeled with names and titles in English and in Norse runes.  Of course.

They were received with hilarity.  One daughter didn't want to be seen and the other reasonably requests photo approval in advance, and right now I can't be bothered.

The practical daughter had all the bling whipped off so fast I didn't get a photo of  her with all the chains and weapons!

Jim has an appropriately Viking presence.

I had a ridiculous amount of fun doing this and it took a ridiculous amount of time.  Time, time I got.  Time has a totally different meaning when one is retired!

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Well, it only took me 6 months to finish telling you about Christmas.  I'm just back from a bucket list trip to Newfoundland and I'll  be writing about that.  Because I want to write about it.  And I do know, dear readers, that you are here for the SEWING MACHINES.  There will be a few, but only a few.

If I have any readers in or from Newfoundland, please let me know!  I'm already looking for excuses to go back.  Maybe I really need to meet you and have lunch.  With scrunchions.