Leather Britches

[Seachranaiche]

Greetings all. I am about to make another pair of leather britches but for the life of me I cannot remember how many skins I bought. (I was only five years ago.) I am looking at Elk 10-13sf or 13-16sf. I would look it up but all my notebooks and books are up north. Thank you all in advance.
CS

 

[Charles D. Prokopp]

Not knowing how big you are, you'll probably need from 25 to 30 square feet. Most patterns have a yardage allowance printed with them, so you need to convert to feet for leather. Consider yourself fortunate that metrics aren't involved. If you have access to the hides, then just take your pattern with you to the shop.

 

[Seachranaiche]

Thanks. I am a 37w x 34i. With elk hides that is 4 hides. That is only 204$! I do not remember my last pair being so expensive.

 

[ameling]

Just take a current pair of bluejeans,lay it out flat on the table, and measure it. That will give you a simple basic indication of the amount of leather needed.

The hard part then is to adjust what you need to what will be able to cut out of each side of leather. Plus adding allowances for any extra fringe or panels - depending upon the design/style. Most of the small pieces can be cut out of the "scraps". It's cutting out the 2 or 4 main pieces that is most important.

Just a few humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[mazo kid]

I am about your size but shorter....IIRC my first (and only) pair of leather trousers took 3 large white tail deer hides. I say "if I remember" because that was 38 years ago, but think one hide for each leg and one for the rest of the pants. Been thinking of making another pair to use up some hides I have...another project!