Fallout Vault Dweller, need help with "leather" patches/additions

[Strikerkc]

Hey all, after dragon con at the end of the month, I'm gonna get an early start on a costume for the following year, and it's time for a Vault Dweller "Veteran".

general idea is pictured below, will explain what's what after the horrible pictures.

BEHOLD MY ARTISTIC PROWESS!

So, the general idea, is that it'll be a very worn vault jump suit, where the "high wear" areas have been reinforced with some sort of leather type material; that's what the white spot on the pictures represent.

On the upper part, it covers the top of the shoulders, the front of the chest (with a larger, possibly padded area where a riffle stock would rest while shooting), and the upper back, where cargo packs would rest.

On the lower legs, the seat and inner thighs will be reinforced with the same material, essentially anywhere he would ride a wasteland beast of burden, or where the pants might have worn through from long travels, wrapping around onto the front of the legs some.

What I need to figure out, is what material to use. for those added patch areas.

-Leather would be great, but I'm afraid it would be to thick to move in comfortably, and to thick to be able to add actual padding to the front right chest piece.
-Vinyl in a leather pattern would be thin enough, but I'm not sure it could be weathered well enough to not look like shiny fake leather vinyl
-One buddy suggested canvas, which I think will probably be the ticket, unless someone knows of a proper leather for accomplishing what I'm after.

So, if leather; what type/thickness?
If Vinyl; how do I weather it/make it worn looking?
If Canvas; similar question to leather, at what point does canvas stop being thin enough to add padding under in some places, and to difficult to sew?

Thank you very much in advance

-Ken/Strikerkc

 

[Turtlespoon]

Have you tried 1-2mm craft foam? It can be made to look like leather.

Never tried it before, but here's a tutorial I found. If that doesn't suit you just Google "Craft foam leather".

EDIT: Also, nice plans on the suit there, thinking of making something along these lines after I finish my power armor build. I might have to 'borrow' your templates too, they're remarkably simple but they work well.

 

[Strikerkc]

I've used that to make belt pouches and such before. my hope is to make the reinforcement an actual part of the jump suit, so that I can wash it, without the foam disintegrating, or just being a tacked on shell.

Plus, something I should have mentioned to start with, is that, the shoulder spots at least, need to actually be more durable, because I will have packs and shoulder holsters and such. I expect the foam would rip up =(

 

[Darktriumph]

You can get leather that is soft as silk (buckskin) but I would think cost might be prohibitive. An alternative could be vinyl fake leather they sell at fabric shops. We are using it on a costume for my wife. It looks good and is flexible...its almost the density of the thick table clothes my grandmother used to use. I think it would be less effort than foam and less costly than leather.

 

[juliegrrl]

You can get very lightweight and flexible leather - you would want a 1-3 oz leather (each OZ is equivalent to about half a millimeter of thickness). Lambskin is soft and supple and about 1.5Oz. A quick look at Tandy Leather shows they have whole hides (15sq feet - probably a bit more than you need) for around $50. In general the lighter the leather the cheaper it is so you should be able to find a piece which will give you plenty to work with, fits the need, and is relatively cheap.

 

[Strikerkc]

You can get very lightweight and flexible leather - you would want a 1-3 oz leather (each OZ is equivalent to about half a millimeter of thickness). Lambskin is soft and supple and about 1.5Oz. A quick look at Tandy Leather shows they have whole hides (15sq feet - probably a bit more than you need) for around $50. In general the lighter the leather the cheaper it is so you should be able to find a piece which will give you plenty to work with, fits the need, and is relatively cheap.

Awesome info. I needed some good "calibration" numbers like that so I could have a place to start.

Do you happen to know, if I wash leather that thin, how badly it shrinks? Is it good enough to "wash" it before hand, then sew it on, or is every time it hits water going to screw it up?

 

[juliegrrl]

I really don't know how much shrinkage you would get possibly not that much. Stiffening and cracking would be a concern however. I've always gone with the approach that natural leather and water are not a great mix - it's one of the ways that you can mold leather in fact - soaking it and stretching over a form...

 

[Strikerkc]

Gotcha.

 

[VariablePenguin]

Have you considered some sort of leather-like fabric? Like a sueded microfiber synthetic?

 

[Strikerkc]

looked at some today in a fabric store actually. was thinking they might do, but they're a bit too... soft? I'd almost rather have a pillow made out of it, than use it to reinforce stuff.

They actually had some "canvas", that was 100% cotton, I figure I'll see how well it dyes (white/eggshell at the moment), and if I can get it kind of an OD green, I think I'll use that, make it look like I looted an old army tent for the cloth or something.

If that doesn't work, I'm gonna do that 3-4 oz leather from tandy's I think.