Hardened-leather Mari Gras mask

Make your own Mardis Gras mask out of water-hardened leather.

Step 1 Material

Start with vegetable-tanned (also known as saddle-skirt) leather. I picked mine up at a local Tandy Leather. Get 5/7-weight leather (that is, between 5/64" and 7/64" thick). Thicker is OK, though you'll get more shrinkage (less soak-time may help that). Thinner won't harden as quickly, will be brittle and won't hold a shape very well.

You'll also need paint suitable for leather (fabric paint usually works).

Comments

[felixneko7]

do you have any tips for making a form to shape the leather around? I'm doing a pauldron for a LARP, and want it to form around my shoulder. Should I just find a way to keep it on my shoulder until it's stiff enough to hold it's shape? Or would a form be easier? This tutorial was very helpful though, thank you.

[vernors]

how do you soften the lather and keep it soft?

[Tenz]

will this work if i want to make a harden sheath?

[coronis3]

Sweet! Thanks doll, I'm gonna try some of this :)

[Gauthier]

Since visiting Venice, making my own mask has been on the long ToDo list - thanks for the clear Instructable.

[MacGyver1138]

Yeah, when I was in Venice, I noticed that they had some crazy masks all over the place. (Also, delicious pizza!) Those masks were the first thing that jumped into my head when I saw this instructable.

[whiteoakart]

I bet some leather manufacturer has scrap bits and pieces for sale cheap. Have you looked into that.

[thepelton]

I have seen scrap leather at American Science and Surplus. In Colorado Springs, there happens to be a leather store at 208 South 22nd.

[Bug]

I haven't, though it's certainly possible. The key is to get vegetable-tanned leather of the appropriate weight -- I find a lot of the scraps I see around are chrome-tanned, which by design don't harden much in water.

[cuchulain92]

Has it occurred to you to try using oil instead of water? As I understand it, hardened-leather armor was called cuir-bouille in the Medieval period.

[shortone]

I totally made one of these! I used 4-weight leather and just got it wet, after cutting out my design, and plopped it onto a plaster face cast and worked it with my fingers :D for paint, i used acrylic with a layer of pearl ex powder on top (SHINY!) turned out beautifully

[sumguysr]

if the leather is dyed before will this work? will it hurt the dye? can it be dyed afterwards?

[Bug]

All the dyed leather I've seen is chemical tanned, which will not work with this process (you need vegetable tanned leather). There may be such a thing as dyed vegetable-tanned leather, but I suspect it'd be a specially product -- definitely post a comment if you discover otherwise.

[MissChiff]

You can definitely dye leather after it's been stretched and dried like this. Any kind of leather dye will work, and you can mix some great colors. Just be careful to paint the dye on and not over-saturate the leather, or it will become soft again. To make sure it stays in shape, you can coat the back with varnish. Then not even the rain will ruin your fun!

[mrfoltz]

Very informative... Can you sculpt with this process or is there a different way to soften the leather in order to manipulate it??? For example to make original roman armor? I sculpt female and male life sized torsos with fiberglass but would like to learn how to do leather torsos? Thanks...

[Bug]

You can, and the leather is quite soft for the minute or two after it comes out of the water. You only have a few minutes before it becomes stiff though, so you'll need to work fast (or apply to a mold). I borrowed this technique from people in the SCA who use it to make armor, so it should work just fine.

[Closet_RAt]

Great instructable! (take that Firefox spellcheck!) Quick Questions... What duration of hot water soak do you recommend for a durable mask? 60 seconds or 90 seconds? And is it possible to attach two or more pieces of these together (using rivets or something?) Thanks for your help and keep on crafting!

[Bug]

I'd say closer to 90 seconds, but it'll probably depend on the thickness of your leather (I basically went until it started to uncurl again). If you do some experiments comparing the two, please post your results!

[whiteoakart]

I had no idea you could do this. I will be sure to pass this on to interested parties. thanks.

[xenobiologista]

Does leather have a grain or does it shrink evenly in all dimensions?

[Bug]

Near as I can tell it shrinks evenly in all dimensions, though you can stretch it in one dimension and not in another while it's still wet.

[jifblumoon]

thats awsome