Leather Spaulders

Spaulders are traditional armor pieces covering the shoulders and upper arms.  Few pieces of armor proclaim "Badass" with such clarity.  A breastplate may be covering a beer belly and a helmet is not suitable for a driver's license picture, but rest assured, spaulders can compliment a variety of ensembles to proclaim: "Mess not with me."  Leather spaulders in particular will even make it past airport security without issue.  
  I make all my spaulders at TechShop.

Gather:

• Heavy leather (3 square feet makes a pair of spaulders of three layers)
• Rivets
• Upholstery thread
• Shears, razor, or some other leather-cutting tool
• Hammer

Step 1: The Making of the Pattern

Leather is expensive, so I made a single spaulder of scrap vinyl to refine the shape.  The two bottom layers have increasingly deep darts to achieve a compound shape, hugging the shoulders.  These are leaf-shaped, but spaulders can also be round or square.  

Comments

[mdr7]

Very cool!
Looks very impressive!

[The Rambler]

These are really cool. I made a spaulder in a slightly different style. It goes further down my arm and has leather straps that attach it across the chest and under the arm. I really like the slightly "fantasy" feel of these though. If you ever had time I'd love to see more of how you attached these.

[ilpug]

I am getting an Aussie-style leather duster in a few days, I really want to add some to it!

[Penolopy Bulnick]

Oooh, those look really fun :D