Leather Greaves, Poleyns, and Cuisses (set of Leg Armor)

It is recommended that you have at least some familiarity with leatherworking, before doing this project.

I've been working on my first set of leather armor since December 2020. Recently, I've made some leg armor, to go with it. I haven't done a tutorial on any of the other pieces, yet. I should have enough pictures of the sallet (the helmet in the picture) to make a tutorial for that, too. I probably won't do the spangenhelm, as tutorials for that are all over this site, that look better than the one I made. I might do a tutorial on how to add (historically inaccurate but I don't care) horns to a helmet, if you ask nicely. It isn't sca legal, or anything, mostly decorative. But it'll definitely turn heads at the Ren Faire, in the park, or on the bus.

Note that I don't include instructions for hardening leather. This is largely because:

A: I have little to no experience hardening leather, and

B: the knees need to be rather flexible, for the sake of mobility.

Supplies

-A decent amount of vegetable tanned leather. I used a side (half a cow's worth of leather) in 12 oz (leather thickness: this is the thickest I usually find it. you could probably get away with down to around 6 or so, with this project). I ended up using about half the side of leather, I believe. Maybe more.

-strong leather lace. You'll need this to fasten the pieces together. Get a good few feet, or so. Paracord can also be used, but it'll likely take away from the look.

-Buckles. You'll need 4. I took mine from old thrift store belts. If you want to be really clever, you can leave them attached to the belts, to save you the trouble of making straps.

-A full-size belt. One that can fit you, of course. This is the means by which the armor is secured to your waist, so it doesn't fall. Be sure to make it snug.

-Artificial sinew and leather needles. You can use waxed thread, instead, but sinew is stronger. I used this to stitch the Poleyns (knee plates).

-Rotary punch. This is somewhat optional, but very useful. I used it for rivet holes, belt prong holes, holes to thread the cord through, and even sewing holes. This isn't an absolute necessity, though, as you can use another tool, which you'll need anyway:

-leather awl. This is, at the very least, needed to reach holes that the jaws of the rotary punch can't get to. It can also be used as a substitute to the rotary punch. An alternative to both is the

-hand punches. These are individual tubes that you use to make holes by striking the top with a mallet. I don't really use these, myself, but perhaps I should invest in a set. This can be used for all the holes you need, too.

-a way to cut the leather. Believe it or not, titanium scissors bought cheaply at a big box store work just fine. A sharp utility knife does, too.

-template material. I used cardboard from old food containers. This is crucial to make sure the pieces fit you *before* you cut them out of leather

-pencil/pen. This is both for drawing/labelling the templates, as well as tracing/labelling the pieces *on the back of the leather*

-Rivets/rivet material and tools with which to set them. I used brass double-cap rivets. These were mostly just for attaching the straps/making the buckles.

-Leather dye and daubers to apply it. I needed two large containers of the brown, and about one large container of the black dye, for this. The containers were about 4.4 fl oz, or 130 ml.

-I also tried out a leather slicker and some burnishing compound, for these. I think it worked pretty well. It'll probably be best getting two tubs of burnishing compound, as I had about enough for one leg, lol!

-anyway, on to the project!

Step 1: Initial Design

It's best to look up a number of different designs to get a feel for what you want. I went for a bit of a standard-looking design, with some flair thrown in on the knees. Once you have an idea for what you want, do the first draft of the templates. Cut them out about an inch or so bigger, so you have room to cut away at the templates, as needed.

Next, you'll want to start fitting the templates up against your legs, bending them in the way you'll have them, when you use the leather. You'll want to cut away anywhere that it would dig into your leg, when you bend it. You really only need one of each part of the leg: you can just flip the templates, to get both legs, and you can do the same twice, for the knee armor. note the curve in the knee armor. that is to give it some shape, when you stitch it together. You'll see. For now, just know that you want the curve to cover your knee, and for the edges to reach past the bottom of the thigh, and the top of the calf.

Step 2: Hey, Cut That Out!

Once you're satisfied with the fit of the templates, trace them out onto the back side/suede side (the side that's kinda "hairy," for you gutsy types who picked this as a first project). Once you have them traced out, cut out the pieces, leaving a bit of room out from the vertical lines (to account for the curve of the leather). Don't forget to reverse the template for each leg!

Then, you can kinda put an initial crease into the greaves, if you'd like (see picture)

Step 3: I'm Dyeing to Try This!

Your next step will be to dye the pieces. You'll want to put some cardboard or something down, as this can get messy. Just use the daubers to do about two layers or so of dye on the front and sides of the leather (and possibly the back, but that can risk staining the pants you wear under this). After you've dyed the pieces, I hear that you're supposed to rinse them, to prevent the dye from rubbing off, when you wear them. I just left the backs bare. While they're wet, you're going to want to take some time to start shaping them. It's best to wear some pants you don't care too much about, here, as you'll ideally be shaping them around your own legs.

Step 4: "Demo? This Is Poleyn."

I apologize for the blurry picture (but not for the pun). Here, you want to take a set of two knee pieces from one of the legs, and do an equally-spaced amount of holes along the curve. You'll want to make them match up, too. Once you've done that, you will take two sewing needles, and a good, long length of your chosen thread. Tie one needle to each end, and do a stitch that crosses in the front, and goes horizontally, in the back. If you've done it right, you should have a kind of "football" type of curve/wedge.

Step 5: Oh Yeah, It's All Coming Together

Now you're just about ready to put it all together. First, the buckles. Hopefully, you were able to find four similar enough thrift store belts. If the buckles don't match, that's fine (expert mode is making your own buckles, like I sometimes attempt to do), but, ideally, the belts themselves should be sturdy, preferably real leather, and similar in appearance. You'll first want to put the pieces on your legs, one at a time (not the poleyns: they just lace up between the thighs and the calves), and see where the prong of the buckle fits to hold the piece on your leg. You want to make a hole there, and probably also cut the belt a bit shorter, so it doesn't flop around everywhere. Then, you want to use an awl or hand punch (this is where you can't entirely rely on the rotary punch, as it is far into the armor) to make about four or five holes that go through the belt, and the armor. Ideally, you'll want to punch the belt first, then mark the armor while the belt is around it, *then* take the armor off and punch the belt. It could also help to set the rivets as you go, to help hold it together.

Now that your four pieces are riveted, it's time to put the armor pieces and the belt on. Once these are in place, you'll know where to make your lace holes. this is best done with a rotary punch (the biggest setting). Place the poleyns over the knees, and match holes in the tops and bottoms to the top of the calf, and the bottom of the thigh. Tie some lace knots through the holes to secure them. Next, punch two holes in the top of each thigh. loop a piece of lace through each thigh, so that it loops around the belt. Then, tie a knot in these pieces of lace, to secure the thighs to the belt.

You now have a set of leg armor. If you can do this, then tassets and a "loincloth" (like the ones pictured in the full set I made) should come easily to you. I made my tassets out of a cut-up sheepskin rug, but leather can work, too.