DIY fingerless leather gloves.

[tomatous]

I wasn't quite sure if I was going to post this, but wanted to document a little project I have been working on. Keep in mind my methods are not traditional, but they are effective.

I wanted a pair of fingerless leather gloves, so I set out to make my own. I hate how most things I wear with long sleeves, just come up too short. Well, these are 13 inches long, and will extend anything I wear. These were constructed from a singular piece of distressed buffalo leather. Nothing was sewed on or added. Everything was done through folding and pinching.


I knew I needed to start with a paper pattern, in order to trace it onto the leather. This was the hardest part. I tried over and over, discarding tree after tree in failed attempts to produce exactly what I wanted. I finally had a pattern that I could work with, this way I could customize as I went.



Next I cut the leather in the pattern of the paper using a stanley razor.


Yes, that is a paperclip. My resources are fairly limited, so I used paperclips and other office supplies, such as staples, to hold my leather slab in place as I stitched.



Now that I had it where I wanted it, I could take the awl and needles to it. This is the first time I have ever used a sewing needle of any kind, so the stitching is very obscur and raw looking. I probably stabbed myself about 20 times.

Box threading re-enforcement. Thanks youtube!




Now to sew around, and remove staples as I go.

[tomatous]

Look mom, no hands!




Stitching in the final phase..


They fit amazingly, and I exceeded my own expectations for how they would turn out. As of right now, I am leaving the edges raw and gnarly. Ignore the setting, it isn't my own.

Feedback is welcome

[anatomicut]

interesting thread.
there are some commercial patterns
for making gloves.
but this is not that kinds.
great handwork job.!!
like that raw edge and
wrap around patterns.

[kuugaia]

^ 'from a singular piece of distressed buffalo leather' do you actually read the posts before you reply?

tomatous, I have to say you had exceeded my expectations too from the start to the finish. The fit is quite tight considering it's one piece of leather. Great work man and thanks for posting this, my girlfriend who's getting in this stuff recently will appreciate this.

Any reason you used white thread for some of the parts and black on the others? I reckon it would look better all black because the stitching isn't professional, so it takes a bit away from the whole glove. Nonetheless, good job.

[DamageX]

Any reason you used white thread for some of the parts and black on the others?

According to his post he used staples so that might be the perceived white threads. I could be wrong though.

[kuugaia]

^ I see. I thought he just used them to hold it together and removed it later. But the closer I look, I believe that you're right. They're staples.. :(

[tomatous]

Thanks,

I did remove the staples once I had the stitching in place. You can still see some of them in these photos though :)

[Castor]

Fantastic DIY. Congratulations.

[interest1]

I like that you took matters into your own hands, literally! Instead of coughing up hundreds of $$$ for a pair of fingerless leather gloves, you made your own custom-fit pair. Nice work. Love the raw edge. 2nd shot from bottom really shows it beautifully.

That buffalo leather is really great. How much would you say it cost you to make them? I'm sure people will be blown away when they hear this.

I'm glad you decided to post the process, T. You make it look easy.

[tomatous]

Thanks Interest,

I bought the hide on ebay for around $20. It's huge. I have plenty of leather left over to make something else. I'm still debating on what I should do next :)

Other supplies, such as the awl, black rayon thread, and needles cost around 15$.

There are many different types of leather to experiment with as well. The very same seller has elk, deer, calf, lamb, you name it. The buffalo was so cheap because of the low grade. (Holes and distressing)

[DamageX]

The gloves look great! I like the texture of the distressed skin.

[tomatous]

Thanks Castor and Damage X,

I posted some black and white fit pics in the WAYWT. I'm thinking of adding a stich across the bottom of the glove (along the thumb) just to tighten them a bit more. Will post updated photos if I decide to do so.

[business]

Awesome work! You’ve inspired me to try my hand at a pair too.

[francojean23]

definitely might try a pair of these myself , after the multitude of other projects get finished , would probably do a much cleaner simpler version though , yours looked great in the waywt by the way