This leather top came about because I was browsing designer clothing websites, looking at clothes I couldn’t afford. I saw this top and decided it couldn’t be too hard to make, and set about making it.

The leather itself was sourced from a charity shop. I took it apart carefully using a seam ripper to maximise the amount of material I would have to work with. I took a small corner off one of the pieces to test if it was real leather. This involved burning it, as leather is flame-retardant, and will burn much more slowly (if at all) compared to a plastic imitation.

The next step was to work out the pattern for the top. This was my first time making clothes, so I had to figure out all of this on the fly. In the end, I measured the circumference of my chest and used that as an axis to sketch the top onto, making out key points, such as my sternum and should strap attachment points. This step required a lot of referring to the original piece to check I was getting the shape right.

Once I had the shape, I then turned it into corresponding pattern pieces using the original image as a guide, and greaseproof paper for the pattern pieces. From this I made a toile from curtain liner to test the fit. I made the necessary adjustments (mostly to do with the fit of the straps around the shoulders. Once I was happy with the adjustments, I traced the toile to get the final pattern pieces.

Once I had the pattern, I had to make sure I had a copy of every piece of the pattern. Due to the limited amount of fabric, I had to ensure I could lay out all the pieces on the material and make them all fit, which was very tight. Then I cut the pieces out. One of the challenges with working with leather is not being able to use pins like you would with a regular fabric. Later on, when holding two pieces of material together, I used baby bulldog clips, but for the cutting out, I had to trace the pattern with tailor’s chalk and hope for the best.

Once I had all the pattern pieces cut, I had to sew them together in a logical order. Each join is sewn three times, once to join the pieces together, and then once more on either side of the seam to hold down the leather at the back and give a nice finish. All the sewing was done by hand. This was due to the lack of a specialised sewing machine, and also the use of saddle stitch. Saddle stitch, which cannot be done on a sewing machine, uses two alternating threads, sewn simultaneously, to join the material. This results in a stronger join, because if one of the threads snaps, the other one continues to hold the material together.

Once all the major seams were sewn, I added a belt buckle to the end of the straps (functionality that did not exist on the original), and added holes and eyelets to the other side to allow the belt to function.

This was a huge undertaking. It was my first time sewing leather, pattern drafting, making clothes, everything here was a first. I loved learning along the way as I did and absolutely loved the challenge I set myself.