Leather Disc Jacket Progress Report

As promised, here is a progress report of my Leather Disc Jacket that is going to look AMAZING when it's done. It's just taking a REALLY LONG TIME to finish, but in the end, I think it'll be worth it. And as stated over and over, it's not my original idea but one from the blog PHOSPHENE.

Materials:

• 1 Black Cardigan
• Bags full of scrap leather, any type of leather (I'm actually using a mix of lambskin, kangaroo and cow)
• Circle template, or something to trace that is about 4cm in diameter (I used a bottle of glue)
• Chalk
• Scissors
• Needle and Thread

Step 1: Trace circles onto the swede side of the leather using chalk.

Step 2: Cut out the circles. You may want to cut out about 50, sew them on, then continue to cut out, and then sew on, and repeat that process. It would be WAY to boring to cut out all the circles you need (which, in the end will be around 300-400, I think) all at once, and then sew it on. This way you don't need to count, you just cut what you need!

Step 3: Punch out a hole in each of the circles to aid in the sewing process.

Step 4: Sew the circles individually into rows on the cardigan. Loop the stitch through the hole you punched and then the outside of the circle - this way you don't have to strain to try and push the needle through the leather. You're really just sewing around the leather. And do sew them individually! Because it's a stretchy cardigan, it will look better, instead of having them all attached and pulling the sweather in funny ways. Sewing them individually is also safer - if you pull one off, you don't pull them all off.

Start at the bottom, so you can layer overtop as you move up the cardigan, like scales of a fish. As I said before, this process will take a while, so do half the front, then cut more circles, do the other half, repeat, repeat, etc., etc.

Step 5: Repeat as necessary to fill the whole cardigan.

...

Now, as stated at the top, this is a progress report, so this project isn't done. But it's slowly (very slowly) getting there. 

But there is something important that must be emphasized - 

WARNING: 

DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS PROJECT IF YOU ARE NOT PATIENT, NOR IF YOU HAVE NO SPARE TIME.

This project takes a long time, and you need a good number of hours here and there to cut and sew. Watching TV series is a good way to keep your mind occupied while doing this project. 2-4 hour time slots are perfect for doing this project. In the end, you may need about 20-30 hours (roughly...and I'm guessing).

I've finished the front of the cardigan, and I'm now starting to layer up the back. And I still have the sleeves to do. PHOSPHENE's isn't as dense as mine, which might have saved her life, but I wanted mine to have the feeling of a fur jacket.

I've still got a way to go, but I think it's looking AWESOME already.