Samurai Armor
Okay, this is a showcase for the man of the house. Michael is making himself Samurai armor from six cow hides we bought last summer. He’s cutting them into 2 inch by 1/2 inch segments, punching eight holes in each segment, and then sewing them by hand. Then he laquers it. Then he laces it.
Oi.
Figure 1: This is the torso piece. The red area is a beautiful Asian-patterned upholstery fabric we found at Hancock Fabrics. It is cut to fit, sewn to the leather and then glued; then lacquered.
Figure 2:
Figure 3: Detail, skirting piece with lacing.
Holy cow HIDE! Looks really cool (and like a lot of work).
Is he going to wear it when it’s done?
Where to?
At this point, he may only wear it at costume events. It will likely go on display in our home along with other objects he’s made. Who knows? Maybe he’ll travel to Japan, where they do re-enactments.
not sure were you are (came across your blog while looking up samurai armor) but look up Society for Creative Anachronism or SCA.org. They do creative reenactment in North America and many people would love to see his work. Might even offer him job doing building some for them LOL.
Thank you for the pictures I muchly enjoyed them.
Thanks, Repaer! My husband used to make chain maille armor professionally, through Chained Links at Bristol Ren Faire. We’ve looked into SCA here, but it’s a lot different than my home kingdom in Los Angeles. Maybe someday, though.
Thanks so much for commenting!