DIY leather forearm sleeves, with laces

bpong · August 8, 2021

y'all;

after getting a nasty forearm scrape, i decided to build a pair of forearm sleeves to prevent this scrape from happening again. it is a DIY project, and it uses the following materials:

- 2 x 1 sq foot 6oz cowhide leather. i went to my local leather dealer (Tandy Leather, in Mississauga, Ontario) and the cost of purchasing 2 x 1 sq foot leather precut pieces was the same as purchasing a sheet of cowhide leather that is about 2.5 ft x 3 ft. so i decided to get the sheet of leather to have xtra for other future projects

https://tandyleather.com/collections/leather/products/oak-leaf-r-single-shoulders?variant=39288044355715

- sharp utility or xacto hobby knife. you must have a new sharp blade

- thread for sewing leather, rather heavy gauge nylon or polyester wax coated thread

https://tandyleather.com/collections/supplies/products/tejas-waxed-thread-132-yards

- leather sewing needle

- simple awl for punching sewing holes

https://tandyleather.com/products/stitching-awl-with-1-116-blade?_pos=5&_sid=f7494e1ad&_ss=r

- a few feet of 3/4" nylon webbing for the lacing eyelets

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/0407-056/3-4%22%2819mm%29-Nylon-Flat-Accessory-Webbing?colour=BK000

- approx 3 meters of 3mm nylon braided cord

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/0403-063/3mm-Nylon-Static-Cord?colour=RED00

- 2 x cord locks

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/4016-488/Toaster-Ellipse-Cord-Lock?colour=NOC02

i have attached some pics to show what the result is, and why i created these leather forearm sleeves.

if you would like a template with 1 inch grid lines, i can provide that to this posting. just request it. it will take abit of time to get the illustration done correctly.

cutting and assembly took 3 evenings. i initially designed and cut pieces out of regular printing paper and then taped them together to see how they fit my forearm. i then redid the designs to get the fit closer. it took about 3 paper tries before i got the templates as close as possible for a loose fit. after all templates were made for the left forearm, i cut them out and traced them on the leather sheet. i then flipped the paper templates and drew on the other side, the same areas where pieces were to be located and sewn but as a reflection of the original drawing. next came punching the holes for the sewing which didnt take too much time.

in fact, most of the time went into the paper cutting, fitting, redrawing and cutting again, fitting, etc,... until i got it to fit okay.

once all the sewing holes were punched out, it was easy-peasy to sew the pieces together. my sewing is okay, not as polished as a pro seamstress, but it got the job done

one important note though, it is easier to sew the nylon webbing onto the flat forearm pieces first, before sewing the hand section and strap. the hand section and strap are the last pieces to be sewn onto the leather sleeve. 3 meters of nylon cord is the perfect length, you simply cut the cord in half to get the correct length for each leather sleeve. if you are building for a rather large forearm, you may need to adapt the template and make the forearm piece longer and wider, and add more nylon webbing eyelets. and of course, purchase a longer piece of nylon braided cord too. the only other thing to watch out for is that you have to bend the forearm leather piece into the same shape as your forearm while marking the sewing holes onto the forearm piece. this is to ensure that the leather hand piece will fit properly onto the forearm leather piece when its folded around the forearm.

im very happy with how they turned out. i prefer to wear this type of forearm protection than wearing some overly designed tactical sleeve or fancy forearm sleeve with a zipper closure (and thinner gauge leather too...). and the advantage of building this sleeve is that you can modify it more and add xtra strips of leather to the front face to act as a sacrificial layer which is replaceable. lastly, since i built these sleeves, i can also repair them and modify them easily. try that with a store bought item...

cheers,

bp