Exotic Eye Patches by Armadilloman -- A How I Did That Photo Blog. Celebrating the creation of eyepatch No. 150!

To celebrate the completion and sale of eyepatch No. 150 from the ArmadilloLeather shop on etsy,  here is a photo blog showing the completion of eye patch No. 160 . Okay...I know I should have done this with eye patch No 151, but I got orders in for 151-159, so I was too busy completing those to post.  So here is eye patch No. 160 made from Alligator hide with cowhide straps.

I started making costume eye patches 2 years ago when my son-in-law wanted one.  I researched what was on Etsy and decided  I can do better then about 90% of the listings and could make a tougher looking one then just about all of the several hundred patches I found.  After introducing a couple snakeskin and ostrich costume patches I started getting enquiries about making them for everyday wear for those who had had and injury or had lost an eye due to accident, sickness and combat.  A bit of a redesign to make it more comfortable for everyday wear and 2 years later about 75% of the patches I sell go to people who really need and wear an eye patch daily.

Following are photos detailing how a custom made Armadillo Leather Works eye patch is made.  I have this Alligator patch I have made to tell the story on Steembay with a ridiculously low open bid so anyone can pick it up for Halloween or every day wear.

First, it all starts by making a cowhide eye cup.  The cup is cut from 7-8 oz vegetable tanned cowhide.

The eye patch shaped piece of leather is soaked in water for 2-3 hours.  The water washes out some fo the tanning solution,  makes it very flexible as well harder when baked.

The leather pieces are laid on the grate in a 170 degree oven.

When the leather pieces are starting to dry I take my thumbs and mold the cup shape.  This is done several times while the piece dries.

Once dried, the cup is shaped, trimmed and edges beveled with a Dremel rotary tool with a course sanding wheel.

The piece of leather I am going to use is one that is tough to find any other use for...the Alligator's arm pit.

Draw around the cup with a white pen on the back of the piece of alligator, marking off the places where the straps will attach.  I have to mark these areas out or I will forget what I am doing and put glue all over the leather pieces.

Contact cement  is smeared on both the alligator and the cowhide cup.  This cement is allowed to dry for 5 minutes.

After the contact cement surface has dried the cup is press into the alligator piece, starting in the center and stretching the alligator around the edges.

Then cut around the edge of the cowhide cup with a leather shears, leaving about a 1/16 of an inch extra alligator around the ears where the straps are going to attach.

There we have the alligator arm pit covered patch.  I take the dremel and smooth out the edges once again.

3/8" wide straps are cut from 4/5 oz cowhide and dyed black.

The straps are attached to the cup with small rivets at a slight up tilting angle to better clear the wearers ears.  

Glue is applied over the strap end and on the unglued ear of alligator and allow to set up.  The 1/16" extra cut around the edges of the alligator allows it to glue down to the cup perfectly around the strap end.

Rivet on a 1/2" watch buckle with a strap keeper and ....

...punch the tang holes in the strap and...

...I am done with a left eye alligator eye patch good for costume or every day wear.

I make a lot of eye patches from various exotic leathers such as Toad...

...Python with cobra straps...

...Ostrich leg....

...Rattlesnake...

...and Carp.

If you like seeing the stuff that comes off my work bench, please consider an upvote, resteem and a follow.  I conduct leather accessories giveaways every 6-8 weeks.  Its been a month, so stay tuned for the next one upcoming.

To maximize my time, I do most of my upvoting and following through Steem Engine.  You should too!