Some of my readers asked me if there is a difference between latex and rubber. Most of you would probably think “no, latex and rubber refers to the same” – but that’s actually wrong.

Latex

Latex is the white sap there comes from the most commonly used Para rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis (Euphorbiaceae).

The milky sap is a white dispersion of rubber, water, proteins, sugar, ash, dirt and other impurities. The tree uses the latex sap to close wounds in its bark.

The word latex is derived from the latin word lac lactis (milk) texo (weave, construct, build).

Rubber

Natural Rubber (NR) is a component of the latex sap.

The latex sap contains approx. 35-40% rubber. Which will be concentrated up to 60% and more depending on the methods (f.x. creaming which reaches even up to 80%, centrifugation or evaporation), before the sap will reach the compounding process.

The name rubber accured accidentally in the end of the 1700 century, as a stationer in New England discovered that you could rub out pencil marks with it. The British scientist, Joseph Priestley suggested to call it rubber, from “rub out”.

In Europe it was commonly known as Caoutchouc, which is the general term for elastomere.

Conclusion

Latex is the raw material, the white protective sap of the rubber tree and rubber is the product which will remain after the latex dried out. It is the basis for making rubber. But to most of us use the words latex and rubber to describe the material we are using.

First of all I want to thank you for all of your great comments and e-mails. I am happy to see that so many of you want to be a part of makinglatexclothing.com and contribute to it. The first week has been amazing!

I am still working my way through your e-mails and try to answer them, so please be patient if you havent heard from me yet.

Today I tried to create a inflatable rubber item for the very first time. I thought it was fun to experiment with something new and since it is Valentines Day, I decided it would be fun to make a big inflatable rubber heart.

As you can see on my Valentines Card I made it and I can tell you I had a lot of with it! I am already looking forward to many other fun inflatable projects in the future.

I hope you all had a great Valentines Day and spend some time with your loved one!

Latex Kitty

Pretty cute and a nice accessory if you are going to a party. Best of all it is so easy to make! Check it out.

What you need is a hairband, six latex strips in two colors and one smaller strip to glue later around the bow.

1. Cut the strips

Cut the strips into the right length. The first strip for the latex bow should be 14 cm (5.5″) long (here its the Lilac strip) and the second one should be 12 cm (4.7″). They have both the same width of 1,5 cm (0.6″).

Now you need four strips for the bow tails, two of each color. Decide yourself how long they should be, you can always shorten them after you are done with your double latex bow.

2. Apply the glue

Take the two longer strips for the bow, clean them and mark the middle of them. Apply the glue on the outer sides and the middle of the strip. Wait until the latex straighten itself out again.

3. Make the bows

Now glue the outer sides towards the middle of your strip.

4. Now glue both bows together

Apply the glue on the middle of both bows. The smaller bow will be glued up on top of the larger one. Use the seam roller and apply pressure to your glued seam.

5. Glue strip around the bow

Start in the middle of the back and end there as well. The strip has the same width like the bow itself, 1,5 cm (0.6″). It should be at least 3 cm (1.2″) long if your bow measures a width of 1.5 cm.

6. The bow tail

Now you need the four strips which you have left. Cut them in the end in a ankle you like, I have chosen a 45° angle.

Apply the glue on the top of the strips and glue the bow tails together, so that they slightly spread apart in the end. Now you can glue both bow tails together. Then they are ready for the bow.

7. Glue the bow tail on the bow

Just take your prepared bow tail and glue it on the back of the bow. Done!

8. Get the bow on the hairband

Now you can glue a little loop in the back of the bow, so that you can stick your bow on a hairband. The advantage of gluing a loop in the back is that you can always exchange the bow to another one in a different color etc. so that it matches your dress, instead of attaching it permanently.

I hope you got inspired and have fun with this little tutorial.
Let me know how it went or send me some pictures of your hairband.

They are shiny, they look great and high fashion at the moment, latex leggings!

Learn how to make our own latex leggings in this tutorial. Just follow eleven easy steps. Comments and questions are appreciated!

Lets get started!

1. Make the pattern

Make a sketch of your new project. It will help you to keep an overview of which measurements you need and how the pattern should look like in the end.

2. Take measurements

We need the waist, hip and leg for the latex leggings. Check out here how to take the measurements and which ones you need from the leg.

3. Transfer pattern to paper

See here what the latex-leggings pattern should look like. It doesn’t matter what kind of paper you use, but I usually buy a big paper roll in a home improvement store. The thickness of the paper is up to you, what matters is that you can work with it! To get the curves right, I use French curve rulers.

4. Cut out the pattern

Don’t be chocked if you think it looks big!

5. Transfer pattern to latex sheeting

Place your pattern on the latex sheeting and draw around it. The leggings consist of 4 parts, a front and a back side for each leg! Take the front side, put it on the latex, draw around it, then flip the pattern once over and draw around it. Now you got the two front sides on the latex sheeting. Do the same with the backside. I used a silver paint marker.

6. Cut and clean latex

Cut the latex sheeting out and clean it from the paint marker by using the mineral spirit and a piece of cloth. If your latex sheeting got to much talcum powder on from the production process, then I recommend you to rinse it off with water or take a wet piece of cloth to wipe it off. (To make sure while you work with your latex sheeting that there wont be talcum powder on your fresh applied glue, because as soon as you touch the latex sheeting with the talcum powder on, you will have it on your fingers and easily transfer it to the glue on the seam while you work with it).

Tips to remember:

• Give the latex a few minutes to straighten itself out again, after you applied the glue.
• Do not stretch the latex, pull anywhere to make it work, but never stretch the parts you are just about to glue together. A little practice will help.
• Keep your workspace clean to avoid left over glue sticking to the latex leggings.
• Have some small weights around to help you hold the pattern parts separated and under control.

7. Glue the seams

Start out with the outer seams on the leggings! Take the front and backside of one leg. Watch out that you take the right parts, it is a mess to get the glue off again if you applied it once! So check carefully for the shiny and rough sides on the latex sheeting and put them together the right way.

Now use the mineral spirit to clean your seam from all particles remaining! Apply the glue on both seams, the front and the backside pattern.

To get that right, you apply the glue for the front side on the rough side of the latex sheeting and on the backside you apply the glue on the shiny side, so that you glue in the end the front side on top of the backside seam.

You should start gluing from the waist down to the ankle, so that you can cut over standing parts off after you are done gluing! If you got your seam together use your seam roller and apply pressure to the seam by rolling over it! Do the same with the outside of the other leg!

This is how your leggings should look like by now.

8. Glue the crotch together

Ok, this might be a little difficult for some of you, because of the curve. But I am sure with some patient you will manage it!

You will now glue the crotch of the front sides together! Again clean your seam and apply the glue on the crotch of both legs.

Here you will not start out on the waistline, start by the other end where the deepest curve is, so that in case you have to cut something of in the end, you will cut it of on the waistline.

Do the same with the crotch in the back.

9. Glue inner legs

Now you are almost there, just the inner sides of the legs are missing! Start out by placing your leggings so on your workspace that they are wide spread, which will make it easy to clean them and apply the glue afterwards without moving them around.
I apply the glue on one entire leg and approx. 10-15cm on the other leg. After the latex straighten itself out again, start by gluing the middle of the crutch together and then go down the leg where there is glue on all the way.

That the other leg, where I don’t have glue on all the way, is not sticking together, I will put a little weight or just my rotary cutter in between to avoid it.

After I glued on leg together I will do the rest of the other one. The reason why I apply those 10-15cm of glue on the second leg and then put something in between is that it is then easier for me to apply afterwards glue on the rest of the second leg. It gives me a nice point to start out with applying the rest of the glue.

10. Waistband

You will need a 4 cm (1.6″) wide band with the length of your leggings waistline.
The band should be thicker then latex sheeting you used for your leggings, so that it will be able to keep your leggings up when you wear them. I used 0.6 mm latex sheeting for the waistband.
Now when you glue the waistband on the leggings, you will start on the middle seam in the back of your
latex leggings and will also end there. You glue the waistband of the leggings on the outside of the leggings, not on the inside.

If you are uncertain if your leggings will be to high up the waist after you will have glued the waistband on, then just carefully try the leggings on before you glue the waistband on. Use some talcum powder to get easier in.

11. Reinforcements

You will glue reinforcements on those points where there will be the most stress, that would be on the seams in the crutch and the ankles.

Now you should be done!

If necessary clean the leggings, shine them and dress up!

If you have questions, suggestions etc. just leave a comment underneath the post and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Let me know how your project went or if you tried this tutorial and liked it, then please send me a photo of you wearing the latex leggings, so I can post them here. I’m looking forward to hear from you!

In this video, I’ll show you how to glue straight and curved seams.
In the video I already cleaned the seams with mineral spirit and applied the glue.

There are different techniques to apply the glue on the latex, none of them is right or wrong. That what matters is what works best for you. So see this as suggestions!

To apply the rubber cement

Remember to apply glue on both seams you would like to glue together and to have a equal thin layer of glue!

1. Paint brush
I prefer small, flat soft brushes. It makes it easy and fast to apply the glue on the latex sheeting and gives you a good control over that what you are doing. Remember to clean your brush properly after you finished your project.

2. Cotton buds
They are cheap, you have them always in the house and they give you as well a good control. Just throw them out after they a unusable anymore. Usually you will need a couple to finish one project. I also use them from time to time.

3. Old Credit cards etc.
I have also seen people using those to apply glue on the latex and had to try it myself. What to say, not the right method for me! Not handy at all, especially if it comes to curves, less control and it makes in my eyes a too big mess on the workspace.

To apply the white latex milk

First of all you have to apply this glue fast, equal and in a thin layer! Dont wipe to much around with your brush on the latex or it will cause little dried glue “left overs”.
You have to wait until the latex milk dryed on the latex. When the white latex milk turns transparent after you applied it, you know that its ready to be glued together. Just give it a few minutes.

1. Paint brush
You can of course also use a brush for this glue. It should be soft and clean. It might take 2-3 strokes over the to be glued seam to get a nice layer of glue on the latex sheeting. Dont put much glue on your brush or it might make a mess on your workspace

2. Sealing tape
This is like using a small piece of a sponge. You will need a long flexible piece of plastic, metal or wood etc. to place a piece of the sealing tape on.
Then you will “dip” it slightly in the glue (Not to much, a drop of glue on the sealing tape is totally fine! You can always add more!).
Then apply the glue on your seam. But be fast, otherwise your sealing tape starts to stick to the latex sheeting and it leaves little traces which you might see later after you are done gluing. You would be surprised how fast that can go!

If you have other techniques or ideas you would like to share, then please leave a comment!