Pleats are one of the most sweetest finishes for a latex garment and sometimes you just cant go without it. You can create a lot of different looks and styles with it and give your outfit that little extra finish what you might been missing. The possibilities where to use them is endless and totally up to our own imagination/creativity.

As good as it sounds, as simple it is! So I’m happy to introduce you to the two most common pleat techniques used for making latex clothing.

What you need:

• One latex strip (at least three times the length of the seam you are going to trim)
• Rubber cement
• Cleaner and a piece of cloth
• (Cling film)

Knife pleats

The simple pleating is used for a lot of small things, e.g. the finish on my latex gauntlets or to gather latex to create a puff sleeve on a blouse, or where ever you would like to use them.

What you do is simply clean your latex strip, apply glue to the front and backside of the seam on your strip and allow the solvents in the glue to evaporate for a moment.

Then start folding the strip to one site. The width of the fold is completely up to you and depends on the look you want to create. The closer you fold the pleats the fuller they get. The folds on my gauntlets have a width of about 1cm, of course after they have been folded.

Press everything good together, use your seam roller to apply pressure on it.

Remember that the ratio is 1:3, that means your strip should have three times the length of the seam you are planning to trim. If you are unsecured about the lenght of your strip, just add a little more so you wont run out.

For a closer look on how it is done check out the drawing or download the PDF of the drawing here.

Box pleats

Here you prepare the strip just the same way like you did with the other one.

The only difference here is how you fold it. It is not easy to explain in words, therefore I recommend you to have a look at the drawing or download the PDF of the drawing here.

Box pleating is used for a lot of things, trimming a skirt or sleeves, creating a school girl skirt for the next Cosplay event, giving some old style bloomers a great finish.

Tip: If you need to apply glue on both sides of one seam, then it would be an advantage to have some cling film around!

After you clean one side, applied glue to it and gave it a moment to settle, then put some cling film on it. That will protect the already prepared seam side from getting dirty and useless. It will also make it easier for you to handle a long latex strip, since you will be more free in your “movements”.

Cheers,

Kitty

Here is the “How to” on making your own latex gauntlets.

What you need:

• Pattern (Download PDF)
• Rubber cement, cleaner and piece of cloth
• Two small pieces latex (each about 15cm x 25cm), gauge 0.30mm – 0.40mm
• Two latex strips to reinforce the application
• Two long strips latex in a different colour

How to do it:

1. Prepare the latex

Print the pattern and adjust it to your size if needed. Then draw it up on the latex with a pen and cut it out with your rotary cutter. Afterwards clean off the pen marks on the latex, you can use your cleaner for that.

2.Prepare your gauntlet applications

The easiest way to glue in your applications is of course before you close the seams, so you will have to do those as one of the first steps. I have chosen to make some gauntlets which will compliment my new dress, therefore they will be in metallic black with a white trim on the hem lining pleats. You can of course chose any application you like, different colours, different pleats, small cut outs, bows and so on. Anything you like goes!

But watch it! If you make pleats, then make sure that the folding of the pleats goes in the right direction. What I want to say with that is, that the two pleated trims you make should be folded in the opposite way of the other one, so that they later on will show in the same direction when they are glued in. Either they both show towards the body or they both show away.

3. Glue your latex applications to the gauntlets

Clean the surface of the gauntlet hemline and apply the rubber cement. Do the same with your pleated strip.

After the glue is ready, attach the pleated trim to your gauntlet. Cut of all excess material.

4. Reinforce your application on the backside

Clean the extra latex strip apply rubber cement to it and make sure that the hemline of the gauntlet is cleaned and has a layer of glue to it as well. After the solvents of the glue had time to evaporate, glue the reinforcement strip to it. Cut of all excess latex.

5. Almost done!

Now you are almost done. There are only two seams to close left and your gauntlet should look like that now.

6. Close the two seams of your latex gauntlet!

Start out with the long straight seam, which is going towards your wrist.

Then take the smaller upper one. The hole in the middle stays of course free, its for your thumb.

And that’s about it, you are done!

Wash your gauntlets, shine them, be proud and wear them with style.

I would love to see your gauntlets, so feel free to send me some pictures of them.

Cheers,

Kitty

One of my readers, Felix Katz, send me two links to his video tutorials on how to attach applications to latex clothing. It is a step by step tutorial video and easy to understand.

What could be done differently?

The only thing what I would advise you to do differently is the step where he applies the glue to the entire surface of the latex.

It is not necessary to apply the rubber cement on both latex surfaces if it is only for applications. It is enough if you apply it to the surface of the application.
The parts of the latex where you applied the glue to and don’t have any applications on will always be kind of dull. It will be sticky and dust and dirt will easily stick and show on it, especially if it is white latex.

How to do it.

What you need to do to make the application bond properly to the latex is to prepare everything right, that means a good wipe with your cleaner. And that should do the whole job for you.

The reason why that is enough, lays simply in the chemistry of rubber and rubber cement. To make it short: both consist of the same material, polymers and through natures small wonders they stick to each other through cohesion.

Thanks a lot for sharing that with us Felix. Keep up your work.

Cheers,

Kitty

There are two different ways to make beautiful ruffles or also called frills.
You can create them either by gathering the material or by giving it a circular shape.

Circle

The straightening of the round cut out will create the beautiful ruffles you are looking for. They are really easy to create and to control, but they are time consuming!

How the ruffles will look like depends on the outer and inner diameter of the round cut out. The smaller the inner diameter of the cut out is, the more ruffles it will create and the more dense they will be.

If you choose a big inner diameter it will create a very smooth look. The ruffles are more spread apart and more wavy.

The length of the ruffle is also very important for the look you want to create. If you choose to keep it short it will give a more young perky look and would f.x. go good with a mini skirt. The longer ones are more elegant and look fantastic on dresses or pencil skirts.

If you have some latex at the hand and a little spare time test it out for and check for yourself what you like best.

How to do it:

I used a latex gauge of 0.4 mm for this tutorial, since this is mostly used for latex clothing and gives the nicest ruffles.

After you have decided the size of your ruffles, you will have to cut out a couple of them to be able to cover a whole seam.

For me it was easier to join the circles one after each other while I am gluing them on, instead of creating at first one long curly strip out of all the small circles.

How many you will need depends of course on how long the seam is. Dividing the seam length by the circumference of the inner circle will tell you how many you will need.

Gathering latex

This is also a very easy method of creating ruffles and it is even faster. But it is not suitable for all types of clothing styles. The minus here is that it is not as easy to control and to keep the even look.

Like the header already describes it, you gather the latex. It will create a more or less crinkled look, which is f.x. nice for tops or baby-dolls which are gathered right under the breast or even in some cases to create  short puffy sleeves.

And its of course THE one thing to use for jogging suits or similar.

How to do it:

You glue a stretched strip of latex on to the area where you would like to have the material gathered.

The way it will look like depends here on the gauge of the latex as well on the stress you put on to the stretched strip.

If you choose latex in a thing gauge and stretch it a lot you will most likely have a lot of riffles and you will see that at the area where you applied the strip to. It  will have tiny riffles which are not always nice to look at. If you choose a thicker latex gauge the riffles will be more easy to handle and you avoid those riffles on the strip.

What I prefer is latex in gauge 0.3/0.4mm and a little thicker strip  of latex like 0.5/0.6mm to stretch. That will create some nice ruffles and you will most likely avoid the riffles on the strip itself.

On the picture you can see how different the latex looks depending on the thickness you use.

The easiest way to do these ruffles is with help of another person, to hold and control the latex while you apply the strip.

If you dont have anybody to help you with that, then use some clams which will do that for you.

Kitty

It is not latex clothing, but it is still fun and easy!

I love latex furniture, but unfortunately is it not very common and if you find something it is expensive!

So as I saw at a flee market this old chair for approx. $10, I thought I will give it a shoot and turn that into a nice modern piece!

And there you go, my result. It fits perfectly in my bedroom!

If you want to try it your self you will need:

• Piece of latex o.6mm
  (according to the size of the seat)
• Latex glue (rubber cement and latex milk)
• Fabric band (available in sewing shops)
• Staple gun
• Cutting tools

1. Remove old cover

Above you can see how the chair looked as I bought it.

I took it apart and removed the old covers. This one had an additional cover underneath which was made out of leather and had a weird pattern. This pressed itself over time into the seat cushion and shows now through. But that’s fine, it actually looks quite nice with the latex cover over it.

2. Paint

Since I like it black and shiny, I had to paint the wood frame. So I sanded the frame down until it was really nice and smooth. I painted the frame two times with a thin layer of shiny black water based paint. Looks great!

3. Prepare latex cover

Measure the size of the cushion, length, hight and width. And cut a piece of latex out, according to your cushion size. Remember that it has to be approx. 2″ longer on the ends, so that you can attach it later to the underside of you seat.

Then mark the areas which you will have to cut out, to make it possible to fold and glue the cover into a square or whatever shape your cushion might have. My cover looks like that now, after I measured everything and did the cut outs.
I made the cut outs so, that I have a little flap on one side of each cut out. This makes it easy to glue the pieces together. I just cutted 0.2″ further in on one side to create the flap.
See the picture.

4. Glue in fabric band

Now, before we start gluing the cover together, we will have to glue in the fabric band!
It will be glued on around all the edges of the cover. This is necessary if you don´t want your latex to rip later when you attach it to the chair with a staple gun!

To attach fabric to latex, you will of course need the latex milk (liquid latex). Apply the latex milk good to the fabric band and let it completely dry! It should not feel wet when you touch it! Then apply also some of the latex milk to the latex, let it dry. Now glue the cotton band on to the inner side of the latex cover. Check out the picture to see where you need to glue it on. If you want to, you can backlay the cotton strip with a thin gauge of latex.

5. Glue the edges together

Now we can glue the edges together. Apply the glue to the edges and let it dry, then attach it to each other. Remember, if you backlayed your cotton strip with latex, then you have to use the rubber cement which is stronger! If you didn’t do it and have to glue the blank fabric on to the latex then you have to use the latex milk, otherwise it wont work! The combination of rubber cement and cotton just works if it is rubberized cotton! Check out the picture to see how I glued it together.

6. Get it all together

Now its almost done! Just pull the cover over your cushion. Attach the cover with the staple gun to the wooden under plate. Therefore you just fold the overlapping Latex with the attached fabric band over, so that it lays on the wooden under plate. Done!

It might be that there is a thicker layer of material on the edges where you have to fold it to the side. If it gets to thick, then you can just cut some of the material out. There can´t happen anything, because you have the cotton band which protects the latex from ripping! But remember not to cut over the cotton band into the latex!

There are probably screws in your chair wich prevents the seat from sliding around or falling off, so remember also to put those holes in, using a hole puncher.

Enjoy!
Kitty

I received a lot of requests about making tutorials with latex clothing, which is easier to make. So I have chosen to make a latex Tank Top Tutorial this time.
It is really easy! It consists of just two pieces and four small seams.

On the pictures you will see that I am working on a latex tank top for guys, but there is no big difference to a Tank Top for girls. Because I have chosen a very simple cut. Like you will see in my drawings.

You need:

• Approx. 1 x 1 meter latex (depending on your size)
• Some rubber cement and a small brush
• 3 long latex strips
• Cutting material
• Cleaner

1. Pattern

The pattern is super easy! You need your chest, waist, hip and armpits measurements. If you really have problems making the pattern, get one of your tightest shirts to compare it with your pattern.

Take a look at the drawings to see the difference between guys and girls tank tops and get some tips.
You can easily change the look of your pattern, by changing the front cut out or by designing a special look in the front! See examples in the drawing.

2. Gluing the shoulder seams

O.K. here you can see the two latex pieces for the latex tank tops for guys and the latex strips.

The color I have chosen is “translucent smokey black” from Radical Rubber.

If we make a latex tank top or similar things like a T-shirt, will we start with the shoulder seams. That is really easy here, because they are so small. Start by cleaning the surface on the shoulder seams. Now apply a thin layer of glue and let it try! Put the shoulder seams together and apply a little pressure with your finger to it, before you roll over it with your seam roller.

3. Reinforcement and application

If you lie your latex Tank Top now flat on your workspace, it will be easy to glue the latex strips on. It is not a must to glue those on, but it will reinforce the cutting edge and if you chose another color it gives a nice contrast.

The latex strips don’t need to have a certain width, because you will glue them on, so that they will overlap the cutting edge of your latex tank top. After you are done gluing you just cut the overlapping part off. To keep the same width on the tank top, you can make some markings on the top or if you got a good eye measurement do it without it.

4. Glue the sideseam

Now we will glue the side seams together. We start in the armpit!
Clean the side seam and apply the glue. It is easier if you lie your latex tank top right away in position like you see it on the picture. So that you don’t need to move it a lot around after you applied the glue.

Glue now the side seams, beginning from the armpit down to the hip together. Done!

You can glue the finishing latex strip on the bottom of the latex tank top after you glued the side seams together or as well before. That depends on how good you meassured everything in first place. If you glue on the latex strip before you glued the side seams together and it doesn’t fit a 100% on the bottom afterward, your pre-work is gone. Because you have to cut the overlapping piece off and glue then again a latex strip on. Nobody is going to have a latex Tank Top where the front part might be 5 mm longer then the back part. That doesn’t look good!

I glue the finishing strip on the bottom of the latex tank top always at the latest point.
But you dont have to do it all if you dont like it.

Have fun gluing and designing!
Kitty

1. Make a bottom stop

You want to keep the zippers top stoppers and only shorten it by making a new bottom stop.

First measure the length you need for the zipper in your garment and mark it onto the zipper. Before you cut anything off, you must sew in a new bottom stop for the slider.

Take a sewing needle and a normal sewing thread and sew a few tight loops around the zip where you have your mark.

2. Remove zipper teeth

There are different types of zipper teeth. Some can need to be pulled out (carefully) before you can cut them off and some you can cut out right away. It doesn’t matter how you do it, just make sure that the teeth come out without ruining the material around it.

3. Reinforce the end of the zipper

Start by applying glue to the backside of the end of the zipper and a piece of cloth. Allow both to dry completely.

Glue the piece of cloth on to the backside of the zipper. Apply pressure to make a strong bond using your seam roller.

Note: If the zipper need to be really strong, glue a piece of cloth on the front side too.

Finish off the zipper by cutting a nice rounded edge on the ending with a pair of scissors.

Done!

You need:

• Your latex garment.
• A plastic or metal zipper with cotton backing.
• A strip of latex sheeting for reinforcement.
• A piece of cotton cloth.
• Natural latex milk (glue).
• and of course something to apply it with.

Regarding zippers
There are different types of zippers, the one you need is a zipper which has a cotton backing. There are also types made from plastic, but those are no good for gluing. You will recognize the difference right away, if you hold them in your hand. Some zippers have a little plastic cover on the ending. Don’t cut them off, you need to peel them off carefully.

Metal teeth or plastic teeth
If the zipper should have plastic teeth or metal teeth is a matter of taste and use. Metal zippers are stronger, but the metal will dis-color latex if they comes in contact with each other. Metal zippers are harder to closing properly. Personally, I rarely use metal zippers and if I do, it’s only in combination with thick black latex so you wont see any coloration.

1. Prepare your latex garment

Lets imagine that you are making f.x. a skirt and you would like to have a zipper in the back or on side. Mark the spot where the zipper should be and of course how long it will be. Cut out a 5 mm wide stripe in the required length for the zipper teeth to fit in.

2. Prepare the zipper

In order to create a nice zipper ending, apply the latex milk on the ending tails of the zipper and the piece of cloth. Let the glue dry completely, even if the glue turned transparent it might be that the zipper ending or piece of cloth are still wet. Please allow it to dry completely! Now press the ending tails of the zipper slightly together, so that they just stick a bit to each other and then put the piece of cloth up on top of it. Apply pressure with the seam roller to get a strong bond between the pieces. Now you can cut a really nice edge around the ending of the zipper, like you can see in the picture.

Tip: It makes things faster if you apply the glue right away all the way on the zipper on both sides,front and back of the zipper. But watch out when you apply the glue that you wont get to close to the zipper teeth, the slider will have otherwise problems. So apply the glue just to the edge of the slider.

3. Apply the glue

Now after you have cleaned the latex, you apply a thin layer of glue to the area. Don’t worry if the width of the area where you applied the glue is wider than the zipper itself, that is fine because you will later on glue a reinforcement on there. Just watch out out that your working space is clean.

Tip: If you have to glue in a long zipper or are insecure, because you have not done this before, then you can take some regular PE-household folie and put that on the parts you want to protect from sticking together etc. like you can see here in the picture. The orange dots in this image show which parts go first together, in this case you glue the bottom parts first together.

4. Glue zipper in

What I do is, that I glue the latex on the zipper. That means that I have the latex in my hand with the shiny side up, so that I can see if I position everything right and if I glue it straight on.
1. I start out like I said with the bottom, I lie the latex slightly down on the ending of the zipper and apply slightly pressure with my finger, so that I fixate the bottom parts together.
2. I take one side of the latex back.
3. I pull of the household folie.
4. I sligtly lie down the latex on the zipper and then apply slightly pressure to it with my finger, before I carefully use the seam roller. The same goes for the other side! Done! That’s how it should look like now.

5. Reinforce the zipper

It is important that you do that. It gives it the necessary strength, looks better and it is nicer to wear that way. Here I cut out a “U”-shape to cover the zipper at once. You can of course also just use two single strips of latex and a little square and glue that around the zipper. I do that if I have to reinforce long zippers like for jackets, dresses etc. The width of the latex strip should be so wide that it goes a few “mm” over the edge of the zipper so that it touches the latex. Now apply the glue, allow it to dry completely and carefully glue the strip on. Before I use the seam roller, I always apply at first slightly pressure with my finger to the pieces, to avoid air bubbles. You have to watch out that you do not glue the strip to close to the zipper teeth. The edge of the zipper slider is the closes you can go, other wise the zipper wont work. Now just cut of that what stands over on the top of your garment.

Done!

This is how your finished zipper should look like!

Tip: In case you would like to keep the zipper teeth away from your skin, cut out two latex strips where one is so wide that it could cover the entire zipper and glue those in. Start by gluing in the smaller piece first! And watch out here again for the zipper teeth! Check out the photos.

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.

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!