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

Sometimes it’s impossible to find a zipper with the right length for your latex project and you will have to shorten it to adjust the length.

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!

Knowing how to glue a zipper into a latex garment is a must for a latex crafter. I already received a lot of emails from my readers on this subject. So here you are – a guide to gluing zippers into latex clothing. Don’t worry, it’s easy!

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.

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!