The next step is to shape the leather to fit your arm. You may do this a couple ways, depending on how you intend to fasten your vambrace. I laced mine up, so it had to be rather fitted and was a little trickier to do. I also made a pair of leather wristcuffs for my friend that buckled, hardly requiring any fitting at all (Click on the link above to see instructions for using buckles)
To make vambraces that lace, you will need to shape your leather so that it fits comfortably around your arm with the two edges just meeting (ie: not overlapping). Unless you have a second set of hands, you will need a friend to help you.
Important: If you are using the curved ankle edge, you will need to make a left and a right. Mark the insides with chalk so you don't confuse them! It is also a good idea to completely finish one vambrace before starting the other.
Have a friend wrap the leather snugly around your arm (make sure it is the correct arm) and mark where you would like the top edge to stop. I would suggest making it somewhere on the outside of your arm. If you are nervous about this, make it a little further down than you think it should be: you can always trim some off. Be sure to save what you cut off, you'll need it later.
Now have your friend wrap it around a second time and mark a line where the edge you just cut meets the rest of the leather. Note: This line should be at an angle because your arm gets bigger as it goes toward your elbow (duh).
Cut on the outside of this chalk line; this will make sure that you don't make it too small. Remember that you can always make it smaller; it's better not to risk cutting off too much and ruining your project.
If your friend is still being patient, have them wrap the vambrace around your arm one more time to make sure the edges meet without overlapping. If they do overlap, trim a little bit off. After this, you should probably serve your friend some refreshments :-).
Now take the excess you cut off and lay it on the raw edges like so:
This will reinforce your edge and give it a nice finish. I attached mine using a sewing machine with regular thread, a large stitch size, and a size 14 needle. My machine is an old Pfaff and rather heavy-duty. I would suggest sewing a test piece first. Take your time while sewing and keep in mind that your machine might not be able to handle the leather if it is too thick. You may have to use a hand awl if this happens.
Note: Try not to sew through more than three layers of leather at a time.
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