Fangs' 2014 Costume Build Thread

[FANGS]

Hello RPF!

Some of you may have seen the discussion we had about the RPF Pulse and what you'd like to see change. Taking that to heart one step at a time, I'm starting this thread/blog of sorts to chronicle my multiple builds for 2014. I'll go through what I'm using, what I'm learning and what I'm utterly screwing up hoping to that others can learn from my bumbles.

I'm hopeful as well that others will start similar threads so we can follow each others progress through the year.

As well, I'll be starting discussion threads from time to time that relate to something I'm currently working on so that we'll have that thread (and hopefully lots of discussion and information in it) to easily refer back to.

I'm a fairly prolific costumer. I easily have 75 or more costumes here and have donated several others to a good friend's high school musical theatre department where he's a teacher as well as having made some from time to time for others. My absolutely biggest downfall is procrastination. I'm hoping with this thread and knowing all kinds of people are watching plus needing to up date it regularly will keep me on track.

First up, digging out the costume room. Never fails that by the time DragonCon rolls around this room is a disaster. There's still a lot of work to do but at least I can now start to build again!



Lots of crap in there, but it's my happy place. Unfortunately, I have so much crap that it's oozed out of the costume room into a little of the rest of the basement. I have several rolls of fabric, leather, vinyl, Wonderflex and Worbla that are standing in a corner but by the end of these builds, those should be drastically reduced!

Feel free to ask me any questions about what you see. Not shown in the picture is one of my most important pieces of furniture - a waist high cutting table.

Next up, I'll post a list of what I'm hoping to get done over the next year starting this weekend when I'm planning on doing some fabric cutting.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[FANGS]

First costume for this year is one left from last year that I just couldn't bring together. I fell in love with the last costume Queen Ravenna wears in Snow White and the Huntsman.



I knew it would be a lot of work but WOW it was even more than I anticipated. I watched every video interview of Colleen Atwood (the designer) that I could find took screen caps from the blu-ray. I found the same source Atwood used for the scales (www.theringlord.com) and they were super helpful in terms of which ones were correct. And then I tired to the scale maile with the proper rings. I just couldn't get a feel for it. I tried and tried until my eyes wanted to cross. I even tried coloring the backs of some to keep the rows straight. I fully admit that scale maile has beaten me, at least for now.

My next attempt was at sewing them on a sturdy backing. That was easier but way slower and difficult to keep the spacing just right. As time got more and more tight, I resorted to glue. While I got it done, it was completely unusable. The glueing makes it far too stiff.



In the end it wouldn't have been up to my standards so I scrapped it in order to do a better job. I'm now trying the knitting version and that's going much better. It remains flexible and so long as I concentrate on my tension, everything stays evenly spaced. I'm happy so far.

I commissioned Firefek to do the pep files for me for the crown. I ended up also purchasing this ready made crown.



It is lovely, but it bothers me that the spires don't go all the way around. I understand why they do that as they aren't going to resize them for each order, however, I suspect that this will be the back up and I'll work on the pep file version instead.

I spent many, many hours and lots of blisters working on the leather for the collar and hips. The hip pieces actually extend all the way around and down to the floor in the back. What I initially thought were porcupine quills are actually thin pieces of twisted tooling leather. Once again I panicked a little and when the glue route, but I'm not entirely happy with the overall look so I might be changing that. I made a backing out of sturdy fabric and sewed velcro to the back before adding on the leather. I'm thinking now I'd like the backing to be narrower but otherwise, the twists look great. I'll get a picture of that up this weekend.

 

[Darth Mule]

That's a pretty great studio space! And 75 costumes? Wow! Impressive.

 

[FANGS]

Thanks Chris! I LOVE my room. I just wish I didn't have so much crap in it. Never fails though, as soon as I get rid of anything I find a use for it.

 

[FANGS]

Here's the knitted version so far.



The scales have movement which they didn't with the glue, but it is more than it would if I were using the rings. I'm not sure if I love that or not but I'm going to keep going and get a section of the front skirt panels done and see what it looks like. Tension is difficult for me. I'm not at all a knitter. I had a friend help me out with the spacing between rows and between scales which helped immensely, but I have to concentrate a lot to keep my tension from getting too tight. I failed this portion of junior high home ec. Oy.

Despite how frustrating going out of my comfort zone can be with certain parts of a costume, it's my favorite part about costuming over all. I love that it's an avenue to push myself to learn new things.

Speaking of new things, I plan on doing a few costumes heavily based on Worbla and/or Wonderflex. I've only started playing around with these materials to get a feel for it and I love it. But it isn't easy to make everything look nice and clean. So far I've managed to figure out the art of making rounded shapes and getting them smooth.

I watched several of Kamui's videos on her chest plate construction so how to do this is from her. How I managed to screw it up - that's all me.

First you start off with a plastic half sphere roughly the same size as you need for the bra cup portion of the chest plate. Picture shopping in the dollar store and discretely "trying on" plastic bowls. In the end, I ordered some Christmas ornaments from Amazon.com that have two halves so you could put stuff inside the ornament. They come in a lot of different sizes. The most important thing is that they are smooth (reason why I couldn't use any bowls at the dollar store as they all had a hard edge on the bottoms). I'm going to put this here in case anyone ever uses this description to actually follow step by step - use a mold release on the plastic sphere.

Take your sheet of Wonderflex or Worbla cut slightly bigger than the size of the half sphere. Heat the Wonderflex/Worbla with your heat gun. Glue it to your work surfce. Swear. Detach it from your work surface. Swear again when you see part of it is still stuck and now the sheet is damaged and you can see the underlying mesh (particular to Wonderflex only as Worbla doesn't have a mesh). Scrape the bits off and then get smart enough to put something down on your work surface, like wax paper, or like I'm now using - silicon baking sheets. Try again. Keep smoothing out the Wonderflex/Worbla carefully so as not to pinch any of it to itself. It's difficult to get that un pinched when you do. Burn your fingers, lots. Read months later that Kamui suggests wetting your fingers.



This piece ended up being too large, but it's better than too small. The Wonderflex and Worbla and be reheated and shaped over and over again so you can take your time getting it smoothed section by section. But keep in mind that you don't want to push too much material over as you smooth as eventually you're going to have to deal with that excess. It's best to try and deal with it in each section.

Eventually you get it all smoothed out. It will seem like it's not going to happen, but it will.



Now you want to trim and smooth out the edge. More mistakes to be made. First time I didn't use the mold release and then realized too late that the Wonderflex had pretty firmly attached itself to the plastic sphere. It was a royal pain to get it off. The spray mold release works like a charm. The other mistake I made was not spraying the inside edge with the mold release. I folded the ends over the end to get the entire sphere nice and smooth and then had a devil of a time trying to get that part unlocked.



I swear by these scissors for working with plastic:



I've cut out whole kits of armor (my Bo Katan - Bounty Hunter from Star Wars - and my Halo ODST kit). They look terribly useless when you first get them because they are so small but they work fantastically well. The curved ones worked best on the inside of these spheres to trim the excess. Search for Lexan Scissors on Amazon.com. They are only about $15-ish.

Once done you'll have this!



From there you can heat this up to shape it as need be as you likely won't want to it be perfectly round. You'll also likely cut away some. Kamui always covers the object in painters tape and then draws the pattern. If you're careful, you'll be able to use the pattern flipped over for the opposite side so that your cuts are even. In that case, it's handy to first cover the object in something like saran wrap so the tape has a single removeable surface to stick to.

I'm hoping to do a Demon Hunter from Diablo, Injustice Regime Wonder Woman and a Warhammer Sister of Battle. Now that I've practiced and played around a little with Worbla and Wonderflex, I think I'm ready to start making patterns for these!

 

[mdb]

Can't wait to see Ravenna That costume is glorious. And hmmmm.. knitting eh? How do you like knitting full stop and how does it compare to working in the scales? I have horrible tension myself (tends to wind up in a tiny tight rope if I try to make a scarf....

 

[Predatormv]

I am glad your step by step is realistic and includes the steps that I would likely make if I attempted to do this.

 

[FANGS]

I don't at all love knitting but I find that it's easier to work with scales. I think if I had a better handle on chain maille in general, I'd have better luck with the scale maille. Something to work towards though. I have to be sure to be relaxed and take my time. Two things that are not at all easy for me. I know it's time to stop when the tension gets too tight.

Predatormv - I think it's the best way to learn. If there's a way to screw something up I'm likely to find it so why not share that so others can avoid that fun.

Today is not a fun day, but completely important and necessary. I'm cutting out patterns. Making a mistake or cutting corners here can really make your project turn out badly, so while it's mind numbingly boring, it's highly important to take your time with this.

First, take a look at the pattern you're using and figure out your size. Do not just got with the size you usually wear. This does not directly translate to a commercial pattern. As well, if you're using some of the more speciality/historical patterns made by smaller pattern companies, they are often based on how clothing was sized in that time period, which is not our modern body shape. So make sure to measure and write it down for reference.

If you're using a historical pattern, I generally trace out my size. Frequently they have a lot of different sizes in one pattern so it's best to trace using pattern tracing paper. As well, some companies, like Truly Victorian, design their patterns so that you can completely customize your pattern within each piece to accommodate any less than standard body parts. With that type of pattern, you really want to make a mock up to ensure you have the fit correct.

For the readily available commercial patterns that you'll find at most any fabric store, keep in mind that these are all based on a B-cup. If you're a little bigger than that cup size, start off with the size that goes with your bust measurement and then take in the waist to make it fit. Keep in mind though that's not always going to work so you'll want to do a mock up. If you're much larger than a B-cup I highly recommend the Palmer/Pletsch Interactive DVD called "Fully Busted? Sew Clothes That Fit!". It shows a very easy technique for altering your pattern pieces to accommodate for a larger bust. I ordered mine off of Amazon.com.

There are a lot of other books on the market that show you how to adjust commercial patterns to compensate for your particular fit issue. It's important to know your own body so you can fit any issues you may have. Most general sewing books like the "Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing" (I've had this book FOREVER) will have a section on fit. I also really like the books called "Fast Fit" by Sandra Betzina and "Mother Pletsch's Painless Sewing with Pretty Patti's Perfect Pattern Primer" by Pati Palmer and Susan Pletch. I find both easy to follow.

Once you figure out your size and what changes you might need, you're ready to cut out your pattern/traced pattern. If you're only making one item from a pattern for many items, I'd suggest highlighting the piece numbers that you need before you start on the list on the first page of the pattern instructions. You can check back at the end to make sure you've cut everything out. Almost 100% of the time I'll forget one piece and have to re-unfold everything to find it which is highly frustrating. So take your time and make sure you find each piece.

I rough cut my pieces out first, and then got back and carefully cut out my size. You're still left with a pattern piece that has wrinkles and folds so until you take the time to iron each piece flat, you're not going to get the most accurate cuts.

Since this is my least favorite part, I often do several patterns at once, just to get it over with. It's very important in this case to only cut one at a time and put them once cut out back in the envelope. I'd leave ironing until you're ready to actually cut the fabric.

Today I'm cutting out patterns for Elizabethan underpinnings (basically historical undies - stays (corset), chemise and hoop skirt) and the actual Elizabethan dress (overdress and underskirt).

Next up: Actually getting somewhere and cutting out fabric.

 

[tuskentrooper]

Go Fangs!

 

[Art Andrews]

Bring it!!!

 

[StellaMaris]

Do you still need help with the scale armor? In my absence from cosplay, I have been doing ancient Roman re-enactment and my last piece of armor was a scale shirt (lorica squamata). I had to take it in quite a bit, which meant sewing the scales back together so I have a pretty good idea of how to put them together. I also have a lot of reference books with diagrams for various ways of making and using scale armor. I could write on and on about it. Let me know if you are interested.

 

[FANGS]

Do you still need help with the scale armor? In my absence from cosplay, I have been doing ancient Roman re-enactment and my last piece of armor was a scale shirt (lorica squamata). I had to take it in quite a bit, which meant sewing the scales back together so I have a pretty good idea of how to put them together. I also have a lot of reference books with diagrams for various ways of making and using scale armor. I could write on and on about it. Let me know if you are interested.

All advice and info is most welcome!!

 

[FANGS]

I've been keeping myself busy with a lot of REALLY boring cutting out of stuff but soon I'll be to the parts I like - actually sewing!

Work has also begun on my Sister of Battle. I even managed to rope in another friend to tackle one as well! We had a planning "meeting" last Saturday evening that involved great food and perhaps wine.....and then Sunday we went greeblie shopping. Fortunately, or perhaps this says a lot about my hoard at home, we're able to do these costumes with very little to purchase.

I'm taking care of the soft parts all from fabric in my stash. We've each chosen a different style of Sister to replicate. Denise's has more of the undersuit showing so we're going to use a really nice pleather with some stretch to it for the parts that show on her legs and arms and then cotton lycra under the armor and mesh under the corset. Mine has very little of the undersuit showing, depending on how you interpret her thighs, so I'll be using a heavy weight spandex called Ponte De Roma which stands up really well to the wear and tear of armor. More on that in a minute.The corsets for both of us will serve a couple of purposes but mainly structural. All of the armor can be suspended/supported from the corset as you would use a harness.

This is the reference that I've chosen.



As you can see, her thighs could either be pleather with straps or they could be layered armor. At the moment, I'm leaning towards the layered armor since virtually everything else is encased - it doesn't make much sense for the legs not to be. But should I decide later to go the other route, I can add pleather to those areas on my undersuit.

For the base corset, we're using this pattern:



As an aside - this pattern company is fantastic to deal with and they have many different designs for sale on Etsy.

I've made my first pattern for the forearm armor. Sorry for the wonky picture....I had to push the button on my tablet with my nose....haha



It's still got some tweaking to do to it before I cut it out of paper for my pattern but it's basically there.

Denise and I are approaching the armor differently. Denise will be using Sintra. I'm going with Worbla and Wonderflex. It's going to be very interesting to see how they both come together!

More on this build shortly. We want to have these completed in time for a local con at the end of April so we're going to have to move fast! Wish us luck!

 

[Finnlock]

So cool to see another Battle Sister in the works

can't wait to see the way you tackle this!

 

[FANGS]

Does that mean Finnlock that you've already built one?? LEMME SEEEEEEE!!!

BIG costume weekend....least that's what I'm hoping for. I plan to get as much done as I can on the SOB undersuits so that we can get going on the fun armor stuff!

Handy tool for this weekend is going to be my Brother Coverstitch machine. If you do a lot of sewing with knits/stretch fabrics, this really does take things to the next level. I finish all of my cuffs at the wrist and ankle with this machine so they look neat and professionally finished. It does take a little foreplanning, however, as you need to have the arm or leg open so the hem can be flat out. The way I've come to work around this if what I'm making needs to be fitted is to leave just enough of the seam open so that the item can be test fitted but the hems can still be laid flat out. Of course, this only applies to narrow openings. If I was doing something with wider openings that I could more easily work with in the round, I wouldn't have to work around that foreplanning.

The other useful tool of the weekend is going to be my setter.



This was one of the best investments I made for my costuming tools. It sets grommets, eyelets with washers, line 24 snaps, different sizes of spots (which will come in dang handy for the SOB build) and several other things depending on the dyes you own. I typically use 00 size eyelets with washers for all of my corsets. I purchased a leather punch in the same size and use it with a rubber mallet and a plastic cutting board to punch all of my eyelet holes and then the setter to firmly set the eyelets in the corset. Both steps on the average corset takes about 15 minutes.

The SOB corsets will take a little longer simply because there are more holes, but the process is so quick this way I hardly even notice more holes. The only draw back is that mine, as you can see, is moveable (good thing) which means it's tipable (baaaaad thing). It really should be screwed down to prevent tipping and almost knocking out your front teeth. No need to ask about that little incident.....hahaha The issue with screwing it down would be that I need to be able to get my body weight above it to push down hard enough to properly set things and I can't do that if it's attached to a counter/table. So I have this little system of kneeling on the ground with it sort of between my knees which isn't at all comfy after a few minutes. So I need to a: suck it up b: work out so I'm stronger c: be less accident prone or d: rope my husband in to doing them for me.....hehehe I'm a big fan of d but I suspect it's really a combo of a through c.

Perhaps I'll make a quick little video once I get to the eyelet stage to show how I do things. I'll definitely take some pictures of what the finished edge using the Coverstitch machine looks like.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[Amish Trooper]

Subscribed. I will be building a S.O.B for my GF and a Spacemarine for myself. I joined artificiumobscuras.com and obscuracrusade.com. Lots of knowledge to be had. I gathered a lot of templates for the S.O.B

 

[FANGS]

Very cool! Make sure to start a build thread here! Definitely looking forward to seeing how you tackle both. What's your time line like? I want mine for the end of April.

 

[FANGS]

Woohoo!! It's going to be 9 degrees above freezing today. If you know what winter in Edmonton is like, you'd be as amazed as I am! I believe I'll be able to add another project to the list today - painting my ODST!! I managed to get it primed just prior to the start of winter, but if I can get the main colour down this weekend, all of the weathering etc can be done inside at anytime. I'll have to do things in small batches to keep the spray can from getting cold and I'll have to run pieces in to the house to properly cure, but its all worth it to make some forward movement on this!

 

[FANGS]

OMG....I don't think I'll be able to move tomorrow. I've been on my feet pretty much all weekend but dang....I got a crapton done!! Pictures tomorrow....sleepy time now!

 

[Finnlock]

Hi Fangs,
It seems when they switched servers on the OC they didn't move all the photos of the completed costumes.
Anyway, here is the 1st one I did..
Board Message
this is v.2
Board Message
I updated to v.3 but don't have a lot of build pictures of that one, but here is a picture of it and my Ork costume.

and this is a more complete build thread for all of them.
Life size Sister of Battle Armor, Working chainsword,Hand Flamer, Bolter Pistols and more..... - Forum - DakkaDakka