Eduardo's 2013 Halloween Costume Contest Entry

[Eduardo Bueno]

It all started because my birthday is in October and I wanted to be Captain America for my birthday. So, I have been working on this since August. I started from a diagram I found for the helmet and made it with paper then I moved on buying fabric for the jacket and pants and so on. Here is the picture of my paper helmet from August this year.

Then I got excited and bought fabric and dies because I thought of using the samefabric all over for the costume just using different dyes for blue, red and gray (the colors of the uniform). I also bought metal parts, button and zippers. But I never made any shorts in school or anything so I got me a book on how to sew, took a sewing machine that my daughter was not using anymore and made sure the parts were still all there and learned how to put the thread in the machine and so on.

The first thing I made with the sewing machine was a fake leather pouch. I got the diagrams by a guy that made them here and
I did my best with fabric that looked like leather as you see in these pictures... but in the end I decided to make them with leather.

The end product was great though. It gave me confidence that I could use the sewing machine. I went looking for the paratrooper straps but could not find anyone that was remotely close to what the Captain wears so I bought some white straps and sewed red ribbon on them. They ended up strong and bright red just the way I wanted them. I even made a zig-zag pattern that I think is in his red paratrooper straps.

I will post the pictures on a new entry before I lose this one. My laptop is freaking out..

 

[Lear60man]

Not seeing any pictures. Try using 'Preview post'. Looking forward to your progress.

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

I am having a very hard time making pictures show in the thread. Can you tell me if you see them now?

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

OK... I was in Brazil with an internet connection that was simply ridiculous and I could not post pictures of my costume and "appearances" as Captain America, and participate in the competition. Now I am back to the US and to my awesome internet connection and ready to share the project. Before I try it again and find out the problem was actually with this website, I will see if I can put the link where I shared the steps of building my costume on Facebook by sharing the link. Then, if I am successful posting one pic I may post the whole process here. This is my project on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/eduardo.mu...0202408887290349.1073741873.1438396012&type=3

I hope it work... now a new post attempting to put the pictures here....

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

Here is the sequence in picture here.... dang it... I should have been in the USA last week! Oh well... I had fun with people trying to take pictures with me everywhere



This was my first attempt with the pouches. I found the pattern, I think it was here, and then I used foam and fake leather but then I abandoned this idea and went for real leather.

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The pouches and these were made in August this year. My birthday was in October and I did not have it quite finished by then. Here goes the webbing:

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

Then I traced the design on some pants that fit and and traced the mold in paper to cut the fabric later. Since I still had to die the fabric I decided to work on the helmet. I made it with cardboard, covered it with Bondo and made a layer white glue inside that kept it all together. The whole thing was held up with tape. Bad idea. I had to make another helmet later on. But after doing the sanding and painting that prototype I knew I was on the right track for a cool helmet!

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

Man! Nothing linke 50 mbps on my internet connection! Now the next step was to go for the pants. This happened September 05... a very sad depressing day! I bought white fabric, very rough, and my intention was to dye it blue, then another load dyed gray. The instructions said I had to wash the fabric first. I cut all the pieced I needed for the pants, put them in the washer, and when I opened it to add the dye... I almost "died" myself! The fabric became a big ball of thread. I thought of still using those peaces later but they were useless. I lost all the fabric I cut for the pants that day.

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

So, the next day I decided to go for Denim and went into some serious sewing. The pants is made of 10 parts: top, middle and lower of the leg front and back (6 parts) and the buttocks is made of above and below the V detail where the pockets sit (4 parts). Then there are the reinforcements, 2 in the front of each leg, two on the sides, two in the inner part of the knee and two in the back. I did not put that zipper at this point. That was done just prior to my birthday in October.



Hmmm... it is not lettting me upload the parts in Denim... let me try to post on a new entry.

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

Check out the pictures I am posting and if you can see them on Facebook they are there. I will even post pictures of places I visited dressed up as Captain America

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

I am trying this again. It seems that we have a limit of pictures one can post in one day? I will try to post them using the URL. I don't like it but this thing stopped working. Oh well.... the amazing part is that I never did any sewing before in my life! My mom was a seamstress and sometime as a kid she would ask me to trace the patterns on the fabric. That was enough for me to get going. I figured out how to put the thread in the needle on a sewing machine that belongs to my daughter and I was on may way to some amazing pants!!!!

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

I saw this guy who made his shield using his Satelite Dish. So, I removed the one from the roof of my house (since I long ago cancelled the subscription and only watch things on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Instant Video) and following his instructions (note that I did not follow the Captain's original way to hold the handles inside. I was running out of time. One day I may replace that and make it more like Captain America's leather straps inside. Here is my shield:

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

Oh... and I forgot to show how I made the leather pouches and holster with that belt there. I went to a leather store and the belt itself was going to cost me $40. But they sold scraps of leather for $10 each. I got myself two nice pieces of scrap leather and some dye plus the bits that I needed to put all over and here is the result and the process in mid September:

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

I forgot to put pictures of the holster and me working on all this. But the fact is that from pouches to belt to holster I ended them October 7, only 5 days prior to my birthday party. In between I made the jacket which I will post next. For now, more leather...

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

Here's how you make a Captain America real jacket: you watch the movie in your Mac and press the shortcut keys to make 600 pictures of Chris Evans in any position possible in that jacket, trace it on top of one of your own jackets after you create the pattern in paper and go for it! The jacket is very complex and the sewing has to follow a perfect sequence so the parts overlap properly. Here is the process in my case. I used another zipper different from the blue one I picked first. The final zipper was a sturdy one for jackets that opens at the bottom of course:

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

Duh... not all the pictures got posted for the jacket. Here goes:

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

Then I had my birthday party and could not finish the whole thing of course. I purchased a replica of the boots from a company that makes them from boots of the 1940's... but then I confess I should have changed my own boots that I tried with the pants earlier (see pictures of the pants) if i knew they were going to sew the top with the two latches into normal boots. Mine would have been a lot better.... maybe one day I will change those boots and forget the replica. I made the helmet with actual plastic used for quilting. The parts were connected with tape (bad idea from the prototype in paper) and I ran out of time so I did what I could with Bondo but then I finished with plaster (so I could sand it fast). Result: by the end of the party I had to start crafting a new helmet using hot glue to put the parts together (which I will show later.) Here is the last accessory for my birthday party, the helmet, and the birthday Captain!



And here is my grandson and I posing as super heroes

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

I never go to finish the gloves and lost one at the airport in Brazil. I will have to work on the gloves now that I am back. But I was going on vacation and wanted the family to see the uniform complete as much as I could. Here is the shoulder pads. I used cork and fabric glue and then quilting material for the top. It was very difficult to figure out how it was assembled but I think I got pretty close on this one. I still don't have the metal parts for the back. Another thing to add as I am back home:



I did not have time to make the latches for the arms so they saw me with this held by baby pins (those they used in the past to hold diapers together... hehe...) but it was cool none the less.

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

Here is the making of the new helmet in preparations to go to Brazil. I made it the same way but did not use tape this time. I used hot glue. I did not get it painted and finished because I had to catch a plane so I packed the damaged helmet from the birthday party (which was not THAT bad) and the semi-finished one:



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The costume was good enough to travel down to Brazil in it. Security did not mind the shield. People got a kick out of it. Lots of fun! That is my dear wife who let me transform the kitchen into a shop and supported me all the way on my project. She is surely a Wonder Woman!



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As soon as I arrived I had to suit up fully and go pick up my nephews at their elementary school... the kids went wild all screaming to the horror of the ladies trying to control them... ahahahaha... best reaction to my costume ever!

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

No time to make anything before a family reunion so the damaged helmet had to do and also the fact that I lost one glove at the airport and did not have the latches for the arms. Baby pins as I said earlier . Check out the desserts that were in that box of the first picture You are treated just right when you dress properly

 

[Eduardo Bueno]

When that party was over I had to work on a new helmet and you will see why. I also finished the latches for the arms. I had no Bondo to patch imperfections so I bought something called Durepox, and the mix worked just fine but it took one full day of my vacation sanding that darn third helmet. For this one I also made the leather work. I used fake leather of course but amazingly when I got to my father-in-law's house there was a sewing machine all dirty in a box in the living room. I asked what that was since they do not have a sewing machine and they said it was sitting in the church for 3 years and no one was using so they took it out to make costumes for a play at the church. I cleaned it up and it was perfect!!!! I say that was my blessing to finish the costume as much as I could. I am Captain America and I am a Mormon ... hehe... gotta send this one out to the church!