Athanasius
Active Member
Hey everyone, so I've decided to create my own fabric batsuit from scratch!
I've got a lot of ideas that I think are great, but since I've never worked with fabric before, I figured I'd post on here and ask all of you wonderful and talented people some questions before I get started!
So firstly I'll just post the ideas I've currently got and a good idea of what I'll hopefully end up with, and then I'll ask a whole bunch of (probably stupid) questions about how I can get it done!
So, my idea is to have a flexible Batsuit with some internal pockets for foam muscles instead of an entire muscle suit, because I only want fake muscles in certain places and not the whole body. I want the suit to be as lightweight as possible and I believe I've found the perfect fabric: It's a bamboo/spandex blend. That might sound weird to anyone who's never heard of bamboo fabric, but I'm incredibly excited about it. It's lightweight, and it has natural deodorant and antibacterial properties. It also apparently takes dye well, which is good because it only comes in one neutral colour and I need it grey. The fact that there's spandex blended with it also means I'll have that stretchy, comfortable feel I'm going for. This is it:
http://www.bamboofabricstore.com.au/buy/kf221-bamboo-spandex-natural-metre/11-26
Now, I want a similar pattern to the BvS batsuit, but with a different texture. So my plan with that is to get puff paint and do the same thing that all the Spidey cosplayers do and paint the circle pattern all over the suit so that it has a nice but still fairly simple texture. I think I'm gonna use black puff paint over grey fabric.
I also want to have the shirt and pants separate but attachable through a hidden zipper at the waist. This'll give the suit a uniform, one-piece look but will make it easy to put on and take off for things like going to the bathroom.
For the rest of the suit I basically already have what I need, so I won't be going into too much detail there, but I'll list the other components just for the sake of clarity:
Cowl: Arkham Origins Cowl by Coofunkcurly (with the Noel neck piece by Ares Armoury)
Cape: TDK hero cape by Coofunkcurly
Gauntlets: BvS Gauntlets by UD Replicas (currently ordered and waiting for delivery later in the year)
Belt: Custom belt by Valor
Boots: Generic "Gotham 100" boots
Now, to the questions!
1: Should I dye the fabric before I do anything else, or can I make the whole suit to fit and then dye it?
2: Is there any particular brand of fabric dye that this community recommends?
3: What is the easiest/most effective way of creating a pattern? Should I make a duct tape dummy, or can I draw on a shirt and pants that fit me well and cut that up? Any other suggestions?
4: Can puff paint be machine washed after it's completely dried?
5: I'm thinking about making the bat symbol on the chest and the briefs out of faux leather, would it be better to use real leather instead, or would it just be more difficult, or does that not matter?
6: how many yards/metres of fabric would I need for a whole suit? This would include pockets and things sewn into the insides for the muscles and such.
7: Does anyone have any tips or advice for puff paint and how to use it? I've never used it or even seen it in person before :\
So essentially what I'm doing is hand sewing a Batsuit but pretty much using the methods and materials normally used for doing a Spider-Man suit instead...
Let me know what you think, and if anyone has any answers to these questions and/or any advice at all, I'd really appreciate it!
Thanks everyone!
Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk
I've got a lot of ideas that I think are great, but since I've never worked with fabric before, I figured I'd post on here and ask all of you wonderful and talented people some questions before I get started!
So firstly I'll just post the ideas I've currently got and a good idea of what I'll hopefully end up with, and then I'll ask a whole bunch of (probably stupid) questions about how I can get it done!
So, my idea is to have a flexible Batsuit with some internal pockets for foam muscles instead of an entire muscle suit, because I only want fake muscles in certain places and not the whole body. I want the suit to be as lightweight as possible and I believe I've found the perfect fabric: It's a bamboo/spandex blend. That might sound weird to anyone who's never heard of bamboo fabric, but I'm incredibly excited about it. It's lightweight, and it has natural deodorant and antibacterial properties. It also apparently takes dye well, which is good because it only comes in one neutral colour and I need it grey. The fact that there's spandex blended with it also means I'll have that stretchy, comfortable feel I'm going for. This is it:
http://www.bamboofabricstore.com.au/buy/kf221-bamboo-spandex-natural-metre/11-26
Now, I want a similar pattern to the BvS batsuit, but with a different texture. So my plan with that is to get puff paint and do the same thing that all the Spidey cosplayers do and paint the circle pattern all over the suit so that it has a nice but still fairly simple texture. I think I'm gonna use black puff paint over grey fabric.
I also want to have the shirt and pants separate but attachable through a hidden zipper at the waist. This'll give the suit a uniform, one-piece look but will make it easy to put on and take off for things like going to the bathroom.
For the rest of the suit I basically already have what I need, so I won't be going into too much detail there, but I'll list the other components just for the sake of clarity:
Cowl: Arkham Origins Cowl by Coofunkcurly (with the Noel neck piece by Ares Armoury)
Cape: TDK hero cape by Coofunkcurly
Gauntlets: BvS Gauntlets by UD Replicas (currently ordered and waiting for delivery later in the year)
Belt: Custom belt by Valor
Boots: Generic "Gotham 100" boots
Now, to the questions!
1: Should I dye the fabric before I do anything else, or can I make the whole suit to fit and then dye it?
2: Is there any particular brand of fabric dye that this community recommends?
3: What is the easiest/most effective way of creating a pattern? Should I make a duct tape dummy, or can I draw on a shirt and pants that fit me well and cut that up? Any other suggestions?
4: Can puff paint be machine washed after it's completely dried?
5: I'm thinking about making the bat symbol on the chest and the briefs out of faux leather, would it be better to use real leather instead, or would it just be more difficult, or does that not matter?
6: how many yards/metres of fabric would I need for a whole suit? This would include pockets and things sewn into the insides for the muscles and such.
7: Does anyone have any tips or advice for puff paint and how to use it? I've never used it or even seen it in person before :\
So essentially what I'm doing is hand sewing a Batsuit but pretty much using the methods and materials normally used for doing a Spider-Man suit instead...
Let me know what you think, and if anyone has any answers to these questions and/or any advice at all, I'd really appreciate it!
Thanks everyone!
Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk