clembot
Well-Known Member
Ahoy all, this year I decided to go nuts and make almost entirely leather costumes for Comic-Con as part of my leatherwork training. Most of them went off with a whimper rather than a bang at Comic-Con (I guess these days if you don't have LEDs, moving parts, or bright shiny colours, most attendees just pass you by!) but, despite my having slacked off and not posted on the RPF since I was putting together my Ripley Nostromo suit last year (don't ask...), I've decided to return in a flurry of activity.
First cab off the rank is the most detailed costume I did this year: Jon Snow's season 3 Night's Watch gear. My inspiration was the outfit that he wears while being trooped across the snow by the Wildlings, and I got most of my detail reference from the Entertainment Weekly shoot that Kit Harington did in the same outfit:
The most time-consuming piece to make was the jerkin/sleeveless jacket: it was 3oz motorcycle leather (in a beautiful matte charcoal) and by the time all the pattern parts were put together, it was like trying to maneuver a small cow through the machine. (At least three needles bit the dust; I stopped counting after that). Given the thickness of the leather, and the fact that I only have a standard sewing machine, I decided to edge it in cotton bias tape instead of yet more leather. It turned out great:
The belt was an extra-long cowhide strap that I basket-stamped and dyed (MANY times: two layers of blue, one of brown, then two of black - phew!), finishing with a Celtic belt tip and buckle that I had on hand, and those trademark GoT eyelets instead of holes.
To avoid heat exhaustion the gambeson thing underneath it was a bit of a cheat: I made the sleeves from padded wool boucle (a sandwich of wool fabric, bamboo batting, and cotton voile), but made the bodice out of unlined cotton voile. It made a HUGE difference.
The cape is just two Tibetan lambskins riveted together down the centre, and then attached to those trademark "Westerosi" leather straps, which I wet-moulded to my chest/neck shape by wearing them while working, haha.
The 'battle kilt' is a three panel skirt made from a really rough sueded split, which I edged in cotton bias tape.
The "boots" were some old Uggs (AUSSIE PRIDE) as the base, which I then covered in black sheepskin ('suede' side out) and then wrapped with long strips of sheepskin that I'd spliced together.
I ran out of time to make Longclaw, so I just bought a synthetic training ******* sword and gave it a quick makeover with some metal-finish acrylic paints.
And finally, I went to town on it with Rottenstone Schmere crayons and pounce bags, and finished it off with a heavy dusting of SFX snow from Special Effects Unlimited. (Incredibly, despite unloading nearly an entire gallon ZipLoc bag of dust and snow on myself, it hardly showed up in photos!)
My stance when it comes to gender and costuming is that I just make/wear the costumes I want to wear; a bunch of people were like "Jane Snow!" and I always replied "Nope". Anyway, here's the finished product!
I'm going to do separate threads for my other SDCC costumes because I figure now that Hall D seems to be full of the cosplay-illiterate masses, this is the right place to come to show off my leatherworking/deranged amount of effort
First cab off the rank is the most detailed costume I did this year: Jon Snow's season 3 Night's Watch gear. My inspiration was the outfit that he wears while being trooped across the snow by the Wildlings, and I got most of my detail reference from the Entertainment Weekly shoot that Kit Harington did in the same outfit:
The most time-consuming piece to make was the jerkin/sleeveless jacket: it was 3oz motorcycle leather (in a beautiful matte charcoal) and by the time all the pattern parts were put together, it was like trying to maneuver a small cow through the machine. (At least three needles bit the dust; I stopped counting after that). Given the thickness of the leather, and the fact that I only have a standard sewing machine, I decided to edge it in cotton bias tape instead of yet more leather. It turned out great:
The belt was an extra-long cowhide strap that I basket-stamped and dyed (MANY times: two layers of blue, one of brown, then two of black - phew!), finishing with a Celtic belt tip and buckle that I had on hand, and those trademark GoT eyelets instead of holes.
To avoid heat exhaustion the gambeson thing underneath it was a bit of a cheat: I made the sleeves from padded wool boucle (a sandwich of wool fabric, bamboo batting, and cotton voile), but made the bodice out of unlined cotton voile. It made a HUGE difference.
The cape is just two Tibetan lambskins riveted together down the centre, and then attached to those trademark "Westerosi" leather straps, which I wet-moulded to my chest/neck shape by wearing them while working, haha.
The 'battle kilt' is a three panel skirt made from a really rough sueded split, which I edged in cotton bias tape.
The "boots" were some old Uggs (AUSSIE PRIDE) as the base, which I then covered in black sheepskin ('suede' side out) and then wrapped with long strips of sheepskin that I'd spliced together.
I ran out of time to make Longclaw, so I just bought a synthetic training ******* sword and gave it a quick makeover with some metal-finish acrylic paints.
And finally, I went to town on it with Rottenstone Schmere crayons and pounce bags, and finished it off with a heavy dusting of SFX snow from Special Effects Unlimited. (Incredibly, despite unloading nearly an entire gallon ZipLoc bag of dust and snow on myself, it hardly showed up in photos!)
My stance when it comes to gender and costuming is that I just make/wear the costumes I want to wear; a bunch of people were like "Jane Snow!" and I always replied "Nope". Anyway, here's the finished product!
I'm going to do separate threads for my other SDCC costumes because I figure now that Hall D seems to be full of the cosplay-illiterate masses, this is the right place to come to show off my leatherworking/deranged amount of effort
