I delayed this post because I was hoping to get something a little more substantial to share. Unfortunately, I spent the weekend experimenting with a few techniques (wood burning vs. painting for the scroll edging, acrylic seal or just a nice oil for the leather) and acquiring mats for sewing the panel edging on.
Anyway – I spent last week treating my leather, then carving the scroll work in. Spray, carve. Spray, carve. Then I painted the raised area in a goooorgeous, shiny gold. It doesn’t sound like much, but it took HOURS. LOL I’m completely dreading this process on two more pieces!
Here’s the photo of the carving. You can also see where I outlined the edges (which will be done in taupe suede) and the vertical piece, just to help me visualize where everything will be. It’s not perfect, because they were basically free-handed, but from the beginning I have wanted this to be like real, used, armor. I don’t want it to be perfect. I’m not avoiding mars in the leather. I’m enjoying the variations in texture. So, when my hand slipped and part of the scroll work ended up a little thicker, I kinda went with it.
Here’s the first coat of paint. 1/2 paint, 1/2 water.
And here’s the scroll work (mostly) done. I’ll probably go through and even out a couple of areas. Then I’ll seal it up after I burn the edges in.
For anyone who doesn’t have an idea of what this is:
So there you have it. Hopefully, this coming week will be:
- burn scroll edging in
- seal paint
- oil leather
Which means…if all goes well…this weekend I’ll start working on the suede edging and maybe the fur too! Stay tuned!
So, apparently, staring at this tier set for the months since Blizzcon 2010 is totally paying off. Things are coming together SO quickly.
The base skirt (green linen and dark blue broadcloth) is done, save for finishing the bottom hem. I have to decide if I’m going to follow the in-game set completely and add the zig zag pattern and purple “gems” (quoted because I don’t really KNOW what they are, or what I want to do with them) or if i want to take some artistic license and add some swirly embroidery to echo what’s going onto the over skirt.
The blue over skirt is also done, save for ironing it and finishing the top edge. There’s a lot of detail that still needs to go on there (hand embroidery, EEK!), but the base of the skirt is what it’s going to be.
I also managed to DRAW! Now, I know, for most people who cosplay, this is SO not a big deal. But dammit, I don’t draw. I have a talent for seeing things in my head, and making them real. I can do that. I have the creativity. What I don’t have, is the physical ability to sketch and have it look like anything. Well, that’s what I thought anyway. Check it out, bitches!
So, using that last piece as a pattern, I also got all of my leather cut for the front and back panels. Things will look something like this (with a bunch more decoration.)
The curls will be tooled into the leather (somehow, technique is TBA) and then painted champagne gold. I’ve thought about appliqueing them in the same taupe suede that I’ll be edging the panel in, but I don’t think that’s right. So hopefully, I’m smart enough to figure out the leather tooling/painting thing.
Here’s the back panel, though I haven’t done any of the drawing for the detail yet. The additional side panels will be cut once my fur trim fabric gets here and I can see how much I’m going to need. I refuse to buy another side of leather, so I have to be careful to make what I have work.
Next on my plate:
- I got all my corset patterns (6 in total), and I’ve kinda started working on getting them sized and sorted for which patterns will go into which pieces. Right now, it looks like it will take 2 patterns to do the back piece/harness and 2 patterns to do the underbust corset. Should be fun!
- I’m waiting for my (faux) fur fabric to show up. This will be for the trim on the front and back leather panels. Maybe this week?
- This weekend, I’ll be venturing forth to acquire leather tools. At the very least, a swivel knife and edge beveler. We’ll see what else catches my eye. I’m gonna take a good look at fasteners and hardware in general while I’m there, so see if I can get that taken care of.
- Hit a HUGE snag with the green leather for the underbust corset. The PERFECT leather that I found at Tandy, isn’t available anymore (outside of a tiny swatch). So I need to find a plan B for that.
Happy cosplaying!
Yup, you heard right. We’re at it again. Mom and I have been actively brainstorming the druid T9 and Tyrande costumes. And pretty heavily at that. Tyrande won’t be worked on anytime soon. If I’m honest, she’s kind of a dream right now. I plan on recruiting heavily from friendors for her.
The druid though, I think we have a pretty good handle on her. It’s funny, she’s almost the exact opposite of the sprite darter. The SD was about big, recognizable elements done well. But there was really very little detail work on her. The druid…she’s all in the details. The basic pieces, the skirts, the corset, the harness…those are all pretty basic and easy. The devil is going to be in the details. The fasteners, the feathers, the detail on the leather work, then embroidery, the LED lighting, the shoulders and the staff. All of them are painstakingly detailed, and I really need to own that detail for the costume to work. I hope we’re up to the task.
But, progress is progress, and we are officially out of the planning stages as of today.
Yesterday, I remodeled my guest room into a craft room so that mom and I can sew without taking up the entire dining room table.
Welcome to the craft closet, your knitting and sewing headquarters. So, instead of the sewing machine in the coat closet, the (new) dressform hanging out and scaring Logan, yarn hanging out in the office and any number of sewing notions scattered throughout the house, we have ONE place for all of it. WOOHOO! There is also a 4 foot table outside the closet for the actual sewing.
AND – in addition to actual workspace…WE HAVE FABRIC! I bought the fabric for the skirt and hood today. It’s a lovely olivey green linen weave. I really like it. Logan found some broadcloth in the PERFECT blue/teal…and while it isn’t my fave cloth, it should keep the look “rugged” enough to be passable. I’m not looking for this to be a shiny, “pretty” costume. I think for it to really be druid gear, it has to be real, imperfect, and natural. I wanted fabrics with nice, but imperfect weaves. I won’t shy away from marred leather. I think it can handle that.
So, the journey on a new costume begins. Should be fun.
A Little Bug in a Big World 