Little Updates

First, I finally got a picture of Edmund's finished chainmaille:

The lighter section in the middle was not on purpose. I ran out of the darker rings so I had to use the leftover rings from Susan's chainmaille which were lighter. It won't really matter because he's wearing the tunic over it so we won't see that part.

Next, I added two inches to the length of my Susan sleeves (curse of being tall) and finished the back of Susan's cuirass. I just attached the straps to each other randomly. I also tied string and cord in different places for a little more detail.

To get in and out, I think she has to unlace each strap in the back. Well, that requires someone dressing you. No thank you. I hot-glued hidden snaps on two large straps on the left side. I just have to snap those two shut after lacing. No problem!

Then I worked on Peter's Brown Tunic Outfit. I didn't want to buy brown velvet (which is impossible to find in the almost summer) so I found a brown polyester at Walmart for $1 a yard. I just cut a simple vest and then worked on the sleeves. I used a sleeve pattern I had but realized that the slope of the shoulder 'seam' had to be more defined. So after a draft or two I came up with this:

Here's the not-finished picture:

The blue undershirt is a little too blue but I don't care. For the LWW premiere it was Peter's Camp Outfit. I altered the sleeves and the neckline and now it's Peter Prince Caspian! I call it recycling. =)

To Do for Peter's Brown Tunic:

• Buy Brown Bias Tape and Attach at Edges
• Machine Embroider Sleeves
• Make Holes for Shoulder Lacing
• Add Buttons Down the Front
  
• Try it on my 'Peter' and Hope it Fits!
  

Edmund's Armor

I officially finished the pauldrons for Edmund's Battle Outfit. Since the last picture I posted, I scratched a floral-y design on the top layer, added decorative rivets (I'm really liking the rivets! I've used them on every costume!), added a hidden strap at the top to safety pin to the tunic while wearing, and a strap to go under the arm to keep it on. I'm very pleased with the result!

Now I just have to finish the gauntlets and Edmund is done! They are a little to big right now so I just have to trim them down and then attach straps like the pauldrons. And then they are done!

I spray painted these with dark brown paint and then came back and hand painted the accent piece with medium brown acrylic paint. Not bad for fun foam!

Edmund's Battle Tunic

Edmund's Battle Tunic is finished!!! Whoo-hoo! Today I did the lion and the hem embroidery. For the lion, I printed off the drawing of the lion on NarniaWeb costumes. I then cut that shape out of fusible webbing and fused one side to a suede-like fabric that I had on hand:

After cutting out the suede to match the glued on lion, I painted the whole thing with some cheap acrylic paint that I had on hand. I specifically did not coat it evenly. I wanted some lighter areas and some darker. I also drew on the lines for the embroidery with a red ink pen:

After that I fused the lion to the tunic and then stitched over the red line marks using a backstitch:

The hem is supposed to have intricate embroidery but I just decided to be fast. I found an old stencil that I had on hand and just stipled the same gold paint through that simple stencil. No where near exact but I don't really care! I am very, very pleased with my finished tunic!

Edmund's Battle Outfit

I am taking the easy road with my fun foam armor. There is a much more complicated process that produces a much better result, but I don't have time. And these pauldrons don't have to look amazing. If you want to follow the detailed instructions, check out this website.

Today I spray painted the glued together pauldrons. I used a metallic silver paint that I had on hand.

I then went around and painted a gold trim on all the edges.
I then took an open bobby pin (with the round tip removed) and started drawing lines around the edges.

What the bobby pin actually did was scrap away the silver paint to reveal the black fun foam underneath. I scraped two lines all the way around (one line is right beside the gold trim - the next is about 1/8 inch away). I then ended up putting another layer of gold paint on the edges.

I still have to scrap some kind of design onto the top layer (at least). Then I'll put decorative rivets, and attach some kind of straps to hold it on. But I'm excited about how it's looking!

I also finished Edmund's chainmaille. Whoo-hoo! Pics soon!

Edmund's Battle Outfit

I've almost finished on Edmund's chainmaille. I added the sleeves and added the gold ring trim. I just took the regular chainmaille rings and spray painted them with metallic gold spray paint. Voila:

I then added it to the sleeves and the bottom of the maille. The sleeves were so difficult because they aren't straight across. But even the chainmaille trim in the movie isn't perfect. Overall, I'm pleased with the result:

I also worked on the shoulder pauldrons. I made the five pieces through trial and error. I kept getting the overall shape wrong. Finally I was satisfied. The two pauldrons aren't exactly the same, but they will work. I've glued them together and will let them dry overnight before I try spray painting them silver. I also have to work the design into them.

Also, taking the advice of Alicia's comment on the last post, I dyed the tunic. I just used a dark brown dye and it made it slightly darker red. I was really pleased. I also finally added a shoulder piece like I was talking about. A triangular piece like on Caspian's White Shirt. I think it will make it sit better across the shoulders. I'll try to get my cousin over here sometime to try on the updated ensemble.

Only 30 days!!! AH!!!!!! *begins to hyperventilate*

Edmund's Battle Outfit

I've been working on this costume for a while now but never had any pictures to prove it. So finally here is my exhibit on my Edmund's Battle Outfit. My cousin will be Edmund (brother to my cousin who is Lucy). Before you see pictures, I have to give disclaimers. This was a costume built on the extremist of budgets. I made the chainmaille from electric fence wire that I coiled, cut, and wove myself. The red suede is some I had on hard from forever ago. The brown fabric for the shirt I found at Hobby Lobby in the clearance bin for $2 a yard. Sadly there was only a yard and a half so that's why there's an extra band of a different brown fabric at the hem.

I like the brown shirt. You can see all of two inches of Ed's brown shirt (between the bottom of his chainmaille sleeves and the top of this vambraces). So I just made this classic pirate shirt that I had a pattern for. No, Edmund's probably didn't look anything like this. But I really don't care!

I like how the chainmaille's coming along. The length is about right. I might make the neckhole smaller and of course I have to add sleeves. I also have to add the contrast of gold rings along the edges. I think I'll try spraypainting some rings gold and seeing how that looks.

I hate the tunic. Hate, hate, HATE! Sorry. Anyway, I didn't have a pattern, so I thought I could just draft a pattern from my cousin's measurements. Wrong! I sloped the shoulders too much so the neck part bunches. I think I'll go back in and add a triangular piece to the top of the shoulders (kinda like Caspian's White Shirt) and that might help it fit at the shoulders better. It might also make it a little longer which I would like. By the way, I didn't realize the extra width chainmaille would add. I had to actually add more fabric to the sides of the tunic because it wouldn't fit over the chainmaille. I would say that chainmaille adds an extra 2-3 inches in circumference. Anyway, then I've got to figure out the embroidery on the hem and the lion, of course.

After these three pieces, I still have the leather gorget (funky foam?), the pauldrons (definitely funky foam) and the vambraces (ditto). I'm putting all those off. It sounds hard!

This week I hope to work on Caspian's White Shirt and finish my Susan's Battle Underdress.

More Progress

Ok, long time since I've updated. I have been working on different pieces while still trying to do boring stuff like pay rent. I've mostly been working on Edmund's Battle Outfit for my 11 year old cousin. I've got the chainmaille about 1/2 finished and the basis of the red velvet tunic (though mine is red suede). It still doesn't have the gold embroidery or the gold lion. But I want to make sure it fits my cousin before I start detailing it. I'll post pictures as soon as he comes over to try it on!

Another tiny addition. Since we now have tons of new pictures, we can see more details. Lucy's underdress neckline has some kind of embroidery on it. I went through the stitches that my Bernina machine offers and found one that was close. I chose light blue thread and I actually like how it turned out!

Also, the new pics showed the skirt isn't velvet. But I have tons of this velvet that I love, so my skirt will be velvet. Also the bodice now appears to be dupioni silk. Since I haven't started the real bodice I think I will make this change. I'll then paint on the swirls and make blue french knots for the buds.

That's it for now. I've added Susan's Purple Dress to my list of costumes I want to make. But with only 78 days left, I don't know if I can pull it off. It's so exciting!