Tunic- Definitely the most complicated part of the costume. All the embroidery (trim, frogs, and smaller details) was done entirely by hand, and the bordering is multiple layers of machine satin-stitching. I used about 7 full spools of gold thread for it. The tunic is in two pieces, the entire top is one piece for convenience (undershirt, sleeves, red/white tunic, and shoulder cups) and the flaps below the belt are separate. The top was hand-stitched over the grey undershirt and a zipper was hidden in the front. The flaps attach to the belt via snaps. Craft foam was used as interfacing for the white tunic since it was stiff and flexible enough. Wool felt was used for the grey undershirt and pants. Linen and a dyed patterned linen was used for the white tunic.

Belt- Craft foam with a ribbed polyester stretched over it. The belt is supposed to just look like wrapped material so the fabric was added in sections. The straps are foam with vinyl over top then stitched for detail. The buckle is a mix of wonderflex, foam, rivets, wire, gems, and clay. Lastly, the belt clasp is hidden in the back.

Pants- Highly modified from a pattern, there are a total of 24 gathered pleats. The pointed sides are supported with heavy interfacing. The gold details were embroidered separately then hand-stitched to the pants.

Helmet- The mask was the first thing made and it’s composed of wonderflex and craft foam layers. The top layer (foam) was added in sections so the vinyl would lay flush with the foam. Paperclay was used to seal off the edges so it would appear one piece. The details were etched into the foam using a sharp clay tool and black fabric was added to help hide my face.
The helmet’s base is wonderflex as well, it was done by overlapped multiple small pieces over half a soccer ball and then slightly flattened. The spiraling was done with craft foam and took at least 5 or more tries for me to finally get it right. The point was built up with clay and the decorative spike is a wood piece. The headband is more foam with vinyl over top, the details are wonderflex, more clay, rivets, and gems. Everything was painted and weathered by hand.
The scarf is a gold suede with satin-stitched stripes.

Bracers- Built over foam and wonderflex base the spiraling was done the same way as the helmet. By cutting thin craft foam into strips and carefully wrapping them around the brace. The borders are done with clay and etched. The bracers are one piece with a false seam carved in the side, the brackets were bought and then detailed with gems and clay.

Greaves/Shoes- The shoes were built over some ugly heels that I picked up. I cut down the heels a bit so the toe would point up more. Duct tape was used to make a pattern and then transferred to foam and vinyl. The seams were stitched for strength and hidden. The toe cap and detailing was done with wonderflex then hand painted. I modified a pattern for the greaves and built them up with more wonderflex, foam, and vinyl. The opening seam is hidden on the inside and closes via a simple hook and brad method.

Let’s see…it took 8 months or more to finish this costume. 3 of those months were hand embroidery alone.

Photo taken by: ObscuraVista

Photo taken by: volvere

I decided to take this commission up from a friend of mine because I really liked the design. Though, I didn’t expect it to take so long to make. I nearly didn’t finish it in time for her con, but once I saw the completed product perfectly fit her and look great…the stress and lack of sleep was worth it.

Construction:

The white fabric was supplied to me by the commissioner and I believe that it is a cotton knit. The fabric used for both collars was kona cotton and the ribbons are made from Casa satin. I highly modified a simple shirt pattern for the base of the top and made the patterns for everything else from scratch. The entire shirt is one piece to cut down on layers and is lined to avoid it being see-though, as well as give the flaps stability. It features an invisible zipper and snaps for easy dressing, the front ribbon is adjustable via a pin. The back ribbon is sewn into the shirt and its tails are supported with heavy interfacing to give it that flair.

And finally, I always like to add special details to costumes that have been done by other people before. Just to help it stand out a little better. For this I decided to give the trim work, ribbon ends, and purple collar a glittery effect. To do this I used Sulky’s holoshimmer thread in arctic black and satin stitched along the edges. The detail isn’t overly noticeable until the wearer moves in bright light.

The skirt, tights, and weapon were made by the cosplayer.

Photo taken by: KorinaMariePhotography

And modeled by: Christy Walker

Modeled By: Antonina Larocca

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When I cosplay I prefer embroidery designs over painting them, especially when working on a historical costume. Of course I don’t have a machine and satin-stitching on a sewing machine can only go so far, so I do it by hand. And I hope to share my technique for any other cosplayers out there who are interested in this skill! Now, the way I embroider is considerably different from others and more time consuming. But it is the technique that has yielded the best results for me so far. If you’ve tried embroidering before and failed, or just simply don’t know where to start then I hope that this tutorial will help get you on track!

I will try to keep the descriptions short so this post doesn’t get too lengthy!

• You can embroider with normal thread, but I prefer embroidery floss because it is thicker and comes in many colors. The floss is actually six small threads twisted together. And you can embroider with all six if you wish but the stitching will look cleaner with less thread. Neatly unwind your floss bunch and cut into a reasonable length to work with. Then separate the six threads into three sections, you now have two threads to work with at once. Put the other four aside. It doesn’t really matter what kind of sewing needle you use, but I suggest a long, sharp one. Small scissors are also best to use for this because they remove small stitches easier.

• I am using one of Shahkulu’s tunic flaps as an example for this tutorial. When embroidering I suggest having some sort of interfacing behind your fabric material. You usually want your stitches to be tight and the fabric can bunch badly without it. I am using craft foam for his tunic so I don’t have to worry about interfacing, thicker fabrics will be fine without it. Also, I suggest using an embroidery hoop as well, I am not in this case because the craft foam is too thick for it. Now that you have your needle threaded you want to mark your design out. Use a marking pencil or a regular pencil if you’re careful enough to clean it up later. I used a blue marking pencil so it would show up nicely against the gold taffeta.

 
^The backside of the flap to show the foam. The other side of your stitching will be messy, so make sure you can line it with fabric or hide it later.

• Here comes the part that adds a lot of time to the embroidery process. But I think that it makes life easier and the stitches cleaner. Don’t worry, you’ll get faster at this the more you do it. It is time for the outline! You’re going to follow your markings and outline the design with thread! Remember, don’t fill anything in yet. Outline any thick shapes and lines. One line of stitching will suffice for thin lines, do another row or two for thicker lines. Make your stitches small, they should not be bigger than half an inch. As shown in the third picture: your next stitch needs to start in the middle of the one before it or when connecting to another stitch. Insert the needle between the two threads and pull tightly. It will create a nice, firm line. Then make another stitch and continue the process.

<——How your outline should look. Notice that no shapes are filled in.

• Now time for the fun part! The FILLING. Now that we have the outline we need to actually fill it in, well technically not fill….it is more like using your outline like a guideline. Start by pulling your needle up on one side of your outline. You want to have the needle placed on the outside of the stitching, not the inside of the stitching. Put it as close to the outline stitching as possible. Now pull the needle through and place it to the opposite side of the shape, keeping to the outside of the outline. Filling the design like this hides the outline because it is only there for your benefit, to keep your stitching as clean as a machine’s. You do the filling the same like this for lines as well.

 <—Filling in a shape.

 <—Filling in a line.

• While you fill everything in, stitch in the same direction for each shape or piece. It will keep everything looking nice and neat. Whenever you run out of thread make sure you tie it off on the backside of your material. And congrats! You completed the initial design! Now it’s time for the finishing! Right now the back of the flap looks hideous with stitches going everywhere. We can fix that by placing fabric over the backside and then finishing off the edges by machine. If you’re embroidering on something and there’s no chance of seeing the other side..then you don’t have to worry about this. But it’s always a good idea to cover up the messy backside. All the straight, lighter gold, and edge stitching you see is just satin-stitching (zig-zag stitch) done by my sewing machine.

messy backside—————-^  covered backside————-^

<—A finished flap

<—Not a flap, but this shows other detailing that you can do. All the dark gold designs were done by hand. The lighter stuff was by my sewing machine using the satin-stitch (the zig-zag stitch) on the lowest stitch length setting. You can also use the same technique of stitching for the outline to border other designs.

And there you go! This is the technique I use to embroider by hand! It may not be the best or quickest way, but it certainly works with the best results I’ve had so far. If you have any questions then feel free to comment below or email me.

The cosplay that I have been spending most of my time on has been Shahkulu from Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. His single-player design varies considerably from his multiplayer counterpart, The Renegade. I decided to do the single-player because it had more details and I basically liked the design more.

The first project that I started on was the mask. When I began on the costume I wanted to use a material that I had used in the past when I first started cosplaying. I wasn’t as familiar with it before and was a little weary on using it because it did not give me very good results before. But I finally went with it and got Wonderflex. For those who don’t know the material, Wonderflex is a thermoplastic usually used for armor and such. It can be heated and shaped and is flexible yet sturdy. For the base of the mask I used two pieces of Wonderflex and fitted them over craft foam. More foam was then used for the top of the mask to make the raised sections. Heating Wonderflex over craft foam gives it thickness and makes it more durable, and personally…easier to work with because it isn’t too thin.

The detailing on the mask was engraved into the foam using a sharp tool and the rivet heads were added to the front. After priming the mask for painting the vinyl pieces were carefully added. And paperclay was used to ‘complete’ the edges of the mask and hide the fact that it’s composed of layers. Finally it was painted and weathered using acrylics and the cloth covering was added to hide my face.

The bracers have been tough, mainly because of those spirals. I lost count how many times I attempted to spiral the first one and I eventually had to re-make the entire thing. Thankfully the spirals became easier to get right after I finished the first one. The bases of the bracers is made up on one layer of craft foam and Wonderflex. Then more foam was used to make the spirals and borders. The spiraling was done by cutting strips and overlapping them at a curve. Clay was used to complete the edges much like I did with the mask. I bought the brackets, which were originally plain gold. And detailed them using clay and acrylic beads. I made the bracers a little bit bigger than my arm so I could just slip them over and not worry about the seam connection. It also helps the image and makes me appear more like a man. The false seam and engravings were added with a sharp tool.

The shoes began as ugly heels that I picked up for 3 dollars at Goodwill. I got them for their curved toe and basic shape, though I wasn’t quite sure if they would work. I first cut about half an inch off the heel to make the toe curve upward more. And then started to build them up with foam and vinyl. A duct tape pattern was used to get the basic shoes shape, was cut out in thick craft foam, then glued to vinyl. The pieces were glued to the shoes and stitched at the seams for strength. I made sure to build the shoes in a way to make them appear flat and hid the heels. The detailing and toe cape was done in Wonderflex.

I’m not very experienced with greaves so I had a few problems with patterning these. I tried a duct tape pattern a couple times, but it simply just did not work out. Finally I searched online and found a basic greave pattern and modified them from that. Luckily they came out pretty well. The bases are one layer of craft foam and another of wonderflex, then cotton batting and vinyl was stretched over the top to make them appear more like leather. The opening seam for the greaves was moved to the inside so I could make sure that the false side seam with the brackets stayed nice and neat. The detailing is also done in wonderflex.

So many problems were encountered when I started tailoring the tunic. Mainly because the design is from a video game, and they definitely don’t consider the laws of physics when designing. I believe I re-made the base of the tunic (the white shoulder sections) at least three times. I used interfacing to make is stiff first, but the interfacing wasn’t think enough and didn’t curve to the body very well. I considered batting but it isn’t stiff enough. Finally I decided to use craft foam. Craft foam has a nice thickness and isn’t too stiff, plus it is lightweight and sewable. So I used the foam as a base for the flaps, upper shoulder pieces, and the belt.

Another thing I wanted to focus on with this costume was texture and authenticity. I wanted to used rough, natural fabrics that probably would have been used back then. For the upper tunic I used a linen-look fabric and real linen. The real linen (the inner fabric) is patterned and was imported from Belgium. When I got it the color was shockingly white, so I lightly dyed it with grey to darken the color. Both fabrics were carefully glued over the craft foam and stitched like so. All gold accents use the wrong side of taffeta as a base and was either hand-embroidered with designs or edged with satin-stitching. The undershirt and pants are made from smoke colored wool felt. The material is somewhat uncomfortable but the perfect stiffness for the pants. And finally the fabric for the belt and red section of the undershirt are polyesters that I picked up for their textures.

Well, that’s it for part 1 of the Shahkulu progress update/review! Hopefully everything makes sense!

]]> http://kayleeweinberg.com/assassins-creed-revelations-shahkulu-progress-part-1/feed/ 0 http://kayleeweinberg.com/plague-doctor-2011/ http://kayleeweinberg.com/plague-doctor-2011/#comments Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:20:25 +0000 Kaylee Weinberg http://kayleeweinberg.com/?p=994 A quick costume that I put together for the 2011 Tennessee Renaissance Festival.

The mask is a half mask made from paper mache’ and clay. The robe was made from the same pattern of a previous costume and the hat was borrowed from the same costume. The feathers, walking stick, bottles, and accents were bought and modified.

(under construction)

Construction Details:
The majority of the costume is made from things that I already had on hand. The robe is from my generic plague doctor with the torn netting added. I already had the belt, scarf, and shoes. I bought the gloves and pumpkin.
The pumpkin is called a “funkin, ” which are fake, carve-able pumpkins. I carved out the face and bottom with a dremel and then added the vines and crow. Black knit was used as a screen to hid my face. I was planning to light up the inside, but ended up running out of time for it.
For those wondering….I see out of the mouth and my vision is pretty good in it!

Happy Halloween!

Now, don’t forget that this is written from my personal experience with vinyl and the techniques are not definite. Don’t be afraid to try other techniques!

Choosing Vinyl

The type of vinyl chosen is one, if not the most important step. It is just like shopping for other fabrics and you must keep a few things in mind when you make your choice. I always get my vinyls at Joann, but they can be ordered online or found at other stores. There are a huge variety of vinyls ranging in colors, thicknesses, sheen, and texture.

1. Price- Vinyl is one of the most pricey materials out there, but it is much cheaper than real leather. So it makes a very good alternative if you don’t know how to work with leather, or don’t want to harm any animals. And like other things, the more expensive the material..the better the quality. So I tend to avoid the thin vinyl that ranges in the $10 a yard zone, because it looks fake and rips easily. When getting vinyl for something like a coat I go for the medium thick material that ranges around $20 a yard. And finally when doing full leather accent pieces, I get the pricey $35 a yard vinyl. Now by looking at these prices vinyl doesn’t really seem worth it, but a yard can really go a long way. And most stores like Joann usually has the vinyl on sale almost all the time.
2. Quality/Colors- As stated above, the more money you are willing to spend for vinyl…the better quality material you’ll get. My most favorite type to get is usually called the Home Decor Signature Series. It’s pretty high in price, but almost always on sale. It also sticks out from the other vinyls because it is thicker and features a light brown backside that looks a look like pre-dyed leather. Most vinyls have a white, less natural underside. However, because the Signature Series is so thick it is hard to use it for actual clothing pieces like a coat or jacket. I’ve only seen it in three colors, light and dark brown, and black. So it’s better for leather accents anyway. If you want to do an actual clothing piece, it would be best to get the thinner, softer vinyl.

^Another example of a type of vinyl. Ezio was actually the first time I worked with the material and that was a little over a year ago. Since then I’ve learned a lot thanks to the Doc and I simply love working with it even though it can be a pain at times. The vinyl used for Ezio was the cheap, thin stuff that you should avoid. It has no variation in color so it doesn’t make a very good substitute for leather, and it tears easily so stuff like those boot covers don’t last very long. Now if you’re tight on money, don’t be afraid to use this vinyl. It may have its downsides but you can still make it look good, and I’ll give a few tips for that.

I started work on it when I first saw the design before the game actually came out. (almost a year ago) I just couldn’t resist doing such a cool plague doctor!

Construction:

In my updates I promised to go into detail for the description so this will be LONG! If you have any questions feel free to comment or email me.

Mask- I have a tutorial for this mask, however the one you see below is actually version 2. It’s the same mask but with a re-defined beck, newly carved mouth, and weathering. I won’t go into too much detail here but I weathered it by splashing gray paint and then sanded it down. I actually started on the mask first before the rest of the costume since I figured that if I couldn’t get the mask right, then I shouldn’t even bother with the cosplay at all.

Robe- Despite how daunting it looks the robe was actually pretty easy. The fabric is olive green cotton bottom-weight, it breathes easier and is more comfortable than pleather. I modified a priest robe pattern that originally only had three pleats on the back, it was changed by adding four more pleats. (two on each side) I made the pattern for the sleeves and created the fishnets by glueing 2mm elastic string along the buttons. There’s about 3 layers of batting sewn underneath for padding, they’re lined as well since batting doesn’t feel so good against your skin. The most interesting thing to recreate on the robe were the buttons along the front. The design only has button holes for the top four buttons, but none for the others below the belt. To do this I decided to create false buttons, but still keep the ‘buttoned up’ look. Snaps were hand-sewn behind each button and actual button holes were sewn by machine for the top ones. The string clasps were sewn on by hand.

Armbands- White cotton bottom-weight and interfacing was used for these. The emblem was embroidered by hand and then they were hand sewn onto the sleeves.

Belt- Made from Vinyl stretched over craft foam. I made the pattern myself and it’s actually two layers. 3mm craft foam was used as a base and 2mm was used for the straps. I used a Simplicity pattern for the back pouch and made the pattern for the front pouch and syringe holster. The emblem on the back pouch is painted on. I couldn’t find the correct type of buckles, so I decided to create my own from wood and wire. Finally, white embroidery floss, rivets, and eyelets were used for all the little details.

Vials- These were super fun to do! They were originally glitter shakers used for scrap-booking that I cleaned, sealed, and glued wood pieces on the top to give them that lip. I then filled them with colored water after their paint job.

Gloves- One of the two few things actually bought for this costume was the base for the gloves. I found some nice suede gloves that were a perfect match, I went with suede because I really liked the contrast it had against the vinyl. Two layers of vinyl were used to extend the gloves and all the holes were punched by hand. (they go all the way up the gloves) The tips were glued to the suede.

Mantle- I nearly destroyed my sewing machine to do this. Made from two layers of craft foam (6mm) and two layers of vinyl. The front was heated and shaped to give it that weird curve. The mantle was then hand stitched to the robe using a curved needle and invisible thread. (my poor fingers) Now here’s a little trickery I added to attempt to make myself look broader since the Doctor’s height is 6’1″ and I’m only 5’3″. There’s padding under the robe which lifts the mantle slightly and extends it an inch or so from my shoulders. So my shoulders look much more manlier than what they really are.

Hood- The darker section of the hood was another thing I bought. Though, it was originally in the color white and the opening for the face was too large. So I tightened it and dyed to the color it is now. The lighter part was sewn on and attaches to the mantle with the use of snaps.

Hat- Oh boy….this was definitely the hardest part of the costume. I lost count of how many times I made this thing, and I’m still not very happy with it, so I’ll probably remake it again later. Anywho, I made the pattern for this and used vinyl and interfacing. Thick wire was shoved through a channel sewn on the top of the hat to keep its shape.

(still under construction)

Ref:

Absolutely no copyright infringement is intended. All images and characters are the sole property of their respective owners.

The “con experience” actually starts on Thursday for me, and that was one heck of a day. After classes I had to rush to finish the Doc’s hat and pack for the con. That stupid thing about drove me up the wall again, but I somehow managed to get the hat to the point where I could finish it at the hotel. (Just in time too T_T) I then headed off to the hotel to meet up with my super awesome roomies and get my registration. We kind of just hung around at the end of the day and swung by Kroger and McDonalds. It was actually pretty fun!

Okay, Friday started out very interesting for me cause one of my roommates was cosplaying from Homestuck and had to be painted grey. O_o I didn’t really expect to be painting anyone at MTAC this year….I love the make-up she used though. Anywho, after she was nice and troll-y (gotta read the series to get that one) I changed into young Ezio and headed to the con area. Not much really happened on Friday, I just hung out with a few friends and met the freakin awesome Fevereon. Oh yeah, I did claim my free MTAC shirt that I won in the Twitter contest! ^^ At the end of the day I changed into my Halloween dress to go to the ball…..but then never went since it was crowded. Ah well, it was fun wearing the dress anyway!

Saturday was DEFINITELY the best day ever!!! I was so stoked to debut the Doctor that I could hardly sleep! After painting my troll friend again I quickly changed into the Doc so I could go to the pre-judgeing for the cosplay contest. The outfit is a little hard to wear, but not too bad when the mask is off. The judging went well so I went on the prowl in search for Ezio (Fev) Haha, much hilarity happened between the two of us that included freaking out a few gamers cause they were playing AC: Brotherhood, and me hanging around the blood drive. XD There was also the small photoshoot for Fev’s new car. (Welcome to the brotherhood!) After that I lined up for the contest…..and ended up breaking my syringe. T_T So I wasn’t able to pose with it when I went up on stage, booooooooo~
BUT, then came the time for the winners and I was totally not expecting what I got….BEST IN SHOW!!!!!! I was freaking out so much I had a hard time putting my mask and stuff back on. XD I am so happy! The Doctor has now given me my first award! I love the fact that AC cosplays have now gotten best in show at MTAC two years in a row! FOR THE BROTHERHOOD! >D Also, a HUGE thanks to Fev for the gift, I swear I almost cried. :’)
After the contest I stalked a few people, killed a few assassins, and maybe some courtesans. I just had a great time in the Doc and can’t wait to wear him again after I fix him up! 

Sunday was a zombie day, at least I felt like one. After packing to leave I changed into my Rin cosplay and finally went to the dealer room. There I scored a new Ezio figure, an adorable plush, and some yummies. And I bought an insignia off of Fev. I ended up leaving a little early because I was so tired, but I really had a wonderful time and I’m already looking forward to next year!

HUGE thanks to my friends, Fev, and my troll handler! I love you guys! 

Con Pictures!

The contrasting front is actually two fabrics, a nice swirling red one and the same bat netting as the sleeves. I used a mixture of Joann’s halloween fabrics. The clips for the hair and necklace were made by me and the gloves were bought. A petticoat was added later. (But I don’t have pictures with that)