Costume-making 101:  The Road to Comic-Con, a premature retrospective

Well, here we are then folks, the week before the Big Day (relatively speaking of course) and there’s nothing more to do except sit back, relax, and know I’ve done my best.

Except there is more to do.  Swords to finish, LARP daggers to arrive, belts to make, scabbards, timing, business cards…  Oh my.

So why is it despite sitting in front of EastEnders (believe me, not my choice) all I can think of is what comes next?  Possibly the extended amounts of time I’m obligated to spend with my “clients,” but possibly more that being my own worst critic I’m focusing more on what I could’ve done rather than what I have done.  Sucks to be my brain, right?

So, in a bout of self-indulgent, self-inflicted sewing self-pity, let’s have a wander through the parts that I could’ve done better…

Ezio-inspired costume:

Let’s start with a tough one.  Tough, because it’s the one I’m most happy with.  My main problem is the stripes.  In the beginning we were shooting for an “almost replica” of the AC2 Ezio costume, almost as if a trainee assassin had seen Ezio in the street and tried to describe his outfit to a well-meaning tailor.  That’d be me.  My problem is the stripes are too close to the original, there’s no individuality to it.  I can’t help but look at it as though I tried for a straight replica but missed by a narrow but obvious margin…

The rest is all good to me, bar the short shirt sleeves, but I blame the pattern for that.  I’m a workman, so I blame my tools.  Some better trousers next time, some custom vambraces and adding some more leatherwork and this one will be a charm.  Details, that’s what it needs.

Smuggler/Pirate Assassin

I’m pretty happy with this one as well to be honest, given that of the four costumes I’m making this one came together both surprisingly easily and to a good effect.  Proof you should never throw anything away!

The main changes as discussed with the “client” would be to add a bustle or underskirt beneath the longer over-tunic, plus some more floaty/tassel details to add movement to the whole piece.  Better boots would be good, as would a shirt of a slightly lighter colour to add some definition, plus a few lacy-type pirate details.  Again, details.  We’ll need to replace the sword with something more buccaneer-esque, plus a few shells and trinkets wouldn’t go amiss.

Still, as a costume built on-the-fly, not too bad.

Victorian/Steampunk Assassin

Blurry game-face time.

There’s a few bits here I need to change.  Trousers.  I can’t abide the suit trousers with this costume.  Bustier/basque is good, there’s a tunic to go under it in October, nice use of the AC3 hidden blade 3D print from Ammnra Creations (www.shapeways.com – check it out, you won’t regret it.  Well, your wallet will) and the boots are fine.

The dreaded coat is another matter.  Don’t get me wrong, I like the fabric, the lining, the hood, the fit etc., but I just feel the overall construction could be better.  Especially now I know how to do sleeves properly.  I’ve got a horrible feeling that I’ll be making this again and I promised myself I’d never touch this pattern after last time.

Bloody details again.  Oh, and maybe some nice new daggers next time.  Speaking of which, a new way of carrying them:

More on this after Comic-Con.

Western Assassin

And the big one.  What don’t I like about my costume?  Well, I love the trousers.  Apparently they’re referred to as a “carrot” cut (I must be getting old…), complete with braces.  Love ‘em.

Hidden blade?  Very pleased.  Another tour-de-force by Chris Myles at Ammnra Creations.  And some fine painting from me of course.  The belt is all-good, a decent reproduction Sam Browne belt from eBay I picked up for under a tenner.  So what’s wrong then?

Shirt.  Made one, didn’t like it.  Bought one, loved it, realised it’d be too hot to wear it with the coat closed (more on this another time...).  Two shirts down for anyone keeping count.  So now I’m unceremoniously wearing a t-shirt.  Whoever heard of a cowboy, or assassin, wearing a t-shirt?  God, it’s like it’s all just make-believe…

Boots, gaitors, sash, neck-tie all good.  Plus the AC4 MacFarlane hidden blade cover, really good-looking addition to any costume or collection.  In fact, go buy one now, I’ll wait – tell them I sent you.

So I must like the coat right, all that work?  Well, no, actually.  I don’t like it at all.  I put together a better one for last year’s event.  Look:

It took a while to put my finger on what was wrong with it.  In fact, it took a whole Friday evening of dressing up, a curry and a good deal of discussion with my group of clients.  Then Scott (Ezio) put his finger on it; my previous coat looked like a costume.  It was unique, interesting and not typical of what other period costumes looked like, right in keeping with the AC game franchise aesthetic.  What I had was a historically accurate looking duster that was thoroughly uninspired as far as design went.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s well-made, comfortable and hangs well, but where’s the flair?  And to think, I even set it out in first blog entry, design aesthetic is key!

It’s such a minor problem to everyone except me, that’s why it’s my biggest problem.

Still, nothing to be done now, Saturday’s approaching quickly and I’m very much looking forward to the host of fantastic people and their inspiring costumes that will no-doubt be on display.  Let’s just hope that these four can stand up to the ever-high standards you talented lot keep coming up with.

That and I need to decide if I’m taking my hat.

As for next week?  Surely a week off and some respite for the family from losing the front room to my sewing habits, right?

Piss off, next week I start my new coat for October’s Comic-Con.  And trust me, it’ll be a belter!  Maybe something like this..?

Until next week and a full Comic-Con round up, peace out y’all.

Costume-Making 101 - Ooooh, the deadline approach-eth...

Well, I said it would happen and look at that, it has happened.  We're a week and a half out from Comic-Con and wouldn't you know it?  The blog updates are getting fewer and further between, and the updates are, well, sporadic.  

So, what do I have to show for it?  Well, here's where we're up to with each of the efforts.  And apologies, very quick photos in bad light and terrible models... :)

Victorian/Steampunk Assassin

Ok, so top to bottom, what've we got?

Coat/hood - custom made by me, patterned cream curtain fabric shell, red satin lining.  Adapted Simplicity pattern for the coat body with my custom hood pattern

Basque - faux red leather, red stain lining, eyelets and lacing on the back, made by me from a stock Simplicity pattern

Sash - embarrassingly, some spare red stain we had laying around...

Trousers - found item

Boots - found item

Belts - found items

Flintlock pistol - Denix replica pistol, bought in France about 15 years ago, unsure of the model

Hidden blade - 3D printed Connor kit from Ammnra Creations, available at www.shapeways.com.  Painted and finished by me mounted to a custom lace-up bracer

Dagger - old LARP dagger from Eldritch in the UK

Pirate/Smuggler Assassin

Number two, here we go...

Bandanna - found item from eBay

Over-tunic and hood - adapted Simplicity pattern made by me, off-white heavy calico fabric with brass accent buttons

Under-shirt - Simplicity pirate shirt, stock build by me from off-white calico fabric.  Brass accent buttons 

Belt rig - found items, cut and riveted together by me.  Fully adjustable

Sash - red, heavyweight cotton drill fabric, simple rectangular pattern designed and made my me.  God, I hated making that...

Pistol - Denix pirate pistol, bought from www.baytree-interiors.com

Hidden blade - McFarlane toys replica Edward Kenway hidden blade

Right bracer - faux brown leather, custom design and fabrication by me, laced inside

Sword - old LARP sword, from Eldritch in the UK

Trousers - found item, actually billowy pyjama trousers

Boots - found item

Old  West/Alamo Assassin

Oh look, it's me...

Over-coat/hood - Simplicity Old West coat pattern, adapted by me, heavyweight artist calico fabric.  Customised with new pockets, imitation horn buttons, extra detailing sewn in to fit hood and lapels

Shirt - found item, from H & M, much better than my attempt and period correct enough

Sash - urgh, another one.  Red heavyweight cotton drill, made my me and I hated every boring second of it

Belt - Sam Browne belt from eBay.  Late imitation, absolute bargain for £10, complete with cross-strap

Trousers - found item.  I won't make trousers.  Ever.  

Vambrace - McFarlane toys Edward Kenway hidden blade replica, space saver as my one isn't finished.  Will include an Ammnra Creations 3D printed hidden blade, finished and painted by me on a custom braced

Pistol - Denix LeMat Civil War revolver from Baytree Interiors.  This was expensive.  But it really does look good and weighs about 1.5 kilos

Gaitors - old pair of post WWII leather gaitors I had lying around.  Yes, I have this stuff lying around.  Found item, can't remember where from

Boots - mine, I wear them all the time.  Originally a light tan but following an accident with some incorrect polish, they're now dark brown...


So there's where we're at so far.  I'll update the progress on my friend Scott's costume at the weekend but needless to say, still a lot left to go.  More in-depth breakdowns will follow after Comic-Con, but for now, a nice find for Scott's costume from Wyrmwick Creations - Google them, their stuff's very impressive and well priced.

Plastic greaves:

Hang the spelling mistakes, I've got shit to build.


Until the weekend, peace out. 

Costume-Making 101: Another Week Closer to Comic-Con…

Hello again my fellow costume nerds and welcome to the weekly update of the road to Comic-Con in London at the end of this month.  Did I read that correctly?  The end of this month?  Holy crap, no time to stand around asking questions, let’s get on with the step-by-step of my friend Scott’s new shoulder armour!

Gentleman, to the boats!

So I felt bad that Scott really had nothing new to take to Comic-Con this time around following a thorough re-design of my step-daughter’s and my costumes.  The mannequin armour was on the back-burner due to timing issues, so I set to designing a new piece of armour for him.  I started out with the excellent patterns provided by Alex over at The Crystal Anvil – check out his website at www.lederkraft.com – choosing the Justicar shoulder armour as a base after talking through the options with the client.  That’s you Scott.

So, some complicated maths later I tiled and printed up the patterns, leaving myself this as a starting point.  You can tell it was late...

After some cutting, gluing, cursing, removing glue from the carpet, cutting again and sticky tape, I ended up with the basic pattern pieces cut.  Now I’m never one to stick to a brief or pattern, so I decided to change things up a little.  I’d be omitting the arm guard tassets for now; these could be added later if there was time, so I was left with the main shoulder piece, the shoulder extension and the standing haute plate.

I knew that I wanted to double layer these parts from the faux leather I had on hand, so hopefully this would provide enough body to make them a little more substantial.  My way of working with this vinyl is to cut my pieces with around a 10mm excess that I can fold back and glue to create a clean outer line without the need to hem it – the faux leather can get fragile if you sew too many lines into it.

To demonstrate this, here’s a handy picture:

And from the right side, a clean silhouette with no stitching lines  You need patience and A LOT of superglue for this.  Luckily, I have superglue:

Before joining the two halves of the main shoulder together, I added the top detail piece, prepared the same way and glued down ready for stitching.  As shown here:

And with the stitching in place to keep it secure.  It’s worth noting that I picked up a really heavy linen thread for this project to give some more definition to the stitch lines and to give it a heavier look.  Nice isn’t it?

And with the backing to the main shoulder piece in place:

After joining the two halves of the main shoulder together and stitching it, I set about constructing the shoulder extension, which was put together in exactly the same way, two layers glue-hemmed and stitched.  Here’s how it looked before being attached (central rivet in place to hold the center line):

When it came to attaching the shoulder extension, I placed the main piece over my mannequin so I could manoeuvre it around in three dimensions to get the look just right.  After marking with pins and punching holes, I riveted the extension to the main body with two-piece tubular rivets.  Three was plenty, one on each the front and back, the third on top.  A lot, you might say, like this, where you can already see the three-dimensional shape it holds unaided:

And in situ to show how it will look when worn.  Three rivets was plenty to keep the shape as the fake leather is remarkably light for its thickness:

Lastly the haute plate (or sword-breaker, as some call it), which was cut exactly from the pattern and put together as per the rest of the pieces.  I punched holes in each corner and arranged it by eye while the whole piece was on the mannequin, resulting in this:

Which I was very happy with.  Two press studs later and its ready for strapping:

Alas I can’t hang around here all night; I’ve got things to make and people to shout at and other things to panic about.  Plus there’s beer in the fridge that needs drinking.

More to come, check back regularly for inspiring add-ons or extra posts as usual.  Or not, I’m busy you know.  Comments, criticism and (especially) praise welcomed as always!

Until next time, cheers all.  

Costume Making 101 - The More things Change...

As promised a small update for y'all today - following a 500-mile trip around the country on Thursday, including the always delightful NEC in Birmingham and the world's best katsu curry in the Trafford Centre, Manchester, I ended up having Friday off of work.  And I was not idle...

Talking through things with my friend Scott about his Ezio-inspired costume, we decided to take a slightly different approach with the armour.  The plastic mannequin pieces are on hold due to time constraints, so I had to go in a different direction.  

Going through the patterns, I decided to use one from the excellent Crystal Anvil book, produced and sold through Lederkraft Studios at www.lederkraft.com.  Not content to build it as printed, I made a few alterations on the fly and came up with my own take.  

So, small update, but here's where the "Ezio" is up to now:

And the shoulder armour itself:

I have a step-by-step for the shoulder armour to do, more to follow in the coming weeks as we hurtle towards the Comic-con deadline including the fix for my coat's hood, holsters, belts, boots, trousers and hidden blades....

Speaking of which, got mine finished!

Regular service will be resumed on Wednesday.

Costume-Making 101:  Road to Comic-Con

Evening folks, day early I know but what with the builders being in for the past two days (my bathroom looks lovely, thanks for asking) and being away with work for the next couple of days, progress has been a little slow and mainly planning-based.  

I'll say it now as we're a month out from the event, but my next few blog entries are likely to be mainly updates rather than the design process itself - I need to get everything looking good for Comic-Con!  So, where are we up to now?  

Let's have a look at my coat first, because it's my blog:

Buttons added, hood arranged and a nice little nod to Connor's coat from AC3 with the pinned back skirt.  All well and good I hear you say, but when will we get to see you wearing it?  Well my friends, feast your eyes:

Yes, I can see out of the hood, but yes, it is bigger than I first expected - it'll be getting some gathering stitches to make it hang straight, but essentially, done!  Who left that tea-towel by the cupboard..?  Sloppy.

Then I got distracted.  I thought about some kind of shoulder armour for my left arm along the lines of Ezio from AC2/Revelations.  After a quick search around I found some old leather in the store cupboard and set to gluing it together.  A day later it still needs a lot of work (what doesn't..?) but I have a rough shape ready:

If I have time I'll be adding a rabbit skin, beads and some leather cord-work to give a Native American vibe, which I'll have to work into my back-story somehow, just to add some more textures and layers to the costume.  Plus a lot more work.  

Other updates - I managed to get further along with my friend Scott's Ezio-inspired costume, for which I'm going a bit off-piste with some scratch-built armour.  The plates were designed and cut from plastic mannequins bought from eBay, sanded, painted, sanded, painted, ruined, sanded and painted again.  They need weathering and varnishing, then I have to build the leather backing parts, but hey, what are Bank Holidays for?

Here's roughly how they will look on the grey tunic:

I have two plates for the shoulder, three more for the back and one more to go under the arm.  I've included a spread below of their eventual position, once I've got the leathers finished:

The finished piece will get at least one blog entry after Comic-Con...

So, must keep this brief as I have to pack tonight and iron things, apologies in advance for some pic-heavy entries to come but anything I miss explaining will be made up for after the end of May, along with a full round-up of everything we saw at MCM London.  In the meantime feel free to ask if you want to find out more.

Keep an eye out for surprise updates over the weekend again, and keep everything crossed it all gets finished!



Until next time.

Costume Making 101 - The Other Side of the Coin

By way of apology for some sub-standard blogging of late, may I present my first crack at the back-story for my Comic-Con character.  Unfortunately I have to assert my intellectual copyright here as this is my own work and I don't want it distributed without the proper accreditation, but please feel free to comment with suggestions or other feedback.

Also, if Ubisoft are reading, I'm available for hire.

That being said, are we sitting comfortably?  Good, then I'll begin.

Assassin’s Creed: Frontier - Stand

The room fell silent.  Three men, each considering the weight of the burden ahead as destiny drove a wedge between them, their fates forever set by the actions of the next few minutes.  Joseph was the first to speak, addressing his friends in an earnest attempt for them to see sense.

“We need every able man here to hold line. We must -” Crockett waved his protest aside with a gesture and exhaled audibly.

“No, your path lies elsewhere.  We will hold them here as long as we’re able, it should give you enough time to be away from this place.  If the Alamo falls our enemies cannot find what we’ve fought so long to protect.  You’re a worthy shot, but one more pistol won’t stop them if we can’t already without you.  We have canon, strong walls and resilience on our side, but I fear with or without you my friend, a breach is inevitable.”

“He’s right,” whispered Bowie, his voice still heavy with fever, “as much as I don’t want to face it, you being here just means one more dead man walking.  Take the gold, use the chaos to flea and put it beyond their reach.  It must not fall into their hands.”

Crockett stood, crossed the room and past the window to a small cupboard set into the white stone wall.  Lifting the latch, he opened the door and removed the various books, bottles and other items from the bottom shelf.  Running his hand along the back of the empty shelf, his fingers sought the camouflaged latch, disguised as an exposed nail head.  Pushing the head, there was an audible hollow click as the shelf lifted to expose the hidden depression beneath.

Returning to his companions, Crockett placed an oil-cloth covered object on the table between him and the others.  They sat for a moment before Bowie loosened the binding and upturned the cloth into Joseph’s hand.

No-one spoke.  Joseph turned the object around in his fingers, a mix of wonder and incomprehension filling him as he tried to fathom the meaning of what he held.  He had heard talk of a precious treasure being held in the Alamo, but this was far from what he had imagined.  Larger than a man’s fist, the object seemed a perfect sphere, golden coloured and metallic to the touch.  Its polished smooth surface was broken in several places by geometric lines and devices of uniform thickness, glass-like in appearance but warm, almost as if lit from within.  It was then that the pulse began, almost imperceptible at first but building, ever so slowly and with a foreboding patience, each that much stronger than the last.  With it came the light, growing in strength with every measured pulse, sickening and alluring in equal measure as it grew to illuminate the three men intoxicated by its lurid brilliance.  That light held within it the wonder and promise of all the world’s beauty, at once mixed with the coldness and weight of the abyss.

The silence shattered with the guttural bark of a canon.  Seconds later the splintered crack of iron splitting stone and the sound of bugles filled the air.

“There’s no time,” started Crockett, standing and removing his pistol from his belt, “take this, you’ll need it if you’re spotted.”

Joseph nodded and tucked the dark wood pistol through his belt, quickly re-wrapping the golden orb in its oil-cloth and placing it into a belt pouch.

Bowie shuffled to the window, still wrapped in his sleeping blanket for warmth, to steal a glance at the approaching hoard, turned back and crossed the room to the rack of hanging coats by the door.  After a brief search he threw a bundled coat to Joe and rolled up his sleeve to reveal a slim metal object strapped to the inside of his left arm.

“Here,” he said, loosening the leather straps and handing the object to Joseph, “take this.  Stealth will be your greatest ally; there are other weapons at your disposal less clumsy and loud than a pistol.”  Bowie smiled and threw a glance to Crockett, who could do little restrain his own.  Noticing Joseph’s obvious confusion, he continued.

“You don’t earn a reputation like mine without knowing a thing or two about knives.  Sometimes it’s best to let your opponent think you’re unarmed, and sometimes it pays to have one more blade up your sleeve, just in case.”

Joseph strapped the metal box to his arm, fixed the buckles and slipped the plain metal ring over his index finger, an almost invisible wire connecting it the body of the device.  He shook out the coat Bowie had thrown to him and paused a moment before putting it on.  It looked similar enough to his own duster, but off-white and of a good sturdy canvas.  Split for riding, the most conspicuous difference being the large hood that sat in place of a regular collar.  As a second canon announced its presence he shrugged into the coat and settled his belt and bandoliers, sheathing his knife and hatchet.

Turning for the door, Crockett caught his arm and pulled Joseph around to face Bowie, who was now in the far corner of the room, running a hand along the bottom of the wall, close to the floor.  With a sound of stone upon stone, the straw-covered floor slid down and sideways, revealing a series of rough-cut steps that disappeared into the void below. 

“Here, this will be a safer route,” said Bowie, stifling a cough.  “Take the stairs and follow the path into the hills, there’ll be a horse and provisions waiting for you.  Ride North as swiftly as possible, one of our number will find you.”

“How?” asked Joseph.

“They’ll find you.  Ride north and don’t stop for anyone,” answered Crockett, guiding him to the stairs.

“And what about you, what will you do?” said Joseph.

Crockett considered, “We stand.”

Until next time.

Costume Making 101 - A Pause for Thought

Well now, a week on from a rushed post and the fates have conspired somewhat to mean that very little work has been done.  Plus, my blog entry is late.  And lacking.  

So, my apologies for being so unproductive this week but I don't have a lot to show for it.  Well, I've finalised this:

Needs a pair of authentic-looking pirate trousers and some boots, then Little 'Un's costume is done.  Remarkably, considering how lazy and recycled this effort was.  Of course there are accessories to be added - the hidden blade, pirate pistol, hair to do and some make-up, but all in all, a quick build.  

Where next...

The missus from Comic-Con in London last year.  Her costume remains pretty much the same - frock coat (worthy of a blog itself it's so complicated...), cloak, boots plus the basque.  Speaking of which:

Both barrels.  Ka.  Pow.

What else am I trying to cram in to the next four weeks?

Who knew my missus had a "game face..?"

My friend Scott's Ezio-inspired costume.  It'll be tight on time, but he'll be getting a new sash, a belt an a little free-form armouring in the form of two destroyed mannequins, paint, a lot of sanding and some scratch-designed leather work.  Teaser anyone?

And then there's me.  In the realisation that this blog is both late and rushed, again, here's an embarrassing picture of me in a costume trial, shot in terrible lighting, trying to look much more awesome than I actually do.

Fail...

On top of everything else, I've tasked myself with building an impressive centrepiece for my costume, I was thinking something like this:

So hopefully you'll forgive these rushed and imperfect blog posts - as a special apology for all you good people who follow my random thoughts, keep an eye out over the weekend for some deeper delving into what I'm up to and how I'm getting up to it.

And excuse any spelling mistakes, I just don't care today :)

In closing, check out what my clever brother did in 3 hours 35 minutes, some kind of foot race called a Snickers?  Oh sorry, a Marathon.  If you laughed at that you can be my friend:

Thanks for sticking with me.