Here we go!
The animated character, and the Teenager, side by side. Not a great photo but he is so gorgeous!!!
The gold trim looks a bit dull here, and it was because I didn't want it to look like easter egg foil, and the gaiters were a bit wide at the top in the end. I found it hard to judge how much ease to allow for tucking trousers and overdid it.
Delighted to hear that plenty of people at the event recognised him straight away and he had a blast.
Details:
Made with felt fused over two layers of heavy vilene, with satin on the underside. The gold trim and band are made from a metallic knit fabric I found at Fabrics Direct. I used the quilting binding method for all the edges. To get the brim to curl like the original, I zigzagged elastic to the edge before applying the binding, stretching it to its maximum. This created enough tension on the brim to curl it up.
I love the cutaway shape of the coat and am working on one for MrC. The cuffs and shoulder guard are one layer of heavy Vilene and a brown moleskin, with gold fabric paint. The waistcoat is a satiny fabric of extreme syntheticness, used to also line the tail of the coat and the underside of the hat. All bound with same metallic knit. The jacket is a heavy black, slightly sparkly denim.
The gaiters didn't work quite as well as I hoped, because he has such enormous feet and couldn't find brown shoes, and honestly it seemed excessive to paint them given how much more practical black ones are. They are made from the same moleskin with fusible batting on the inside to give them substance, but not too stiff. The details are all stitching and paint and metallic knit trim. They did up using Velcro down the inner edge, and wide black elastic held them onto his shoes. I'm pretty chuffed with the fit, given how tricky gaiters are to make, with noone to fit them to! While MrC and Master C are currently surprisingly similar sizes, legswise they are already showing the ultimate difference - My darling MrC is a racing bean whereas Master C is going to end up being built like an All Black. So I over-compensated. Ah well!
I think I will make black gaiters for MrC's steampunk outfit - it's a fun way to create the look of boots.
So, that was 60 or so hours of my life! But it was worth it!
What a cool outfit and a cool mum. The details are wonderful. Great job.
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you!
DeleteThis is fabulous. All the details and small touches make it work so well. Gives me hope my boys might want costumes beyond thier child years.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! He's been on a costume moratorium for about 8 years, we used to have lots of fun, so this is a great new era!
DeleteWow - he's a lucky boy to have such a talented personal costumier! Bet he was the belle of the ball/convention thingo in that outfit!
ReplyDeleteI have been reliably informed that he featured in many, many selfies on the day!
DeleteWoohoo! I was hoping to see this one, and am glad I did - you made the hat as well! So wonderful. I have no idea who the character is, but yes, the costume is great, and you did a good job recreating it. :-)
ReplyDeleteI think I shall have to adopt the phrase "satiny fabric of extreme syntheticness". It sounds a bit like "Rodents of Unusual Size" to me, and is a much nicer way to put it than "that awful polyester stuff". :D
Hats are the best, and so easy! I'd never heard of the game let alone the character, so it was all most educational. I love your take on my description, it ought to have capitals! I am not even sure if it is polyester, but I suspect it is. It didn't like to be pressed, always he giveaway :)
DeleteFantastic job.. Looks great..
ReplyDeleteWOW! This is absolutely fabulous and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! You've done an amazing job! Now to tell him that many cosplayers (including boys) make their own stuff... and you're happy to show him how! I bet he had an absolute blast in this, it's just amazing. You must be so pleased!
ReplyDelete