tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81695994847888944662024-03-05T00:44:55.623-08:00The Tea-Drunk TailorCostuming How-Tos and Misanthropic CogitationsKaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-72672830918436829142014-01-02T12:34:00.000-08:002014-01-02T12:34:35.260-08:00Skirts Make the ManBreakfast at the worktable. Pretty good start to the second day of the New Year.<br />
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I bit the bullet and remade the tunic bodice since the original just wasn't working. Decided to do things a bit differently this time. It's funny actually - being some nine years into this whole costuming gig, I'm finding that stuff isn't good enough. What would have passed six years ago needs to be taken apart and completely redone today. While the finished product is a delight in itself, the process has become just as rewarding. That being said, there are still plenty of times where I want to pitch the sewing machine out the window.<br />
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Anyway!<br />
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The bodice became double-breasted with a grown-on collar. I was watching <i>The Blue Max</i> while sewing on the trim and realized that I had subconsciously made it a bit similar to the uniforms of First World War German pilots, which have always been wonderfully dashing (especially when worn by Karl Michael Vogler):<br />
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I did the trim with the help of Claire Schaffer's terrific <i>Couture Sewing Techniques</i>. It's a great reference if you want to level up your handwork.<br />
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Trim is always a barrel of laughs. I fell-stitched it from the outside, wrapped it over the raw edge, and bound it to the inside. A few clips here and there around the neck edge helped it curve better. It doesn't lay was flat as it could but it could be worse. There's a heavy canvas interlining in there to give it a bit of body too. I didn't want bulk seam allowances so I basted them down. It wasn't possible to do the same to the outer fabric but I still wanted nice clean seams there so I cut narrow strips of Stitch Witchery, inserted it under the seam allowances, and pressed it. The Stitch Witchery acts like glue so it worked out pretty well. Just make sure you use a pressing cloth otherwise it makes a hell of a mess on your iron.<br />
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Because I really want to push the 'uniform' aspect with this, the lining is double-toned so I can have a nice red turn-back if I want. The idea here is to look just as sexy when I'm half-dressed as when I've got the full works on.<br />
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It will close with a concealed placket eventually. I'm still debating whether it needs an extra strip of black and white trim just outside the red; this particular chap is the Lieutenant after all...</div>
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The skirts also underwent some tweaking. I added a layer of canvas to the second skirt to help with the stiffness problem (thanks for the input there, everyone!) and did up the appliques. </div>
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Blogger is flipping stuff on me again so you'll just have to look at it upside down. I am still an applique n00b so my edges aren't as smooth as they could be. If anyone's got tips or tricks, I'm all ears!<br />
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Lastly, I pulled the third skirt off the original bodice. The double-breast set-up of the new bodice presented some difficulties for attaching it because the front split of the skirts doesn't line up with the front opening of the bodice (which is off to the side). In the end, I decided to button it to the inside of the bodice and the reasons were two-fold: the second and first skirts are going to be strung on a belt so having the third skirt inside the bodice cuts down on the outside bulk. It also stops the tunic from working itself up and over the skirts if I sit down or bend over.<br />
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It doesn't look like a lot on paper but these few details have been lurking in the back of my brain since March so it's nice to have them out of the way. Next steps? Carry on with the skirts, finish the arm-holes, and get started on the armour pattern.<br />
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There have been a few developments on the side - cast a new nose for Marius, decided on this summer's main project, and some utter craziness planned for late summer. More details to follow. Or if you can't wait that long, there's always <a href="https://www.facebook.com/teadrunktailor?ref=tn_tnmn">Facebook</a>! KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-42282134565945951762013-12-03T20:30:00.000-08:002013-12-04T09:58:39.914-08:00All We Own...And so back to Oz we go. When I initially conceived the idea for the Guard costume back in March, this is pretty much how things went:<br />
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A whole lot of enthusiasm but not much sense. And the results were... less than satisfactory. There was a lot of blind fumbling with skirt sizes and wasted time/fabric* as well as ham-fisted armour design due to a poorly proportioned dress-form.<br />
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So it's time to step back and figure out the next steps. First off, let's get a bit of design going on here. I've never been keen on a costuming project unless it's related to a character who makes the work interesting. This was an issue from the start with the Guards because they're all the bloody same. So the sketches started and after a couple of months, I started coaxing out some individualism.<br />
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There's already a noticeable difference from the Guard design in the film. They've ended up with pointy ears (because I wanted an excuse to have pointy ears) plus looong braids which may/may not be symbols of rank. Lieutenant Illarion in the top left is the chap I'm basing my costume on. I've got him pegged as the guy who gives the broom to Dorothy in the film. I've cooked up this whole backstory which morphed into a rather convoluted Oz 'fanfic' (gross) that lurks in the bowels of my hard-drive. There is even a Mk. I version of this costume - something light I could wear until the final version is finished.<br />
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ANYWAY, with a bit of time to mull the characters over and with commissions finished, it's time to get this road on the show again. So where are we at? Walk with me. We'll do this together. Currently, this is what I've got (damn, now I've got to put it on... right, just a minute here):<br />
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So when we left this in *coughAprilcough*, the skirts weren't fluffing out the right way but some clever application of bustles solved the problem perfectly.<br />
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Note the bustle fabric choice. This is currently missing the third skirt, which I have to recut. I'm tempted to add another layer of interfacing to the second skirt for extra support because they do have an obvious rigidity to them. The interfacing will be tricky - while it irons on smoothly enough, it develops bubbles over time where the adhesive lets go and I want these looking as smooth as possible from the outside. If anyone has tips on how to iron fusible interfacing to best effect, I am all ears!<br />
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Also, the shoes were a total fluke. The chaps in the film are wearing 'blocked' shoes and I didn't have the faintest clue what I was going to do here until I was over at my room-mate's parents for dinner one night. There was Chinese opera playing on the TV and one of the characters was wearing boots that were nearly identical to the Guards' footwear. My room-mate's mum happens to be just such an opera singer and - lo and behold - she had a pair in the house! A couple of weeks later, a pair were procured for my monstrous feet and we were off to the races. I'm going to build a greave system around these to widen them out a bit. (And practice walking in them because snapped ankles tend to put a damper on things...)<br />
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I'm trying to decide if I want to rework the tunic top to make it more robust. The hooks and eyes feel a bit precarious and the collar doesn't fit as well as it should. I want this whole thing to be as functional as possible - as if it were a real uniform.<br />
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So the next steps? Get the skirts straightened out. Add the second interfacing panel to the second skirt, add the embellishment, add the lining, and then move on to the final outer skirt. The second and third skirts will be held up with belts while the first one underneath is attached to the tunic top.<br />
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Onwards ho!<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">*I'm never sure which is worse. Probably time since you can usually buy more fabric.</span>KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-87433674213746887642013-12-03T18:35:00.000-08:002013-12-03T18:35:10.598-08:00Back in the Saddle!So the last post was when.... let's see here... oh, in June. Most of my activity has been over on <span style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/teadrunktailor?ref=hl">Facebook</a> or even <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/blog/teadrunktailor">Tumblr</a>, though the latter is more a repository for unrelated rants and pictures of dudes with sideburns (and occasionally pictures of yours truly with sideburns).</span><br />
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So what has happened in the interim? First off, I opened up commissions after Calgary Expo to gauge the interest (and since I was feeling my oats after the win at CCEE with Marius). Pumped out a couple of LARP tunics for a friend who plays a Hobling character and then took on a 1380s minor nobleman's ensemble which consisted of a chaperon, doublet, hosen, two shirts, and two underwear. I JUST tied up this commission last night so this is a preliminary 'catch-up' post before I head back into the thick of the Witch's Guard.<br />
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I also took a stab at vending at Edmonton Expo back in September. This required some labour-intensive leather work to pull together a variety of merch - mostly tech cases plus some business card holders because, you know, we're all grown up with jobs and shit.<br />
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As it turns out, I am horrific at selling my own stuff so my friend Chelsea took over and moved pretty near the whole works by the end of Saturday. Thanks, Chels!<br />
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And then there were the smaller personal projects. First, a new doublet to wear at the Brooks International Jousting tournament. Had been after a 1507 look with this one, a la the Unicorn Tapestries. Thanks to <span style="color: black;"><a href="http://iskaralpust.tumblr.com/">iskaralpust</a> for the photo!</span><br />
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And then there was the Witch's Guard Mk. I, debuted at Edmonton Expo. Maybe that's why I couldn't sell my merch....<br />
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I was having a bad case of "Get On My Body" with this costume so I threw together something I could wear until the more elaborate version is done. More on THAT later...<br />
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And then Korra's parka, which is the final addition to that costume (besides a better wig at some point).<br />
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Things have been quiet blog-wise since all of these projects were made in a flurry due to tight time-frames. But that's about to change since it's back to work on the Big Stuff. The Big Stuff actually needs it own post so we'll turn there now.KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-42280113362061922752013-06-05T21:33:00.000-07:002013-06-05T21:33:41.713-07:00Tally Ho! Sally Forth! Aka Greaves Part DeuxHello new followers! Welcome aboard! Thanks very much for the interest.<br />
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Things have been pretty dead around these parts for the last... oh... two months. Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo came and went. I managed to get Marius' greaves produced on schedule. When we left them, the poleyns + trim had been cut out but nothing had been sewn yet. Let's tie up that loose end first before we delve into Winkie Country.<br />
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Blogger flipped these for some reason but here is the trim going on the edge of the poleyns; you can <i>just</i> see the lettering. I find it helps immensely to contact-cement the trim first and let it dry while you awl the holes, otherwise your pieces will be sliding all over the place. It is attached with the usual <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLW6j1ulNNZrW9aZxdMypgmxOrlu785-ur2VBx5rf5VIR5uMWRGiPNa4BHiLGdP2dqR79VjOP0hUFAFor-k2DAMeycwegkMI6zujcg7OZo3kJ2VNh6bERmh-Sf_lkgq2pP5kJQ098R-IlP/s1600/Saddle+stitch.jpg">saddle stitch</a> deal - wonderfully easy to do and very strong. Then the curved fronts had to be sewn together and voila!<br />
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There was some remaining trim to sew on the greaves themselves and what better place to do that than the <a href="http://www.steepstea.com/">local tea shop</a>:<br />
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What's that, you say? They closed it down to renovate the little downtown mall it was in? Thanks, Calgary. This is why you can't have nice things. Anyway, I'll miss it. It's seen hours and hours of art/writing from the <a href="http://winterkings.qlippoth.net/">roomie</a> and I, plus a couple of hilarious RPGs with the broader Nerd Posse<span style="font-size: 125%;"><span class="Unicode">™</span></span>.<br />
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The actual feet or <i>sabatons</i> were the last pieces to be sewn together before I could start painting and riveting.<br />
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Here's the toe piece awled and ready to be stitched to the arch. That seam was the singularly hardest seam I've sewn to date: no matter how carefully I worked the awl, the holes would not line up. Cue bleeding fingers and tears.* But a couple hours and some four hundred expletives saw the job finished and everything was ready for the paint.<br />
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Meilhaus is using her dinner as an excuse to photobomb. Greaves and polyens both needed to be dyed and some trim painted before they could be riveted together due to pieces overlapping. As with the rest of Marius' armour, I used Fiebing's USMC Black dye. It took a couple of applications to get even coverage.<br />
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The riveting was an adventure unto itself. For some reason, it was impossible to get washers in the right size for the smaller rivets so I had to use the larger, thicker ones. Usually you use a bolt cutter to cut the posts down but - lacking a bolt cutter when I started this madness - I was using a old pair of nippers used for trimming horses which have the comparative bite of a garden slug (do they even have mouths?).<br />
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Anyways, here we are, in the woodshop at work over lunch. Between my co-worker and I, we managed to get the posts cut down easily enough but when I resumed riveting after work, things went a bit slower since there was no one to trade off with when my hands got too sore. But again, a few hundred expletives saw the job finished. The rest of the painting went together without a hitch. I saved the toes for last since I thought they would be too garish if I painted them gold.** But a few coats of dry-brushing did the job marvelously!<br />
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Before and after! One of the soldier chaps at work referred to them as 'horse boots' - I had intended the toes to look vaguely like hooves so it all worked out. The scrolled leaf motif is repeated on the falds of the pauldrons and on the front/back of the gorget. It was done by dampening the leather and stenciling in the design with a stylus and a template.<br />
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Finished the paint job laaaaate Friday night of Calgary Expo, then it was an early, early morning on Saturday to do the makeup and get ready. Got down to the grounds around 11:00 AM, threw the armour on with the help of friends, and then it was show-time!<br />
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Thanks to <a href="http://simonsaysbark.tumblr.com/">Kardi</a> for the photo! (And for helping me get dressed!)<br />
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Wearing this presents certain challenges - the boots add a few pounds to the bottom half and you've got to remember to walk fairly widely otherwise they catch on each other. Not necessarily a bad thing if you want to rock the genderbend. The costume contest started at 7 and ran very smoothly this year. For the skit, our awesome friend Peter and I ran a mocked-up gaming scenario that had a bit of a twist on the end. You can <a href="http://www.4shared.com/video/eWin1rmO/Costume_Contest_Part_3.html">see it here</a> - we are 7:46 - 9:17. I was worried it wouldn't read right to non-gamers but I think we got the point across. People seemed pretty enthused afterwards. <br />
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We came away covered in glory - Best in Show! Which was an incredible honour because there was some epic costumery this year - one guy had made a metal replica of the Witch King's armour from Lord of the Rings. Marius' comparative obscurity makes this all the sweeter - I had doubted for years that an obscure character could be successful in a costume contest but apparently that's not the case! Definitely helps when the judges are legitimate craftspeople.*** Marius is, of course, very near and dear to me as well. Funny how it all started back in March 2011 with a couple meters of yellow/purple silk for some ridiculous-looking pants or even earlier when I saw a photo of his miniature in the Warhammer rulebook and thought "... what gives?"<br />
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Anyway, I feel like I've got some closure on his gear now (apart from making some pimpin' gauntlets) so now it's full steam ahead with the Vinkus Guard! Like Marius, it's shaping up much more elaborately than planned but hey, it's the details that count, right? #obscurepunthatnobodygets<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Not the first time this has happened. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">**Again, with Marius Leitdorf, you're doing it wrong if you're worried about garishness. <i>Nothing</i> is too garish for this guy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">***Read what you want between the lines there...</span>KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-32840196409719196972013-04-08T21:33:00.000-07:002013-04-08T21:33:10.996-07:00About Turn!<br />
So..... slight change of plans.<br />
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The "Register Now" button for the Calgary Expo Costume Contest has been howling like a Greek siren all weekend so I caved last night and filled out Marius' information.<br />
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There's nerves and indigestion at work already but they're taking back-bench to the stuff that needs to be done. The costume, as it stands right now, looks like this:<br />
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Thanks to Dave Luckman for the shot.</div>
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Prior to SDCC last year, I had greaves in the works but they were never finished due to time constraints. So they're first on the list. I spent the bulk of this morning fooling around with tag-board patterns for the sabatons (foot armour). As the photos prove, there wasn't much success:</div>
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Foot armour is an fine, fine art I've yet to master and in a fit of pique, I dropped a chunk of leather in to soak, nailed it over the toe of the boot, and poked and prodded it until it looked the way I wanted:<br />
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Leather is far more forgiving than tag-board so it did what I wanted with minimal fuss. I'm eventually going to cut it down and sew it to a flat base that will slide over the toe of the boot. Not even going to attempt articulated plates here; instead, there will be a length of pliable leather between the greave bottom and the toe-cap. The Marius Leitdorf miniature shows toe-caps in a vaguely similar style so I think this will be okay.<br />
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(WTF... are those gaiters or greaves? You crazy, bro)</div>
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Setting the toe-cap aside to dry, the poleyns (knee-caps) were next. The pattern for them was very basic.</div>
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The longer piece sits on the outside of the leg (for more protection) and the shorter is on the inside. They attach along the curved fronts and give you this shape:<br />
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(Armour may not be as shown [This is actually <a href="http://www.hrp.org.uk/MediaPlayer/ViewPlaylist.aspx?PlaylistId=26">part of a Dutch armour</a> made for Henry Prince of Wales in 1607]) <br />
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As per the rest of Marius' armour, the poleyns will have the decorative lettered bands around their edges. Here is everything cut out:</div>
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Leather work, while intensely rewarding, is also very time-consuming. To have a polished-looking product, you can't just cut the stuff out and get sewing; instead, there are a number of steps:<br />
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1. Cut pieces out.<br />
2. Wet all the edges and buff them with that little white buffer wheel until all of the leather 'fuzz' is smoothed down.<br />
3. Wipe all of the edges down with edge dressing which glues the 'fuzz' down permanently.<br />
4. Run the stitch groover around all of the edges to prepare for your stitches (not done here yet since it's best to wait until everything is completely dry). <br />
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To do this collection of pieces, it's approximately an hour and a quarter. The work can be tedious but, frankly, it's nice to be on familiar ground again, especially in light of the Vinkus Guard project (which feels more like guess-work than actual planning...)<br />
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Time permitting, I want to make Marius a cape like this:<br />
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<a href="http://www.lynnmcmasters.com/elizmancape.html"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMlUxh9r-WRw-OelLNib0jrKdsMvJm-pBShtUmxZcnXc2Q1fYLr-5wLWO6qzrJZSMKKLfw9iqKUly1ikFVnTKrOa3pmb6LLZjgozoDU4Bc-yMYTwoRwuR_aLKCXjnwsr9kwBdgA15s899L/s320/cape.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is from Lynn McMaster's <i>incredible</i> <a href="http://www.lynnmcmasters.com/elizman.html">1590s Elizabethan Noble's Costume</a>. I mean, just FEAST YOUR EYES. Isn't it fab? So despite being about seventy years out of period for Marius, I'm going to make it anyway because the Warhammer world let's me get away with it and it's sexy as hell.<br />
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Next steps:<br />
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-Stylus the lettering into the borders<br />
-Glue them on to the armour pieces<br />
-Awl and stitch them on to the armour pieces<br />
-Stitch the poleyns together at the knee caps<br />
-Keep thinking up good puns for the skit <br />
-Have a better week than last week because, seriously.<br />
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Going to leave you with a super-nice shot of my Korra cosplay from Emerald City Comic Con. Many thanks to <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanuki_green/with/8614752267/#photo_8614752267">tanuki_green</a> for taking such great candid shots and also to the wickedly talented Aziza of <a href="http://www.facebook.com/peabodytailoring?ref=ts&fref=ts">Peabody Tailoring</a> for pointing it out! <br />
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And finally, a plug for <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Tea-Drunk-Tailor/103786716385281?ref=hl">The Tea-Drunk Tailor's Facebook page</a>! Now with more WIPS, costume photos, and bizzarity! KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-12271372917547865472013-04-06T21:28:00.000-07:002013-04-06T21:28:37.187-07:00Do These Pants Make My Butt Look BigWine + chocolate + Long Island ice tea + blog. It's been one of those weeks*.<br />
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Let's get some pants on!<br />
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They're 90% done right now - just have to add an eyelet/lace setup at the back of the waistband. The striping and the paneling doesn't match up along the side seams but it continues routinely enough across the front where it matters. The waistband, which is about five inches tall, doesn't have a front opening - the whole works is just big enough to pull on and the lacing at the back will keep them up.... in theory. The ankles are finished the same way. These have medium-weight fusible interfacing on the inside and are lined with a tan cotton-linen blend. <br />
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The best part? They act as an unofficial crinoline for the tunic skirting, though they still aren't enough to give the skirts the 'fluff' they need. But again, we'll get to that in a minute.<br />
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When we left the colpack last, the framework was completed but the fur was a work in progress. The only quality faux fur around this neck o' the woods comes in 4" strips so it has to be sewn together before it'll be wide enough. Here we go:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJO11EjEva6zSFR7luHJa69Fdn3TNaiP4hRsbWZiyXGe3qyL8FMY4IbKLKvF1YgRdbGxc371Q2Z-TlBxtsqE1VHV5a8tjD2qO-KkbzJGbXF0uvr13HzHgyJBFGH7kWT_W9rtibGAO2_T37/s1600/DSC_0737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJO11EjEva6zSFR7luHJa69Fdn3TNaiP4hRsbWZiyXGe3qyL8FMY4IbKLKvF1YgRdbGxc371Q2Z-TlBxtsqE1VHV5a8tjD2qO-KkbzJGbXF0uvr13HzHgyJBFGH7kWT_W9rtibGAO2_T37/s320/DSC_0737.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div>
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If you do it right, the seam becomes completely invisible (there is one seam roughly in the middle of the foreground piece and two seams on the circular piece). My experience with faux fur was minimal so <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Cut-Sew-Faux-Fur/">this tutorial</a> saved my butt royally.<br />
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Aaaaaaaand.... colpack! I got the interior band finished this week but don't have shots so it'll make an appearance next post along with info on the hackle and the <i>flamme</i>.<br />
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Now the skirts are... resisting and it wasn't until I went through three needles and broke my sewing machine this afternoon* that I realized how to get them right (again... one of those weeks). I thought marvelous head-way was made Thursday night when I patterned them up:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSFkfSvm2GHqYIWmrvq3BVcXDq-D0_jaxIa2NDf9lR6WEV4a_or55HC16nNkQvBN83kOzKtjKt-H2RIbVrozPSp3fon2ZjNZQs6QCRpzKUZOUzs74uj5zyNkm5oVAOCGB9MtNg2_T81YiD/s1600/DSC_0774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSFkfSvm2GHqYIWmrvq3BVcXDq-D0_jaxIa2NDf9lR6WEV4a_or55HC16nNkQvBN83kOzKtjKt-H2RIbVrozPSp3fon2ZjNZQs6QCRpzKUZOUzs74uj5zyNkm5oVAOCGB9MtNg2_T81YiD/s320/DSC_0774.JPG" width="214" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7gwQ8h_m2kKmHj6gCY5jMfbb9PI-hAbe4D0JUaDTkzUe6xpyYccwaknppJcB3EnKmWfYILadMdOWQHwmFgT_Ig7yjTF_9vvckw_NDgbo180KgGcmOGhDGvpTB5PqyZn3Gruuv8dQ0XxOz/s1600/DSC_0771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7gwQ8h_m2kKmHj6gCY5jMfbb9PI-hAbe4D0JUaDTkzUe6xpyYccwaknppJcB3EnKmWfYILadMdOWQHwmFgT_Ig7yjTF_9vvckw_NDgbo180KgGcmOGhDGvpTB5PqyZn3Gruuv8dQ0XxOz/s320/DSC_0771.JPG" width="214" /></a><br />
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About what you'd expect, right?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddwJ9211V_2Rbb32o9tTnItI4nvkxBaWcRM2C79Zq-ek6y8j0GgjKYxVV0Wf4lVEdI2M57QFDWjXrZStJ9b9tsPi4X9BAw-_RP14Tp_IaM1p4SXLsJpQPnFJjFsSxbImikB5nAM9rlf-F/s1600/32628d_lg.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddwJ9211V_2Rbb32o9tTnItI4nvkxBaWcRM2C79Zq-ek6y8j0GgjKYxVV0Wf4lVEdI2M57QFDWjXrZStJ9b9tsPi4X9BAw-_RP14Tp_IaM1p4SXLsJpQPnFJjFsSxbImikB5nAM9rlf-F/s320/32628d_lg.jpeg" width="156" /></a></div>
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So let's get those puppies cut out and interfaced. Got it? K, good.<br />
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Wait! What's this? So the sizes are suddenly different? The first and second skirts are far too big at the back? Quelle mystery! Alright, let's cut them down.<br />
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<br />Okay, better. The sizing is good here but will it be the same once they're fluffed out? You BET it won't! Even more, how do we get the bastards fluffed out in the first place? Because there is some massive bloody fluff happening here.<br />
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The silhouette is about 70% of the Guard costume; you can fudge a lot of the other details but you've GOT to get the damn silhouette right. Contrary to expectation, the interfacing didn't do the trick apart from firming them up nicely and after a week of humming and hawing and gnashing of teeth, I got an idea.<br />
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"Wait... there are those... what are they? Farthin.... farthingale things? Like... in ladies' clothes? Or bustles... I think?"<br />
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<a href="http://www.fashionsoftheages.com/Images/underpinnings/bustlepad.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="299" src="http://www.fashionsoftheages.com/Images/underpinnings/bustlepad.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b> </b></div>
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<b>BAM!!!</b></div>
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With a slightly different shape and placement around the hips, we're going to have all the fluff we need. It's only a matter of sewing six of these, fixing them under each skirt panel, and we're in business. Now I only need the sewing machine back from the shop (a week and a half) and we're in good shape. Also have to re-cut the top two skirts because they are... after all... too small.<br />
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It's almost fortuitous since I needed a good excuse to start the armour. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*It was a combination of things. <span style="font-size: x-small;">Lay-offs at work, irate donors, funerals, ignorant women budging the line to order 100g of everything in the bloody deli, shit weather<span style="font-size: x-small;">. Also, the cookie. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">You know that thing where you're eating in your car and a piece of it
falls down between the seat and the console? Same deal, with a cookie.
But it was half the bloody cookie and it went in that one hole where nothing comes out<span style="font-size: x-small;">. You <span style="font-size: x-small;">probably know the one - s</span></span>omething goes down there and it's in there for good<span style="font-size: x-small;">, no matter how you work the vacuum<span style="font-size: x-small;"> and adjust the seat.</span></span></span></span> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">**The product of a slipped stitch plate and a short temper.</span>KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-66340196372485090822013-03-24T19:45:00.000-07:002013-03-24T19:46:03.991-07:00Into the VinkusSo Emerald City Comic Con came and went and it was mind-blowingly terrific. I've got a Con report slated for Tumblr over the next week but that will have to wait in lieu of an update on the next project!<br />
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A chance discovery in an obscure comic shop in Seattle rekindled a latent childhood fascination with the Witch's Guard from the 1939 <i>Wizard of Oz</i>. Known rather ignominiously as the "Winkie Guard," these chaps, with their voluminous uniforms, their furry kolpaks, and their general air of badassery, were bound to hit the "Must Costume" list at one point. And so, with two weeks into the project already, it's time for an update.<br />
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Let's get some reference images to start with...<br />
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This was the photo I found in the bin at the comic shop that sparked a neural explosion. I mean, seriously! Just look at that stuff! Totally voluminous!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPBv2TdpEfsMfrRSVR4rQ0lchvHqEZM8JDn4_nZjyTK23EwriqrT8ZWZcQkJmuWNIFchJTRyZvloEP6OoB30yM6DUeMiRtkbytuoycqB4NgQjkmz-LBLKxTieNsjqP856VV0ymeDsr-PB/s1600/32628b_lg.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPBv2TdpEfsMfrRSVR4rQ0lchvHqEZM8JDn4_nZjyTK23EwriqrT8ZWZcQkJmuWNIFchJTRyZvloEP6OoB30yM6DUeMiRtkbytuoycqB4NgQjkmz-LBLKxTieNsjqP856VV0ymeDsr-PB/s320/32628b_lg.jpeg" width="244" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFVB3ZFSdNnRPGC4gXZinXWess77r1DVeI5EMnREWD0qZ1Ba3vOfDQyfqJockpiE-mzfa8_hizd4KVeLXI-wLohd-tc2WWCW_Z0MppA7159GsT03lAiRnc8aCj_2vGeiKXjAXmEwB-FTX/s1600/32628d_lg.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFVB3ZFSdNnRPGC4gXZinXWess77r1DVeI5EMnREWD0qZ1Ba3vOfDQyfqJockpiE-mzfa8_hizd4KVeLXI-wLohd-tc2WWCW_Z0MppA7159GsT03lAiRnc8aCj_2vGeiKXjAXmEwB-FTX/s320/32628d_lg.jpeg" width="156" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnj9DIM-4Xaxq3X08aLu851-ST0n2k0N3-7ExLR1N1whhPWLSeZXxVOVXeav_hp3_nurb0MsvPKIyd762DEWNY0plc1bTl0hCAWruv_S8fxfJ79pWsPenmpuW59I8V_JYGlH0emktj7UB/s1600/32628c_lg.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnj9DIM-4Xaxq3X08aLu851-ST0n2k0N3-7ExLR1N1whhPWLSeZXxVOVXeav_hp3_nurb0MsvPKIyd762DEWNY0plc1bTl0hCAWruv_S8fxfJ79pWsPenmpuW59I8V_JYGlH0emktj7UB/s320/32628c_lg.jpeg" width="135" /></a></div>
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Not to mention those halberd/glave polearms...<br />
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<i>The Wizardry of Oz: The Artistry and Magic of the 1939 MGM Classic</i> by Jay Scarfone and William Stillman also gives a nice costume break-down plus some interesting development insight on the Winkies themselves which will help immensely here:<br />
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So it was off to Fabricland the moment we laid foot at home again and some digging through the bargain section yielded a butter-soft gray polyester coating that could just about pass as doeskin wool if you don't get too friendly with it. The rest of it, aside from the red trim, was pulled from The Stash.<br />
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I wanted to make the bodice for the under-tunic first thing so I could set it up on the dressform and start to pattern up the armour right away.<br />
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Here we go with an initial stab at the 'necklace' too. The bodice is interlined with a quilted cotton to give it a nice rigidity one might expect in a uniform. My version closes with hooks and eyes and is generally much simpler than the movie version which you can see in the book scan above. Coming from Hollywood costumer designer, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_%28costume_designer%29">Adrian</a>, the guard design is an interesting hybrid of Hussar/Steppe attire plus some potentially Japanese influences in the simulated lamellar and plated armour. The combination of both plus some green skin and majestically hooked noses definitely produces some intimidating, malevolent-looking guards!<br />
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The bodice came together easily. I used the base pattern from <a href="http://sweet-threads.blogspot.ca/2012/10/dr-jacquin-word-goes-round.html">Dr. Jacquin's coat</a> because I knew it fit without much adjustment. The collar took some tweaking and is significantly different from the movie design:<br />
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I don't know how I am doing the sleeves yet. The chaps in the film have knitted sleeves to simulate maille, which I WILL have, but this almost seems like it needs half-length sleeves or something too. If you've got any suggestions, I'm all ears!<br />
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The 'necklace' is made from 1 1/4" dowel that was cut and drilled by Walter, our intrepid collections' tech at work. I sanded the pieces down a bit, gave them a coat of off-white paint, and a bit of light-brown dry-brushing to simulate bone. I don't know if it's actually supposed to be bone but the potentiality of them wearing the bones of their enemies around their necks is appealingly badass. The tassels are made of yarn and came together with <a href="http://techknitting.blogspot.ca/2008/06/how-to-make-tassels.html">this tutorial</a>. The final versions will be a lot more refined.<br />
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I didn't want to start on the skirting until I had the pants finished because I think they add to the 'fluff' of the skirts. Did a rough mock-up last week with an widened version of <a href="http://sweet-threads.blogspot.ca/2012/11/the-counts-new-pants.html">Marius' pants</a> but they didn't have the right shape.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmFEwdCJDmJ2DeLoUMJxhne4xxp0ST5fuWnC5FFDlvk3cHdROZ9Fpid3v_NFwZqDIgo29m2XCrH3Ye1WmxpJT27uFImasUKAMSWAA8kUA1BpJPPmgggiNlIBB7M6H4Lhiom6_dR3dWZQl/s1600/DSC_0694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmFEwdCJDmJ2DeLoUMJxhne4xxp0ST5fuWnC5FFDlvk3cHdROZ9Fpid3v_NFwZqDIgo29m2XCrH3Ye1WmxpJT27uFImasUKAMSWAA8kUA1BpJPPmgggiNlIBB7M6H4Lhiom6_dR3dWZQl/s320/DSC_0694.JPG" width="214" /></a></div>
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Or... any shape at all. Things got a little more oblong with the second mock-up - </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbf5QwJTT4M4KGyOv5UTMNMLgmJYfxMXMBMZ0083OY7a1ACn7NCLsxHJuu9rfOvNZAq52dRgf440b4_tcQAQb1XgBbijeYIk-n4kWgGK3WlLVIYAjoUyJ21rZqd_bwHRvHp8EzQHZu1pOk/s1600/DSC_0697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbf5QwJTT4M4KGyOv5UTMNMLgmJYfxMXMBMZ0083OY7a1ACn7NCLsxHJuu9rfOvNZAq52dRgf440b4_tcQAQb1XgBbijeYIk-n4kWgGK3WlLVIYAjoUyJ21rZqd_bwHRvHp8EzQHZu1pOk/s320/DSC_0697.JPG" width="214" /></a></div>
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- and this worked out much better. </div>
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Because the pants generally keep their shape while the guards move around during the film, I think there is a fair bit of interlining in there. There was also the issue of the strange gray and black dagged outer fabric, as seen here:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwrKyrb4GDvyp8-O7vFAWh6sYze0dK14qJbpX9NvI2Ni9Zr8msqFYWEQZGotdj5ufTMNjeF2kH62Iuf6zjWabGWBs8SGGcekGOY7EOaN601ujgGLCS6LoFkBGgx0aWttfYz7zgVLhKPVg/s1600/32628b_lg.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwrKyrb4GDvyp8-O7vFAWh6sYze0dK14qJbpX9NvI2Ni9Zr8msqFYWEQZGotdj5ufTMNjeF2kH62Iuf6zjWabGWBs8SGGcekGOY7EOaN601ujgGLCS6LoFkBGgx0aWttfYz7zgVLhKPVg/s320/32628b_lg.jpeg" width="244" /></a></div>
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I had initially thought to paint the fabric (gross) but woke up in the middle of the night thinking that it could be pieced together from multiple shades instead.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAhnccI3zScDihDgePggnhpvLV83OBluIt_uFntMOEMYxaWoO5X_PM7MqVFT8R_R-4P_b5FfgP09m7N2HEgQWOPEUOCTBT1dENqFa3Cd-qrnu-4Ru5tz7eeaU_Bpphah2pSw-bea7H1Yo/s1600/DSC_0729.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAhnccI3zScDihDgePggnhpvLV83OBluIt_uFntMOEMYxaWoO5X_PM7MqVFT8R_R-4P_b5FfgP09m7N2HEgQWOPEUOCTBT1dENqFa3Cd-qrnu-4Ru5tz7eeaU_Bpphah2pSw-bea7H1Yo/s320/DSC_0729.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div>
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The gaps wouldn't be an issue since they would be covered up by white bias tape. Mum had the ingenious idea of ironing the panes directly on to the fusible interfacing, eliminating any need to sew the panes together (which would only have ended in tears and elaborate self-hatred). <br />
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The cat, of course, had to help with the bias tape bit but it slept most of the time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit7tR7RhihZpcVWfwRDMAopVKunJrbdw4JmsJUVyLGINJyGVS0lFWsGZCSUsinXQDrlcdwXasr1cIgb2cmE-oi4aT3i2mq9cGNOISTnGTBY0cRcfcJgpvdZ6Thg-YaWvAgg_0W_gqXTvoM/s1600/DSC_0727.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit7tR7RhihZpcVWfwRDMAopVKunJrbdw4JmsJUVyLGINJyGVS0lFWsGZCSUsinXQDrlcdwXasr1cIgb2cmE-oi4aT3i2mq9cGNOISTnGTBY0cRcfcJgpvdZ6Thg-YaWvAgg_0W_gqXTvoM/s320/DSC_0727.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUr0qlGOMlVW_FrMqSXfTStkP9d2cc4NkCrqLtubWKQ4ndrgTXZjffvCbiV23VEG2atxgyavwrxiQIxoFPWZTiPSt7EfjUg1G58nV81_wBpmjOSRkS9YqIqYSyGO8IYP5HaRdNfHQ275h6/s1600/photo(6).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUr0qlGOMlVW_FrMqSXfTStkP9d2cc4NkCrqLtubWKQ4ndrgTXZjffvCbiV23VEG2atxgyavwrxiQIxoFPWZTiPSt7EfjUg1G58nV81_wBpmjOSRkS9YqIqYSyGO8IYP5HaRdNfHQ275h6/s320/photo(6).JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
I ran out of bias tape immediately so I started on the hat aka the 'kolpak.' According to <a href="http://www.cowansauctions.com/itemImages/hh0529.jpg">extant examples</a>, the kolpak - or 'busby' if you're feeling British - requires an interior framework to wrap the fur around so I dredged an ancient roll of <a href="http://www.wonderflexworld.com/">Wonderflex</a> out of the 'Rents' basement, left over from an aborted attempt at <a href="http://images.wikia.com/warhammer40k/images/1/1e/Primarch_Sanguinius_Victorious.jpg">Sanguinius</a> from Warhammer 40K four years ago.<br />
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Contrary to expectation, the kolpak framework came together flawlessly in no time at all. I started with two initial rings slightly bigger than my head as the base. One was just a tad smaller than the other so I could pinch the vertical pieces between. This saved me wrapping them around the base or some equally awkward mode of attachment.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNy5bT4wXl1WvhqgX-z3fbfiOx-CDPOKi9qxaMPlRfgm0oYFU7TLha-P1ImKKpCHWNuvu1c6wpBi8it7MUqSKHdnc7ptfzbhbjkjKi_PnyZIdlPpIIbOghqixTORYHGsb53sAlyLc3Il21/s1600/DSC_0730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNy5bT4wXl1WvhqgX-z3fbfiOx-CDPOKi9qxaMPlRfgm0oYFU7TLha-P1ImKKpCHWNuvu1c6wpBi8it7MUqSKHdnc7ptfzbhbjkjKi_PnyZIdlPpIIbOghqixTORYHGsb53sAlyLc3Il21/s320/DSC_0730.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here are all the vertical pieces gathered together with the crown pieces waiting on the side. The crown was cut bigger than the base by 2.5" to give it a bit of flare at the top.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ce8PWO-z15ShFNM38km9W0uHB3IwC4KyM7AlD6Jdtf6T8pv8OoFFsbMTxNWrkK_Ku4bsv8AFrKOxtGMKPe4YZtuaSk7VbzjnqUrAXapy8cQMcECUr2AXNobyPhtWdUCfvbLsXTpW7tDz/s1600/DSC_0731.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ce8PWO-z15ShFNM38km9W0uHB3IwC4KyM7AlD6Jdtf6T8pv8OoFFsbMTxNWrkK_Ku4bsv8AFrKOxtGMKPe4YZtuaSk7VbzjnqUrAXapy8cQMcECUr2AXNobyPhtWdUCfvbLsXTpW7tDz/s320/DSC_0731.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div>
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Getting the height figured out took a few tries. I like the height of the kolpaks in the film but there was something appealing about keeping it shorter (and more practical), as per a sketch from the trip home.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vRkvHiUSVbPKRDm7-cDOZ85X6YPYOJE2WvEPkHQpgQbGNpnyhJz3B4DD-aqwY44c0UH24H0Wp5H0Z-rSdNHobArj6wEqP64C7vB8pNtgPKmB8paqjSTPVyNEs8mCEJ0kSXMA0YGOEC9a/s1600/625417_10151560775815757_1131972034_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vRkvHiUSVbPKRDm7-cDOZ85X6YPYOJE2WvEPkHQpgQbGNpnyhJz3B4DD-aqwY44c0UH24H0Wp5H0Z-rSdNHobArj6wEqP64C7vB8pNtgPKmB8paqjSTPVyNEs8mCEJ0kSXMA0YGOEC9a/s320/625417_10151560775815757_1131972034_n.jpg" width="239" /></a> </div>
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Once I threaded the vertical strips through the crown pieces, I could play with the height as required. Settled on 13.5 cm, which seems very short, but once the fur is added, the whole thing will be considerably bigger. To achieve a slight domed effect, I bent the vertical strips to right angles, crossed them across the top, and glued them to the opposite sides.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThNIFIK7QgpKujXdjUXd-hTe9nHgL4_4XnK_rTAtsaRAliWmff7K9jlefXpEz47SMN9w9pLmIkqo9xmIVdg1bsqjfV33BIa5SCqPxnBeDowRDwpFlt2_4xQ4L5gAZSdIaqwg2JONhzP6-/s1600/DSC_0734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThNIFIK7QgpKujXdjUXd-hTe9nHgL4_4XnK_rTAtsaRAliWmff7K9jlefXpEz47SMN9w9pLmIkqo9xmIVdg1bsqjfV33BIa5SCqPxnBeDowRDwpFlt2_4xQ4L5gAZSdIaqwg2JONhzP6-/s320/DSC_0734.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div>
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Not beautiful but it'll be more than enough to support the fur.<br />
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And that is where things sit at the present. In other news, it's still winter here as it is in the rest of the world, apparently.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWhx48YHWI1N8aqa_faVKQYmq5_kXEArEtope3F72TILqv67-PWrht0mqQbvacPF_0h6hBwZQaKMzw7POUArIUa5hG-MJ9iNk1-ZKIM1dyH69ZqoluzMdESTNh-6Gh9xm0jd76WGbIHxI/s1600/photo(7).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWhx48YHWI1N8aqa_faVKQYmq5_kXEArEtope3F72TILqv67-PWrht0mqQbvacPF_0h6hBwZQaKMzw7POUArIUa5hG-MJ9iNk1-ZKIM1dyH69ZqoluzMdESTNh-6Gh9xm0jd76WGbIHxI/s320/photo(7).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-68534904713944495072013-02-24T22:52:00.000-08:002013-02-24T22:52:03.211-08:00The Marat Project: Workin' ItI think everyone in the world watched the Oscars except me tonight but with perfectly good reason.<br />
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Did a dress-rehearsal with Marat's gear today and my terrific co-worker Gary was excellent enough to devote the larger part of his day to taking some stellar pictures of it. It was good to be able to do this before leaving Tuesday morning because there are a couple things to adjust:<br />
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The scarf, so it looks more like a shoddy cravat rather than a boy-scout necktie.<br />
The ermine 'revers' on the jacket. It's only tacked down around the revers and not around the back of the neck. By the end of the day, it was sitting hella strange.<br />
The makeup requires a lot more texture though it's leagues better than most of my attempts in the past. Also, the nose was a rough pour with extra silicone left over from the skin condition prosthetics (more on THOSE later) so the colour isn't right and the edges are singularly horrific.<br />
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But without further ado, how about some silly posturing with a pistol and lots self-gratuitous smirking?<br />
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The beer! It was called La Guillotine! Many, MANY thanks again to Gary (for the photos) and his wife Lindsay for the lovely dinner afterwards.<br />
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Also, a thousand internet high-fives to whoever knows the significance of the apple. <br />
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Tomorrow will be busy - running around on a few last-minute errands, packing, and then we're good to head to Seattle for 0600 on Tuesday morning!<br />
<br />KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-86108715730819167962013-02-19T20:51:00.000-08:002013-02-19T20:51:58.455-08:00The Marat Project: Tail EndStuffing chicken breast and spinach salad into my face at the mo'; not as healthy as you might expect given the gallons of dressing.<br />
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And so. <br />
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The last update was close to a month ago and if this thing was close to being finished then, it's even closer now.<br />
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Let's start from the bottom!<br />
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Shoes were required for this and I wasn't content to modify a pair scrounged at the thrift store. Like the breeches, it's hard to find artistic suggestions of what Marat might have worn for footwear so I elected to go with a soft shoe made entirely out of leather. Enough to get around in but definitely not the fancy heely stuff you see on other chaps from the time period. I made these as "turn-shoes," a method used throughout the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance until you get heels turning up in the early 16th century. (If you're interested in the genesis of heels, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21151350">take a squint here</a>). It's quite probable that the lower classes were wearing something like this if they didn't have access to a cobbler. Clogs were also an option but... no. Just.... no. <br />
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The basic idea of a "turn-shoe" is to sew it inside out and then "turn" it the right way out so here we go sewing the upper around the sole. This is a <a href="http://www.aidan-campbell.co.uk/PDFs/Guide%20to%20Viking%20turnshoes.pdf">great pdf</a> for learning the proper stitch technique.<br />
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All done! <strike>Six hours and four bleeding fingers later.</strike> </div>
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Do it once more for the second one and then you're ready to turn them. They turned? Good! But wait! What's THIS....<br />
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The heel on the right is perfect but the heel on the left is all pinched and horrid.<br />
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How to fix? IS EASY! But I didn't learn this until the second shoe.<b> </b><br />
<b>Secret Hint</b>: Make sure you awl the same number of holes into your sole as you do into your upper. And mark the placement of your upper on the sole before you do the awling. I took the stitches out of the heel and redid it later.<br />
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There we go. Ready for the strap, the laces, and the dye! The strap, which sits beneath the tongue, keeps them snugged up around my ankles. It was a basic strap/buckle set-up like this:<br />
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Add some antiquing gel to dye them and they're ready to go!</div>
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Sexy and suitably ghetto for Marat. </div>
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The shirt, as you saw it in its last form, was far too clean so into a vat of boiling tea it went. </div>
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<br />Tea-staining is a terrific way to make white stuff look old - paper, shirts, etc. Add to that failed ventures with pen-and-ink plus a couple dozen chicken wings (you BET I wore that to the pub), you've got just the right amount of filth. Behold.</div>
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The neckerchief is 100% linen and a bit of an homage to Marat's description in <i>A Place of Greater Safety</i> by Hilary Mantel, who has him pulling "once at the red kerchief wrapped around his neck" prior to an evil-sounding speech at the Convention.* Linen wrinkles better than tin-foil so all I had to do was wet it, knot it, and wear it around for a morning for it to get that worn look.<br />
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On the topic of fabrics and the way they hang, I ended up redoing the
tricoleur sash. The cotton broadcloth of the initial sash was simply too
bulky so a visit to the bargain section at the fabric store yielded
some lighter finds. Let's do a compare-and-contrast:<br />
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Cotton on the left and mystery cheap fabric on the right. Sort of hard to tell but it generally sits nicer around the waist. Have trimmed the end and gone for a walk around the neighbourhood** with it trailing in some puddles to make it look like it's been... ahem... around the block.</div>
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One more thing before we pack it in for the night. This:</div>
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A pistol was mandatory and after a lot of dithering, I took the plunge and ordered the British Light Dragoon pistol from <a href="http://www.militaryheritage.com/">www.militaryheritage.com</a>. British, yes, but Marat could have legitimately had this during the Revolution. He lived in England between 1765 and 1774 so he could have picked it up then. Or it could have made its way over to the continent by the 1790s. Either way, there aren't many quality French pistols available and if I drill the touch-hole out on this one (and add a flint, duh), I'll be able to fire it. Beats the pants off the feeble nickle alloy reproductions anyways. Now let's see if I can get it into a Con.... (At least getting arrested suits the costume...)<br />
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It has settled in nicely. </div>
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<br />And so - on that very stupid note - I've wasted most of the evening writing this. The last couple of weeks have seen some intensive work on Korra's costume from Legend of Korra Season 2 but that's a post or two for later.<br />
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We leave for Seattle and Emerald City Comic Con a week today. There's a chance I might do a quick photoshoot with Marat this weekend and I do promise photos if that's the case.<br />
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Stay virtuous, citizens.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*It was gratifying to see a whole shelf of Mantel's work at the bookshop last night (due to her winning the Man Booker Prize twice now) but seeing PoGS there put me into a bit of a jealous pique<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>that this terrific book about the lads should be so widely available to the witless masses....</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">**My corner of the city is becoming very yuppy, very quickly. Chez nous is easily the most derelict on the street, seconded by one further up inhabited by a senior Polish lady who covers the hood of her car every night during the winter with a Spiderman blanket. I wave to her when I drive past her on the street and she always says something that reads like "F*ck you" but I keep waving because that will be me in fifty years. </span>KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-74032953256069807452013-01-23T22:26:00.001-08:002013-01-24T07:25:23.669-08:00The Marat Project: Closing InSo what's new? Let me grab my notebook here. It says to include the following salient points:<br />
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Socks<br />
Waistcoat<br />
Ermine Collar<br />
Shirt<br />
Makeup<br />
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Salient Point the First: <b>Socks</b> <br />
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Naturally the procurement of breeches required appropriate socks and where better place to turn than <a href="http://www.sockdreams.com/">www.sockdreams.com</a>. Couldn't decide on a colour or a style so $64 and a week later saw this collection arrive on my doorstep:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgziAt7w8BulUA-NUGjKBT3wHF0iQoZyCm6IMtBhIgldQrEo2X3JQtZoPBjO2Upck_nRGJvPApkO-oKZM4hLS2WccSd_8KxA0EzDdjgZ9TP7plVo9SvlBNn70S5qTbq4MoCvf5ZFCKN9DPv/s1600/IMG_1484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgziAt7w8BulUA-NUGjKBT3wHF0iQoZyCm6IMtBhIgldQrEo2X3JQtZoPBjO2Upck_nRGJvPApkO-oKZM4hLS2WccSd_8KxA0EzDdjgZ9TP7plVo9SvlBNn70S5qTbq4MoCvf5ZFCKN9DPv/s320/IMG_1484.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'm a bit partial to the olive-coloured ones and the gray ones next to the olive - probably one leg one colour and one leg another. When you're producing a daily newspaper whilst on the run from the police, there's not much time to make sure your socks match. However! Opinions are more than welcome so if you see something that catches your eye, point it out! The breeches are on the left for comparison. N.B. It has to look shitty.<br />
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Salient Point the Second: <b>Waistcoat</b><br />
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Not going to lie. The stripey fabric that turns up in the 1780s/90s makes my arms do stupid flaily things. Let's get some examples here.<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Robespierre.jpg/220px-Robespierre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Robespierre.jpg/220px-Robespierre.jpg" /></a></div>
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The ever-dapper Maximilien Robespierre.</div>
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<a href="http://www.brignewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/130109-les-miserables.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://www.brignewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/130109-les-miserables.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The also-dapper students from Les Mis. Sure, 1830s*, but still stripey.</div>
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<a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/auteurs_production/images/film/french-revolution/w448/french-revolution.jpg?1297344762" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/auteurs_production/images/film/french-revolution/w448/french-revolution.jpg?1297344762" width="320" /></a></div>
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Camille Desmoulins and Max Robespierre from <i>La Revolution francaise</i></div>
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A waistcoat isn't required for Marat's outfit but I want to make one regardless. Because, let's face it, THE SEXIEST. And so, I lay before you The Fabric Selection.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimoXWLAQmSr7xNYj-6oKzKMU5pyqTcrs3pmeKueSkF-O4Qgc7kLzBZqYb7vOe5DBtde5suZ1X-6x5bg7Hsw_ddlbVvjLhR_xrG3DnVejUF2BJBMM1a8-Uo7ZQAzlXqAWnOA0q73JoVtoUz/s1600/IMG_1485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimoXWLAQmSr7xNYj-6oKzKMU5pyqTcrs3pmeKueSkF-O4Qgc7kLzBZqYb7vOe5DBtde5suZ1X-6x5bg7Hsw_ddlbVvjLhR_xrG3DnVejUF2BJBMM1a8-Uo7ZQAzlXqAWnOA0q73JoVtoUz/s320/IMG_1485.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The blue on the left and the red in the middle came from the Stash but I bought the green/brown this week because the earth tones fit nicely with the rest of the outfit and seem appropriate for Marat. <strike>The green matches his eyes.</strike> <3 #getalife Being upholstery fabric, it's also got a good weight and texture to it so I don't need to interline it. The irregularity of the stripes is a slight issue - most of the striped fabric I've seen from the period has an obvious pattern to it. Compared with the muted tones of the earlier 18th century, it's like the wearers wanted to say "Hey, we're wild but we're not <i>that</i> wild..." I'm sticking with these irregular stripes because... well, because Marat, who was pretty irregular himself. That's on the agenda for this weekend.<br />
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Salient Point the Third: "<b>Ermine" Collar</b><br />
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I was nervous about this from the start because I was worried it wouldn't lay right through the comparative thickness of the faux fur. But I threw a linen backing on it over the weekend and it came off without a hitch. Here it is without the seam allowance trimmed and before it was ironed flat:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKAb1Uqu-QOG4IWWCXLkdXO1ca6lREM9-ajQqMVNr2oehBw8RAyK1-2-8bqut2lmDqyLMRFyMscg_NJumA0QtbsoTHEytVSADE86OrSNgJi19W6EXziXK7ZdYb2gBenzB42mWzHZ4bq1M/s1600/20130120_133849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKAb1Uqu-QOG4IWWCXLkdXO1ca6lREM9-ajQqMVNr2oehBw8RAyK1-2-8bqut2lmDqyLMRFyMscg_NJumA0QtbsoTHEytVSADE86OrSNgJi19W6EXziXK7ZdYb2gBenzB42mWzHZ4bq1M/s320/20130120_133849.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
It actually ironed superbly and sits much better on the coat now. Pictures next post.<br />
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Salient Point the Fourth: <b>Shirt</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3bJ_utNFElxM3WOHzVYSYVi2XcA5r3KfqMwWV-GJyRjH8KpphVqRqDu05kH_0StLZF8QiwDbquEqsPObr1IOrcxwq24Bv0XQYU8UTy9a9SsRElSH0pojlf0bQdI4ial7Diye5emtoyzZO/s1600/Shirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3bJ_utNFElxM3WOHzVYSYVi2XcA5r3KfqMwWV-GJyRjH8KpphVqRqDu05kH_0StLZF8QiwDbquEqsPObr1IOrcxwq24Bv0XQYU8UTy9a9SsRElSH0pojlf0bQdI4ial7Diye5emtoyzZO/s320/Shirt.jpg" width="174" /></a></div>
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The shirt took up the balance of last week. I hand-stitched the thing because, really, that's the only way to make historical shirts. Plus it makes you feel much more... authentic. I took the basic pattern from <a href="http://www.tudortailor.com/bookshoptt.shtml">The Tudor Tailor</a> - Renaissance-era, yes, but apart from the collar and cuffs, shirts were pretty near the same between the 1500s and our era here. And it's a damn good pattern.<br />
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This is a light cotton from the Stash but I should have used linen because it just looks way better - more wrinkly, more lived-in, which is definitely what we're after here. I cut the body shorter and narrower than normal - these things are typically tents when they're cut right - but I didn't want a whole bunch of bulk under the jacket or extra shirttails to stuff into the breeches. I'll let Finn from Adventure Time demonstrate the intensely sexy 'Bulky Shirt Crammed Into Pants" look:<br />
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<a href="http://images.wikia.com/adventuretimewithfinnandjake/images/0/0e/Finn_in_incomplete_wizard_robe.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://images.wikia.com/adventuretimewithfinnandjake/images/0/0e/Finn_in_incomplete_wizard_robe.png" width="211" /></a></div>
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Yeah, like that.</div>
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Salient Point Number the Fifth: <b>Makeup</b><br />
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Need that reference image again here.<br />
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I took a night last week to have a go at the makeup. Didn't bother with any prosthetics this time so it doesn't look near as dudely as it should but I wanted to focus on getting the shadows sorted out so I devoted most of the time to the left side of the face. Marat's eyes and cheekbones were huge, striking, and prominent so that was the path I took here. Gave everything a good base of medium tan first and then lightly brushed a layer of yellowish water-base over top for the highlights (skin the colour of old newsprint, yo). Tried a different route with the shadows than I normally do - like the highlights, they were layered in lightly with a fluffy brush (like a small powder brush) and darkened up once I got the basic placement down. This effect is MUCH better than the hard angles I've used for chaps like <a href="http://colonelliamross.deviantart.com/#/d5mzdzh">Marius</a> and <a href="http://colonelliamross.deviantart.com/art/Giovanni-Auditore-255600853">Giovanni</a>. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9AcLAtOTj_-ER6RjnvZfZzY0xU65-EhAVFw2bItkkqs1GbB1Bn0-m4pbLmr5YRtZykPKoooMiGDDoRoywxNOix6AQupX8JoB4uk9yXfZaHpQyYMT7q2ZXD_H0l7-0jHZmXbB_Mx9ig7w-/s1600/Makeup1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9AcLAtOTj_-ER6RjnvZfZzY0xU65-EhAVFw2bItkkqs1GbB1Bn0-m4pbLmr5YRtZykPKoooMiGDDoRoywxNOix6AQupX8JoB4uk9yXfZaHpQyYMT7q2ZXD_H0l7-0jHZmXbB_Mx9ig7w-/s320/Makeup1.jpg" width="231" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeieHSslWKmyAAK3XbfBFE9Zbh1s0ww1LPwdZBlKMxhnIEWQm4agM7BY7ri-4UUc6HLPvGe4xfD9YwnO92XWxjS-qCv9cGzNx7ElxyO6G4jMfCcOjE6yD4hjVO2GnF6bFbsYKl2pUc2NN/s1600/Makeup2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeieHSslWKmyAAK3XbfBFE9Zbh1s0ww1LPwdZBlKMxhnIEWQm4agM7BY7ri-4UUc6HLPvGe4xfD9YwnO92XWxjS-qCv9cGzNx7ElxyO6G4jMfCcOjE6yD4hjVO2GnF6bFbsYKl2pUc2NN/s320/Makeup2.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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Not quite the sort of thing you show the in-laws. The mysterious skin disease is still a work-in-progress - I got an initial effect by dabbing on a few layers of latex and then adding appropriate reds, light browns, and yellows. It's a step in the right direction but I gave myself a real skin condition getting the stuff off - it was like peeling off a band-aide the size of your face. So we won't be using latex next time.<br />
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And so to bed. Apart from the shoes and the weathering, this is pretty much in the bag. Now do I have the time to finish Malfatto for Emerald City or should I do Season 2 Korra? Let's see what the weekend brings.... <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Is it 1830s? IDEK. In my mind, there was only ever ONE revolutionary movement in France.</span>KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-31792506546075379632013-01-14T20:49:00.000-08:002013-01-14T20:54:06.075-08:00Avec-CulottesSo the last week has been devoted to Marat's breeches and I managed to get them wrapped up this afternoon.<br />
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I've only made one other <a href="http://sweet-threads.blogspot.ca/2012/11/the-counts-new-pants.html">successful pair of pants</a> in my life so this was a bit of a personal triumph. Consequently, this post is <i>very</i> GPOY-heavy. <br />
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Using the 1750s-1800s fall-front breech pattern from R.I. Davis' <i>17th and 18th Century Men's Costume, Cut, and Fashion</i>, the mock-up came together well. The thighs took extensive fitting but the waist fit perfectly on the first go (hello, seven chocolate oranges consumed over Christmas. So that's where you went....).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMY_prw6AAamB4gbkL-K4OdEObPkIB6N0phFYxPl-YveqmXhrL9qDy21j2o1ji6hBaQtRZby6mQ986lKBJEVYMLdlkJzEGbfVDJ67I7HDZG_GIP4gX3e55IYLw3tHeB-4nNqTyyfIxu5Nd/s1600/Breeches+Mock+Up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMY_prw6AAamB4gbkL-K4OdEObPkIB6N0phFYxPl-YveqmXhrL9qDy21j2o1ji6hBaQtRZby6mQ986lKBJEVYMLdlkJzEGbfVDJ67I7HDZG_GIP4gX3e55IYLw3tHeB-4nNqTyyfIxu5Nd/s320/Breeches+Mock+Up.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
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The cotton muslin fabric is very close in colour to the final micro-suede fabric, which behaved quite differently when I sat down to do the final cut.<br />
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The fall-front itself took exceptional care to keep it neat and tidy. Here's a shot of it without the band across the top of the flap:<br />
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And the interior workings, including the two "bearers" (it's the same pair, just different light):<br />
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And the finished top (only lacks the buttons and a good press):<br />
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Top-stitching is your friend here, boys and girls. I've never used it extensively in the past (lacking guts and a good excuse) but it's a darn good way of adding trims without excessive tomfoolery. Had to be particularly careful here because the microsuede has got a pretty good stretch to it and it tried all sorts of stunts under the needle.<br />
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Those are welts on either side of the flap. They are cut double on the fold and encase the raw edges of the flap.<br />
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Interestingly, fall-front breeches are still seen today as traditional Austrian/German lederhosen!<br />
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Stylish!</div>
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So adding the buttons this afternoon, I had to give it a go this evening.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMPCB7WkTEa5TbcBrJfuAmfs80eLpEUgv8YueVb7a6hfGWc2XUc1CRAX-mmna8fYsuuNNauj8byJbpuVZNntJ62v-KT8ypRblgjoFQAQjxP4qWYh9PBRoAv55Bgt9Y_VavIMI20aBbDBl/s1600/Breeches1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMPCB7WkTEa5TbcBrJfuAmfs80eLpEUgv8YueVb7a6hfGWc2XUc1CRAX-mmna8fYsuuNNauj8byJbpuVZNntJ62v-KT8ypRblgjoFQAQjxP4qWYh9PBRoAv55Bgt9Y_VavIMI20aBbDBl/s320/Breeches1.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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Tried it with the top-boots first but it was FAR too posh. (Though I'm definitely going with those boots if I ever do <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Camille_Desmoulins_2.jpg">Camille Desmoulins</a>' clothing....)</div>
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And then shoes/stockings.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMxJUN5Hbh3ft3dMvFqIqKHwRd1Z2TmRBage2jVQocu84mQbwU9LUK6tn5fF_Q5tY_BTM_stqsYEJLppiej-tXMHKtOwpq2u0UnIcddiBIzkwddnszeE220_xRlqDLrWaHhGlTn24IFuk0/s1600/Breeches2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMxJUN5Hbh3ft3dMvFqIqKHwRd1Z2TmRBage2jVQocu84mQbwU9LUK6tn5fF_Q5tY_BTM_stqsYEJLppiej-tXMHKtOwpq2u0UnIcddiBIzkwddnszeE220_xRlqDLrWaHhGlTn24IFuk0/s320/Breeches2.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>
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Better. Less formal. But something's still not right.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6z0ri1NnIju1BM83m0X3XaePaZt4w6pOFbOgp5ZRF_6aB-L0pynnZ76s3wpZUIUks2FkHhS1s7zudKyvgLgJhW1bhRgkfhY81b2QbpYi9-te9h3ZvlCt_bKq7j3i04oMQb9UVlU2lc2Kz/s1600/Breeches4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6z0ri1NnIju1BM83m0X3XaePaZt4w6pOFbOgp5ZRF_6aB-L0pynnZ76s3wpZUIUks2FkHhS1s7zudKyvgLgJhW1bhRgkfhY81b2QbpYi9-te9h3ZvlCt_bKq7j3i04oMQb9UVlU2lc2Kz/s320/Breeches4.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>
Better! It was just a matter of un-strapping/un-buttoning the garter areas and letting the breeches drop down the leg a bit. A few steps around the house had the socks falling down too.<br />
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Probably takes a couple of inches off my height for sure. I remember reading the Lord of the Rings Fellowship movie book back in high school - the costume designer was talking about doing something similar for the hobbits' pants and it has stuck ever since. High waists and pants cut about five inches below the knee make for some shrimpy-arse people.</div>
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So! It's just a matter of being totally lazy in my dress which fits Marat's character perfectly. We'll talk about dressing carelessly in the next post.</div>
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Before we sign off, let's take a quick look <i>sans</i> jacket. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVwRaKuyC6psAl5IRfwpR7vI7EeMaRx9453d9JwMtxNBEdE3BYYWWcCpVWqDPWorxZBw_gXHT3hiddnsxdTJWan_ieSL52V6qC0XGUSlbBZj_AU5-y_YfelVij336RIrjPlcQfeB13hdZ/s1600/Breeches7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVwRaKuyC6psAl5IRfwpR7vI7EeMaRx9453d9JwMtxNBEdE3BYYWWcCpVWqDPWorxZBw_gXHT3hiddnsxdTJWan_ieSL52V6qC0XGUSlbBZj_AU5-y_YfelVij336RIrjPlcQfeB13hdZ/s320/Breeches7.jpg" width="132" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihrPJGp0JUL5h_ua4mH3as0oReKt1OL2dp6RC2QONOMvq558dfGyie8tTJWsam4rDEPwBTlW_LH_cXIAV4Sxi_anknkrHMc2B9w280MPwjf37KL6sIJVq9kJjWnI68B_eUoUZXTSsx-RHk/s1600/Breeches8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihrPJGp0JUL5h_ua4mH3as0oReKt1OL2dp6RC2QONOMvq558dfGyie8tTJWsam4rDEPwBTlW_LH_cXIAV4Sxi_anknkrHMc2B9w280MPwjf37KL6sIJVq9kJjWnI68B_eUoUZXTSsx-RHk/s320/Breeches8.jpg" width="108" /></a></div>
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The high waist takes a bit of getting used to, not going to lie. But it's nice having my kidneys toasty warm. I have a hunch that these high-waisted breeches worked on the same principles as the joined hosen seen after the 1450s. You put the waist of the garment at your natural waist (around your navel) so it covers more and you don't get nasty back-drafts. Because you bend at your natural waist, it means the garment bends with your body. However, if you think you're cool and try wearing them 'gansta style,' (i.e. anything less than armpit height), you'll tear the crotch out in under ten steps. <br />
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There was more to add but my brain has ground to a halt for the night. Going to get the jacket finished this week and then it's on to the shirt and shoes and three million make-up tests.KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-13766013315534690422013-01-07T18:05:00.000-08:002013-01-07T18:05:52.903-08:00O Ye of the Extra FaceNow where were we? Oh, yes, on the sewing hiatus that was supposed to be until February. A look at the calender tells me it's the second week in January. Well, you tried.<br />
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But that's okay! Because! Con season is rapidly approaching and our first up is Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle during the first three days of March.<br />
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After watching Les Miserables* a couple of weeks ago, I got my feels for the French Revolution back. I know it's not THE French Revolution but the young dudes in the waistcoats and tricoleur sashes got me jonesing to finish <a href="http://sweet-threads.blogspot.ca/2012/06/disguised-as-human-being.html">Jean-Paul Marat's outfit</a> from last June. And because that's one of three outfits going to Emerald City, we'll talk about it tonight.<br />
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Could I get a reference image here?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibn7u0yooNBl1UqK4AW3pnWDD9tH24tNx6kPNMLolXe0Q2LicaORbJDj80oIFczLdiY8JyOJGyhrxVvuun7SQeA6A6HjRu2t9D08Jgq-hnBv2UE41I5CMmBj0_TSDSWDBthJnuU7IEZJws/s1600/2-jean-paul-marat-1743-1793-granger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibn7u0yooNBl1UqK4AW3pnWDD9tH24tNx6kPNMLolXe0Q2LicaORbJDj80oIFczLdiY8JyOJGyhrxVvuun7SQeA6A6HjRu2t9D08Jgq-hnBv2UE41I5CMmBj0_TSDSWDBthJnuU7IEZJws/s320/2-jean-paul-marat-1743-1793-granger.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
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Cool, thanks.</div>
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After fixing an initial fitting issue with the shoulders which had me stumped last summer, there wasn't much left to do to get it looking coat-like, apart from adding the collar.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhau7h6YqGLad1Eymd-LOIa93Yz88vbsACFOML68UqcT9aMDfL4bJ5EkrrP8VzutM03Ism2sRZxaIj5wLo3RmWHC5YjX7pF2snFzFAHCU4mXnT7ljAONkj2QbSUpqd-ZUXpWGbxnX_G0ig1/s1600/Coat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhau7h6YqGLad1Eymd-LOIa93Yz88vbsACFOML68UqcT9aMDfL4bJ5EkrrP8VzutM03Ism2sRZxaIj5wLo3RmWHC5YjX7pF2snFzFAHCU4mXnT7ljAONkj2QbSUpqd-ZUXpWGbxnX_G0ig1/s320/Coat1.jpg" width="143" /></a></div>
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Ignore the meters of linen shirt hanging out the front - Marat's coat fits him really quite snugly so I wanted to make sure mine was the same. The sleeves could stand to be a bit snugger but oh, look, an excuse to get back to the gym and get uber biceps. The lining shows on the revers (lapels) because I had intended on tacking the faux fur lining directly on to the coat. However, I would like to wear the coat by itself <i>sans</i> feral-looking fur lining but that remains to be seen.<br />
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Now the feral-looking fur lining is a bit of an anomaly as far as 18th century clothing goes. This was one of Marat's trademarks besides the turban and the well-developed skin disease (more on that later...). Simon Schama refers to it as an "ermine scarf" and while the former is certainly true, the latter isn't; anyone with anything beyond extreme hyperopia can see that it isn't a bloody scarf.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1GFYIw3Qst37cwyp9u6dVbXWSpL8vF52qnqyJww6ITmGzeh1EnBGbcr8-QeUN0crQjVvihtWGOp1P2QRQX5iMpX1Sr8A1MgkAVCbvzWQVWj7JSYt2gQ-4yYuZNoWIpZa5L4en2zwPnFs/s1600/Jean-Paul_Marat_portre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1GFYIw3Qst37cwyp9u6dVbXWSpL8vF52qnqyJww6ITmGzeh1EnBGbcr8-QeUN0crQjVvihtWGOp1P2QRQX5iMpX1Sr8A1MgkAVCbvzWQVWj7JSYt2gQ-4yYuZNoWIpZa5L4en2zwPnFs/s320/Jean-Paul_Marat_portre.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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And so... fur lapels. Why? No clue. After a while you just stop asking 'why' with Marat and haul out your initial patterns to see what you can do. This is something I've learned over the years - when you are confronted with a potentially complex shape in sewing, grab a pencil and paper and sketch out a few quick designs (it actually helps to keep a notebook where you can jot down ideas/lamentations as you work). Here is what mine looks like with the fur lapel sketch:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR5U1-jtOKD3MG8Gs7HDdwX7LfO_C8NqmIRU32AG3KMo0AlejE9QOSpb38IiKZZ9kj3L39U6pedqQHFoaFwtwozHRxioMs-WIY6zov1eSPdOj55LjinVq9szpfFsIxgSqps2JFE8bO2flh/s1600/photo(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR5U1-jtOKD3MG8Gs7HDdwX7LfO_C8NqmIRU32AG3KMo0AlejE9QOSpb38IiKZZ9kj3L39U6pedqQHFoaFwtwozHRxioMs-WIY6zov1eSPdOj55LjinVq9szpfFsIxgSqps2JFE8bO2flh/s320/photo(4).JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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Once you've got a basic idea of how the thing might look, grab any relevant pattern pieces and start playing with layouts. In this case, I knew the fur lining was a combination of the collar and the revers so I took the collar pattern and laid it out on the muslin with the front pattern from the coat. After a bit of tweaking, I cut the muslin so it looked like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4lOsBBinsa4G6ww9g-Bc0POPuNi1mk098OZFUFK7yEup8xLcDxmOiUEP08MsSyfJj6qRORAYoUWJ2A0JfcfdgvPoaprTG4RpCuzySYwZg7DW0SzD1hoCtBOcE-zVIqeVB8gNzyCw8s5Xy/s1600/photo(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4lOsBBinsa4G6ww9g-Bc0POPuNi1mk098OZFUFK7yEup8xLcDxmOiUEP08MsSyfJj6qRORAYoUWJ2A0JfcfdgvPoaprTG4RpCuzySYwZg7DW0SzD1hoCtBOcE-zVIqeVB8gNzyCw8s5Xy/s320/photo(3).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I've had that tiger-print fur for some ten years now - bought it when I was doing a one-man show about Marat for the high school drama festival so I wanted to make sure the pattern was 100% correct before cutting into it. Tiger is a far cry from ermine but it is nigh impossible to get decent-looking faux fur around here. But it came together well.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRF5GUnRIqEuaP9QOaCVuwqVkEsGwCmOLxHnIUlrES6PpFsBdwX9FKUWcIpIjIMu1kcsdt_t4m4g8sVL0xOCSaZZEcadc7uiyg8d4zUj_SY_1EfJ_Xpn6yz6dWMBtRFDeckEe5kbquxJL/s1600/Coat2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRF5GUnRIqEuaP9QOaCVuwqVkEsGwCmOLxHnIUlrES6PpFsBdwX9FKUWcIpIjIMu1kcsdt_t4m4g8sVL0xOCSaZZEcadc7uiyg8d4zUj_SY_1EfJ_Xpn6yz6dWMBtRFDeckEe5kbquxJL/s320/Coat2.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
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The tiger print looks a bit... feline but it's easy enough to redo later.<br />
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I'm still totally undecided on the bottom half. As per the discussion on the <a href="http://sweet-threads.blogspot.ca/2012/06/disguised-as-human-being.html">initial post</a>, it's a bit of a toss-up between breeches, long pants, a sheet, a towel, or whatever else. According to the artwork - contemporary and not - he's got a variety of stuff on.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtX6meDv5SOQCWHJ7xW-NcdwAEkv5T7Pp1atybDYq40GnGrmt3njLGlFamngYkLVaOXEpJ3NmGfAk-COp6Mo9yIqbSWWw8Yl7ozZb_BPerChOoRDNBm8CUQOm_RFhsEcggUiMUFHC-v1bX/s1600/Jean_paul_marat_par_viollat.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtX6meDv5SOQCWHJ7xW-NcdwAEkv5T7Pp1atybDYq40GnGrmt3njLGlFamngYkLVaOXEpJ3NmGfAk-COp6Mo9yIqbSWWw8Yl7ozZb_BPerChOoRDNBm8CUQOm_RFhsEcggUiMUFHC-v1bX/s320/Jean_paul_marat_par_viollat.png" width="224" /></a></div>
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A sheet (?) </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPQShFg6rAiSJFQbS0N3q0pHZaYJekmgAskex9S7i0zNLGOQq7STH_-WqB-QRi0Y3rUP0E6_G4iM2ujVWnR4T32KhbSJ0B05QvfOynRs5rLHyKNaNGBC0LEbjggwSyXxk6pYmmgBcetvY/s1600/tumblr_m47010pXFs1qf2bngo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPQShFg6rAiSJFQbS0N3q0pHZaYJekmgAskex9S7i0zNLGOQq7STH_-WqB-QRi0Y3rUP0E6_G4iM2ujVWnR4T32KhbSJ0B05QvfOynRs5rLHyKNaNGBC0LEbjggwSyXxk6pYmmgBcetvY/s320/tumblr_m47010pXFs1qf2bngo1_500.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Either breeches or nothing at all but we'll assume breeches.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg26GNmH56UUC6S1eXK_fHgKnQFxZfTnvNHzKcHy0S9wEpLoqLHyuHtqHs7_rWUmjCzBinaMMQQM6xgHwY_aEpBazRobPLVOvgvBdBi5W4unE6no8nY3vDPo_bRdBwwqjEhfUTZE988-217/s1600/tumblr_mbsyipJu2I1rgp85io1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg26GNmH56UUC6S1eXK_fHgKnQFxZfTnvNHzKcHy0S9wEpLoqLHyuHtqHs7_rWUmjCzBinaMMQQM6xgHwY_aEpBazRobPLVOvgvBdBi5W4unE6no8nY3vDPo_bRdBwwqjEhfUTZE988-217/s320/tumblr_mbsyipJu2I1rgp85io1_1280.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Looks like breeches again.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKMqPGQzl-GhicPwEFiTYzR-AYde7wMQu4DD7WLPvNfmKiFolHOt6ZOS_Vruvhov_5GKHisCYemAy9_i9Y8VwPNSp5Y8pTKLhFAv4iNmmEukSZ2tMNO3h-CoU-YmFrQCpkXuFMItTbyQr/s1600/l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKMqPGQzl-GhicPwEFiTYzR-AYde7wMQu4DD7WLPvNfmKiFolHOt6ZOS_Vruvhov_5GKHisCYemAy9_i9Y8VwPNSp5Y8pTKLhFAv4iNmmEukSZ2tMNO3h-CoU-YmFrQCpkXuFMItTbyQr/s320/l.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Breeches. Also, what the fresh hell is going on? Oh right, Marat.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5eCKtWxGZBHfWQbtr9gu65_xKCiXR-44pEqjKANL1AbnSno9THiXq-oJLLJPxTfAZdsuHwsVm8aevgOe_ewJ4i35XI1qsBa5qfnED0tPRboUSQ_CWCxMmx6o09n9zvBlzB-Tofobnyo1E/s1600/23ThiersHRFt0401MaratTriomph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5eCKtWxGZBHfWQbtr9gu65_xKCiXR-44pEqjKANL1AbnSno9THiXq-oJLLJPxTfAZdsuHwsVm8aevgOe_ewJ4i35XI1qsBa5qfnED0tPRboUSQ_CWCxMmx6o09n9zvBlzB-Tofobnyo1E/s320/23ThiersHRFt0401MaratTriomph.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Definitely breeches. Also, I approve of those socks and that attitude. </div>
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A bedsheet, but granted, he's in bed.</div>
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I will probably end up making breeches though opinions are more than welcome - feel free to drop them in the comments! If I do go the breeches route, I'll try them with the top-boots I made for <a href="http://sweet-threads.blogspot.ca/2012/11/youve-been-scratched-by-woman.html">Dr. Jacquin</a> but they're probably a bit posh. And god knows, we can't have posh with this guy. <br />
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Marat's a neat dude - I'm sure he's inspired at least a couple dozen teenagers to lay in the tub with towels wrapped around their heads writing vitriolic things about society. Not like that's the voice of experience or anything.<br />
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Now that I've eaten half a Toblerone and drank two huge mugs of tea, supper time! Stay tuned for breeches this week. We won't be <i>sans-culottes</i> much longer! See what I did there. Hur hur.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">For my two-cents on the film, I shall direct you to <a href="http://sweet-threads-dude.tumblr.com/post/39242254918/yes-i-hear-the-bloody-people-sing">Tumblr</a>. <span style="font-size: x-small;">IMO, it</span> should have been named Tr</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">è</span></span>s Miserable instead.</span>KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-9474395308699524142012-11-28T18:54:00.000-08:002012-11-28T18:54:08.265-08:00The Count's New PantsI've been meaning to do a post about Marius Leitdorf's pants for a while now and with nothing slated for tonight, it's time to limber up the fingers.<br />
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I've got a long history with these pants. Well, not exactly <i>this</i> pair but it was the yellow-and-purple striped silk of the first pair that started all this nonsense in the first place That pair has run their course and I felt things needed an upgrade after nearly two years on the project.<br />
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There were a few stipulations:<br />
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1. They needed to be big and poofy.<br />
2. They needed to be loud.<br />
3. They needed to be rich-looking.<br />
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Though there's a tidy stash of fancy fabric in the cupboard, choosing appropriate material was a challenge. At one point, I caught myself wondering if my choices were too loud but quickly realized that was the entirely wrong approach, given the character, so anything was fair game after that. I settled on a rich burgundy and a burgundy/gold silk brocade for the panes (those strips on the outside). The actual 'leg' fabric would be a burgundy/turquoise duppioni silk bought from a Punjabi cloth-house - it changes colour according to the light! I wanted to push the blue/burgundy combination a bit here since these are the Leitdorf family colours according to the Warhammer fluff.<br />
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Ultimately, the goal here was a strange trunk hose-pluderhosen hybrid so I had to wing most of it. Here's David Tennant modelling a well-made pair of trunk hose. Aaaand a terrific example of pluderhosen seen on one of <a href="http://www.lynnmcmasters.com/">Lynn McMasters'</a> pieces (which is still one of my all-time favourite pieces of costumery...)<br />
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Starting with the basic 'pantalon' pattern from Simplicity 4059, I added width to the legs and shortened them by a few inches to just below the knee. I wanted a damned heavy pair of pants out of the deal so there is a TONNE of fabric in these things. Without the panes, the legs have three layers: the silk outer, an interlining of cotton muslin, and a lining of heavy but fine gold/blue polyester. The panes also have three layers: outer fabric, interlining of cotton muslin, and a backing of gold cotton.<br />
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Because the burgundy panes were a bit drab by themselves, I ran strips of gold braid down their centers once the interlining was basted on. Once the backing was stitched on, every pane had to be turned the right way out and pressed.<br />
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I was house-sitting at the time and Smoochy the cat figured he would help iron them. Once the panes were complete, I laid them out on the blue silk for the first time.<br />
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Loud? Hells yes. Poofy? We'll see.... I had to sew the leg fabric together first and gather the bottoms in close to the size of the leg, leaving the panes dangling at the bottom - they would be attached later once I had the bottom leg circumference finalized.<br />
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The waistband was the next step. By this point it was obvious from the weight of the pants that a simple fabric waistband wasn't going to be enough. So I created an overlapping waistband lined with heavy fusible interfacing and a length of 8 oz veg-tan leather - by adding a strap and buckle, the waistband could now function as its own belt.<br />
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For some reason, a pair of pants that you had to buckle on seemed to fit well in the Warhammer universe so I finished the bottoms the same way, turning them into an integrated set of garters.<br />
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There's about forty hours of work in these but they make such a difference to the overall appearance.<br />
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<br />Photo by Grant Zelych - I tweaked the colour a bit. It was also taken before I had a chance to finish the bottoms which is why they look a bit tatty.<br />
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Next up for this? A new doublet. The plain black-and-yellow wool just isn't doing it. Overall, I envision the soft clothes here looking a bit like:<br />
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Still undecided about the codpiece because it seems a bit.... rude. I know all the cool German kids had sizeable ones back in the early 1500s and the chaps on the <a href="http://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=43361.0">Warhammer Empire Forum</a> are pretty sure I need one here. But that is a question for another day. Need gauntlets and proper greaves/sabatons at one point too.<br />
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Going to take a sewing hiatus for the next few months. I had planned to finish <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/db/Korra_The_Legend_of_Korra.jpg/220px-Korra_The_Legend_of_Korra.jpg">Korra</a> for Pure Speculation two weekends ago but got a bit repulsed after delving into the Internet fandom around the show. I also thought the accusations of 'brown-facing' in some cases of Korra cosplay were particularly puerile and unwarranted so this project is getting left aside until I can clear my brain of the Internet fools and do it simply for the sake of cosplaying a great character. <br />
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Before I sign off for the night, one of the chaps at work had a good point a couple of weeks ago. He often frequents The Chive and came by to give his opinion on the cosplay scene. "You need an R2D2 bathing suit," he said. "Seriously. You spend hundreds of hours creating this brilliant work of art and what do people take photos of at Cons? The girl dressed as sexy Chewbacca." He's right, though you'll never catch me in an R2D2 bathing suit. With costuming, people like sexy and they like familiar. And there's nothing wrong with that.<br />
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I spent the last few months fighting a heated internal battle with this. Paired up with a hefty case of costume burn-out, things were looking disastrous until I threw in the towel on Korra the night before the Con - something I've never done before. But it's a good chance to step back and re-evaluate why this is an awesome hobby.<br />
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The hiatus will be grand. Do a bit of art, do a bit of riding, lots of writing, and come February, we will be back in business. Question is - can I actually hold off sewing that long? Place your bets now.KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-81413581804605351092012-11-07T18:51:00.000-08:002012-11-07T18:52:23.991-08:00You've Been Scratched by a Woman!Porkchops in the oven. So famished am nearly see-through. Protip: Drinking a venti double-bagged Awake Tea from Starbucks is NOT a good lunch substitute.<br />
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But onwards ho! Dr. Jacquin was finished up last Thursday and debuted at the Museum Gala Saturday night. Here's the second half of that story.<br />
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When we left off last time, the cuffs and collar were patterned up and I was on the verge of starting the embroidery. If you placed your bets on things ending in despair, you're probably a few dollars richer right now. This was the product of three nights' work: <br />
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If Dante's <i>Inferno</i> described an eleventh level of hell, it would probably feature metallic embroidery floss. The ladies at the shop made rage faces when describing the difficulty of working with this specific floss and I blissfully ignored them until I was two or three stitches in and found I was spending ten minutes per stitch untangling the damn stuff. So any notion of a fancy padded satin stitch, as per the historical examples, fell by the wayside. Instead, I seized upon a embroidered trim bought out of Turkey for Giovanni Auditore's lapels that looks passably enough like Napoleonic embroidery. eBay turns up a LOT of good trims if you search for "medieval trim" or "renaissance trim" or even "vintage sari trims." Oddly enough, this particular trim is also used on one of Henry VIII's costumes in the fourth season of The Tudors.<br />
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Not sure why everything is getting flipped tonight. Before the trim could be added, it needed to be a bit more gold so I grabbed the left-over gold paint from Marius' armour details and gave it a light going-over. I didn't want to coat it too thickly because that would clog up the individual stitches. In the image above, the first four segments are painted and the last isn't, so you can see the difference. Not huge but enough to make it jive with the gold buttons and aiguilette* a bit better.<br />
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The trim came with adhesive backing but I tacked it on with a few stitches here and there just to be safe. It was a lengthy process but not as lengthy (or rage-inducing) as embroidery. <br />
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Then I only had to get the cuffs and collar on for good and add the buttons. This is how it looked Thursday night - only had to add the shoulder knot and get my boots sorted out.<br />
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The shoulder knot should normally grow out of the aiguilette up towards the collar but this one, being current military issue, didn't have that feature. So I hashed something quickly together with some generic cord from Fabricland.<br />
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Not perfect but enough to "do the look" until I find a cord that matches the aiguilette better. Attaching this was a bit tricky - to hide the stitches, I had to make sure they fell parallel to the twists in the cord which let me lay them down in those little crevices created by the twists.<br />
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On to the boots! The second half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century were all about those sexy brown-topped riding boots and that's what Jacquin's wearing in <i>The Duellists</i> (go figure). I've got a bit of a thing for riding dress boots (versus field boots, which lace up around the ankle) so I had a spare pair I could modify for this costume. The basic pattern looked like this:<br />
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I drafted it up quickly by taping a tube of pattern paper around the top of the boot, tracing the top line and then adding a couple of extra cms for the bit that would fold to the inside, and then cutting it to shape. The bottom lip had to be folded up and glued and the center back seam had to be stitched up which made it a bit bulkier than predicted. Nevertheless, it did the trick. Gave them a bit of a polish while watching the movie for the three hundredth time.<br />
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And that was it! No really decent photos yet but how about a super-classy one taken in the lieu halfway through supper?<br />
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Note the careful inclusion of the bag with two bottles, one corkscrew, and a flute. As you can see, the front is pulling downwards a bit from the weight of the aiguilette, which Jacquin's doesn't do in the film. I'm still debating whether I'm going to add a layer of extra-heavy adhesive interfacing behind the buttons on the right side to fix that. The maroon sash is temporarily covering the gap between the top of the white riding breeches and the bottom of the coat until I get a proper pair of period breeches made (where the waistline will be somewhere in the vicinity of my armpits, thereby eliminating the problem.)<br />
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And that's another project crossed off the list, minor alterations aside! This isn't going to hit a Con floor until early Spring 2013 but I'm working at lining up a decent photoshoot in the interim.<br />
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Lastly, on the topic of Cons, the roommate and I popped up to Edmonton for the second day of the Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo. I wore Marius for that one and I think there was a moment where I may have put the wind up some Legend of Korra cosplayers. Going over to chat with them briefly, I asked if they were going to <a href="http://purespec.org/">Pure Spec</a> and told them I was working on a Korra costume. They were looking at me askance and confused the whole time and continued to do so after we parted ways. I only realized a day later that it might have been another case of unintentionally bending the gender, as they say. I still don't understand why my voice doesn't give it away but there it is.<br />
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Ah well. Currently halfway through Korra, who is coming together beautifully. Just have to get a bit more ripped, a bit browner, then we're almost there! Stay tuned for an update this weekend.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">*'Aiguilette' is surely the hardest word in the world to spell correctly.</span>KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-86440011660251069182012-10-17T18:24:00.000-07:002012-10-17T18:25:36.151-07:00Dr. Jacquin: Word Goes RoundHave my pork chops in the oven and a big fist o' peach-orange juice, so let's get this party started!<br />
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Jacquin's coat is progressing well. Between last weekend and today, I've got the tails sorted, the collar and cuffs sized up and basted together, and some vague idea of how the embroidery is going to go.<br />
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However, due to the entirely shoddy quality of my... er... "internet-acquired" copy of the film (is this the part where I go to jail?), it's hard to see specific details. However! Because Ridley Scott is awesome and pays attention to historical details better than most directors, it's quite easy to trace the origins of Jacquin's uniform back to this chap here:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2a43rhTfFXFSdv-gSKo66Y8604B0AOBLu83DsxH2pDuFlHjXLvliE3h6ZrUd4EYAXlXvnw3f2B7fX3hgxxUOCJ4tqpMkgpWcIR_z86J7LDv3cEx_WuIWn8MbRSfwRnDTZf8GveUOAmAxW/s1600/tart188.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2a43rhTfFXFSdv-gSKo66Y8604B0AOBLu83DsxH2pDuFlHjXLvliE3h6ZrUd4EYAXlXvnw3f2B7fX3hgxxUOCJ4tqpMkgpWcIR_z86J7LDv3cEx_WuIWn8MbRSfwRnDTZf8GveUOAmAxW/s320/tart188.jpg" width="264" /></a></div>
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Dominique Jean Larrey was surgeon-in-chief in Napoleon's army between 1797 and 1815.* Even better, some of his uniforms have survived:<br />
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Not quite the same as Jacquin but enough to give a general idea of cut and embroidery.</div>
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Now the tails were a pain in the arse as they always seem to be with men's garments from this era. I took the initial pattern from the Single-Breasted Tail Coat in <i>Men's 17th and 18th Century Costume, Cut, and Fashion</i> by R.I. Davis - a terrific book if you're after easy-to-follow patterns from this era. The tails with Davis' pattern were slightly more involved than Larrey's tails above with knife pleats at the side and a vent in the back. I had sort of winged it on the pattern draft and didn't pay as much attention to Davis' directions as I should have and spent the majority of last Saturday fixing my earlier sins. </div>
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The collar was an adventure unto itself. I did a quick mock-up out of some left-over blanket wool and the fit was good enough to give me a starting pattern. I initially drew it up as a straight rectangle but once I got it basted on the coat, it was really obvious something had to change.</div>
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Just... just no.</div>
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The fix turned out to be incredibly easy: just slope the front backwards (bottom to top) by a few centimeters and then it looks FAR less like the popped collars on the orange volleyball boys from high school.<br />
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Fwew! That was close. </div>
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The cuffs were done the same way: start with a basic mock-up from excess wool to get the sizing down and cut the real version out after. Now a word about this red melton... It's not melton in the traditional sense but rather a luxurious, $120/meter sort of melton/doeskin combination - the stuff they make officer's dress uniforms out of. It's easily the most expensive material I've ever worked with and I must give a bit of a shout-out to one of my co-workers who donated it for this project (he's got a whole bolt of it left over from his mess kit, the lucky bastard).<br />
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The cuffs are double-lined: a double-interfaced layer for the outside and an un-interfaced layer for the inside. Hint: When sewing the edges together on the latter, give yourself a bit of extra seam allowance because it will stretch more without the interfacing.<br />
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So here we are with the collar AND cuffs basted on:<br />
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And the desired effect..... Where you can't really see much of anything <strike>beyond Tom Conti's extreme hotness</strike>.</div>
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The secret to this coat is in the interfacing - the more, the merrier. From the movement of the jacket in the film, the front panels are <i>heavily</i> interlined so I went the same route here. Two layers of light-weight iron-in and then an extra strip of blue wool along the front edges on the inside to support the buttons and button-holes. And it captures the look and hang perfectly. </div>
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Embroidery is the next step. Bought the gold embroidery floss after work today and have quelled my nerves enough to have a go this weekend. It may end in despair. Place your bets now.</div>
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*<span style="font-size: xx-small;">I had an entirely bizarre dream the other night where we were discussing this project in detail. He didn't have much to offer beyond faint suggestions that I was out of my mind. </span>KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-43129873762062766882012-10-13T09:22:00.001-07:002012-10-13T09:22:16.390-07:00Saturday MorningJust a quick Saturday morning update here before I sit down for some more work on Dr. Jacquin's coat. <br />
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Still coming off the high from the Black Library Expo last weekend. This past week was devoted to "Sense of Dignity Reparation." You know that thing that happens where you meet someone who makes the stuff you're really into? When you're all like "HOMG, this thing that you do it's amazing homg so good and the people in it are amazing too and look i made a costume of that one guy and why did you kill off this other guy could you sign my armour pls and i even made you a mix tape of all the music that reminds me of the stuff you write about*." And then you go home and replay it all in your head and go "WHY." And then edit it so it sounds more like "Yes, indeed. I thought your handling of the sub-plots in the second half of the sequel reflected deep themes that resonate subtly in the first volume. Et cetera."<br />
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But I'm pretty sure this performance is universal across the board for most fans so on we go!<br />
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Gearing up for intensive work on Dr. Jacquin's coat for the next three weeks. We have our annual Museum Gala on 3 November and it's 1812-themed this year. 1812 - 2012 = get it? Conveniently, the guests have been invited to come in appropriate period attire if they chose. It was fortuitous, then, that I had Jacquin in the works and if I really wanted to, I could have the coat finished today if it weren't for the mountains of padded satin stitch on the collar and cuffs, which will look something like this:<br />
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I'm anticipating about forty hours of work with this - if I'm lucky - and I hope to have it started early this week. Will post WIP photos and construction notes. Stay tuned!<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">*Honest to god, we did. We even included a note which said essentially the same thing and would have been much more... uh... erudite had it not been dictated en route in the car on three hours of sleep.</span>KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-61286203289607899492012-10-08T13:28:00.000-07:002012-10-11T15:11:02.387-07:00Chestermere Expo RecapSo this past weekend is going down in the books as The Best Weekend Yet.<br />
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Somehow, by some crazy fluke, <a href="http://www.chestermereexpo.ca/">Chestermere Library</a> managed to get six of the Black Library authors over from the UK for a two-day Expo. These are the people who write the Warhammer/Warhammer 40K fiction and they're damned good at it too. The fact they all ended up in a recreation center in a little satellite community east of Calgary is simply ridiculous. I first heard about it back in July; I was sitting in the truck on the road to Winnipeg with the joust troupe in the middle of the night when the link popped up on Facebook and we nearly had to pull over so I could deal with a case of the vapours. The best part? Chris Wraight, author of Sword of Justice and Sword of Vengeance, was going to be there. Marius Leitdorf crops up in Chris' books as a flashback character in the memory of Rufus Leitdorf, his youngest son. To get the chance to meet Chris and chat with him about his work without making the laborious trek to a Games Day was almost beyond comprehension. It wasn't a solo journey either; my best bro <a href="http://winterkings.qlippoth.net/">Cil</a> volunteered to come along as caffeine-administrator, moral support, and de facto squire because, let's face it, I can't get that stuff on myself. <br />
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Now it's thrilling for any costumer to meet the artists, authors, or actors associated with their character but when the character is particularly obscure (and you've put upwards of 400 hours and over $1k into your costume), it's... pretty much the best thing in the world. I was a total bag of nerves on both days - the anticipated 'chat' was more a string of incoherence on my part (due to lack of sleep, nerves, lingering concussion stupidity from a few weeks back [more on THAT later], nerves, caffeine, excitement, and more nerves) but Chris was wonderful. And entirely posh too. He signed my books and was even good enough to sign the back of my right pauldron. Every time I think about it, my arms do stupid flaily things. Symptoms are expected to continue for at least three weeks.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMv9fVMuIr9_ZhD-Uow706D9vjp1Y74Ccgcge7O4TiIRWzrLMDf0dgdTUcJBIt5Ds4mBC7zhXrIK7kecuXmyPA1uAveopZTUxX8Qzc29FDnyMPvM_fbYKsBihrmi8WYG9fsP8E18NxnmB/s1600/IMG_1192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMv9fVMuIr9_ZhD-Uow706D9vjp1Y74Ccgcge7O4TiIRWzrLMDf0dgdTUcJBIt5Ds4mBC7zhXrIK7kecuXmyPA1uAveopZTUxX8Qzc29FDnyMPvM_fbYKsBihrmi8WYG9fsP8E18NxnmB/s320/IMG_1192.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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<i>And</i> <i>people recognized the costume</i>. "Hey, you're the guy that takes buttermilk baths, right?" "How's Daisy doing?" One of the best parts was sitting in the general Q&A session when someone asked "How do you know you've become successful as an author?" <a href="http://theprimaryclone.blogspot.ca/">Dan Abnett</a> pointed to me and said "When people start dressing as your characters." [See comment re: Stupid Flaily Things above]. The Abnetts themselves - Dan and his lovely wife <a href="http://www.nicolavincent-abnett.com/">Nik Vincent</a> - are absolutely great. Nik had terrific advice during the 'Writing for Black Library' panel she hosted with Graham McNeill and was always willing to talk shop about the writing process and getting the proverbial foot-in-the-door.<br />
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It was a terrific event: well-planned, well-organized, well-laid-out. A bigger crowd would have been nice for the sake of the organizers and authors but the small locale and the low-key atmosphere couldn't have been better. Doing bigger Cons, even San Diego, is one thing with a costume like this but when you find your favourite authors from your favourite series landing in your own backyard? You can only resort to internet-speak and rant and rave about the sheer amount of FEELS you have. And hope to god that all future Con experiences are not tainted by comparison.KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-5327583947263539862012-10-07T21:44:00.000-07:002012-10-07T21:44:09.302-07:00Quick like a Glove!Nothing substantial to post tonight but rather a heads-up that some VERY awesome things have gone down recently. Stay tuned for Marius Construction Part Number the Second tomorrow as well as an overdue SDCC wrap-up and a substantial amount of flail c/o the <a href="http://www.chestermereexpo.ca/">Chestermere Expo</a> this past weekend. Guys... seriously, my mind... Shot, gone, toast.<br />
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But in the best possible way.KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-24562404033093296072012-06-25T21:11:00.000-07:002012-06-25T21:12:04.607-07:00Checking InI'm knee deep in Marius of late because there's just over two weeks left before we jump on the plane for SDCC. Poor Marat has been put to the side in favour of getting the Big Stuff done (but that's okay because he's a greasy bastard anyways...).<br />
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So where are we at?<br />
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As of five minutes ago, Marius looks like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaaEdnyefuuin5h7qIlyUylXQgZKxBtj6wuEuhJnHtV4ldZVYusEaYsIMX2f_fw0242JdqIjN5DYn5jdiaYrgtNQw7eAaf72CEKehM-b9dddGQdw3Km9iHCtTX5YgIzS5-rsE8VkuOcTwF/s1600/DSC_0119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaaEdnyefuuin5h7qIlyUylXQgZKxBtj6wuEuhJnHtV4ldZVYusEaYsIMX2f_fw0242JdqIjN5DYn5jdiaYrgtNQw7eAaf72CEKehM-b9dddGQdw3Km9iHCtTX5YgIzS5-rsE8VkuOcTwF/s320/DSC_0119.JPG" width="214" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz781dQvuedRTaW_Eh7KUOLbRwqW4r1XmRexDE6Mq2NoJVQrAxYkYop7oxZVn4OF0bvDqxoy5G9e_gaXEuVrim7FCh5MdMtedwsO_iJl-N-PdN3MA_Y42UUPWlKpf32w8du8EGsPlZHJKo/s1600/DSC_0114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz781dQvuedRTaW_Eh7KUOLbRwqW4r1XmRexDE6Mq2NoJVQrAxYkYop7oxZVn4OF0bvDqxoy5G9e_gaXEuVrim7FCh5MdMtedwsO_iJl-N-PdN3MA_Y42UUPWlKpf32w8du8EGsPlZHJKo/s320/DSC_0114.JPG" width="214" /></a></div>
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Not that exciting and actually kind of flesh coloured... But we're making solid progress. The greaves are getting there too:<br />
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This was earlier today, having contact cemented the inner trim on in preparation for stitching.<br />
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I'm finally at the point where I have a game plan with this. Part of the reason I was hesitant to start was due to lack of said game plan; I didn't know how the trim was going go, nor how the greaves would be cut down, nor the final shape of the breast-plate, etc. In other words, it's not like making Giovanni Auditore's Assassin gear where it was like BAM! Here's the reference photos! BAM! Here's the short films showing how the stuff is supposed to move. Instead, I'm working from this miniature box:</div>
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<a href="http://www.playplanetgames.it/prodotti//13126260036731312626142530.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="http://www.playplanetgames.it/prodotti//13126260036731312626142530.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And numerous obscure images in my head that may or may not look something like these: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmgCaAaWYWZF3erMyFpGHLeGbJFe78HxXp0_lfecBpvSeo-6A8k2fojBWX3HKLG6OsrhvSwp5JlLDNX1Ta2YdM2RJp50dURQyIJutbwkExD6vScVDxTmZB4a9EH1yj55Hr2Dtpq_INXrRS/s1600/Boots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmgCaAaWYWZF3erMyFpGHLeGbJFe78HxXp0_lfecBpvSeo-6A8k2fojBWX3HKLG6OsrhvSwp5JlLDNX1Ta2YdM2RJp50dURQyIJutbwkExD6vScVDxTmZB4a9EH1yj55Hr2Dtpq_INXrRS/s320/Boots.jpg" width="312" /></a></div>
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(Pls ignore the retardo art)<br />
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I'm not complaining but it does add a swing factor I'm not used to. Anyways, progress is being made and if I take it one step at a time, it's incredible how quickly it takes shape.<br />
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While I'm at it, let's take a quick look at the greaves. I lucked out with the cuirass and the gorget since I had pre-existing armour pieces I could soak and mold the leather over. The greaves (or boots, I suppose) were a different story. I do have a set of armour greaves (seen in the picture up there) but I wanted Marius to have really big, robust-looking boots which would lend him extra weight and emphasize his stockiness - based on the model, which is quite hideously proportioned, he looks like he would have been short and powerfully built.* So I had to build a custom form to mold the leather around.<br />
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Starting from Fev's excellent tutorial she made for her Altair boots (check out her website, she's awesome! - <a href="http://www.fevereon.com/props/index.php">http://www.fevereon.com/props/index.php</a>), I laminated a number of insulation sheets together as such:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrtBTYfmfi4G-Aeq6Xnwh4mRvag21ggeH2rroHjD4lahbFbYyyaIi8z-VlTqJB7h1qxkkMzmLj3Rc8r8Q4nRZArZzqI9ODB3ZvvVdb-uILxeE3bYtensYdaHrK-kZ0TtOUs1-ejif05fgA/s1600/IMG_0881.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrtBTYfmfi4G-Aeq6Xnwh4mRvag21ggeH2rroHjD4lahbFbYyyaIi8z-VlTqJB7h1qxkkMzmLj3Rc8r8Q4nRZArZzqI9ODB3ZvvVdb-uILxeE3bYtensYdaHrK-kZ0TtOUs1-ejif05fgA/s320/IMG_0881.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then grabbed my hacksaw and went to work. After about thirty minutes, I had the following:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHa5el6shM7N_USAxVN5I2C8CcgN6W9jaf9R96mHwzyuFzWdWqXZYq57xOzQKV8zc3VRoDJUPqOVrlZUCPbJo0AJc9sTeHily8xanLjK9Fq2xQNmpsLOPAzXqLOavRS8bjiZvRCZzYQqX-/s1600/IMG_0882.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHa5el6shM7N_USAxVN5I2C8CcgN6W9jaf9R96mHwzyuFzWdWqXZYq57xOzQKV8zc3VRoDJUPqOVrlZUCPbJo0AJc9sTeHily8xanLjK9Fq2xQNmpsLOPAzXqLOavRS8bjiZvRCZzYQqX-/s320/IMG_0882.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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I swear to god it's not what it looks like. As I'm roughing it out, I find it helps to grab the sand paper and smooth it out a bit just because it helps you see the shape it's taking (phallic, apparently, in this case). After another half hour, this is what it looked like plus normal-sized greave:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiznaugTqJFoBljqeeUtjQvU17Ryl5NjEzGwFs9ne8TiQJNO6ujsZY-IPQyzbsiW-nCIlwHurVJN8Q74h4IsIChDTakOVXdKmPvpHmUDcS3Ks0eTbAh2dxwaejzxnHyxKsrpAV7tRYZS6qW/s1600/IMG_0884.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiznaugTqJFoBljqeeUtjQvU17Ryl5NjEzGwFs9ne8TiQJNO6ujsZY-IPQyzbsiW-nCIlwHurVJN8Q74h4IsIChDTakOVXdKmPvpHmUDcS3Ks0eTbAh2dxwaejzxnHyxKsrpAV7tRYZS6qW/s320/IMG_0884.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The plus side of doing this eventually in leather is that the circumference can change easily due to the flexibility of the medium (just cinch them up tighter or looser as needed.)<br />
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Doing the form was one thing. Molding the leather around this beast was something totally different. To spam you with repeat images now, you can see the wrinkling around the ankle:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS4KfEKtoSVNzQQ56VQYLmYQvrVTeb9yOg3SaHXZUyP9zgAFDhAu4DoUMSs0iBQ0jEmsmSYBfkbCQDm7l07I_ubpT6LfSIYrkdPiWUKKB56gUZ0GRSDGQHjIJNL5VWC59_nKk7XLSqelWq/s1600/IMG_0899.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS4KfEKtoSVNzQQ56VQYLmYQvrVTeb9yOg3SaHXZUyP9zgAFDhAu4DoUMSs0iBQ0jEmsmSYBfkbCQDm7l07I_ubpT6LfSIYrkdPiWUKKB56gUZ0GRSDGQHjIJNL5VWC59_nKk7XLSqelWq/s320/IMG_0899.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is because you're taking the same amount of leather that wraps around the upper calf and expecting it to somehow curve in gracefully around the narrow part of the ankle. New and Exciting Fact: <b>It Doesn't.</b><br />
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So you swear and you scream and you reef and you pull and you sweat and you wish you had taken up lawn bowling instead and you make small cuts along the edge to coax it into that graceful curve and you drive nails and screws through the leather and into the form to make it stay. And it does. Sort of. Then you grab your thousand foot long strip of 6" wide muslin and you start wrapping that bitch from the top down, making sure you wrap in the same direction as the leather wraps the form. Then you swear some more and sweat as you pull that muslin strip as tight as you can humanly get it to make sure all of the wrinkles are out. Then once you get to the bottom, you drive in more nails and duct-tape the end down just to make sure. Then you swear more still when you find there are remaining wrinkles but you do your best to smooth them out and put the thing aside in a fit of pique. Leave to dry at least five days (or whenever it ceases to be cool to the touch on the outside of the fabric).<br />
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I have a picture somewhere of it wrapped and drying but can't find it at the moment.<br />
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And once it's dried and you've got a bit of clever trimming, you've got it ready to add the trim!<br />
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And on that note, I'd better add myself to bed. Hope to have everything molded, cut, and as close to paint-ready as possible by the end of the week. Impossibilities abound!<br />
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But wait! There's more! Have a couple of photos from our Banff photoshoot last weekend (taken by Errin, who is a totally ballin' photographer!):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFuh0PhNYdL56zBL6l5T5t6Ott4Shw_O_hZXwvIYdpFCMQZF9ENm2iabG_8B_8X-eoeom8NQy9qeM-mAvNFksTh9wQd4C7lDSFqEtsjqDkAtNg13z60qu_5sBnXciA88VWKFmeits4ihV/s1600/Life23512149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFuh0PhNYdL56zBL6l5T5t6Ott4Shw_O_hZXwvIYdpFCMQZF9ENm2iabG_8B_8X-eoeom8NQy9qeM-mAvNFksTh9wQd4C7lDSFqEtsjqDkAtNg13z60qu_5sBnXciA88VWKFmeits4ihV/s320/Life23512149.JPG" width="213" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3vzATH_H3g34AVrJSF8V0Q1eNtyW29tcum6GaYqrSXtdrYeQrwY8USH4UxIjhcEKaDHELGl06p3J-jI6aUjAnvFtQXfBH8OqWiBr8Z6WDQ5-x0sEiQOahqxX1jJ7yS8OSgVRXP8CVXE2/s1600/Life6896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3vzATH_H3g34AVrJSF8V0Q1eNtyW29tcum6GaYqrSXtdrYeQrwY8USH4UxIjhcEKaDHELGl06p3J-jI6aUjAnvFtQXfBH8OqWiBr8Z6WDQ5-x0sEiQOahqxX1jJ7yS8OSgVRXP8CVXE2/s320/Life6896.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_59uwcwF0YfXf_PtCCET0rETEVNWOdtHE7kPEhd-83ywfSne-yS9Vf4fKdrbQOyr9QrYfMfbD0PajwMnDhgTC7PPoT6i_UQg83jZAdlGYs6ExDI91W6Jnx-jho2k5B47N9WMzSMNTvX9/s1600/Life23534689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_59uwcwF0YfXf_PtCCET0rETEVNWOdtHE7kPEhd-83ywfSne-yS9Vf4fKdrbQOyr9QrYfMfbD0PajwMnDhgTC7PPoT6i_UQg83jZAdlGYs6ExDI91W6Jnx-jho2k5B47N9WMzSMNTvX9/s320/Life23534689.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">*Why, yes, I have thought about this rather extensively.</span>KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-77702570669277301612012-06-10T21:33:00.001-07:002012-06-10T21:34:36.780-07:00Disguised as a Human BeingSo two weeks ago, I was in Montreal on a museum conference. While I was there, I was witness to some of the student protests regarding the tuition hikes for the province. I, frankly, am the last person qualified to talk about politics and you can read all of the details on the interwebs. However, seeing the angry French people got me thinking of this chap here:<br />
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<b>Jean-Paul Marat 1743-1793</b><br />
Most ardent of the Jacobins, self-styled champion of the <i>sans-culottes</i>, editor of <i>L'Ami du Peuple</i>, best known for getting murdered in his bath by a young lady from Caen.<br />
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We've got a bit of a history. Met in Grade 11 Social Studies class during the French Revolution unit, shared some brain-space on a few sketches, a few short stories, and a one-person play performed after school for the teachers (yes, I was one of <i>those...</i>). Hung out a bit in university too. He's got a habit of turning up each spring/early summer and so, with a few weeks remaining in June, he's on the brain again.<br />
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I had initially planned to do Dr. Jacquin from <i>The Duellists</i> as my light costume for SDCC but time is tight and I want to really nail that one (proper buttons, lots of hand-sewing, proper fabrics, etc). So instead, I opted for Marat. Why? No clue. Will anyone get it? Probably not.<br />
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But onwards ho!<br />
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First off, was the muslin for the coat. I had drafted up a very rough pattern for this costume about six years ago (wasn't kidding about the history, eh?) so I dug that out, grabbed a copy of <i>17th and 18th Century Men's Costume, Cut, and Fashion</i> by R.I. Davis, and got down to work. There are a few pictures of Marat out there but I'm after this look in particular*:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD0NBVlOW1jjfndd38nlWpMtOhX7Oso5YO42qn0J9ohCkQBgFDNqbkeLjs70WSNAMw4gvSO1W_d8ZuYYwED4qL7_sg4XAKsQCmnndVp3GzhdlV4L4OiCqGhBnx3xh9s9LrFiDv8LhuoNK4/s1600/Jean-paul_marat_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD0NBVlOW1jjfndd38nlWpMtOhX7Oso5YO42qn0J9ohCkQBgFDNqbkeLjs70WSNAMw4gvSO1W_d8ZuYYwED4qL7_sg4XAKsQCmnndVp3GzhdlV4L4OiCqGhBnx3xh9s9LrFiDv8LhuoNK4/s320/Jean-paul_marat_4.jpg" width="264" /></a></div>
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He was a bit.... eclectic with his clothing during the Revolution. That style of coat is very 1780s-1790s so I took the basic design from Davis' following pattern: <br />
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The revers - also known as lapels to modern people - weren't the right shape on my initial muslin mock-up so I hacked off a rough square of fabric, pinned it to the coat front, and drew the proper shape of the lapel on it. Here's a photo from Giovanni's doublet, because showing is easier than telling:<br />
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After that was completed, I cut the new lapel out, pinned it to the coat body, and changed the pattern accordingly when I cut the second muslin out.<br />
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Overall, the muslin went together almost flawlessly, which is a rare and delightful thing. Even better, my drafted sleeve pattern matched up perfectly with the armholes on the first try.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZa5ZhkjXsp9zr9BqTuc4t6csO3J-4rOpRWN_X__5j8OAdQk1ekCKgnA7ORl_7N_2cpuukvN4V85rvSt64XdclFQPEB_Go41FP9h-UuCULAspij_Sdp1YG397F8Xu5Myadm2UI3zJUdlzj/s1600/DSC_0230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZa5ZhkjXsp9zr9BqTuc4t6csO3J-4rOpRWN_X__5j8OAdQk1ekCKgnA7ORl_7N_2cpuukvN4V85rvSt64XdclFQPEB_Go41FP9h-UuCULAspij_Sdp1YG397F8Xu5Myadm2UI3zJUdlzj/s320/DSC_0230.JPG" width="214" /></a> </div>
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Win? I'm just happy the sleeve fits on the first go. <i>Which never happens</i>.</div>
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So, apart from sewing the sleeve in backwards, everything behaved as it should. Warning: Self-Indulgent Fitting Photos off the port bow! <br />
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Coats from this era tended to be high-waisted - right about your natural waistline or slightly below. I dropped this one about five inches from my waist to balance my top and bottom halves out. Marat was a very short guy (about 5' 4" or so) with short legs. So being a bit like <a href="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmpj65FdaW1qcs797.jpg">Legschilla</a>, I had to make adjustments. Which brings me to the subject of pants. Or breeches. Or... a towl or a sheet or something.<br />
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Since Marat was tight with the <i>sans-culottes</i> - literally, 'without breeches' - I'm inclined to think he wore similar gear to them, looking something like this:<br />
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However, the sketch above seems to have him wearing a rather nicely fitted pair of breeches - from what I can tell. In my mind, he's always worn breeches - tatty, gross, and stained with... whoknowswhat - but breeches none-the-less. So I'll likely go that route.<br />
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Fabric Choices:<br />
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The Stash has supplied most of it, based on material bought for this project a number of years ago. The coat outer will be made with a chocolate brown wool flannel - heavier-weight but not melton (on the bottom right) and lined with a striped cotton (above). Had to do a photo test to see how the fabrics behaved with the flash on (due to the inevitable flash photography at conventions). The brown flannel isn't as heavy as I would have liked but that's why God created interfacing.<br />
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Right. Off to bed, then. Actually, wait! Another self-indulgent picture - this time from Calgary Expo:<br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_485357491"><br /></a><br />
<a href="http://winterkings.qlippoth.net/">Cil</a> as the Marquis from Guy Davis' comic of the same name and me in Marius' gear. Still need to write a post-Expo post too....<br />
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Stay tuned for further coatage on the morrow!<br />
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*<span style="font-size: x-small;">I was discussing this project with one of the soldier chaps at work (he's also a Civil War re-enactor and so is pre-exposed to strange historical clothes). I did a quick internet search to find the main reference photo - "Oh my GOD, he's ugly!" - and then described Marat's famous death in the bath-tub, which met with suitable approval and then a description of how to kill someone with a sharpened Phillips screw-driver.</span><br />
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<br />KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-62226751380272655842012-04-24T22:06:00.000-07:002012-04-24T22:07:59.296-07:00Quickly Now!So Calgary Expo starts this Friday and predictably time isn't something I have a lot of (this is also due to the myriad of work left to do on the museum exhibit that's slated to open next Thursday AND on-going joust practises for the tournament in Texas).<br />
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Sort of weird - it's the first time in three years I haven't been rushing to finish a costume (for myself at least). It's actually entirely disheartening and will certainly be rectified next year. I do have a commission in the works that'll be finished up by Thursday night for my good bro <a href="http://winterkings.qlippoth.net/">Cil</a> - she's being the Marquis of Guy Davis' excellent comic of the same name. Would post WIPs but it's just a whole lot of black 1770s clothes and hey... there are patterns out there for that.<br />
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That brings up a good point, actually. I need to start steering this blog more towards actual sewing tips and tutorials. That will be the goal for this summer while I'm working on my three mains for San Diego.<br />
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Those, to set the record straight right now, consist of:<br />
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Marius Leitdorf (Warhammer) New molded leather armour and new pants<br />
Malfatto aka The Doctor from Assassin's Creed Brotherhood<br />
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And, coming lately to the fold, I give you Dr. Jacquin from the Duellists. Yeah, I know he turned up last post but GAIZ IT WAS INEVITABLE! Dark hair, wicked clothes. And let's face it, kids - he's pretty much Marius in Napoleonic form but without the crazy. I also need something relatively light to wear down there - not sure how a frock coat of melton wool and silk is going to be light but there it is.<br />
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So that makes two doctors and a madman. Should be iiiiiiiinteresting.... </div>
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Speaking of mad, I did a quick test-run with Herr Leitdorf two nights ago since I wanted to do the makeup at least once before Con and try it with the new wig from <a href="http://arda-wigs.com/">Arda Wigs</a>. They're absolutely GREAT by the way - REALLY decently priced, excellent quality, very thick hair, and huge wig caps to fit massive noggins. </div>
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Things might be a bit tricky at Expo this year - the weapons regs have tightened up A LOT and I really hope my runefang and dagger look "fantasy" enough to pass inspection because I'm going to be a hella lame Elector Count without my bloody runefang. Might give me a good excuse to practise my sporadic raging. Oh wait, I do that at work....<br />
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Anyways, weird and shitty regs aside, I still made a sheath for the dagger tonight. Have some before and after photos:<br />
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Wine is key to the creative process, don't ye know?</div>
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Aaaaaand half a bottle, two hours, and six million expletives later, I give you the following:</div>
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I'm going to pick up some burgundy/purple dye at Tandy tomorrow and spruce it up a bit with some gold scrollwork. As per the feeble education component of this blog, I used <a href="http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=noctiped#/d2mn7j4">Noctiped's excellent scabbard tutorial</a>. His work is absolutely immaculate!</div>
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And on that note, my stomach full of Wendy's should be tolerably digested so I'm off to bed to convert the rest of it to permanent love-handles. See you on the other side of Expo, kids!</div>
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<br />KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-1273714215677633802012-03-27T18:36:00.018-07:002012-03-27T20:50:25.320-07:00One of THOSE days....Having a bit of an 'off night.' I've already done the binge-eat and feel-sorry-for-self act so how about a blog post with Awesome Things in it?<br /><br />First off, have some hunting gown! (ignore the lack of boots/hosen)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhRCb6L8JsQOevlrf4s9h-TUaLYGm4HmjE4hs2vzRD_K0Su0O6x8jfNweVia4QV43ZO5H-1ijnpxhgiTJjUGnclIhsfXd7D4aDE6qhGk99UTWRVCaTpFs66f1rc8yQxYalqJwFAOvTjuSW/s1600/Jaegerok3.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 152px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhRCb6L8JsQOevlrf4s9h-TUaLYGm4HmjE4hs2vzRD_K0Su0O6x8jfNweVia4QV43ZO5H-1ijnpxhgiTJjUGnclIhsfXd7D4aDE6qhGk99UTWRVCaTpFs66f1rc8yQxYalqJwFAOvTjuSW/s320/Jaegerok3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724769413694830274" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPgsYaIZWzVxEC6SwbZ5KOv4rNcpoTukVewYXu3Or2okUbmArv8c1Ky17jNVsky7aC7EAswNeEJZQzWF_V9oN4AaJWXds2rynlpELsWKWZZ47h8MG_NuADlS65K_LBA1jn53zBTVUjW76/s1600/Jaegerok2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 158px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPgsYaIZWzVxEC6SwbZ5KOv4rNcpoTukVewYXu3Or2okUbmArv8c1Ky17jNVsky7aC7EAswNeEJZQzWF_V9oN4AaJWXds2rynlpELsWKWZZ47h8MG_NuADlS65K_LBA1jn53zBTVUjW76/s320/Jaegerok2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724769176891799330" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOpcvA0fj7jOgEgLR6JRp6DptSKk6nE_PJwGMEH2yH5yipjqYVte4vjqwxYQ4pIcssD4Rp7bEGmh6Ktf0GTaKHYBCdVmGPJ_yYrECR8P4lrpMzkkG4HyAf7DxCWwq4G3clZ8TlC6pEwqjK/s1600/Jagerok1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 154px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOpcvA0fj7jOgEgLR6JRp6DptSKk6nE_PJwGMEH2yH5yipjqYVte4vjqwxYQ4pIcssD4Rp7bEGmh6Ktf0GTaKHYBCdVmGPJ_yYrECR8P4lrpMzkkG4HyAf7DxCWwq4G3clZ8TlC6pEwqjK/s320/Jagerok1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724768902153938626" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZJbWiZTWQZw6y9YzClQGM3rYk9SScYpI0pIb3_9py7EPjvZVvxxKal8ZgSTGLiRyG27M2uPeZPsZ8J5ZWmQoJwxU-zcMJP0yNutLWxPXSc7_gDZTpvTGxhqoY9e8dcu56zQPhrv8EhTl/s1600/0007sd63.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 232px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZJbWiZTWQZw6y9YzClQGM3rYk9SScYpI0pIb3_9py7EPjvZVvxxKal8ZgSTGLiRyG27M2uPeZPsZ8J5ZWmQoJwxU-zcMJP0yNutLWxPXSc7_gDZTpvTGxhqoY9e8dcu56zQPhrv8EhTl/s320/0007sd63.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724771185412331282" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5pKokXFPcAKZDldRuOjG5BfqfgVaB2uJ_Fd8r_s1WQBuRc1V2KjQ3lq8ZvGbowfvML9FUUo1NfcgVKVfeL176grmm5wJnAWWxEas3ERnkJkFfi_cf2LZiq59CR3pFUAgh8sT8XxnWFMT/s1600/0007ax9c.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 223px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5pKokXFPcAKZDldRuOjG5BfqfgVaB2uJ_Fd8r_s1WQBuRc1V2KjQ3lq8ZvGbowfvML9FUUo1NfcgVKVfeL176grmm5wJnAWWxEas3ERnkJkFfi_cf2LZiq59CR3pFUAgh8sT8XxnWFMT/s320/0007ax9c.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724770823455074722" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This has been one of the singularly most pleasant things I've ever made. It's based on Maximilian I's grubby gray hunting clothes that he wore a great deal. He even received international ambassadors dressed like this.<br /><br />I've wanted to make it for a good two and a half years now and have had the gray wool for the same amount of time. Starting with the waffenrok pattern from Reconstructing History, I changed the top around to match Max's, adding longer sleeves and modifying it to get the grown-on collar. The collar was a bit of a guess but albeit an educated one. In the <span style="font-style: italic;">Teuerdank</span> woodcuts, where this outfit crops up A LOT, we see Max's travelling companion, Ernhold, wearing a similar gown but minus the hood. He's got the grown-on collar there and given the lack of front opening on Max's rig, I figured his was the same.<br /><br />Also, pleat math? Totally for chumps!! Instead of agonizing for hours over 1/8ths of inches, I just pinned each side to the front and back how I wanted it, gathered the excess into roughly even box pleats, and tweaked them until they were roughly even on the outside. The pleats don't hang as perfectly as they do in the woodcut but, HEY, it's a freaking <span style="font-style: italic;">woodcut</span>....<br /><br />It's gray wool... something - not heavy enough for a melton nor light enough for a flannel - and lined with tan linen. Wish I could say I hand-sewed this puppy but alas, that would be a fib. But that's how it came together in one day! It's comfy as all get out too. Still trying to decide if I want to make the totally derpy hunter's cap too. MAYBE.<br /><br />Second, how about some helmet crest?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5m7HfNovcWJeULO55A1jFPJdVk_Vwwz6JnEMXbjLAR2dkWL54Marnqcn9z6K-2x_EQMf4j-BwoXmpA-vxc710M7tcdYXctM_d82ofvb0RGFOuNoiBzOUIcd5KRo2SjYmOK4PsYiIm9_U/s1600/Crest+Wrapper.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 86px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5m7HfNovcWJeULO55A1jFPJdVk_Vwwz6JnEMXbjLAR2dkWL54Marnqcn9z6K-2x_EQMf4j-BwoXmpA-vxc710M7tcdYXctM_d82ofvb0RGFOuNoiBzOUIcd5KRo2SjYmOK4PsYiIm9_U/s320/Crest+Wrapper.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724773705688499570" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />LIES, I hear you cry. That's not a helmet crest! That's a pair of leather sunglasses without the eye-holes cut out. Okay, fine. It's PART of the helmet crest. Dean, one of our multi-talented, sword-fighting chaps, also does a bit of metal work and I commissioned him to do a nice crest ring for the top of my helm, into which I can stuff ostrich feathers to my heart's content and get blown off in the first stiff breeze (as happened to the Duke of Wellington. Trufax!). Anyways, this is just the leather band for the ring. "Halt Mass" means "Restrain yourself," which my room-mate found terrifically funny. It was Maximilian's personal motto but is also readibly applicable to someone prone to losing their shit sporadically and epically (such as maybe the person writing this blog...).<br /><br />Next step is to get it dyed, weather it just a bit to have it look more 'metal-ish,' and paint the raised bits with some snazzy gold.<br /><br />Third, how about some arming doublet?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRmQcy09SY_TbyglbmGsFD2F47pKNFB18tDxN0WaiSETlyk124Hno-Ius3UhpE5RIn_ClO3LU-mzoCED8bKF7c_xeiNHURbypYDUX8ktLZGhGwTa1K3ceaQLkW1Efw4_kgCU299WL3kmt/s1600/Arming+Doublet+1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 154px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRmQcy09SY_TbyglbmGsFD2F47pKNFB18tDxN0WaiSETlyk124Hno-Ius3UhpE5RIn_ClO3LU-mzoCED8bKF7c_xeiNHURbypYDUX8ktLZGhGwTa1K3ceaQLkW1Efw4_kgCU299WL3kmt/s320/Arming+Doublet+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724777785267197122" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAa18EtRyS_W-PmUOJqzMZVlxH6iH7VVhlXKF1FISZiHWXbUkq7H98KvNpzLR04SfKY8aXO7X0-SKXOh6Tk83rSZba_-VHyCmnn-30y0Wao6Nn9x7FHzZeJnsqOusnOFeI1EsEa3uhlMl8/s1600/Arming+Doublet+2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 106px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAa18EtRyS_W-PmUOJqzMZVlxH6iH7VVhlXKF1FISZiHWXbUkq7H98KvNpzLR04SfKY8aXO7X0-SKXOh6Tk83rSZba_-VHyCmnn-30y0Wao6Nn9x7FHzZeJnsqOusnOFeI1EsEa3uhlMl8/s320/Arming+Doublet+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724777984784019778" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrUHklq4RlBfcdvp4eoQ8Op6hPYxdamkytAoHbYuEyoM1Cw9nalOZ8Vx8JbUhkUGlov7tKmLNTdQG8GdDS-2aaSnQiQp_9noajz01-xkfijV3ZwVL4tW3TQBf5OeGMBJwAEahlRH3_NGvy/s1600/Arming+Doublet+3.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 131px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrUHklq4RlBfcdvp4eoQ8Op6hPYxdamkytAoHbYuEyoM1Cw9nalOZ8Vx8JbUhkUGlov7tKmLNTdQG8GdDS-2aaSnQiQp_9noajz01-xkfijV3ZwVL4tW3TQBf5OeGMBJwAEahlRH3_NGvy/s320/Arming+Doublet+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724778303768753490" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This turned up in a previous post and it's seriously saving my arse for jousting. The armour I've borrowed until I get my own together is quite big on me but the three layers of wool padding here sorted things out quite nicely. I put it together with this <a href="http://noctiped.deviantart.com/art/How-to-make-armour-padding-100392208">superbly excellent tutorial</a>. It's entirely hand-sewn (not much for options when there's three layers of wool...) and took upwards of fifty or sixty hours. Got the buckles from <a href="http://www.armourandcastings.com/">armourandcastings.com</a> - great selection, decently priced, speedy shipping. What's not to love? The shoes came from Historic Enterprises. I got the leather for my new boots in the post yesterday and it is BEYOND perfect, so I'll start those this weekend.<br /><br />Fourthly, how about some standard?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkujghH8BsmUZ3a2ZLiWT0YHn1quzTj_Crcu3AeIhADKl0yCMxRCyaCGkbTW-x3gCzJGmdyM1nQF4GYTM5Yw5XbUbU4bY8WkUaBfZif2LNxXIGQ6yzdumR3JHKLr_A2ftl6MPPOqjharH1/s1600/IMG_0556%255B1%255D"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkujghH8BsmUZ3a2ZLiWT0YHn1quzTj_Crcu3AeIhADKl0yCMxRCyaCGkbTW-x3gCzJGmdyM1nQF4GYTM5Yw5XbUbU4bY8WkUaBfZif2LNxXIGQ6yzdumR3JHKLr_A2ftl6MPPOqjharH1/s320/IMG_0556%255B1%255D" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724782087146740114" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We're supposed to have standards for this tournament in Texas and well, heck, wouldn't you believe it if I went and did something related to Maximilian? Yeah, I totally did. Still don't know what's going on the shield in the center but I absolutely had to go with the double-headed eagle. The material is a poly-spandex blend (+10 for historical accuracy!!!) but it had a nice, tight weave and a smooth surface to take the paint. The paint, yeah.... the paint is "Tulip Fabric Paint," 100% acrylic and 100% farby but I'll be damned if I'm stitching that bitch on there. Painting is bad enough. This is only one side - each side takes about twelve hours - but I've got the outline started on the other already.<br /><br />Lastly, have some hussar.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.posteritati.com/jpg/D3/duellists_sc6.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 408px; height: 324px;" src="http://www.posteritati.com/jpg/D3/duellists_sc6.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Ever seen a movie called The Duellists? No? SEE IT NOW. It's one of Ridley Scott's very first and while the acting leaves a bit to be desired, the costumes GUUUHHH. The history GUUHHHHH. Thewholesenseofgettingatasteofthetimeperiod GUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAHGGH.<br /><br />Seriously. Do see it. If not for the reasons above, at least for the good Dr. Jacquin, who is pretty much Marius, incarnate. I may or may not have screamed and flapped my arms a bit.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXc5qeFRFvEGca8Ks7PMoKO7ePX3le83q3rWelBbtDtHhGDTA-Rgkx5U92xGRpqfv7HFB3aP86lqXFmvB828LbbsMqEc64DapGUqxqKcbHc2A1sRkdR44ug7J5__s49yYXrE5jL1pY3Otj/s1600/Jacquin1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXc5qeFRFvEGca8Ks7PMoKO7ePX3le83q3rWelBbtDtHhGDTA-Rgkx5U92xGRpqfv7HFB3aP86lqXFmvB828LbbsMqEc64DapGUqxqKcbHc2A1sRkdR44ug7J5__s49yYXrE5jL1pY3Otj/s320/Jacquin1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724788216373406194" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTL8u3gXGKOYOghWn1GgXuqqLUjqB3NKrZhAFnBvNn-SMr4mN4gJjJQDVvkTEpmJsUSfVQpQ6hKxzzOLoYPBTprTIG_Nj5l7JCxOLXSxMi4VUQVCigcXsvDxf9nnsooVMtknF-uCTviIT/s1600/Jacquin1.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTL8u3gXGKOYOghWn1GgXuqqLUjqB3NKrZhAFnBvNn-SMr4mN4gJjJQDVvkTEpmJsUSfVQpQ6hKxzzOLoYPBTprTIG_Nj5l7JCxOLXSxMi4VUQVCigcXsvDxf9nnsooVMtknF-uCTviIT/s320/Jacquin1.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724787455337621778" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJjV1g7LtDAj2oaBrtCSSgYNkt7qJXZyp3CocHo5zUIyE5q6RNXy4adM71WsvGkLZ321opMo_X-4tz-ofXIdmr_xAKZ5J8eDtDIJ9luX-kYd4TJPGwjZf4vqeBWPlv48LREy0tI7uEhe-/s1600/Jacquin2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJjV1g7LtDAj2oaBrtCSSgYNkt7qJXZyp3CocHo5zUIyE5q6RNXy4adM71WsvGkLZ321opMo_X-4tz-ofXIdmr_xAKZ5J8eDtDIJ9luX-kYd4TJPGwjZf4vqeBWPlv48LREy0tI7uEhe-/s320/Jacquin2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724787755118423170" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />All of that aside, looks like the next big era is going to be the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Never been much for the Napoleonic Era but there's just something about hussars..... And since I have a leggy, gray gelding who needs a job, why not make something ridiculously appropriate? More details on all of THAT later...<br /><br />In other news, read the Flashman books. Just... do it.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Finis</span><br /><br />PS This is surely the longest post yet....KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-62716697041526033462012-03-25T09:49:00.005-07:002012-03-25T10:21:29.073-07:00Sunday = Day of Rest? Pfffffft.....Quicko update here. Things are progressing anon on the jousting kit listed in last post. The following has been finished:<br /><br />Arming doublet<br />Blue 'normal' doublet<br />One linen shirt<br />Max's hunting gown (turned out AWESOMELY)<br /><br />Pictures and process outlines coming later in a more comprehensive post.<br /><br />Today's adventures include recreating this scabbard:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgagoSZmceKWzTAu80DOuUnqR5QUecqI0wqG__Q3V9ffA5GKbzIPQxVS2ljXOHdUAV__GYIbU9_DbFDmAps9h6Im3qL7JwoD9UKzGTIzI8TmV3YIWlxqXuNXqYJot0m_ebhY8Dg8Ba0y6C_/s1600/DSC_0218.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgagoSZmceKWzTAu80DOuUnqR5QUecqI0wqG__Q3V9ffA5GKbzIPQxVS2ljXOHdUAV__GYIbU9_DbFDmAps9h6Im3qL7JwoD9UKzGTIzI8TmV3YIWlxqXuNXqYJot0m_ebhY8Dg8Ba0y6C_/s320/DSC_0218.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723879117745417618" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHP2Wrk7v0Ioopt72vF7c93uSMRZDDU76utPEkEbUg6580Z4SzGaD8xOLf2nj4nU-qHPlZqTklJUP09h2bjSSWJZLfKM6tJwRl1Sv-WyTgFZ7dERAJkAHgmoesTm4codva3K-zZrvpSgO/s1600/DSC_0217.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHP2Wrk7v0Ioopt72vF7c93uSMRZDDU76utPEkEbUg6580Z4SzGaD8xOLf2nj4nU-qHPlZqTklJUP09h2bjSSWJZLfKM6tJwRl1Sv-WyTgFZ7dERAJkAHgmoesTm4codva3K-zZrvpSgO/s320/DSC_0217.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723879912895157298" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This is the scabbard for Maximilian's hunting sword, currently displayed at the Neueberg of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. I really dig the leather tooling and I would like to be able to reproduce it as closely as I can. The first step is to figure out what exactly is going on with the patterns there.<br /><br />In the left image, there are some letters, reproduced more closely here:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhAHae0AqHoQvoW7wZiWkl2aaf1hGtohsCZM8JSoxhYy73DZAGhIAYtJG-Zx4UPDBIKqWGLPYIt1FTZrDRkQmIsBCnlcBwZGdvqqrvOiF0tuhNz0l4P9UlqfwdXPZ9yb-HSzyhwTWCy80/s1600/MMILN-.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhAHae0AqHoQvoW7wZiWkl2aaf1hGtohsCZM8JSoxhYy73DZAGhIAYtJG-Zx4UPDBIKqWGLPYIt1FTZrDRkQmIsBCnlcBwZGdvqqrvOiF0tuhNz0l4P9UlqfwdXPZ9yb-HSzyhwTWCy80/s320/MMILN-.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723881946347006642" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />As far as I can tell, that looks like MMILN, which would make sense. Max was pretty keen on having abbreviated forms of his name on his stuff, particularly his hunting stuff.<br /><br />The rest of the scabbard features a lot of looping floral designs similar to the ones that show up on banded armour etchings in the first decade of the 16th century.<br /><br />The tooling is going to take some improvisation since Tandy Leather doesn't sell stamps that will reproduce those marks.<br /><br />But onwards ho! I'll try to be good and take WIP shots as I go. Can't promise miracles since this is my first go-round at a leather scabbard but I'll do my damndest!KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-19624644575900520352012-02-12T21:22:00.002-08:002012-02-12T22:09:11.356-08:00It Lives!Well, it lives to joust, at least.<br /><br />Howdy, folks. I guess it's been awhile, eh? At first, there was the psuedo defection to Tumblr, then there was the trip to Europe, then there was the Three Musketeers thing, THEN there was Christmas, and god knows, NOTHING gets done then.<br /><br />So now we are here in February and the Costume Coma is beginning again. The jousting thing is progressing full-steam ahead and we've got our first tournament in May in Austin, Texas of all places! So, as you guessed, the Costume Coma Spring 2012 Edition features a LOT of historical gear.<br /><br />Here's the List (it's okay, I cry too when I look at it):<br /><br />MUST HAVE:<br />-Arming doublet<br />-At least one normal doublet<br />-At least three linen shirts<br />-Banner<br />-New boots<br />-Arming coif<br />-Helmet crest<br />-Sword scabbard<br />-Belts<br />-New velvet cap<br /><br />NICE TO HAVE:<br />-Fancy brocade doublet<br />-<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbLd3BPsQsnRgBnbkySEw-TVtbE9pITIvXwmLvfIOVi-ZLKRz2xgil6OwIe4HkCCOZh9rp4cFIN5saoS8faAzFTzA0LMGZL1qtAEJrGhxH35JGFtTs8ptTt4M_pujYplZxT83DtxRWh4V/s320/1.jpg">Max's hunting gown and hood</a><br />-Proper hosen (well-made so crotch does NOT go when riding)<br />-'Bases' - weirdo<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Theuerdank.118b.jpg"> armour skirt</a> worn extensively by Germans between 1500 and 1545.<br /><br />The arming doublet is DONE. It looks like this (about 3/4 finished here and missing the padded arms):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP696GklGwu51tXox-FsGFw3GbpDjOzDlYDErBy_RHl3bH_zu1p3WnzwK6Gh_ipS3sbWmdiiH1QLhk-fDNzLROhda9aJZlRhNABAbA-0KnrMaedmjywZpJaeD2ef6MBJEmt_6l29f25nzc/s1600/IMG_0454.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP696GklGwu51tXox-FsGFw3GbpDjOzDlYDErBy_RHl3bH_zu1p3WnzwK6Gh_ipS3sbWmdiiH1QLhk-fDNzLROhda9aJZlRhNABAbA-0KnrMaedmjywZpJaeD2ef6MBJEmt_6l29f25nzc/s320/IMG_0454.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708490375936897362" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />It was made with <a href="http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=armour+padding#/d1nrr4g">THIS</a> absolutely excellent tutorial. All hand-sewn, proper materials like linen and melton wool, nice period buckles, etc, etc. (By the way, if you're in the market for period buckles I totally recommend <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.armourandcastings.com">these chaps</a>. Cheap, excellent selection, quick shipping, and just generally REALLY pretty stuff)<br /><br />To be honest, the arming doublet is probably the biggest, most involved project on that list, so the other things should be relatively quick. I'll try to post play-by-play updates as it all comes together.<br /><br />Before I sign off, have a few self-indulgent joust-related photos. Back in November, the troupe helped out with a TV show called 'Man on a Mission.' Basic premise is this - a vaguely hunkish guy goes out to learn to do "guy" things, like drive fast cars, cook steaks, gamble his life's savings away in a game of craps, etc. In one episode, he learns to joust and that was us. I ended up riding demo games for this one (spearing rings with a sword, spearing a hay-bale with a spear, doing quintain stuff). Decided to wear Marius' gear with the leather arming vest (but without the 20 lbs of makeup - let's face it, even <span style="font-style: italic;">I</span> have a weirdness threshold) and it was a pretty good time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOk_vb3E6w-mRTc9T-3ByBmkNoP2TInqZaH3EQhz05d03jaLh7wDhUzCGOKGFREx__ODUq4qxt3gyD4RdXPfVRcU-GzJu2OADe8RyyTwpgLsMN2vD8Xu90XPQPXvAFNtbY6OIHegZHw6eW/s1600/20111109-IMG_0519.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOk_vb3E6w-mRTc9T-3ByBmkNoP2TInqZaH3EQhz05d03jaLh7wDhUzCGOKGFREx__ODUq4qxt3gyD4RdXPfVRcU-GzJu2OADe8RyyTwpgLsMN2vD8Xu90XPQPXvAFNtbY6OIHegZHw6eW/s320/20111109-IMG_0519.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708494576930081026" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Rowan decided she was going to have a good time too and try to buck me off during the rings. She was pitching quite the fit, so we traded her out for Peter, who is my main jousting bro this season.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7WGnC3LdqaE_4Nc5DUcMtHAT1-n7Bn7Yc2ICj_F2yFhQHS5yUwtjko2bFxZkAY-CQiiZF9E58fgAbbvNp5MzPHwz4V4H8lDC52HeI2uzRfVN9qcUQKjP3N_aD4eShqAZ3yFf5f3uTiOiu/s1600/20111109-IMG_0523.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7WGnC3LdqaE_4Nc5DUcMtHAT1-n7Bn7Yc2ICj_F2yFhQHS5yUwtjko2bFxZkAY-CQiiZF9E58fgAbbvNp5MzPHwz4V4H8lDC52HeI2uzRfVN9qcUQKjP3N_aD4eShqAZ3yFf5f3uTiOiu/s320/20111109-IMG_0523.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708494358790844418" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Had a bit more luck with Pete.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42Mkt35RZgTSx_5_1fQsFnShvMsdocFL4t9At4Tlr7VheZAgUo3mVvua-rmvlZXxHQwIX5ejxUaZIgoxXzxVbDv5Ys_U4fDgSdViD3wCWRlXVxwnjMacShod0C8Ny0bTun5tRxk01iXh-/s1600/20111109-IMG_0723.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42Mkt35RZgTSx_5_1fQsFnShvMsdocFL4t9At4Tlr7VheZAgUo3mVvua-rmvlZXxHQwIX5ejxUaZIgoxXzxVbDv5Ys_U4fDgSdViD3wCWRlXVxwnjMacShod0C8Ny0bTun5tRxk01iXh-/s320/20111109-IMG_0723.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708495871625415842" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And there we all are at the end, still smiling despite the long, somewhat arduous day it was (wish I could get away with wearing that stuff all the time...). Photos are taken by the wonderfully talented <a href="http://jazhart.com/index.php">Marnie Burkhart</a><br /><br />So jousting is the name of the game this summer and the sewing projects will be in accordance! However, the Texas joust may require me to miss this year's Calgary Expo and since I need my Con fix, there are plans in the works to hit up San Diego instead. Going to pimp Marius to The Nines, if that's the case and it's already begun. So stay tuned for updates all around!KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8169599484788894466.post-27743495113819209252012-02-12T21:22:00.001-08:002012-02-12T21:22:33.394-08:00It Lives!KaiserMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15416955087538529698noreply@blogger.com0