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Custom Archer Costume - Need Help!

Started by Squire_Kit, February 23, 2010, 11:22:35 PM

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Dinobabe

For the water skin look at reenactor websites, like for mountainman.  Should be able to find one with a cork top or similar.  The key phrase I used was "leather water bottle".
Try this, scroll to #9.  This one sounds awesome and $60 seems cheap.  Civil War canteens are $30-50.  May as well look good AND be usable (and washable!)!
http://legvi.tripod.com/armamentarium/id118.html

Natasha McCallister
Bristol Faire 1988-2005
The Wizard's Chamber/Sir Don Palmist
59.2% FaireFolk Corrupt
midsouthrenfaire.com

Squire_Kit

Ooo, nice find, Dinobabe! Right now I'm actually hunting for a pattern for the wineskin. I have the corks, the twine, the straps, and the material to make it. I just need a decent pattern (and preferably one that could hold liquid).

RSLeask

Quote from: Squire_Kit on February 26, 2010, 01:11:33 PM
RSLeask - Honestly, the piece I'm most concerned about is the shape of the hood. I drew the triangle-esque bottom portion after references I had seen. However, I'm thinking of making it into a sort of half shirt, or a bib. So you're on the right track! :)

I've honestly thought about something very similar for my own character.  When I was considering it, I was looking at doing a leather trimming, rather than shaping the hood itself.  Match the full trim to the color of the hood, and you could attach another piece of leather for the "beak", and even accent it by making it a different color than the rest of the trim.

Think it would even help against the hood riding back, as they tend to do.
What's a Grecian Urn?  Are we talking union, or non-union?

Dinobabe

Quote from: Squire_Kit on February 28, 2010, 12:11:11 AM
Ooo, nice find, Dinobabe! Right now I'm actually hunting for a pattern for the wineskin. I have the corks, the twine, the straps, and the material to make it. I just need a decent pattern (and preferably one that could hold liquid).

Buy a water bladder and design the bottle around it.  That way it is actually usable!
Like this...
Natasha McCallister
Bristol Faire 1988-2005
The Wizard's Chamber/Sir Don Palmist
59.2% FaireFolk Corrupt
midsouthrenfaire.com

Dragonlord

#19
Here is a wineskin bladder that comes with a leather pattern for $5.95. http://www.leatherunltd.com/hardware/findings/findings.html

Or if you don't want to make, Potomac Leather has a deerskin bota for $40.

crazyrennie

Quote from: Squire_Kit on February 25, 2010, 02:54:24 PM
Thanks so much for all of your responses.

I edited my first post this morning to include closer views of each of the pieces since the details in the first picture are hard to see.

Crazy Rennie - That is a good suggestion for the jerkin material. I'll keep an eye out for it. I've heard the "duckcloth" thrown around alot in reference to pants fabric, but what is it exactly?

Squire Kit,
I have also heard it referred to as Trigger cloth-
Sorry I am not much for sewing-but I am trying to learn
Crazy

Pascal

"Duck" is a heavier and stiffer fabric -- maybe not quite as heavy as canvas, but not too far from it.  "Trigger" is also heavy, but duck is slightly heavier.

Squire_Kit

#22
Oof, my apologies for the lack of reply. I've had a busy past few days. But back to work!

Most of the fabric needed for the costume has been purchased. (We got an absolute steal on quite a few leather pieces at Goodwill which saves a fortune from having to buy the actual leather itself.) Here's where I stand now on each piece (I apologise again as I was hoping to have pictures of the various costume parts before alterations began, but alas, my schedule didn't permit it.) I'm working with a good friend of my mother's who is a talented seamstress. But on with the updates...

Cowl - I've settled on doing Altair's hood from Assassin's Creed (though as RSLeask suggested, I'll be making it much longer at the bottom as a sort of half shirt). The only thing I'm missing is....a pattern. Something roughly like this made out of a natural, but stretchy fabric (I'm embarassed to admit my knowledge of fabrics is very small)....

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/forums/showthread.php/35384-Assassin-s-Creed-Altair?p=481735

For fabric, I'm leaning towards this colour and look. What do you guys think?



Jerkin - At Goodwill, we found a wonderful suede fur coat that featured stitched panels. It gave it a look as if hides had been stitched together. However, it's a very light beige/cream colour, so mostly likely it will be dyed. However, there's a small part of us that doesn't want to cut it up. It's from Hening Furs, which coats similar to it run about $1,500. (We got it for $30! What a steal!) But yes, it's true. We are cutting it up, dying and distressing it all in the name of costuming. However, like the cowl, it's been nigh impossible to find a pattern anywhere near the jerkin I've drawn.

For the sleeves I'm looking at a poly-suede and dying it to match the jerkin. I would've like to have found a natural fabric, but I'm not sure if it can be sewn to get the effect I want. However, that will be later on in the process once we get the jerkin assembled (Right now, the sleeve will be a half sleeve, only attached to the front and back armpit of the jerkin).

Undershirt - As shown in my previous photo post, that one's done! (I may add laces later to the collar, but for now it stands as is.) CHECK

Trousers - Another fantastic Goodwill find! We found a black suede pair of pants (tag: United Colors of Benetton) for less than $10. However, they're about a size 8 and I'm a size 2. The seamtress (as well as my mother) are content to leave the pants as is - nice and baggy. I would like them altered to be a few sizes smaller. Not to be skin-tight by any means, but I think a size 2 to 8 is a big gap. Let's see if I can win the arguement...

Belt - As blessings would have it, we found most of our fabric and accessories at a Nashville Goodwill (all in one shopping ALL in the same place!). We found a few large leather pants, leather skirts, suede jackets, and an assortment of belts. We found one belt that was already worn out with beautiful two-toned red and caramel strips. We'll be using that for the main belt around the waist. Still looking for the larger belt to go underneath.

Quiver


I would like to do something more along the lines of this....however, I need a pattern. We have all the material. Just need a pattern. (And then figure out a way to modify it as I don't want to copy the design exactly. I just like the idea of a hard bottom and collapsible cloth top (as would be easier for hiding as Shannan would probably to do keep out of sight of enemies).)

Hunting Knife, Bow, & Arrows - I have not made any progress with these yet as I'm looking to make the costume first. Though, as a sidenote, a friend of mine made a clever suggestion of only creating the shafts and fletching, but leave the points undone. That is, with the exception of say, two, with finished arrowheads for photoshoots.

Pouch


I can find basic leather drawstring pouch patterns, however, I am looking for one more like the one pictured above.

Boots - *see previous photo post for boots* I'm working on a few wrap designs at the moment. I haven't settled on one I'm satisfied with (mainly to cover up that side zipper).

Wineskin - I haven't done any searching for this one yet as I'm leaving accessories until last. But I have  taken down all the notes you guys have been leaving. I very much appreciate it!

I think that about sums it up for now. Hopefully I'll have progress pictures soon!

crazyrennie

Hey there-
First congrats on the Goodwill finds-

Another name for that style of pouch is a Kidney Pouch,maybe help you with pattern location?

CrazyRennie

Elennare

*so jealous of your Goodwill store!*

The pouch you have pictured looks to be easy to make, no pattern needed.  You'll need to cut out a circle, a half circle of the same diameter, a longer rectangle (match the circumference of the half circle in length), a shorter rectangle for the belt loop, and another small rectange to make the clasp.  And a button.

Sew the long rectangle to the half circle and one side of the circle.  Attach the small rectangle to to "top" of the circle and cut a slit in it.  Fold one end of the short rectangle over and sew to the back, just below where the fold line will be, and then sew the other end to the bottom of the back.  Attach button in front, and, you have a pouch.  Adjust order of steps as necessary if it looks like it would be easier to do in a different order. :)
My (infrequently updated) costume blog: http://manufactorumbrandis.wordpress.com/

Pascal

Quote from: Squire_Kit on March 04, 2010, 09:36:27 PM

Cowl - I've settled on doing Altair's hood from Assassin's Creed (though as RSLeask suggested, I'll be making it much longer at the bottom as a sort of half shirt). The only thing I'm missing is....a pattern. Something roughly like this made out of a natural, but stretchy fabric (I'm embarassed to admit my knowledge of fabrics is very small)....

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/forums/showthread.php/35384-Assassin-s-Creed-Altair?p=481735

Really nice hood portion -- well, great hood portion, actually!  I don't know that I care for the shoulder part, though.  Looks like the type of thing that will get all twisted up when you move around.  I like how he did the "dip" in the back -- perhaps if it had the same in the front it might help.  Would also make it wider -- kind of like a half-shirt, like you mentioned.

Another possibility would be to have it wide enough to cover your shoulders, but have some hidden velcro on top of the shoulders to keep it from twisting away?  Could let you do some cool things like dipping front/back/right/left rather than leaving a straight hemmed bottom.  Don't know how I feel about dags -- but you could do something nice with that as well.

I've found various patterns, but you'll most likely be best served by making some test pieces with muslin to get it just right.  Cowls are tough.

Squire_Kit

Dragonlord - I have actually just purchased the wineskin filler from Leather Run (the $5.95 one). Although yes, I'd like to go as authentic as possible, I think at this stage I can afford to be a little sneaky...I've got real leather, twining, and corks for the outside. I just wasn't sure how to do the inside (nor the pattern). But thank you so much for that suggestion. It was perfect! I'll let you know how it looks when I get it.

Elennare - I have never been that lucky at a Goodwill store! It was quite a rare thing, indeed. Thanks for the  instructions on the pouch. I'll jot those down in my notes and see if the seamstress and I can come up with anything.

Pascal - I can't think of a way to contact that guy other than to sign onto the forums (which I don't want to do). I've emailed a couple other folks who've done Altair costumes. But to be honest, their hoods don't look as good as this guy's.

Pascal

Haven't tried this one myself, but it might give you a starting point ... http://members.cox.net/moirandalls/cowl.htm

William of Armagh

Greetings, love the drawing for the elf garb. I think it is turning out super I enjoy being the mercenary/ rapier fighter most of the time...
but do have some elf garb...some pictures on Photobucket,  search for-- Adventure-Art --
Mercenary guild
woodland elf
fair companion to lady A., aka "the rogue"
target for that knife throwing act

Squire_Kit

Pascal - Hm, that's not quite the look I'm going for. But it may give us a base to start with. Thanks!

William - My costume is not for an elf. I gave a description of the character in the first post. But you can also view the book she is from here...

http://www.allonbooks.com