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A lot of work ahead of me, could really use some help with a costume.

Started by Davenil, March 30, 2018, 03:47:28 PM

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Davenil

Hello everybody,

So, my friends and I are planning on going to the MN Ren Fest this year and we decided to try dressing up this time, but also want to make our own outfits. Only problem is that I have no idea what I'm doing and am terrible with arts and crafts. Haha! A friend of mine said she would help me with the sewing part; I just need to find the patterns and fabrics. So yea, I could definitely use some help.

So, the outfit I wanted to make for myself is the basic one the lead character in the tv show Galavant wears:


I just love that minimalistic yet awesome look, but I don't know where to even begin. Here are a couple more links to pictures of the outfit:

https://images.spoilertv.com/cache/Galavant/Season%201/Promotional%20Episode%20Photos/Episode%201.02%20-%20Joust%20Friends/015_FULL.jpg

https://resizing.flixster.com/xLA0v6W0EIB5-yKqS1rA1iqjCYc=/fit-in/1152x864/v1.bjsxMDI0MTE4O2o7MTc2NTE7MTIwMDszMDAwOzE2ODg

https://images.spoilertv.com/cache/Galavant/Season%201/Promotional%20Episode%20Photos/Episode%201.01%20-%20Pilot/HQ/070_FULL.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/9f/97/21/9f972162f265f90c17eaa1c6175ba132--joshua-sasse-tv-reviews.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/11/6e/77/116e7719a3215965a122e3ad5635c45e.jpg

Some of the pictures show him wearing a black leather vest or some armor, but I'm not going to add any of that stuff. I just want the base Undershirt, Vest, Doublet, and Pants. With a couple accessories like the belt/sword holder and boots.


Pants-
http://www.farfarawaysite.com/section/galavant/gallery2/gallery11/hires/2.jpg
Just using this picture link for a clear close up of the pants, it kind of looks like the pants are like a brown faux suede when you zoom in. Does that sound right? Would they be just a basic pants pattern I could find anywhere? I was looking up some cool looking Celtic Medieval Viking pants on ebay, but they seem a bit too baggy. I'd rather they be a little tighter fitting like in this picture, so I'll probably have to have them made.


Undershirt-
For the white/cream colored undershirt, it looks like it's just a basic medieval long-sleeved shirt. Here is a picture with better view of the shirt:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e5/13/71/e5137111ecd7c3a6780d8c35dc9c835a.jpg
I was reading on a past forum post that a tissue weight linen would work well for that kind of shirt. I'm not sure what that means, but does that sound like it could work? They also said it might be too weak of a fabric that could tear easily. Would there be a better fabric to use for the undershirt?


Vest-
Then it looks like he's wearing a gray or grayish brown colored vest on top of that, but I have no idea what that would be made out of? From these pictures, it looks like it's probably leather:
http://www.discorsivo.it/u/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/1200.2x1.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7f/ce/11/7fce110f3fa3e7272ce3a13cef684a5e.jpg
Should I look for like a faux leather somewhere? How hard is it to work with faux leather? I don't think it's a cotton or wool. Any ideas? And I feel like a vest is a pretty standard pattern, so it shouldn't be too hard to find one close enough. Just have to tweak it so it's got a collar on it. Plus it's going to be under the doublet, so it shouldn't show too much.


Doublet/Jerkin
For the doublet/jerkin I was going to buy the McCalls m2002 pattern found here:
https://cosplay.mccall.com/m2002-products-50516.php?page_id=5811
She'll probably have to tweak it a little bit here and there, but it looks close enough. Maybe make the bottom front angle outwards more? And no big shoulder poofs. I have no idea what the fabric would be for this either. One person I talked to said it most likely would've been made out of wool, but that might get to be too hot and maybe use a Melton or broadcloth weight wool? Not sure exactly what that means. Haha! Maybe something like this:
http://www.bblackandsons.com/burgundy-woolnylon-melton-fabric-p-1617.html?zenid=llps6i4uq23jh07nhfnoee7g12

On a previous post about making a doublet they said they ended up using a light cotton corduroy with a cotton broadcloth for the lining? I don't know if I'd like the look of corduroy as much, but does that sound like it would work better? They mentioned using fusible interfacing for the lining and somebody else said that instead of interfacing they could go with Buckram or Canvas instead to make it sturdy. Again, I have no idea what any of that means, but does any of that sound like something I should be doing? What would be your advice to try and emulate the jacket the Galavant guy is wearing?


Leather Straps-
The leather straps to close the doublet might be a problem too. I'm not sure exactly where I could find straps like that. I found a couple leather purse bag straps that kind of look like them. They look quite a bit smaller, but would any these work out?
https://www.pacifictrimming.com/hardware/buckle-slider/leather-closure.html
Does anyone know of any better sites for small leather belt straps? I feel like any buckles that I get too are going to be a nice and pretty metal though, so I'll probably have to try and tarnish it to give it an oldtime used up look. Any tips on tarnishing a belt buckle?


Belt-
For the belt\sword holder I'll probably just go with this double wrap brown belt here since it's the cheapest good looking one I could find:
http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=SNLA6402BR


Boots-
And then finally I'll probably just get a pair of these boots instead of trying to make it look exact. These two sets look pretty sweet, so that'd work out just fine.
https://www.museumreplicas.com/assassin-boots
https://www.museumreplicas.com/the-journeyman-boots
Any preferences?


Sorry for the huge wall of text. I'm not sure where else I could go for help. Are there any other forums I could post on that could help? I don't want to bug my friends too much because they have their own costumes to make, so I'd really like to figure out as much info as I can on my own before asking any of them for help. But yea, any information you guys could give me would be greatly appreciated! I'm pretty lost.

Thanks,
Dave

Butch

You don't need to go extravagant; this is just for wear in the lanes, and not for hard labor.  Keep that in mind when buying materials.

I think you should take a look at Simplicity 4059.

The shirt.  LOTS of info online!  Pretty easy affair with square-ish pieces of cloth.  I'd say make the first one from unbleached (or bleached) muslin.  Cheap and no big deal if you get a measurement wrong.  And you'll appreciate the natural fibers!

Trouser material:  a good upholstery is nice.  Find a brown remnant off FabricGuru.com.

The jerkin:  Vinyl will make you sweat to death!  Is there something else you'd be willing to use?  Maybe a damask?  Black on black?  If FabricGuru has something that will work for you, go for it! I've used them a lot over the years.  Only, imo, avoid using the decoration pattern laid out in 4059 - Everyone uses it, and now it is common.

If you want leather closures, have you looked at Tandy?  You can get the leather and the buckles there, and cut the leather to fit (it's really easy).  Tarnishing a buckle, uneven paint?  Ammonia will tarnish brass.

And you can make your hat or buy it with all the money you saved!

Good luck!

Davenil

Awesome! Thanks so much for the help!

So, I'm definitely going to look a little more into Tandy and see what cool stuff I can come up with.

I went up to our local Joann Fabrics and checked out some of the choices they have there. They only had 1 selection of Wool that was a Wool/Felt combo. It was pretty close to what I wanted, but I think I might like the Melton better. Plus they didn't have burgundy color for it. I don't mind if it gets pretty hot. I usually can handle heat pretty well. Plus, it's the outer jerkin part, so I can always open it up or even just take it off too. Still not sure what to do to strengthen it yet. Interfacing or the Buckram/canvas thing.

They did have both tissue weight linen and muslin up there, so I tried to do a comparison of both of them. I think I like the feel of the tissue weight linen a little better, although the muslin did feel a bit sturdier. I'm not planning on doing a bunch of crazy things while wearing it, so I think I'll probably go with more comfort and go with the linen.

They were also having a $1 pattern sale too, so I picked up a copy of the Simplicity 4059. That should definitely help! Thanks!