A lot has happened since my last blog post. I should learn to blog more often and in smaller chunks!
The gloves are done!
I’ve finished the gloves. The brown leather part were actually from my old Ocarina of Time costume. I just cut them at the wrist area and the new teal part covers the edge. The brown part is real suede. I purchased a used leather jacket from Good Will and cut it up to make the gloves and it worked out well. I stitched it by hand purposefully making the stitches black and obvious. I think it gives it a cool look.
The teal colored part is made from faux suede material purchased from my local Jo-Ann fabrics store. It’s expensive but it feels real nice and drapes well. And I got it on sale so its ok. I included elastic in the larger end to keep it on my arm. It’s also stuffed with a couple layers of some stuff you can get at your fabric store. I can’t remember what its called. But it’s like some fluffy stuff you can purchase just like fabric and have it cut for you. I may adjust these pieces more after Halloween to make them more form fitting.
Tunic status
The tunic still seems to be the most time consuming portion of this costume. I still have a lot left to do on it. I started doing the trim on it. I had a hard time finding an olive colored shiny trim for it. I finally found one but I’m still not quite happy with it. But I had to start it if I wanted to have it done in time. I may rip it out later and redo it later with another trim if I find one after Halloween. The trim on the neck opening didn’t come out as well as I would have liked. I didn’t stitch it strait. It’s kind of crooked and a little wrinkled. But, maybe no one will notice?
The trim for the sleeves was done by first doing a strait stitch on the right side then stitched again with a zig zag stitch on the edge of the trim material to keep it from fraying. Then this material is folded into the sleeve and then hand stitched to the inside of the sleeve making sure not to poke all the way through but instead only through the base color material and not to the trim on the right side. The finished product ends up not having any visible seems which looks pretty good.
I’ve started some of the detail laces on the shoulders. I think it looks fantastic! I’ve included a photo that shows basically how I did it. First the trim has to be done on the sleeve with the two ends of the trim fabric meeting at the top of the sleeve, not the bottom. The reason for this is because this piece of fabric will be pinched similarly to what I did for the sides of the hat with parts of the fake stitches being caught inside the pinch. I made the fake stitch/lace thingies the same exact way I did for the hat. I made a long tube and then cut it into pieces. I didn’t stitch the pieces closed. Then I pinned them where I wanted them on the sleeve. Then I hand stitched the parts near that white line you see there which indicates where the pinch will be. Then I used the sewing machine to sew the pinch. After that I sewed the other end of the fake stitch/laces turning under the end piece so it wouldn’t be visible. This also causes the fake laces to lift off of the fabric a little too.
Boots
I was stressing over the boots. I was really worried because I wanted to make the boots myself but I needed a good sole for a base. I knew it would take a long time and that’s what I’m running out of! So I went to Good Will to find a cheap pair of shoes that I could rip apart and just use the base for. But the thing that puzzled me is that I didn’t know how I was going to attach the fabric to the sole. It would be difficult to sew into a sole. And gluing is messy and usually not strong enough. So I was hoping to find a pair of shoes with a real soft sole I could hopefully sew into.
While I was in there I wasn’t finding anything I thought would work that actually fit me (I have big feet, I’m a size 11 womens in US size O.O). I saw about 4 pair of boots but they were all womens boots with a large heal on them so those certainly wouldn’t work. Then while I was looking a girl and her dad were looking at a couple pair of boots. One black and one brown. The brown ones looked like they’d be PERFECT and I wouldn’t even have to completely restructure the shoes. Just put a nice covering on them or modify them a bit. So she couldn’t decide which one she wanted. I hung around waiting for my chance to swoop in should she leave the correct pair behind. Finally she walked away…. with the black pair in her hand! So I went and tried on the brown ones. They were a little big but I could always stuff them with something to make them fit better. So I walked away with an awesome pair of boots for only $7!
I swear, Good Will is one of those stores you would die if your friends ever saw you in. But sometimes its a treasure trove of goodies for costuming. And sometimes you don’t find a damn thing in there. The trick is to go early before the otherHalloweeners go and get all the good stuff. And there’s also a tone of luck involved.
Below is a photo of me posing in my boots. As you can see they are an awesome grab. I’m not even going to modify them before Halloween. Afterwards when I have more time I will work on building a new skin to go on top of these. I will probably sew them strait into the material already there.
Wig
I was walking through the mall with my Mom doing some shopping for stuff for my new place and happened to come across a kiosk selling wigs. I saw one that I thought would be really good for my costume. It was only $20 so I bought it. I don’t want to post photos of it yet but I will later. I don’t want to spoil anything! It will require minimal styling. Originally I was going to use an old long wig I bought for a Cloud costume (that I never made) but it wasn’t working well. The hair line at the top of the head looks awful and I couldn’t move hair from one side to the other side (as in I couldn’t move the part to try and make it look more natural). But my new wig has a much more natural looking hair line and the hair falls really well. All I need to do is add some extensions on the sides to make those long locks of hair Link has in front of his ears and maybe do a little trimming in the back of the wig.
New model
A co-worker who works in my company’s Japan office sent me this awesome set of Zelda action figures that you piece together. Man why does Japan get all the cool stuff! The Link one actually provides a decent reference for the costume.
green, Green, GREEN
So I’ve been on this weird green kick lately. I have no idea where its coming from! lol. For my new apartment I bought green, off white, and red towels. My new sewing box is green. And my new comforter set is green. I’m becoming obsessed. In a few years I’m gonna be sick of this color.