Thorin BotFA Leather Surcoat - Work in Progress

Whew. It seems it is time for an update. I've been working feverishly these past few days to get my costume for the BotFA premiere ready, and it's been somewhat of a challenge. I get restless when I feel things are taking too long, and a sense of panic begins to set in. 

Anyway, the surcoat is nearly finished. Pictures are kind of tricky, though, because of the dark color. The detail work doesn't show up very well. Took it out for a jaunt in the snow, though, for contrast purposes.

Hard to tell from these pictures, but nearly the entire surface of the leather has been quilted in a diamond pattern, which took ages. It's not showing up well, but I plan to remedy that by using a paste made of French Green Clay and water to create a residue that will bring out the pattern and simulate the weave of the original surcoat. 

The leather was scavenged from a pair of trousers and a coat, both from Goodwill, and I'm amazed I was able to pull it off. It wasn't, by any means, easy ripping apart so many seams, and for a while I wasn't sure if I'd have enough of the leather that hadn't been compromised by buttonholes, pockets, etc.

These leather garments are no longer with us in these forms. Note the high waist on the trousers. *snerk*

It made a dreadful mess...

Drawing the lines for the quilting. That took a while. My sewing process was basically continuous, though, so it wasn't as hard to quilt as you'd think. (I suppose "quilt" isn't technically the term for this process, as I'm not backing the leather with another material, but whatevs.) This particular panel of the leather had a wrinkly defect, but much of it was ultimately cut off and encased in the seam, so it's not very noticeable. It'll be even less so once the weathering is complete.

My test piece. The cloudy substance in the glass is the French Green Clay. 

All assembled (except for the right-hand sleeve flange). My pattern was previously tested in a dark blue vinyl (pictured in a previous blog post), and fits very well. 

I've been working on the jewels for the front. I made them in vegetable tanned leather first, then made a mold and cast duplicates in resin. There are three different types of jewels used, technically, but I've only made duplicates of one thus far. 

My horrific resin-casting mess. The kitchen table is outta commission, guys. 

And here are some of the various elements of the costume, all piled together. The chain maille will be joined with another shirt to make it shin length, and split down the center front. The cloak will be fitted properly and adorned with ornate trim. The fur mantle will be cut into shape and sewn in two layers to afford a very luxurious, 3D look. 

Last night, I made a hem binding to affix to the bottom of the surcoat. Quite a challenge, really. The leather fit perfectly, and it still wanted to bunch and wander. After several mishaps (which involved an unfortunate amount of seam-ripping), I found the solution was to hem the upper edge of the joined piece, position it where I wanted it, and glue it down. Seems a natural solution anyway, since it's basically impossible to sew through the layers of leather folded over each other (5 total) with my current machine. 

Now I've only to hem the front and begin the weathering process. I'll post an update when I'm finished, but I'm planning to continue casting the jewels over the next few days, so that aspect of the coat probably won't be finished for a while. I'll be glad to have this aspect of the outfit done. It's been quite a challenge, and very time-consuming, but I like how it's turning out. 

Also on the docket for today:

1) Trousers (I'll be airbrushing a design on a suede patch that will be sewn over the kneecaps)

2) Fur mantle

3) Belt (will begin designing and tooling. Really excited about this part of the project; it's gonna be awesome)

Finished Thorin Raven Crown and New Project Breakdown

All done! I like how it's turned out. A fun project, to be sure, and a great learning experience. This is one of those projects where I would actually be up for making a duplicate. That doesn't happen very often. 

It's very sturdy, and the detail shows up well. If I were to fix anything, I might add some aging to the "gold," so it looks less shiny. The texture of the leather, though, gives it a nice, hand-forged appearance.

I like how the back wraps around to support the front. Makes the whole thing feel a lot more integrated and sturdy.

The dangly squares are quite fun, and slightly ingenuous. They're suspended in place by a strip of garment leather, and they create the illusion of a tail. If I'm being honest with myself, this design looks like it matches Thror's beard/hair jewelry. :D

And here's me... trying to do Thorin's "grump face" justice. I think I'm getting the hang of it. Majestic! 

Now it's on to the rest of the costume. Oh, yeah. I'm gonna be Majestic Thorin for opening night. Here's a pic of the costume, except that I'm also adding the robe with fur collar and the crown to the  ensemble. 

Kinda hard to see, as most of what he's wearing is very dark, but the outfit is quite complex. To break it down, it's:

1) Outer cloak, black; fur collar, gold and black trim

2) Outer coat, black, quilted, pieced leather, metal jewels along the front opening 

3) Under tunic, black, gold trim identical to that he wore as a prince in Erebor, except that it's in gold instead of blue and silver. Symbolism much?

4) Undershirt, dirty off-white, buttons visible; very much a relic of Laketown 

5) Trousers, with ornate suede patch visible

6) Boots, fur-covered, wrapped in leather

7) Belt, tooled leather; gold buckle embossed with Raven emblem

8) Gloves in the same style as the outer coat, with gold, quilted trim around the edge

9) Possibly sword and shield, but not necessary, as this outfit is the one he wears before battle is imminent 

I've already finished the mock-up of the outer coat, in a different fabric, but I intend to make it in black leather. Will be cutting apart a leather coat and a pair of leather trousers to acquire said leather. 

I may end up using this mock up as the base for my remake of Thorin's navy blue traveling coat. I like the pattern; very well-fitted, considering I worked it up in an evening. (Will definitely be making a "hero version" of the coat in genuine leather and raccoon fur at some point, though. I already have the materials.)

Will update as things develop. :)

 

Progress - Thorin Raven Crown

Decided to post a few new shots of the Raven crown. It's coming along quite well. Just finished mapping out the design for the back and the wrap-around pieces that support the front. A bit tricky, really. Again, all the reference images show the crown in its finished state, either being worn, or simply suspended in space, in all its three-dimensional majesty. 

So this is where I'm at after another evening of work. Will tool the back piece tomorrow, and see about attaching it (probably with glue, or rivets) to the front piece. Might not attach it at all until I get the beveling tool I ordered, and the dye. In any case, I'll probably finish the second back piece at the least and make sure everything fits the way it should. 

Thorin Raven Crown - Work in Progress

The first time I saw the teaser trailer for The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Million Nopes... I knew I had to make this crown. This crown is so majestic I can't even. 

Obviously, forging it out of solid gold wasn't really a option. I've seen a couple of people who made it out of heat-shaped plastic, but I wanted something that looked more natural, more organic. I wanted something really durable. So I opted for thick, vegetable tanned leather and acrylic paints. 

I spent an evening studying photographs and sketching out the basic design. The next day, I scrapped that plan and printed off an actual photograph of the crown, which I then traced and modified. (The pictures show the design in 3D, rather than the 2D that is required to transfer the design to a flat surface). The printing process was an interesting adventure in and of itself, but I'll spare you the agonizing details of the three hours I spent getting one of our four (!) printers to actually, you know, print.

I know what you're thinking. Majestic, even on paper, in black and white. So I traced the design onto my leather, and cut it out with a winning combination of willpower, luck, elbow grease, and some really dull scissors. Genius. 

There's one of them, all cut out and embossed with the design. Next came the tooling, which takes forever, but it's actually quite therapeutic. Using my handy leather tooling kit, I strategically outlined the embossed design to give a sense of depth and cause the raven to appear more clearly.

 

Rinse and repeat. :) Not quite finished with the other side yet, but it's coming along nicely. This is a work in progress, so I'll be making another post when I complete more of the crown. Can't wait to paint it. But first I have to bevel the edges, harden and shape the leather, and dye it. *sigh*

Khalisi Daenerys Wedding Dress

This dress Dany wears for her wedding... my version turned out a little more brown than hers, but I actually like it. It's very earthy, and there's truly nothing like wearing a flowing silk gown. It felt like I had nothing on (in the best possible way, not "omg, I'm naked!"). 

I didn't document the process very well, unfortunately, and even this picture doesn't really show what the front (or back) of the dress look like. I'll have to take some more pictures later and update this post.

I hand dyed the silk in a massive canning jar cauldron, which is always an adventure. No horrific mishaps this time, thankfully. Then I used a base pattern that was actually really, really close to the original, and had this baby finished in an evening. It was actually a lot of fun, and diverted me from my mom's propaganda film, which I probably would have watched if I'd had nothing better to do. 

The picture below was during an intermediate step, but it does show the interesting coloration well. 

The best part of the gown is the front tie details (not yet attached at the time of the above photo). There are some ties (much like those you'd find on an infinity dress) that loop through a closure adorned with dragon heads), cross, and then are tied at the back of the dress. Fun little detail. A very simple design, and yet very elegant. I like the open back. :)

Well, Halloween's over and it's time to move on to bigger and better things. Like my costume for the premiere / opening night of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Million Tissue Boxes. At the moment, I'm definitely contemplating going as Thorin in his secondary battle armor. Not the gold plate armor Thror wore at the Battle of Azanulbizar, but the chain mail coat and quilted leather surcoat. Also contemplating wearing... the crown. Which actually doesn't go with the aforementioned garb, but it looks amazing and I totally want to make and wear it.