#HobbitChallenge Video - Voting Live

Fairly straightforward. I'm coercing my family and friends into voting for my "Hide and Seek with Smaug" HobbitChallenge video. Because that's basically all I can do, right? (I can't bring myself to post it on Facebook. Much too embarrassing.)

Anyway, you just go to the link I've provided, scroll through until you find my video (it'll probably be on page 4 or 5) helpfully labeled "Sarah Martin" with a hideous still of me looking like some bizarre reject from the Beatles, click on it, and then click the vote button beneath the video until you get a message saying something like, "Vote recorded. Come back tomorrow and vote again." <---extremely sage counsel, don't you think?

Here's the link. https://fanchallenge.thehobbit.com/?entryid=440 

Go vote. I'll wait. :)

Did you vote?

Did you?

Did you really?

Yay!

I'm so proud of you! :D *hands out majestic cupcakes*

I'm about 98% certain my video won't win, but where's the harm in trying, right? Thanks, you guys. You're all majestic. 

Not nearly as majestic as Thorin, but more majestic than Kíli. :)  

Final Version, Bilbo Blue Coat

I finally found some motivation and finished my 3rd attempt at Bilbo's blue coat. All the attempts have been successful, but I'm particularly pleased with how the latest one turned out. I only wish I had better lighting for photos. The current lighting tends to wash out the colors. Le sigh.

Anyway, my process for making this warm, ragged beauty began with altering my pattern. I originally had a tunic pattern I used for all my tunics, but I decided at the last second that it simply didn't get the sleeves right at all. I found a pattern for men's pajamas (!) that was much closer, and altered it accordingly. 

The dog's like, "Someone please kill me."

Anyway, I altered the medium size men's top because it had very wide, roomy sleeves with the arm hole very much off the shoulder. Perfect for Bilbo's blue coat (that's one thing that is very important to do before beginning patterning: study the pictures of the original like you'll be taking an exam on them!) . 

My alterations are evidenced in the following pictures. I altered the back neck cutout, the front neckline, lengthened the sleeves (they need to be folded up, remember), lengthened the lower "panels," and split the front and back at the waist, adding 5/8" on each piece to accommodate the seam.

I cut out all the pieces, first sewing all the panels back together, then sewing the center back seam and the sides down to the waist seam. I did this for both the main, cotton velvet fabric and the linen/wool blend lining fabric.

When I'd finished and set the sleeves in, I set about making the trim. Bilbo's coat trim is allegedly "ratted up grey faux fur." I opted to use raw wool because it was frizzy and fuzzy, much like the "fur" they used, and would look more real than a synthetic fur trim. It wasn't easy, but I think the end result was worth it.

First, I washed the raw wool (got it from a seller on etsy), let it dry, and then basically sandwiched each individual cut strand in between a piece of bias tape I'd opened out and then pressed in half.

I used a bit of fabric glue to tack the ends of the pieces down, waited for that to dry, then sewed along the edge to hold the wool strands in place. After I'd completed enough trim to do the center front and the sleeves, it was time to dye it. The trim on Bilbo's coat is a grayish-biege, and since I didn't have any grey dye, I opted to use a solution of water and acrylic paint. I heated a cauldron of water, added a healthy bit of paint, stirred it up, and then added the trim. I let it sit in the black water for about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, and then removed it, rinsed it, and let it air dry. 

To finish the coat, I first sewed the lower panels of the main fabric and lining together, leaving the center back panels open for turning purposes...

Then I hand basted the trim into the center front seam.

And sewed the seam at the precise measurement so none of the bias tape would be visible once the coat was turned right side out. That, of course, was the next step (after trimming the seams, corners, and clipping the curves). 

Once that was done, I had only to sew up the back panels using a slipstitch, then sew the remaining trim to the outer side of the lining fabric of the sleeves, turn it so the trim was outwards, and then slipstitch the velvet over it to cover the seam/bias tape, and press the seams.

Not the real belt I'll be using. I don't think so, anyway. Now I just need a cravat. I plan to create that through silk painting, and I have most of the correct colors already.

If anyone finds this not-quite-a-tutorial useful, I'd love to hear from you. Or if you have any questions about how I accomplished a particular technique, I am more than happy to elaborate/clarify. :-)

In case you're wondering, the coat is very warm, and very comfy. I may end up wearing it for daily outings and/or around the house, as I need to break it in a little. Bilbo's, as you may have observed, has a lot of the velvet pile shredded and missing. I may do some of that later on (I'll probably use sandpaper and a cheese grater), but for now, I intend to enjoy a newish version of the coat. 

"Hide and Seek with Smaug" Hobbit Challenge Video

Secondary titles for this post: "Making a Movie in Seven Days, Alone, on a Shoestring Budget"; "A Really, Really Bad Idea."

Smaug costume: 3 days, $15. Most of the materials I already had on hand, with the exception of the gold fabric for the wings.

Bilbo's blue coat: 2 days, $5. Again, I already had most of the materials, and since I opted to use a blue fleece to make a mockup of the coat before making it in my real materials, I'm using the mockup for the movie for the sake of saving time. It still turned out quite nicely, I must say.

(This picture was taken before I kind of ruined the coat by trying to age it with grey Rit dye. It dyed the rabbit fur trim a light purple, and shrunk it so it misshaped the center front. I'll have to remove the fur along the front and replace it with a synthetic faux fur, like the fur on the sleeves.)

Backdrop: 1 night, $8. I magically happened upon a brocade that looks remarkably like piles and piles of gold. It's not perfect, but with these time constraints, I don't have the luxury of being picky. I'll probably end up setting up in the garage, because the lighting isn't as dim as the rest of the house, and my iPad camera is rubbish if the light isn't ideal.

Done! Finished editing, which went remarkably smoothly, did my terrible imitation of the soundtrack, and posted the video. It's not amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but it's fun, and done with sincerity (very hard to play the scene without turning it into comic relief, simply because it's so hard not to be aware of how cheesy everything comes across when you're in a dragon costume and imitating Benedict Cumberbatch's digitally enhanced already low voice and painstakingly animated motion capture performance. And yet, it was fun, and I'll look back on the experience fondly. If nothing else, I got a couple of nice costumes out of it.

The finished product? 

http://youtu.be/1wki6jfScgs

Incidentally, for those of you who might be interested in voting for my video once the contest voting starts, I shall post a link in a subsequent update. :) Of course, if you're too traumatized to do so, I won't hold it against you.

Future cosplay plans:

1- Thranduil, BotFA tent attire; because everyone's favorite Elvenking looks amazing even when he's lounging around drinking wine and rolling his eyes at Gandalf. I have evil plans that my younger brother might wear this cosplay to the One Last Party at the end of the month.

2- Bilbo Baggins, 1.0 (coat still in progress; wig came in the mail today and needs to be styled)

3- Bilbo Baggins, 2.0 (mockup coat finished; will be making it in blue cotton velvet and a linen/wool blend); posting a sketchy tutorial for anyone who's interested, because my pattern rocks. I'm all about accuracy, and this is pretty darned accurate. (Just saying.)