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[youjik33]

I got a roll of paper and a few yards of muslin today so I can hopefully get started on patterning and making a mockup. I also nabbed a pattern for pouches that was on sale but that wasn't really related XD

[Xavietta]

hmwsg x : YOU ARE AWESOME POSSUM. I can't thank you enough for the screenshots!

I have to say, I sympathize with everyone trying to convince their significant others to cosplay, I hope they come around! I don't make costumes for my husband unless he gets REALLY excited abut the character. In this case he did, and it'll be the first couples cosplay we've done where we can actually be a couple instead of enemies. heh

As for progress? NONE. Darn these 2 jobs I have. Though I did make this the other day. It started out as practice on a random piece of leather; I wanted to experiment with the herringbone texture Merrill has on her armour pieces. (It turned out to be the perfect size for a bracelet my manager taught me how to do the lacing on the edges and now I get to teach a class on how to make one. Woohoo!) I sort of like the color it turned out too, it's brown gel antique, if anyone's wondering, but I might experiment with some different colors to get it some more dimension.

That was totally off topic, except that it started off Merrill related.

I think I'm going to order my new ears soon and maybe the chainmail rings. Now that I have adequate pictures of Mage Hake I can probably start drafting patterns and sourcing materials...when I get time.

youjik33: good luck with the pattern drafting! That's always one of the funnest parts of a costume to me ^^

[Rexluna]

@Xavietta: That is so awesome! I like what you used for the clasp. I've seen that on like, jewelry boxes before. Never on a bracelet, but it looks really cool that way.

I kinda have progress....I put a big picture of Hawke on my binder and I drew all the armor pieces out in class to try and see how the layers should work. And I think I got it figured out. Except the picture was waist up so I haven't looked at the boots up close yet. Or the hands. They weren't in the picture xD

The only things (so far) on the top half that have me stumped are the cording decorations (CUZ I CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW THEY CAN BE FUNCTIONAL) and the cape/wannabe sailor collar...uhm....I dunno what to call them, but it's the things at the points that attach it to the armor.

Well, I guess I'm not THAT stumped on the cording, it's just that the cording is so wide that I don't see how I could attach it to the shirt without discomfort. I would have just put it through eyelets in both layers and tied knots at both ends to keep it from moving, but those would be BIG knots. >.< Though...maybe, due to me being a bit smaller than Hawke, the cording would scale down to a better size....or I'm talking nonsense xD

As for the cape things...I just don't know what to make it out of. I'll be making the armor out of styrene and craft foam, and from what I understand, hot glue works really well when it comes to attaching things to styrene armor. I guess as long as what the cape things are made out of work well with hot glue too (but then, I guess everything works well with hot glue). Also, it would have to attach to the fur.....so I'm not sure what to use.

OMG long post...sorry. I'm bad at explaining things xD

[youjik33]

I'm actually having fun with this -- the closest thing to "pattern drafting" I've ever done was making a Mandarin collar for a tunic after I lost the collar piece of the REAL pattern XD

When it comes to Aveline's gold bracelet things... I can't quite decide if they're metal or what. They sort of look like embossed leather except really, really shiny. (They also sit well up on her forearms, which is a bit odd! Which reminds me, I realy have to work out my arms XD Some muscle tone would be nice when I'm showing off my arms and am supposed to be a kickass female warrior...)

@Rexluna: Hot glue is magical. The best thing about it is that it's very easy to just take a gun and some extra glue in your hotel room in case you need to fix something.

[DarkHayama]

Ohh, Mass Effect. So far I'm liking 2. Never played them, but since Bioware was so kind as to give me 2 for free, I have no excuse to try it now.

I haven't done any work, since other than playing around with ideas in my head, I can't really do anything without money. And my cat is very unwilling to go steal materials for me! I am going to check an Army Surplus store near me in the future when I have money, they tend to have a large selection of boots, so here's hoping I can find something that's not too expensive.

[IddaKnoe]

Originally Posted by youjik33

When it comes to Aveline's gold bracelet things... I can't quite decide if they're metal or what. They sort of look like embossed leather except really, really shiny.

I've noticed all of the leather in Dragon Age is crazy shiny, and every fabric no matter what it is moves like silk. The bracelets look metal, though. For Anders' belt I'm using a craft metal that is thin enough you can cut and rub details into it. It takes a bit of practice just to learn the pressure you need, but I found myself playing with it just because it was fun to do.

Best of luck! Drafting patterns can be really fun. Of course I say that now before I hit the frustration stage in my own patterning.

[Palaven]

So I umm.. got a little bit of Merrill progress done, if you could call it progress. I started on the boots, got the inside fabric layer finished, prepped the leather and... promptly got stuck. I'm thinking I'm a little too new to this leather thing. I have an idea on how to do it, but I can't even wrap my brain around that weird... braid deal going on there.

I guess my friend who wanted to cosplay Isabela isn't anymore, unfortunately. Too bad, I wanted to make those boots so badly.

@ Xavietta ] - That bracelet looks so cute! Do you mind if I ask how you did that texture?

@ Youjik33 ] - They look like metal to me, but I don't think embossed leather would look bad either. Maybe pick what you prefer rather than super uber accuracy?

[Rexluna]

Oh, that reminds me.

From what I can tell, there isn't really any texture to the Champion Mage leather stuff. Except for stitching and what looks like grooves along the edges.

Since you're a master at leather, Xavietta, how would one go about adding these details? xD

[Xavietta]

Palaven, Rexluna: I'll answer your leather questions in the same response since it's basically the same answer haha What I used for my bracelet (and what I'm using for my Merrill armour pieces) is vegetable tanned leather. I'm using an 8/9oz which is a little over 1/8th" thick. Rexluna, I think this type of leather will work great for the tan color armour pieces on FemMage because it's the easiest leather to put the designs into like on the edges and where some of the stitching marks are. It comes in that sort of beige color and you can stamp it, carve it, dye it, mold it, whatever. It's super versatile ^^

How I did the texture on my bracelet (and again, Merrills armour pieces and what I'm suggesting for FemMage's leather pieces) is carving or tooling. This tutorial is great for the basics. It shows how to carve a western floral design. Really all you're going to need to do is the cutting with the swivel knife and beveling. The cutting is one of the first steps, but you can skip to about 5:40 in the video to see the beveler. When I do my Merrill pieces I can do a quick tutorial if you guys want.

A good example of what I mean would be my Leliana armour.. On the circle piece thing on the front, all I did was cut a line with the swivel knife about 1/4" from the edge and beveled it to get the dimension.

Also, Palaven, what type of leather did you get for your Merrill pieces? The braid texture is call Herringbone. It's usually a woven texture on garments and a brickwork pattern. If you google "herringbone" you get a lot of good examples. I was thinking at first I might cut strips of leather to actually weave it, but it would be too difficult to get everything to lay flat and not get all wonky.

youjik33: For Aveline's bracelets you could do the same leather carving technique I described above and actually paint the leather gold. I've done that before and it turns out looking pretty cool You could even get the proper thickness of her bracelets without having to use 1/4" thick metal lol

[youjik33]

Originally Posted by IddaKnoe

I've noticed all of the leather in Dragon Age is crazy shiny, and every fabric no matter what it is moves like silk. The bracelets look metal, though. For Anders' belt I'm using a craft metal that is thin enough you can cut and rub details into it. It takes a bit of practice just to learn the pressure you need, but I found myself playing with it just because it was fun to do.

Best of luck! Drafting patterns can be really fun. Of course I say that now before I hit the frustration stage in my own patterning.

Oh, I actually remember making jewelry out of this stuff in high school (which was a very long time ago, but I recall it not actually being all that hard to work with, heh).

[lissiekun]

Only about 3 weeks left of school! I'm going insane! I really want to start my projects, since I now have THREE of them! Merrill, Male Champion Rogue, and Isabela!
I (easily) convinced a model friend of mine to wear Isabela for some photos! SUPER EXCITED!
So be expected to find some Merrill and Isabela buddy-pics this summer sometime!

I also found some really neat makeup that looks like real tattoo ink. A bit expensive, but it's alcohol activated, so it will not rub off http://www.fxwarehouse.info/mm5/merc...egory_Code=AAM

[Palaven]

@ Xavietta ] - To be totally honest, I tore up some old jackets I got from someone. I know it is real leather, and it's thin, but I don't know what type it is exactly. That was my original plan was to cut out all the pieces, but something told me I couldn't do it properly. Thanks for the help. (:

@ Lissiekun ] - Now you just need one more and you have a full party, haha. That is really neato looking makeup. I could see that being really handy for both Isabela and Merrill. That's awesome!

[Favieko]

Just received my elf ears and shell shock plastic today. I got the anime elf ears, medium skintone, from Aradani Studios and they're like the perfect size for Fenris. Having some bad problems with work so my progress has kinda slowed but hopefully will soon pick up. As soon as the wig arrives (should be like 3-5 more days) I'll take some test shots and post since no one knows what the hell I look like. Sorry for the kinda pleh post, but yeah, work issues.

[Rexluna]

@Xavietta: That's very helpful, thank you! But omg, that's expensive! The minimum size it allows you to buy is WAY more than I'll be needing.

[Lady Muramasa]

Bah! I want to cosplay from DA2 but i have no idea who to pick!! I still want to do my DAO created character too. Isabella is def out for me though, trampin it with a t-shirt, thigh highs and skivs! Lmao! I kid. I hate dressing that girly though.