Kaname Chidori

This is my first cosplay for AVCon 2006. The hardest part of this costume was the fitted jacket, and then wearing the wig because it is quite heavy and goes everywhere!

I spent over a month compiling parts for this costume. I found a blue wig that was 47.5" long on ebay and managed to buy it for only AU$40 including shipping. Since the shoes are only going to be worn for two days, I got a pair of white and pink shoes for only $20, going more for the overall look than the comfort. I got a pair of knee-high socks for only $3 and a white shirt to go underneath for $20.

Kaname's Jacket
Pleated Skirt

Ribbons
The ribbons are one rectangle folded into the middle, a second rectangle about 2/3rds the size of the first not folded, and a small rectangle to hold them both in place in the middle. One is attached to a badge back for my neck and the other is attached to a hair tie for my wig. I used the description from a Gosu Rori magazine to help work out how to make a nice looking bow.

Kaname's Jacket

I started the jacket off with a simple pattern from my Gosu Rori vol 6 magazine. The jacket originally had three pieces for the back and two pieces either side for the front width a zip down the middle. I needed to alter the back to have a centre seam and work out the strange horizontal seam for the front, however my pattern had the advantage of having a vertical seam down the front on either side, so I thought I was half way there.

After making the mock up, I found that the sleeves were not fitting me properly and I forgot to leave a large excess on either side of the front. I added another piece of material and then pinned the whole thing onto my dress form. It took me a little while to get my head around what I was actually doing. I pinned the front so that I got a fold that looked to me like the natural fall of a collar then sketched this out with tailors chalk. Then I tried to follow a basic shape for the fold over front and cut this out, trying to make the other side the same as well.

Then I tentatively cut my mock up into pieces to make the new pattern. This was probably the most nerve wrecking part! Finally I had sewn my next mock up and I tried to make the sleeves a little larger as well. After trying it on I found that I was fairly happy with my pattern, but the upper arm was still a little tight and would need to be altered again.

I bought 3 metres of cotton drill in white, though now I can see that two would have been plenty. I got the extra incase I made a huge mistake. I cut all my pieces again and then found my blue material and spent most of the day wondering how I would do the blue vertical stripes on the front. I ended up cutting two lengths of blue about an inch wide and sewing them between the white. This meant that my pattern was thrown slightly out because it is 1cm wider due to the blue. I widened the sleeves at the top, and had to carefully pin these in before I could sew them. This meant another alteration to the overall pattern as they now come down below the horizontal line. They are still a little tight, but much better than they were and I have had enough of altering for this costume!

Before sewing on the collar I tried the jacket on again and then put it back on the dress form. Something wasn't quite right and I ended up unpicking the horizontal seam at the bust back to the blue line and taking about 1.5cm off it. It sits a lot better with that small alteration.

The collar was quite hard, and I'm sure that there is an easier way, although I also think that perhaps if i wasn't trying to end up with a blue collar on a white jacket (or if it was done out of a thinner material) then the task would have been easier. I cut the collar pattern out of white and blue, then sewed the white onto the jacket. Next I sewed the blue onto the white and pressed it into place so that I could sew where it folds into the neck too. It was quite frustrating to get it just right and I don't have a lovely collar coming to a point. I'm not 100% happy with it, but I just don't know what else I can do to get the effect.

I have adjusted the side of the jacked and the blue lines and am now happier with the way the jacket is sitting. This process took an extra 4 or so hours however, so I have really blown out my time estimate on this garment.

The cuffs here easy. I used more blue material to create two thin lines of blue and then slightly pleated in the back of the sleeve until it was the same size as the cuff. The circumference of the cuff was the minimum size I could still fit over my hand because I did not want to use fastenings on them.

Pleated Skirt

I bought 1.5 metres of cotton drill in the closest colour I could find for its durability and ease of sewing. I cut two lengths 50cm wide (which left heaps for the hem - I cut off 12cm in the end) and joined them together, then pleated enough for a 1m length. I prefer to sew the pleats down seperately to attaching the waist band, which you can see in the first photo below. Each pleat is 3cm wide with 2cm between each one (mainly to use a little less material), therefore while the skirt is 85cm in circumference I used roughly 2.5m of width to achieve this. To pleat I measured 3 lots of 3cm then 2cm and so on, then each 3cm part gets folded in to form a pleat.

The "invisible" zip went in next, although I am not sure if I quite have the hang of those yet. Perhaps there is a technique I am not aware of. At least a pleat will cover the small amount of exposed zip. The waist band is a simple matter of measuring a strip that will go around your waist and sewing it down. I used the machine for the first side, then hand sewed the inner band as I find this much easier and quicker after trying methods both by hand and machine on my medieval clothing. I also hemmed the bottom by hand and then ironed each of the pleats into place.

This skirt is for Kaname Chidori cosplay.

Coppergate Shoes

This was a commission, and also the first one taken directly from an existing period pattern. It is the Coppergate ankle boot from York and is destined for the Battle of Hastings 2006.

Difficulty: Easy
Total Time: 15 hours

The cost for a shoe may be able to be reduced if you purchased your supplies with two or three other people as you will have a lot of excess.

First a pattern was made specifically for our friends foot. If you are making shoes for yourself you will need someone to help you with this step as it is best to trace around the foot while the subject is standing. Most people have one foot that is bigger than the other, so make sure you trace the bigger "freak foot". Once you have your tracing you draw the basic shape of the shoe around the foot for your sole pattern.

There is a little measuring and guess work involved as the upper pattern is drawn. You will need to use the sole pattern as a guide to ensure that as you would be sewing around the shoe the heal and toe parts are matching up. When you are reasonably happy with your basic pattern it is time to make a material mock-up and try this onto the subject. With the subject standing in the mock-up check things like the toes, heal and the comfort around the ankle. Make sure it is snug, but not tight, as leather is not quite so stretchy as material.

The next step is to cut the pieces and then scarf the leather - that is to take of some of the leather on an angle around where you will sew so that you get a good match of the two pieces. It is best to do one shoe at a time and then try on the first shoe so that you ensure you are creating a good fitting shoe and not wasting a lot of material incase it doesn't fit right.

Using an awl, punch holes through both pieces of leather and start sewing from the toe. We prefer to make our shoes form as we go, rather than having a difficult turning process at the end. As you start from the toe, work in both directions easing the shoe into the right shape. Only punch four or five holes at a time because the leather will start to form and move and you need your holes to line up properly.

Continue sewing the entire way around the shoe. Once you get past the toes this process gets a lot easier and quicker, plus practice helps as well. My partner sewed the second shoe in only two hours.

After you have finished both shoes, try on the subject again to ensure they are both fitting correctly. Then make up your toggle and fastening and using your subject as a guide, determine the best place for these to sit. We had to cut back the flap before fastening the toggle. Sew these in and you have a pair of finished shoes.

We also cut a second piece of sole leather for each foot and take these and the shoes down to our local shoe repairer where we get the second piece glued on. Not only does this protect the stitching really well, it also provides extra protection for your feet.

Kettle Helm

We spent two whole days with the blacksmith of Manning Imperial, learning how to manufacture his own 13th century kettle helm based on the Maciejowski Bible. It was a lot of fun and we learnt a lot through the process.

Difficulty: Medium
Total Time: 25 hours

This kettle helm is based on the one as seen in the Maciejowski Bible worn by Goliath and various other men throughout.

The kettle helm is made of four pieces that are riveted together. We began by beating the four parts into their correct shapes using a variety of hammers and tools. Of course it helps if you have access to a workshop designed for this purpose as we were at our friends place!

The four pieces were fabricated out of flat sheet metal, cut with a grinder and then hammered. I am unsure of the exact pattern for this type of helm however I hope from the images you can see how it came together. The hardest part is getting each of the pieces to fit together snuggly for riveting. This was the most time consuming part, however we are told that with experience it gets a lot easier.

The ridge on the top of the centre piece was formed with a special tool designed by Manning Imperial for that explicit purpose. I did not see the tool in action to be able to give an account of it although if you read up on your blacksmithing books perhaps you can discover a method for this step.

The riveting was a game of getting the pieces lined up, temporarily join them with screws and then carefully rivet when everything was fitting right. Late on the second day the rim was finally attached along with leather straps to hold the helmet on your head. In this last photo you can see one of the Manning Imperial kettle helms which they make to order (see their website) in front of the helm is being finished off in the background.

Hand Axes

This was a relatively quick project - four axe heads in a day! We whipped these up pretty quickly and they look great. They were made using only a grinder, a welder and a bench vise. This breakdown is for all four of the axes without their handles.

Difficulty: Easy
Total Time: 10 hours

We started my cutting a metal strip into lengths and bending them into the shape for the back of the axe head. This was done using nothing but brute strength and a bench vise with a metal bar about the same diameter as the destined handle. You can see the progess in the photo above.

The rest of the axe head was cut out of metal to the basic shape we required. They were cut with an angle grinder and each one is slightly different. The back and blade were positioned together ready for welding after the back was cut down to remove the excess from the bending process. You can see from the photo how the welding is built up in the centre in order to properly bond the two pieces together.

After welding the angle grinder was used to remove any excess and the axe head really started taking shape. Although the axes are built to the combat standards of the NVG it is still aesthetically pleasing to be able to see where the blade is and this was ground into the axe head. Other imperfections were ground out as well leaving a shined finish. If weld lines began to show through these were re-welded and ground again to ensure durability.

Above, the left photo shows the process around halfway through just after welding was finished. The other photo shows our source image which is from a book called Russian Archaeological Finds (one of a set of three that are full of line art images), which gave us a guide for the shape and size of these axe heads.

Lucet

This bone lucet was a gift last year. The shape and designs were carved from the bone and then stained it with tea to bring out the designs, which is my name carved in runes and three concentric circles which are a common Viking pattern.

Difficulty: Medium
Total Time: 3 hours

The original find that he based my lucet on is the "chicken" lucet, which was made out of whale bone and has an image of a bird on it with the same concentric circle designs. I also received a brass pick, which was hand forged over the kitchen hot plate for me to use to pick the threads up. We don't have an extant find for the pick, but it does make life much easier when making cords with it.

When I am making cord with it the base sits nicely in the palm of my hand and the indents you can see at the top of each prong keep the threads (wool) held on better and make it quite easy to use.