A Minor Invonvenience

So, I never got around to finishing that King Arthur outfit.

Want to know why?

A VW Golf decided not to look before turning into a side street. :(

So my baby is gone. :( Currently we're sorting out insurance - the other party is 100% at fault.

Time to find a new ride I guess. A VFR400 and a Hornet 600 recently came up on TradeMe, both are worth a look.

It's been a good three years with the FXR.

King Arthur - Painting and Assembling the Gauntlets

Part One • Part Two • Part Three • Part Four

And so the painting began!

I had so much trouble with this, and let me tell you why...

First of all, it was a slightly windy day, and the things I was spraypainting are made of foam. This, combined with the forceful propellant of the spraypaint made the pieces jump all over the place.

My solution was to construct a sort of cardboard fortress inside the garage, open the door and windows, and spraypaint inside, away from the wind. So much better.

The pieces worryingly curled up after being painted, but let go after the paint dried.

I guess I should have used the black foam, seeing as I needed to paint the back anyway.

While waiting for the paint to dry, I constructed the elbow armour. After putting it all together, I remembered that the sun on top is gold, and the rest is silver. This means I should have painted the sun and armour separately before gluing them together. Oops!

This is everything after I had weathered it. Weathering turned out to be so much more fun than the actual spraypainting! It made everything look so much more realistic.

I know I said I was going to have to plan out how to construct the final gauntlet, but I got too excited so I glued it all together anyway.

I basically used hot glue for everything. I'm hoping it stays together on the night...

Tomorrow I'll be painting the elbow armour and hopefully making a start on the crown-helmet. I'll also find a way to attach the gauntlets to my hands - most likely by sewing some straps using velcro and scrap material so I can put them on and take them off easily.

Part One • Part Two • Part Three • Part Four

King Arthur - Gauntlets

Part One • Part Two • Part Three • Part Four

So I've heard a lot about making armour from foam, and thought I might try it out in order to make King Arthur's gauntlets.

I took a screenshot from the movie to try and get a better picture of how his gauntlets are constructed. I mocked up some patterns on paper, then cut them out to use as a template.

I was worried I wouldn't be able to find any craft foam, and had no luck at The Warehouse or Warehouse Stationery. Fortunately, Spotlight pulled through and I bought a whole stack of foam sheets! I also got a bias-binder-maker and some extra hot glue sticks.

I picked out the white sheets and traced the template onto them, then cut all the pieces out.

After holding each piece (very, very) briefly over a gas element (note: not in the fire, above the fire) I bent each piece into shape. It was so fun!

In the reference pic above you'll see there are a bunch of rivets or something along the outside of the main gauntlet piece. I couldn't figure out how to make a nice hot glue sphere without putting it right on the edge, so it's not exactly the same as the real thing. It looks pretty messy but hopefully after paint has been added it'll look much tidier.

This is roughly how it will be put together. I was initially going to just glue it together, but it needs to be fairly flexible. I'm thinking I'll cut out a sort of mitt from fabric that lays on top of the 'chainmail'. It'll wrap around where necessary to secure it in place. Either that or I'll just glue it to the chainmail glove!

I also bought some spraypaint while I was out. First I'll use it on the armour, but I should also see what kind of effect it has on the yarn.

Part One • Part Two • Part Three • Part Four

King Arthur - Tunic nearly complete

Part One • Part Two • Part Three • Part Four

Yesterday I got started on the tunic! This material is fairly thick and coarse - fitting for a medieval tunic. I cut out two near-identical pieces (the neckline was lower on the front piece). I also split the pattern in half and cut out two pieces from the gold fabric to use as a lining.

After cutting everything out I secured the top edge of the gold lining - this would be sitting around the waistline.

I didn't get many photos of the actual construction of the tunic because it got dark and I couldn't be bothered getting the tripod out. Construction was pretty straightforward - I sewed the linings to the tunic and turned it, then sewed the rest of the tunic together, securing the seams with a zig-zag stitch.

Now, on the original costume the bottom edge had some plain gold binding or ribbon along it. I found some other ribbon at Geoff's Emporium that was a little more decorative. It was really fun sewing this on!

After this I have to figure out how I'm going to make the sun graphic on the front. I will probably end up simply painting it on with acrylic. I will also need to finish the chainmail top, and sort out how I'm going to make the small bits of armour like the gauntlets.

Part One • Part Two • Part Three • Part Four

Costume Time: King Arthur from Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Part One • Part Two • Part Three • Part Four

With a Halloween party coming up in a week I decided I should get around to making a costume. Since I only recently began sewing, I haven't had the opportunity to create a really awesome Halloween costume yet.

I decided to go as King Arthur from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

If you haven't watched the movie (please do so immediately), here is what he looks like:

Yes, he has a beard - I toyed with the idea of crocheting one, but if I can find a fake one, even better.

One problem I found was that there is a lot of chainmail, and I only have a week so I can't exactly make the stuff myself. A while ago I bought a bulk lot of grey wool, so I decided to crochet the coif and top. Using my biggest hook and very loose stitches, I came up with something that's "good enough".

One slight problem - these need to be gold! Since I'm going to need to get gold spray paint for the armour, I figured I might be able to get away with painting over it. Obviously I'll need to experiment - the single sleeve took me about five hours!

The thing I'm looking forward to making the most is the tunic. I've gathered my materials and I will soon be drafting up a pattern. It should be fairly straightforward - it is a shapeless tunic with a slit down the front and back. What you can't see from the reference photo above is the gold underlining in the skirt part of the tunic. I'm yet to completely figure out how to do it...

Time to start drafting!

Part One • Part Two • Part Three • Part Four