Renaissance costuming

So I’ve spent a good portion of this blog talking about food and exercise and healthy stuff.  I remember reading somewhere that one thing to add to that is hobbies.  One of my hobbies ties in perfectly with Renaissance festival is leather craft.  That is producing products with leather. Think “Steampunk” but no steam and less punk.  The first project that I did with the assistance of Good Mr. Robin Hood himself was leaf shaped Pauldrons (shoulder armor)

the beginning of tooling

tooling completed and shaping commenced



finishing touches



 Now there has been some misconception that the  Renaissance Festival provides the costumes for the workers, while that is true for some of the food workers those who are in the street or on the stage that is not the case.  We have to provide and make our own clothes.  Armed with this knowledge we learn to sew and become crafty or trade services of things we can do in exchange for things others can do better.  Unless you play Will Scarlet…then you pretty much just mooch off everyone and contribute a few laughing matters to the group…so yes, if you see an ad for auditions for Will Scarlet THAT is the role you want. (PS this is a test to see if Sean is reading this)

Now that the bruises from the beating have healed enough for me to continue this post I shall.  Each year I like to try to create something new for my character.  I do this for a few reasons,

·        It helps keep the “skill” honed

·        It provides backup costumes for something to happen to my favorite

·        It helps provide a creative outlet

The project I came up with this year was inspired by a character from Jane and the Dragon.  One of the nice things about Children is that they give you an excuse to watch cartoons even though you’d gladly do so as an adult regardless.  The concept is a Surcoat with armor on it.



The concept



 

What I took away from the picture and used as my own idea is below.  I took a previous canvas piece that I had and trimmed it to fit.  I had leather scales in my workshop that I cut in half to use as the scales.  The scales I used are about 2 in. by 4.5 in.   I laid out the canvas surcoat and the leather on top of it to determine which pieces I will have to cut and shape to fit the upper chest and shoulders portion.  Mark the holes on the fabric and punch holes into the fabric which a rivet will pass through to secure the leather to the fabric.  This is the step I’ve just completed and am in the process of attaching all the pieces of leather to the fabric.



the blue is Carpet, the gray line is where the scale will go to,
the green is trim that was already on the material prior to starting this project.
(For some reason this is uploading rotated)