Royal Kili Progress

I began cutting and sewing in February, and then we started moving into our new flat, efficiently bringing the entire project to a halt, but before that, I actually got quite a lot done!

Starting with the innermost layer, I dived into the production of the blue velvet tunic. This was generally a fairly easy ordeal, as it's a simplified, hoodless version of Kili's signature blue tunic. The only snag was the eyelets for the front lacing and the cuffs on the sleeves, all of which needed to be hand stitched, and the decorative studs for the collar and the hem.

I finished the eyelets for the front lacing, but I've still to do the ones on the cuffs. I've also done enough studs for the collar, but a good deal of them still need to be made, which is both time consuming and rather tedious.

So I moved on to the black velvet over tunic. This too was fairly simple initially, but needs satin lining to allow it to hang smoothly over the blue velvet tunic. In addition to that, I'm adding a trim with the same pattern that's embroidered on Kili's leather jacket in A Long Expected Journey. I've made some of it, but there is still quite a lot left to do.

The "leather" overcoat was a little bit more tricky, but mostly because of the leather imitation I used which could be a little argumentative when introduced to my sewing machine. It too needs lining before I can add the fur details to wrap it up.

Here's a little peek at how the blue and black tunic look together so far:

New Year, New Start, New Projects!

Last year ended on quite the low, having lost so much in the fire and having had no luck with finding a flat we could buy. However, we were dead set on looking forwards to the future, not lingering in the past, and, after a lovely New Year celebration, just my husband and I, we kept our spirits up as January started, and a sudden rush of flats for sale rolled in. And just one week ago, having fallen a bit in love with a flat we'd visited for a viewing the day before, I entered a bidding round I was almost certain I would lose, as the recommended bid started very close to our financial limit. But then, by some unbelievable strike of luck or circumstance, I ended up being the only bidder, and lo and behold, won! So, 2015 is truly a new start for the two of us as we move into our first, very own flat towards the end of February!

So, long term accommodation secured, I've started a new cosplay project! My lovely friend and fellow cosplayer, Ida, known as Starbit, (check out her DeviantArt account and her Facebook page!) has become the Tauriel to my Kili. She's designed a beautiful dress for Tauriel, which she aims to finish for HobbitCon in April, and it's so beautiful it inspired me to do my own design for Kili to match it!

I present to you; Royal Kili:

I've bought materials for it already; blue velvet for the tunic, black velvet for the short sleeved over tunic, and leather imitation and fake fur for the over coat! I'll be using the old trousers and boots, as well as the old belt, to make it a little easier for myself. You can see the leather imitation and velvet below (as well as some faux suede for a potential Tauriel update), even though the colour of the leather imitation looks a bit wrong in that light:

Also, check out Ida's design for Tauriel, the Starlight Gown! It's absolutely exquisite!

Kili Project - Scabbard strap

With HobbitCon just around the corner, I found out I would try on Rik's Kili costume, just for fun, to see if it actually fit, and it did! Inspired by this sudden delightful surprise, I did a quick make up and hair and realised (to Rik's horror) that I might actually make a pretty decent Kili myself! The idea formed in my head that I could actually participate in the costume competition at HobbitcCon, as Kili instead of Tauriel. As much as I love my Tauriel cosplay, I've put down a ridiculous amount of time, money and effort with the Kili costume, way beyond what I've done with Tauriel, and it would be amazing to be able to showcase that work through a competition (especially if the rumors are true and Richard Taylor (yes, THE Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop) IS in the judge panel). Therefore, after putting it down to a vote on my Instagram and Facebook account, Kili won through with way over half the votes!

Great! This will be awesome! At least that's what I thought a first. And then my compulsions kicked in ...

"I'll have to make the coat now! I don't have time for that ... But I can make the quiver/sword strap! I have time for that! And maybe the bracers? I could have time for that (possibly) ... And the gloves? That's pushing it."

As you can see, I have a nasty tendency of getting in over my head, but at least I've gotten better at calling myself out on it. I made the strap. Well, technically, I'd already made the strap, as a scabbard for the sword for the premiere, but it was just a simple leather strap, no embellishments, so I modified it look like the one in the movie. I might make the bracers if I have time tonight. Possibly.

Anyway, here's progress photos! And me as Kili! ^_^

Making more studs out of fimo clay:

Drilling holes in the corners of the studs for sewing, oh, and the buckle:

Gluing the studs and the leather pieces onto the strap:

Putting on the overlaying leather that attaches the buckle to the strap and gluing that too on:

Getting an idea of how it's gonna look before securing the studs by sewing the corners to the leather:

The finished product (I apologize for the messy background, I'm messy, I know, Rik keeps telling me off for it):

Me as Kili:

Tauriel Upgrade

I did it. I bought tickets for HobbitCon 2014. And now I've started the stupidly time consuming task of upgrading my Tauriel costume! The one I made for the premiere of The Desolation of Smaug carries all the hallmarks of being a de-prioritised side project, so I feel like I owe it to the costume to make jt better!

I'm starting with the leather bodice, which is the part of the costume I was the most unhappy with. The upgraded version will be made out of thin, napped leather from an old leather coat, and lined with thick cotton canvas. I'll be probably add some spring steel boning as well to give it a bit more rigidity.

I have already made a pattern for the mock-up,  mainly by making test bodice in cotton and then cutting it up again for the correct placement of seems, pretty much the same way I made the pattern for the tunic sleeves. (I only cut up half of the test bodice, leaving the remaining half as a pattern for the lining.) From here, I'll need to cut the pieces for the mock-up and sew it all together to check for any adjustment requirements that may pop up.

This is how it looks so far:

I'll give some more updates when I've done more! :)