Kíli Project - Tunic

So, I've started on the tunic, thinking it wise to begin with the innermost layer and work myself outwards. I'm not at all happy with the material I've got for this (greyish blue cotton with a hint of lavender), so I might actually redo the whole thing on a later occasion, however, I can't really move on to the next layers without it, so for now, it'll have to make do.

First off, here's my work sketch for the tunic:

And here's the progress so far:

Measuring everything up and drawing guidelines with chalk before cutting. (lousy photo, I know)

Cutting out the second layer.

Attatching the third (and padded) layer.

 

Sewing everything together, securing the padding in the third layer with diagonal seams.

 

The two front pieces with all three layers.

Front pieces attached to back piece and sleeves.



Almost there! Just the hood, hems and front lacing left! :)

Kíli Costume - materials

So, realizing that the leather coats I got really won't make me happy in regards to making the over coat, there has been some change of plans. The over coat only has three vertical seams on the torso, and the colour is rather different than the leather coats I bought, so I started looking around for alternatives. I checked out a local leather shop, which, unsurprisingly sported very steep prices, and it didn't seem any better with other physical shops, so I went on to looking online. I found a few shops with relatively reasonable prices (approx. £6-£7 per square foot) but because of the colour being rather essential, I was reluctant to buy anything without having the opportunity to see the actual goods before paying up. I thus stumbled across this amazing guy on finn.no (which is like a Norwegian version of Craigslist) who was selling huge packages of ten whole hides for the ridiculous price of 500 NOK per package (that's about £60). It turns out he runs this fabulous shop in Oslo called La Luna which sells leather bags, belts and gorgeous masks! Take a look at the website here:

www.lalunaleather.no/

Here are some photo documentation of the awesomeness I (with the invaluable help of Rik) managed to get home with me!

With this, I will be able to make a proper over coat in leather, without any superfluous seams. I will have a suede finish, yes, but the cut and design will be better for it! Tomorrow, I will make an attempt of acquiring the materials for the greyish blue linen over tunic, and from there, I think I have most of the materials I need to get properly started with this project of mild insanity! ^_^

Kíli - New costume project

After seeing the first installment of the three Hobbit movies, and realizing, with glee, that Aidan Turner's Kíli looks exceptionally similar to my own, dear Rik, I decided that a new costume project was in order. So, now starts the journey towards a Kíli costume which is to be ready for the premiere of the next film.

I don't have a count for how many images of Mr. Turner's Kíli I have studied now, but I do know I have over 20 of them saved up as bookmarks for closer study. It's taken some time, but I've finally managed to get a wholesome perspective of the approximate pattern construction of the different layers of clothing, and I'll tell you this for free, there's a few of them.

1. Under tunic - blue/gray linen, one layer
2. Over tunic with hood - blue/gray linen, two layers
3. Short under coat - dark brown leather, grey/black linnen (padded) sleeves with patterned trimming
4. Long over coat with short sleeves - brown leather with fur trimming
5. Trousers
6. Boots

I've started with the long overcoat, and this is my rough construction sketch so far:



































Because I'm not filthy rich I'm using some old leather coats which I got for a bargain price in a second hand shop, even though this means I'll have lots of seams where there are supposed to be none, but I guess I'll just have to live with it. At least it'll all be in real leather instead of filthy pvc.

The coat I'm using as a base looked like this before I started to flay it:

 

Then, after removing the lining, it looked like this:

 

 

This is where I'm up to a the moment, but rest assured, I will keep you posted a soon as I've got more to show! :)

Goggles!

As I wrote earlier, I've just made myself a brand new pair of goggles! Because it was ridiculously easy and cheap, I thought I'd share the process here, so that others may take inspiration from it! :)

Firstly, I equipped myself with two empty cans of Redbull, mainly because these are aproximately 5 cm in diameter, so if you find other cans of the same size, they will most likely do. Using a nail buff, I removed the colour from the can, before painting the bottom with a brassy colour. I used Citadel (GW) paints, which demands a few layers, but most hobby paints should work. I left them over night to be sure they had dried properly. Next, I cut the painted bottom of the can off, making sure it was approximately an inch high, and them moved on to cutting a hole in the bottom. I now had the frame of the goggles.

I dug out some old leather I had lying around and cut out what was to be the "cuffs", the nose bridge and the straps. I also found small buckle to use for the straps. Sewing the all together, I next fitted the frames into the cuffs and added the "lenses", basically two sircles cut out from a sheet of transparent acetate.

Using a sharp hobby scalpel, I cut four small slits along the ridge of the frame, and stuck a tiny vintage brass coloured paper brad, using it's "arms" to keep the lens in place. And that's it! Goggles done!

Delightful Distractions

Work has been half killing my social life these last few months, but with my first ever Collective Bargaining safely behind me (it's been quite the crash course in negotiations), I can finally take the time to appreciate that summer is indeed a-comin'! I see baby birds almost every day, still poofy and fluffy, watching their mum fetch food for them, and everywhere there's green. Suddenly having some spare time, I managed to go for a weekend trip to Copenhagen with Rik and some friends, as well as a one-day larp with ridiculous hats (at least mine was), men in tights and chivalrous behaviour! This weekend, I also managed to persuade Rik to venture out with me in the pouring rain to go to the annual Medieval Marked (Oslo Middelalderfestival), which proved to be a delightfully costly affair! I am now the proud owner of a new leather belt pouch, leather water bottle, to tiny wooden boxes (perfect for larp), and a pair of perfectly awesome pointy shoes!



After a sufficient amount of trudging, we went to the Dubliner for some food and drink, and were later joined by a bunch of delightful people, amongst them lovely Frøydis, Solgave, Branna and Tathariel. It ended in songs, laughter and merriment! ^_^

Now, however, with Desucon right around the corner and the larp Christianus Sextus in September only a few months away, Steampunk is constantly on my mind, and I can't stop myself from thinking "how could I steampunkify this" about almost everything. My basic outfit for the larp is more or less finished, having just made a pair of light blue canvas jodhpurs, and will be tested out at Desucon the coming weekend. I'm still collecting old looking tools (I haz a monkey wrench!) for my tool belt, and an aviators cap and new steampunkish boots are also on the list, but they're not top priority (yet). I have been making a pair of goggles, and I dare say, for the minimal amount of money I spent on the equipment, and never having made goggles before, I'm quite proud! Here they are:

Spring Awakening

Winter sent my writing into hibernation, but with the passing of the Vernal Equinox and the unexpectedly early spring weather, the inspiration to sit down and type has come dripping back. It’s been a winter of many big changes. We’ve settled into the new flat quite comfortably and it feels like home. I’ve been shanghaied into running for union rep at work and thus sent to a lot of courses for training, which has both been fun and enlightening and utterly exhausting. But most important of all was the news that Rik was getting a permanent contract for his position at work, which means the safety of knowing that he’ll have a job next year as well. It’s been a long road to get there, but he’s been hard working and patient, never giving up, and to finally be able to reap the benefits of all his labour meant the world to us both!

So, 2012 had a flying start and it only seems to be getting better! In September, Rik and I are going to a Steampunk larp at Røros and we've already started hoarding gear. This weekend a pair of lovely old spectacles bought on eBay turned up in the mail for Rik. They came in a delightfully worn leather case and look perfect!








For myself, I've ordered a carpenter's belt in leather for all my tools, but the coolest thing I've managed to get hold of is this gorgeous portable 78 rpm record player!


And I didn't pay a penny for it either! Someone had dumped it in the electronic equipment dumpster at work, and I couldn't bare to see such a beauty just be tossed away like that, so I rescued it out from among the many worn keyboards, broken printers and dusty cables and claimed it for my own.


Here's a video of it playing the (slightly damaged) record that was accompanying it inside the box:



Inside the box, I also found three adorable little tins full of needle tips:

Like Counting Crows sing, it's been a long December and there's reason to believe that maybe this year will be better than the last. :)

What's the coolest thing you've ever found?

Autumn Leaves

Golden colours everywhere! Summer left a good few weeks ago and the trees have started shedding flakes of yellow and red. Slowly, we've been shedding off the life in our old, run-down apartment after finding a new, bigger and better one. This one is much closer to work for both of us, and after the treatment Rik and a friend of ours have been giving it, renovating everything with paint and brush. I did a little bit as well, but the blokes deserve the credit for it! So now, we're in the process of moving all our things from the old place to the new, and revelling in the fact that for once, we actually have room for everything!

So, it's Saturday, the last one we have before the lease of the old flat runs out, and I had to work today. That alone didn't offer the best start of the morning, and the lack of anything to eat but some cheese did not help. So having been rather grumpy and a little stressed, I trotted off towards work. As I came up by the Physics building at the University Campus, I noticed a little sparrow sitting on the ground. It must have been quite young, 'cause it still had a lot of it's baby fluff. I slowly approached it, expecting it to fly off as I got closer, but it just sat there, most likely terrified, even when I stood only a few inches away. I got a bit concerned, because it was in the middle of the road, and although there are very few cars coming down that stretch on Saturdays, it would most likely be run over if one happened come by.

So, very slowly, I lowered my hand, carefully nudging my fingers underneath it's feet so it clambered onto them. The poor little thing pooped in fright as I slowly lifted it up and carried it to the closest tree. There, I let it clamber onto a branch and watched it scramble along it (most likely glad to get away from that big, scary thing).

It was a small thing, but it really made my day! And hopefully the little bird will survive untill it's learned how to master the use of it's wings. :)