The shirt was easy. We just used the shirt from his Pirates of the Caribbean costume that I made last year. If you are looking for a similar shirt pattern, this one would work, and it's pretty versatile for other costumes. So that he didn't get too hot wearing the costume all day, I made a faux under tunic. The lower panels are attached to the inside of the overtunic lining, to reduce bulk in the upper body. I also used a white seperating zipper on the overtunic (sometimes you have to do inaccurate things in an effort to get in and out of this stuff.) Most of that was done after the vest though.
While making the leather vest I broke or bent surprisingly few needles, only three or four. It helped that this was such thin jacket leater, buttery soft. I love love love my old sewing machine. No Mom, you can't have it back yet. This old beast, a vintage PFAFF, sewed through eight layers of this leather without wincing. There were a couple of thick spots where seams overlapped.
I ran out of time and leather to make the shoulder pauldrons, so I used fleece instead, but couldn't get them to take a nice curve. Then I remembered the shoulder pads from the leather jacket. I rescued them from the waste basket, and shoved them into the pauldrons. Voila, a nice curved top. Add some elastics to the bottom & done. I did the vambraces out of the same fleece. They turned out just a bit small. I have a few things I'd like to change or tweak before he wears it to the saskexpo this fall, such as making proper retractable arm daggers, and changes to the boots/boot tops.
The boots were a bit of a puzzle. I was initially trapped by gendered thinking. I looked in the Men's sections of Value Village for tall boots that I could alter. Nothing. I wasn't paying $50 for new boots. But wait, he'd take a size 10 in ladies. Nuts. Nothing. There is a Size 9 though, with possibilities. Got them home to the boy, the fit's a bit small, but maybe I can fix it later.
Overall he was very very happy with the finished product and wore it for nearly 12 hours.
While making the leather vest I broke or bent surprisingly few needles, only three or four. It helped that this was such thin jacket leater, buttery soft. I love love love my old sewing machine. No Mom, you can't have it back yet. This old beast, a vintage PFAFF, sewed through eight layers of this leather without wincing. There were a couple of thick spots where seams overlapped.
I ran out of time and leather to make the shoulder pauldrons, so I used fleece instead, but couldn't get them to take a nice curve. Then I remembered the shoulder pads from the leather jacket. I rescued them from the waste basket, and shoved them into the pauldrons. Voila, a nice curved top. Add some elastics to the bottom & done. I did the vambraces out of the same fleece. They turned out just a bit small. I have a few things I'd like to change or tweak before he wears it to the saskexpo this fall, such as making proper retractable arm daggers, and changes to the boots/boot tops.
The boots were a bit of a puzzle. I was initially trapped by gendered thinking. I looked in the Men's sections of Value Village for tall boots that I could alter. Nothing. I wasn't paying $50 for new boots. But wait, he'd take a size 10 in ladies. Nuts. Nothing. There is a Size 9 though, with possibilities. Got them home to the boy, the fit's a bit small, but maybe I can fix it later.
Overall he was very very happy with the finished product and wore it for nearly 12 hours.