DIY Bracer Tutorial

So as it claims in my profile - I am not a professional. I have learned things through tons of research, fantastic friends (who costume), and trial and error (at times painfully so). But how I've put my bracers together is quite straight forward so I want to share it in case I can save someone else a bit of trial and error :)

Materials Needed:

Tape measure

Ruler

Pencil

Paper

Scissors

Fabric

Eyelets and lace

Fabric glue (possibly)

Rolling pin (possibly)

 

First things first...the pattern. To get the pattern, we'll need three measurements: the bracer's top, length, and base. 

Measurement 1, The Bracer's Top: To get this number, you'll have to measure around your wrist, where you'll want the bracer to start. Then decide how much of a gap you will want for the open part of the bracer along the inside of your wrist (I went with just over an inch on mine). Finally, take your wrist measurement and subtract your desired gap to get the bracer top measurement. I strongly suggest taking this new measurement and placing it over your wrist, leaving the gap area open so you can make sure this is what you want. 

Measurement 2, The Bracer's Length: For this, all you do is rest the tape measure along your forearm and decide how much of your arm you want covered by your bracer. (Mine was 6 inches and covered most of my forearm). 

Measurement 3, The Bracer's Base: A good general rule I've found is to take the bracer top measurement and add 2 inches. But, again, I strongly recommend you measure this out on your arm just to make sure it will sit right. All our bodies are different and you may have to play with this number a bit.

Now, take these numbers and make a trapezoid.Start by drawing either Measurement 1 or 3 (I usually go with 3 so I can be sure I've left myself enough space on the page). 

At the centre of that line, draw Measurement 2 at a 90% angle like you're making an upside down "T". 

From there, draw out your last measurement, either 1 or 3 (if you're like me and started with 3, you'll draw in 1), making sure you're drawing from the middle outwards. You'll end up with a lopsided "I".

Now, just close out the shape by drawing angled lines to connect the tips of the "I". And there's your pattern!

If you're using vinyl, leather, pleather or anywhere where you don't have to finish the edges, then just cut the fabric right along the pattern - leaving no seam allowance. For any other type of fabric, cut with your usual seam allowance so you can fold the edges over and stitch them down. Then punch the eyelets down the angled edges and your project is complete!

However, if you're like me and are planning on adding heavier decorative pieces, you may want to make it a bit sturdier. I have two layers to my bracers - the actual bracer made out of a firm material and the pretty fabric layer wrapped around it. You can play around with what thick material you'd like to use, there's no hard and fast rule.

Yes...my good fabric is newspaper for now :)

I used stiff felt that I bought at my local fabric store (Dressew in Vancouver). I cut this right along the pattern, and forced a curve into it (rubbing it back and forth over the edge of a table works). 

Next, I cut my good fabric with a seam allowance so I could fold it over and glue it down to the stiff felt. For good measure, I drizzled the fabric glue (I love Fabri-Tac by the way!) over the back of the fabric and smoothed it down using a rolling pin. Then along the sides, I folded the fabric over and glued it down. 

I just noticed there's an ad for Fabricland on the paper. Ha!

With the curved sides, however, I cut tabs in the good fabric (cut only as long as the seam allowance). While holding the bracer slightly curled, I glued down the tabs one at a time. They will overlap each other, and that's exactly once you want. Once all the glue is dry, the bracer will be stiff enough to attach other things to and hold it's shape. After the eyelets are punched in, it's complete and ready for decorating. 

I have posted a video tutorial as well so definitely check that out if it will help. I would also love to see what anyone comes up :)

Alrighty, that's all I've got to share for today. Thanks for stopping by, now run along and have some fun!

Crushing Defeat! Arrrggghhh

I know it's terrible to have an entire post devoted to just plain whining, but I think that's about all this will be. After planning it out all week, I spent all day today creating my first tutorial. I went over all the steps involved in making the pattern I created for my bracers. Hurray right?

These turned out well and I can't wait to show you how I put them together.

Nope. No hurray. If there was a hurray, I wouldn't have a whiny post now would I? :) Part of the problem is my technologically unsaviness (according to spellcheck, that's not a word but I'm keeping it) so editing and uploading was ground to halt. Literally. My whole laptop froze.

A bracer preview. I'm happy with these!

Even if I could have made that work, it turns out I rambled on for 20 freakin minutes! I won't watch a tutorial that's over 10 minutes, so I'm definitely not going to be forcing others to sit through something twice that length. I'm not that mean! So with that in mind, when I do get this all to work, I will be posting a tutorial on how I made my bracers. I'll also be making a written version complete with pictures (and if this whole video thing really won't work, it will just be the written version)

Okay, complainy post done. Thanks for your support - life is awesome again! Look out for my bracer tutorial, coming soon :D

Now run along and find something fun to get into!

Short Stories - My Other Stuff

Well hello again everyone! I bet you thought I had disappeared off the face of the Earth, but alas, here I am.


First off, I do plan on posting my first actual tutorial soon - hopefully this weekend. I have bracers I need to make and I would like to share that with everyone. I wanted to have this completed already but that brings me to my second comment...


An "other stuff" hobby of mine is short story writing. As part of a New Year's resolution this year, I've started taking this more seriously. As luck would have it, BioWare, my all time favourite game developing company, was holding a short story contest to celebrate the December release of their new novel, Asunder. So to stay true to my resolution, I put together an entry and submitted it at the start of January.


Low and behold, last week I found out that out of 400+ entries, I won! EEEeeee!!  Check out that excitement here if you're interested: http://blog.bioware.com/2012/02/01/asunder-winning-entries/


So needless to say, my head has been in the clouds and all my plans have been thrown out the window! But I just wanted to share a bit of other stuff and let you know that my feet will soon touch the ground and I'll be running when they do :)


(And for anyone who is interested in the actual story, you can find it here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7798510/1/Last_Strands_of_Childhood )

A Costume's Beginning

Unfortunately, last weekend was not spent with James making a mold out of my common-law as we hoped. Mother Nature decided she wanted a big blast of snow and it has been snow or rain ever since. Now, with all that moisture in the air, the plaster won't set so our plans are postponed for now.

In the meantime, I've been wondering what to post that has a bit of substance. I already did fluff after all, time for something with a bit more purpose! And never fear, I've got many ideas, but they do take a bit of prep work and right now I've actually got a costume I need to get started on. This morning, as I'm drawing up my plans, it occurred to me...post what I'm doing. It's a simple concept...so naturally it eluded me for a while :)

Everything has to start somewhere and a costume starts with a drawing. Actually, I guess it starts with an idea, but eventually it will have to be drawn out. Now, I hate drawing. Err, rather I can't draw. But even with my non-skills I can still get my concept down on paper which is valuable for a few reasons. I can make sure my ideas actually look alright ("oh...stripes and dots looked good in my head but I can see in my drawing it's awful"). It also gives me a chance to make sure I'm not forgetting anything ("Huh, I never thought about the pants"). And finally, it's how I make my shopping list.

 

Even if you're artistically challenged like I am, you can still get out a design well enough to help you. All I do is trace an outline from a colouring book (or you can Google "paper doll" and print an outline) and draw my ideas around it. As you can see, it doesn't look spectacular, but it gets the job done.  From that, I make little notes to myself including needed materials. I doubt this is how the pros do it, but hey, it works :)

With this particular costume, there are a lot of things with small details that I can't get across in the overview picture. So I did up a second page just for these gadgets. You know, looking at my gadgets page, I'm starting to think I missed my calling as an artist. I mean that squiggly thing with the line coming out of it is premium stuff...

Anyhow, these next couple of pictures are more of a testament to my obsessive-compulsiveness than anything else. I think most people could look at these pictures and come up with one list of materials right? Not me! I demand more! My first list is all the materials each item will need.

And this second list with all those same materials re-arranged and listed by stores. I know...it's a bit excessive hey? But in all fairness, I take transit and have to go out of my way to get to any of these stores. I would rather have everything overly organized than have to make multiple trips. It would be different if I drove or if these stores were near work or home but such is life. Excessive, sure, but in the end it will save me time.

 

 So, now you can see how my Saturday morning was spent. And I guess it's official now, my next costume is underway!

Now run along and go do something fun. I'd better get back to work :)

Let's begin with fluff, shall we?

So I've been sitting here for no less than 30 minutes trying to figure out what to type. Being that it's my first post for this blog, there is a bit of pressure no? But since I'm drawing a blank, I won't attempt to try and stun you with my awesomeness. I'll just get started :)

I am many things: a fangirl, a hobby writer, a gamer, once in a while a performer, a costume fanatic, and a general nerd. As I mention in my profile, by no means am I an expert in anything I dabble in. The only official training I've received for anything is Early Childhood Education (a field I haven't worked in for almost a decade now although the resourceful/crafty stuff I learned is still of use) and office administration. Everything else that I've picked up has been through research, trial and error, and the wonderful people I have met along the way.

Even when I was too young to really put a name to it, costuming has always been an interest of mine. Halloween was a big deal around my house growing up and unfortunately that was about the only occassion I got to dress up for. As I got older and met different people, I slowly found other reasons to dress up - plays, charity masquerade balls, and even different performance groups. But, oddly enough, it's only been in the last couple years that I've truly rolled up my sleeves and gotten into some serious costuming. I've actually braved the sewing machine, braved the sheet metal, and even braved foam armour (more intimidating than it sounds!).

I know there are lots of other people out there, making their way with this awesome hobby (particularly Cosplayers). I don't claim to know much - I'm one of you, just someone who really enjoys costumes! But what I do figure out, I'll be sharing here. 

I think that's enough fluff for now, don't you? In all seriousness though, I'm hoping to post something more helpful and less fluffy in the next couple of weeks. If all goes as planned, this Saturday I will be working with a local movie director in Vancouver, James Frederick Fairley, to help create a body mold out of my common-law. It's the first bit of "real" costuming I'll be getting to work on, (not to mention something I've never done before but seems like a bit of a costuming staple) and I'm pretty excited!

Until then, run along and go enjoy some fluff or other stuff :)