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White Witch Battle Garb

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White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Trinity » Aug 15, 2011 5:33 pm

Hello all!

Wondering if anyone has done the white witch's battle dress? I think I saw two posts here but the links to pictures were not working (error on Cosplay). I've started construction on the dress and I think I have the mane sorted out but I have some questions about making the headpiece and solutions for the chainmail overskirt. I certainly dont have the time/money to create my own chainmail so I'm looking for fabric or other ideas.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

~Trinity
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Alice_WL » Aug 24, 2011 11:04 am

I just used fun foam for the lion head-piece that I glued to a headband and painted gold. As for the skirt, I just went with a long, gray skirt.. There was NO way I was gonna make a chain-mail skirt - takes a lot of time and patience I don't have.. and every cosplayer who's done the chain-mail says it's very heavy.. but good luck.. ^^
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Trinity » Aug 24, 2011 3:21 pm

Thanks for the input, Alice! I've got the dress almost finished and am starting to collect materials for the rest of the costume. I'll post some pics as I go :)
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Alice_WL » Aug 25, 2011 8:48 am

Cool.. I'll look forward to seeing them.. ^_^
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Trinity » Aug 28, 2011 10:09 am

I've just about finished the grey underdress. It just needs to be hemmed. I used McCall's 4491 pattern and the only change was to use an invisible zipper in back instead of lacing. The white witch's skirt is constructed slightly differently. Her's has gores in the front and back to make it fuller and is tighter through the hips. But, overall I think this dress is a pretty good match. Still not sure to do about the chainmail overskirt but I'm hoping something will turn up at the fabric store now that Halloween is coming ;)

Image
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Trinity » Aug 28, 2011 11:08 am

For the leather armour she wears, I'm using the lining pattern from the same dress and just modified the bottom a bit. Here's my attempt at making a muslin pattern. First one I've ever done and I'm not sure I'm doing it right ;)

Now on the Wardrobe Door, it says her leather armour was one piece put on like a very tight tshirt. Well, I tried putting this thing on and no dice! I'm not sure how it can be skin tight around my waist and still get over my shoulders. I may put a side zipper just so I can have it tight and get it on without dislocating my shoulders :) I think I'll put some boning in as well to help hold it down properly. I noticed her version had an additional seams up the front but I'm not sure where they end up at the top so I think I'll just leave it like this. ;) This will go on hold till I find some nice grey leather to make it.

Image
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Alice_WL » Aug 28, 2011 1:33 pm

I just wore a tight-fitted, (sleeveless) black stretch shirt for the top.. lol.. I'm terrible at sewing.. but your efforts look great so far.. ^_^
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Trinity » Aug 29, 2011 6:32 pm

Look at all my hair!! lol After researching different techniques and materials to use for Aslan's mane that the witch wears, I've decided to use synthetic hair. The real costume probably used mohair or yak from NFT. These guys supply a lot of movies (they did Chewbacca from Star Wars) but their material does not come cheap (try $40/sqft). So since this is just a Halloween costume, I need to go a bit cheaper.

I've read up on Chewbacca costume making. While animal fur is the most realistic option, synthetic hair is the second best. So, after a lot of internet research and a day of driving around the city, I found a boutique that had different shades of blonde Kanekalon synthetic hair. At $2.50 a pack, buying 8 packs was a much cheaper alternative. Most of the hair will be used for the mane collar and some will be used for extensions and dredlocks. Luckily, I have long blonde hair that will fill in the gaps :)

The next step is to create a mesh collar that the hair will be attached to. Mesh material was purchased quite inexpensively from Collins Cottage. Now the tedious task of latch-hooking the hair onto the collar starts (I knew all that latch hooking I did as a kid would pay off). This should be a very time consuming process but I'm anxious to see how well it turns out (or not) :-s
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Trinity » Sep 05, 2011 8:38 am

The latching is going surprisingly quick. This is just the first night: Image

Front almost done: Image

It came out better than I thought it would. After some thinning and styling, it might even look like a mane!
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Verdaera » Sep 08, 2011 8:13 pm

Great start on the fur capelet, Trinity! I'm going the latch-hook method too. The wookiees are a wealth of information. Fortunatly I know a few for tips and tricks :D

I'm making actual chain maille for the skirt and just did my sample. I'm trying now to figure out how many gores are in the skirt since it looks like rectangular panels with triangular gores in between. I think there's 5 panels (one wide in front, two side, two back, with gores in between each), but I'm not sure if the number is right or how much of a train if any this should have. Anyone have any input? I'm making the gray underdress out of linen in basically the same pattern as the chain maille...

~Ver
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Trinity » Sep 09, 2011 7:44 pm

Hey Ver! I remember writing you last fall about my daughter's Alice dress. You were a great source of information (and inspiration) and I'd love to see your progress on this costume. Are you blogging about it?

As for the witch's dress, I'm not sure how many gores or panels there are. Do you have the movie? I made a slight train on my dress but I don't think her's had one - I think it was just so full and heavy that it dragged behind her when she walked ;) Kudos to you for making real chain mail. I can't imagine how long that will take...

My mane collar is finished! Came out not too bad either :) I'll post pics tomorrow. Also heading to Montreal to find some fabric to cheat the chainmail overskirt.

~Trinity (Tara)
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Alice_WL » Sep 10, 2011 5:24 am

Wow.. I would never have the patience too attach hair that way.. lol.. It's coming along great. ^_^

For the fur on my dress, there's this yarn called Lion's Fur(I think) and it's colored like a lion's mane with strands of "hair" sticking out the sides of the actually yarn weave. I just tied strands of this yarn to a string choker and wore that around my neck.. It looked decently nice.. I wish I hadn't deleted the costume pics now, but I started to lose my liking of Jadis some time ago.. :/
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Trinity » Sep 10, 2011 4:40 pm

Actually, Alice, the latchooking went fairly quickly. Here's the finished product:

Image

It only took a few nights (and it's surprisingly addictive) lol :) Now, a Chewbacca costume is another thing. That would take forever!

I may have seen your version of the mane collar, Alice. I've been researching this costume for a while and there are not very many people who have made it (or have shared their results). If you're the one I'm thinking of, I did see it and it looked great! One of the best parts of costuming for me is trying to figure out different ways of creating the same look as the pro's but with less money ;)

~Trinity
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Verdaera » Sep 11, 2011 9:45 am

Trinity, that looks great! I can't wait to see it with the dress!

Trinity wrote:Hey Ver! I remember writing you last fall about my daughter's Alice dress. You were a great source of information (and inspiration) and I'd love to see your progress on this costume. Are you blogging about it?


I'm glad I was able to help! I had a couple people write me about making one for their daughter, did you send me a picture of it? If you weren't the one that did, I'd love to see how it turned out :)

Yes, I am blogging about it :) Here's the link to my blog. And I'll be coming here on occassion to share my progress: http://rebelshaven.blogspot.com/

Actually the chain mailing isn't too difficult once you get the hang of it, it's just tedious! Though after 7 months of embroidering Alice I don't think I'll have a problem. It's very relaxing to do stuff like this while watching tv at night. I ordered a couple bags of jump rings from a place called TheRingLord.com. I ordered 19gauge 3/16" aluminum rings, and you get about 1000 rings per bag for $4.35. The site says for that size it takes 4861 rings per square foot so not sure how much I'll need, but honestly if I put aside $5 a week for rings it's not too bad for a long term project.
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Alice_WL » Oct 02, 2011 8:13 am

Your costume is looking very good.. ^^

Yay! I found one of my old Jadis cosplay pics, and since this thread deals with Jadis, I'll post it here - hope ya don't mind: My Jadis cosplay piccy ^^
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Re: White Witch Battle Garb

Postby Verdaera » Oct 19, 2011 10:22 am

Still chain-mailing along, have about a 6" x 12" section done. I made my underdress pattern and am cutting out all the pieces. I keep watching this and wondering, the weight of the chain would weight the skirt down and yet it still looks rather full when she moves, pretty effortlessly. I'm wondering if there's not some kind of petticoat under there. It doesn't stay full, it collapses a bit, but maybe a corded petticoat?
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