The making of Tudor Captain America

I can Cosplay, too!
As I said in an earlier blog, 2016 was very busy for me and I really stopped writing any new blogs for a long time. I was scheduled to teach and judge at a couple "Cons" ... Costume Con which was in Madison, WI this year and Anime St. Louis which is always in ... you guessed it, St. Louis.
I needed a new costume and it was time to get into the Cosplay spirit. Since people still think of Renaissance costumes when they think of me AND I've been doing a lot of license Comic Book costumes, this seemed like the logical mashup!

These are the two patterns I used. Both still available.

I started collecting supplies.

Dug out a printed copy of my Tudor pattern so I could get the pattern in my size. The original pattern I have at home is a size 10 and I am not a size 10.

Found the bodice pieces. This pattern can be worn without a corset because it is heavily boned. This isn't a REAL Tudor gown. I don't need to wear all the proper under pinnings.

Then traced it out in my size and made a couple alterations, basic I needed to make the waist a larger. The bust needs to be very tight for these boned straight front bodices. The bust should be pressed flat and UP.

Lucky I still had all the official artwork from Marvel. I needed to to a little measuring and math to adapt all the elements to a different style garment.

Then I drew where I wanted the color breaks on the bodice. After this, I made separate pattern pieces for each color with seam allowances for the outer layer. For the interfacings and linings I used the whole front and back pieces.

A super hero shouldn't have a skirt to the floor. How could she possible chase bad guys. So I decided on a mid calf length. The better to show off my high heel boots!

Every costume, or any garment for that matter, looks better if the undergarments are integrated into the ensemble. I purchased red and white petticoats, but they were too long and badly shaped.

To fix this problem I shortened the yokes and used twill tape drawstrings I could tie tightly at my waist. I HATE elastic waists on heavy skirts. The skirts tend to slide down.

OH ... I did use one other pattern, the French hood on the left. All the emblems needed resizing. A wheeled proportional scale is the easiest way to get the correct percentages for all the shapes and then they can just go into a copy machine and made larger or smaller as needed.

Heat'n'Bond lite is my friend for appliqués. It holds the piece in place but the adhesive can be machine stitched through. 

I did a satin stitch around all the pieces.

Front assembled ...

and back with grommets ready for lacing up.

This was a LOT of fun ... hope to wear it again soon!