My pop-tab shoulder chainmail pauldrons are 100% finished (with the help of some donations from friends)! :D
As you can see, they're a general diamond shape, with some slight shaping at the upper top for the shoulder so they'll lay better.
Each piece is made of (to my best approximation) ~175 tabs.
Now, you might be wondering why I didn't just make the chain mail out of metal rings instead... which would arguably have looked better. Well, guys, if you don't know by now, I'm a budget cosplayer [read: cheap]. When I can make something for a fraction of the cost it would have been, I go for it. And honestly, I enjoy costuming more when I can do it inexpensively. So, free chain mail? Yep, that fit my budget quite nicely! ;)
You might have noticed the fabric underneath the chain mail. Looks quite similar to the fabric for my battle Tauriel dress, doesn't it...? Well, I did say this costume would be completed way before December 17th, did I not...? Oh yes I did. :D
Prepare for the unveiling of the dress a week from today:
P.S. Thanks, you guys, for putting up with all my crazy shenanigans. You know I have way too fun with this stuff. ;D
October 1st.
P.S. Thanks, you guys, for putting up with all my crazy shenanigans. You know I have way too fun with this stuff. ;D
I cant wait to see this dress......
ReplyDeleteAlso, I totally agree with going cheap with cosplay! plus I think the chain mail looks nice anyway:)
;) Hehe. Thanks!
DeleteAbout how many tops did you use for each one?
ReplyDeleteThere's about 175 in each piece, to my best approximation. :)
DeleteLooking forward to seeing the final result! The chain mail is really quite epic--you are welcome for all of my pop-tab contributions ;)
ReplyDelete;D Oh why thankya thankya... and yes. Couldn't have done it without you. xD
DeleteI think you've done a really great job they look like the real thing. I must start collecting some pop - tabs myself
ReplyDeleteThanks, Isabel!! Oh yes, you definitely should! I will never throw my tabs away ever again after this. ;)
DeleteHey! That's not NICE!!! Where's the rest of it? How will we endure a full week of anticipation? That photo at the end seems precisely calculated for tantalization at maximum level... almost as though it is meant to be so... ;]
ReplyDeleteOkay, silliness aside now - the completed chainmail looks great! (Even though you didn't show us how great it looks with the full costume, grumble grumble...) ;]
Out of curiosity, approximately how much did this cosplay cost? (Monetarily, that is, and not including things like your sewing machine, prior experience, and time.)
Mwahahahah!! *evil grin* ;D So I kinda had way too much fun with the tantalization... xD
DeleteHehe. Thanks! I was rather pleasantly surprised with le chainmail. :] Hahahahahh!! You shall see.. you shall see... all good things to those who wait. ;D
Ah yes! Well, the fabric was $25 (which was more than I wanted to pay, but I just loved the fabric so much, and it isn't a terrible price for 5 yards), the pattern was $2, I just yesterday bought the closures for the dress for $3, the chainmail was free (hehe), and everything else for the costume I already owned: thread, pants, boots. There's probably going to be one more aspect of the costume I'm going to have to buy fabric for, but it should only cost me $10 max. All coming to a grand total of... approximately $40. Which isn't terrible, all things considered.
So yeah. Cosplaying isn't entirely inexpensive, but it can be less expensive than it could be. Hah. Also, this is one of my more expensive costumes. I remember my Tauriel costume only cost me about $20, actually, due to using Amazon giftcards and getting the boots as a gift. :)
Wow, that's not bad at all! Certainly much better than purchasing a pre-made costume, which probably wouldn't look, feel, or fit anything like as nicely, and would in all likelihood cost much more.
DeleteI also meant to ask about how many hours the project took, but that would probably be pretty hard to calculate. :]
Very well... "all good things" is worth a bit of patience, I guess...
In the words of Inigo Montoya: "I hate waiting." ;]
Most definitely! And besides all that, it's way more fun to make it yourself! :)
DeleteAs for project hours... oh goodness. Quite a few! *Mentally calculates...* I want to say somewhere around 50-60 hours, if we include designing and research and all that. I'm thinking it was about 35 hours for the actual creation, though. It *is* hard to estimate! Next costume I make, I should time myself a bit...
Hahhahah!! Oh yes. xD
Thanks for your informative replies to my series of inquiries! ;]
DeleteWow, that doesn't sound like all that long, given that you *invented* the outfit, designed it through modifications to and improvisations on other designs, *and* sewed it as well!
;D Of course! And no, it's really not! Totally worth it, in my opinion. :)
DeleteP.S. So, I just want to say that I'm *so,* so sorry I haven't been more active with commenting on your blog! Would it be possible to put me on the e-mail list to send me links to your new posts?? Let me know if you still have my e-mail.. Because I'm always forgetting to check, and I really want to keep up with you! :)
In reply to your post script - no apology is necessary! I certainly haven't made it easy to keep up with that blog, have I? ;] Many thanks for your continued interest! I've added your address to the email post notification list, so you should be receiving one within the next month or two. :]
DeleteOh yay awesome! Merci beaucoup. ;)
DeleteIt looks great! I really like the chain mail! I can't wait to see the dress!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Leia!! (: Not much longer to wait... :D
DeleteI've been saving a whole bunch of pop tabs and hope to make something out of them. You just gave me a good idea;)
ReplyDeleteCoolness!! Yessss! I found tab-mail so much fun to make, and it turns out so cool looking. A great use of those pop tabs. :D
DeleteI saw your pop-tab armor, and I started collecting pop-tabs. q: how did you make them?
ReplyDeleteYAY! I'm so glad I inspired you. Pop-tab armor is my new favorite thing. ;D This tutorial is super duper helpful to learn how to make it: http://kirilee.deviantart.com/art/Can-Soda-Tab-Chainmail-Vambrace-Tutorial-367749378 And once you know how to make chainmail from the tabs, you can make any kind of armor you want! I'm not sure if you saw, but I ended up turning these pauldrons into bracers instead. :D
Delete