Project Spider-Beth: The Accessories

Bonjour, mes amis!

Quick announcement before I get into part 2 of Project Spider-Beth: I got Instagram! :D If you'd like to keep up with me a bit more personally, and be privy to behind-the-scenes pics of my current and upcoming cosplay/costume/sewing shenanigans, go follow. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Oh dear.  Now the pressures on for me to deliver some awesome content... ;)

ANYWAY.  Back to my Spider-Man cosplay-ish! Today, you'll hear all about the finishing touches to the costume: webshooters, boots, etc. So let's get into it!

Webshooters first.  I decided to take inspiration from the Peter's homemade suit from Homecoming, and have several web "cartridges" on a wristband below the glove. But, what could pass for a webshooter?

Hairclips, duh.

before...

after!

After getting those ready, I stitched up some leather wristlets, clipped the clips over the leather, and then added some fingerless weightlifting (hahaha) gloves to have some cool, quick webshooters.

Next up, let's look at the most difficult part of this whole costume. That I brought upon myself. Because it *should* have been one of the easiest parts -- just buy a pair of boots! Right? RIGHT?! No. Because I put myself on a very tight budget for this project, and we were already put on a very tight time budget.

So, the day before the photoshoot with the costume I had scheduled, I went on a calculated search for footwear.

I went in every store in our mall that sold shoes, and then, when I turned up nothing that would please me, at basically any price point, I knew what was coming. I booked it over to Joann, bought a couple yards of red faux leather, leather sewing needles, and zippers (which I ended up not needing), and drove straight home to make myself a pair of superhero boots.

In one day.

Now, for the process of making the boots... it was quite the adventure. I looked up some pattern ideas on the internet, put couldn't find anything that was exactly what I needed. So I free handed everything, with a bit of help from a pair of boots I already had, the internet patterns.

The key was trial and error, and the very convoluted pictures I got of the process reflect that, I'm afraid... I think I'll just dump them here in their relatively coherent order and hope you can understand the story of making boots for the first time, with no pattern, in one day. *cries just thinking about it* :D

A couple quick notes on the boots... obviously, there's a ton of things I would change in hindsight. For one thing, I didn't add an actual sole to them, so they're more like moccasin boots than actual boots -- but it turned out alright since I wasn't doing any serious walking in them. Also, I wasn't completely happy with the shape of the foot area... it was lacking something, though I'm not sure what. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: I wish I could have bought *apparel* faux leather instead of *upholstery* faux leather, because these things are almost completely unable to breathe. Which gets uncomfortable after a while, needless to say.

BUT, all in all, for my first pair of boots? I'm really happy with how they turned out. Easily one of my favorite parts of the costume, and mostly worth all the hassle. :D

We're almost done -- the last things to add was the "mask," which consisted of some Spider-Man inspired sunglasses from Amazon (which were actually the first thing I bought for the costume), and a nose/mouth mask made of a some scrap fabric.

And, that's my Spider-Man inspired costume! Get ready for the photoshoot, which I'll share next Friday!

Also -- who's ready for Spider-Man: Homecoming, releasing in just ONE WEEK?!?!