Recycled Pirate

"Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred years too late.

The cannons don't thunder.

There's nothing to plunder.

I'm an over 40 victim of fate." 

- Jimmy Buffett, "A Pirate Looks at 40"

While not quite an "over 40 victim of fate," I am a pirate.  And not just any old pirate.  Anne Bonny, Irish pirate queen.

'twas cold and rainy that day

Pull up a seat, grab a tankard of ale, and I'll spin you a yarn of how I came to be an award-winning pirate.

It started simply enough: I wanted an outfit.  Blouse, trousers, boots...and of course the hat.  Every pirate needs a good hat.

It's missing...something

So I scoured the local thrift store until I was able to assemble an outfit worthy of a pirate queen.  Added a bit of trim to the hat, sewed some buttons to the vest, got some good sashes (one to tie down my blouse, the other to hold my tankard and pouch), made a scabbard and baldric for my sword, and things were coming along nicely.

Now we're getting somewhere!

But it was still missing a very important element.  A coat.  And that's where the adventure truly began!

I started with, believe it or not, the lining from an old coat.  It had no cuffs, it had no collar or lapels.  It was rather too long.  But I knew I could make it work.  With time and effort, I could turn it into a fabulous coat, worthy of any pirate queen!

Now, keep in mind, I don't truly know how to sew.  People who do know how to sew said "It can't be done."  But I wasn't daunted.  I had my heart set on making a pirate coat, and come hell or high water, I was going to make one!

The first thing was making the collar.  Fortunately, I had just the thing - the edge of a hood I'd removed from an old costume robe.  It had a thin layer of foam in it to keep its shape.  So I cut it up the back seam so it'd lay flatter, then pinned it to the liner to see how it would look.

Here's the liner with the "collar" pinned on

You can see the point of the hood hanging down in the middle

During my scavenging, I came across some brilliant red material, which I purchased for making the cuffs, lapels and collar.  I removed the hood edging, laid it out straight, measured it, made a mock-up from white cotton, checked my pattern, then cut a long red rectangle, sewing the ends closed to form a casing that I slipped the edging into, then sewed that onto the lining as the collar. 

The lapels were formed in a similar fashion - I used my white cotton to make a mock-up of an elongated isosceles triangle, determining how far down I wanted the lapels to go, how wide at the top and narrow at the bottom.  Again, I sewed the ends, then decided I should have a bit of stiffness to them so they'd lay flat of their own accord.  Fortunately I had on hand some tough foam sheeting, the kind they package pots and pans in, which I cut to fit inside the lapels, but not go all the way to the bottom.

One of the lapels, with the lining laid on top to show length

Sewing the lapels on was one of the trickier parts of assembling this coat.  As you can see from the pictures above, there was red piping running up the inside, which I wanted to keep.  After folding over and sewing the long edge of the lapel, I pinned it down so it was tight against that piping, and then sewed it on.

Collar and one lapel sewn on, with cuff mock-up

My coat was starting to take shape!  The cuffs were relatively easy (compared to the rest!) - I measured around the sleeves (after I shortened them), then cut out a rectangle from my trusty cotton, pinned it in place to make sure it did what I wanted, then made the actual cuffs.  They're French-style, so they fold back, and are held in place by four hand-sewn buttons, two on each side.

Ah, the buttons.  Yes.  Buttons...were just a bit of a headache.  There are seven on each lapel - five in loops and two at the bottom without loops.  The loops themselves were made from the tie I'd removed from the vest.  After those were sewn in place, the buttons were sewn in, by hand.  Then, to bring the whole thing together, I glued black and gold twisted braiding down the inner edge of the lapels, leaving the piping showing.

Three down, eleven to go...not counting the eight on the cuffs!

It was a challenge, but I'm very happy with how it turned out.  I learned a lot about sewing, and how to look at elements of a garment and replicate them.  I knew what I wanted and how I wanted things to look, it was just a matter of working out what shapes I needed and how to attach them to do what I wanted.

The end result is...pretty fabulous, if I do say so.

It's all about the details

When I set out to make this coat, my only intention was to make it, and possibly wear it to the Renaissance Fair in Bristol (if the weather wasn't 95 in the shade!).  But one night, while searching for Boadicea costumes, I came across a fantastic site called Take Back Halloween.  I thought that was a great idea - costumes for women that aren't all..."sexified," that a woman could feel proud and, most importantly, comfortable wearing in public.  I spent countless hours on the site, checking back periodically as new costumes were added, reading up on all the great women who were profiled.  And then I saw that they were holding a costume contest.  Well, you know me and my costumes - I had to enter!  There were many amazing costumes, from lots of very creative women; some didn't quite play by the rules, but they certainly put thought and effort into their costumes.

I have to admit, I'm still amazed I took second overall!  Guess all the hard work (and hours of listening to the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks over and over again) paid off!

Uaithne, the Green Man, complete

I added the finishing touches to Uaithne today.  And I really think he turned out sharp!  This was such a fun project that I'm already contemplating making a wife for him.

In the last post, I'd left off with him naked.  As I'd said in that previous post, I was considering painting him grey, to look like bark.  I started off that way, but wasn't liking how he was looking, so I went back to my original plan, which was painting him with Lumiere brand paint, in metallic olive green.  It's a nice green with a bit of a gold sheen to it, and since some of the leaves I was going to use had a bit of a gold tinge, I thought that'd be perfect.  And, after all, his name does mean "green" in Irish.

Green's a much better color

I'd always planned on his eyes being blue.  I just thought that'd really stand out against the green skin & leaves, and I was right.  I've been painting eyes for years on my model horses, so I applied some of the same tricks here.  I painted the entire eyeball Warm White (all my acrylics are Folk Art brand), then used Brilliant Blue for the irises, which I painted solid.  Then I went in with a fine brush and added striations of Jamaican Sea and Calypso Sky (Sounds tropical, doesn't it?) and a border of Metallic Sapphire Blue.  Then the pupils were Mars Black, a bit of Fleshtone in the inner corners for tear ducts, and I "glossed" the eyes with clear nail polish.  (Sally Hansen, dual base & top coat)

Here's looking at you!

Originally I wanted him to hang outside, but I couldn't find anywhere that he'd both look good and be safe from the elements.  If I'd been able to find a spot, I would've sealed him with a couple layers of Krylon matte sealer.

Then came the fun part - adding the leaves!  It really was fun.  I had some leaves from some silk flowers I'd bought for a different project, and a bunch of round-leaf English ivy I picked up at Goodwill.  I don't know what the flowers were intended to be - they have huge heads that look like mums, but the leaves were in groups of three and five, and there were two sets of red-tipped yellow leaves.

I started by snipping off a couple ivy leaves, inserting the stems into the holes of a pair of the triple-lobed leaves, and then gluing those around the base of the antlers.  Then I slipped a pair of ivy leaves, one medium, one small, into the stem hole of one of the five-lobed leaves, and glued that between the antlers on top of his head.  At first I tried using Elmer's, but they wouldn't stay put.  I considered using hot glue, but that would've been a hassle - getting the extension cord off the lamp in the living room, getting behind the rolling drawers to plug it into the outlet, heating up the glue, trying to hold the leaves in place long enough to set without burning my fingers or gluing myself to the project...  So I tried super glue.  But the super glue I have is a push-tip applicator, and the tip was poking holes into the plaster, so after the antler leaves I quit.  And got out The World's Most Annoying glue.  Goop.  That's what the stuff's called, folks.  "Amazing Goop Craft contact adhesive and sealant."  It comes in a metal tube and there's a variety of types.

I don't know if it's just my tube, or if all of them do this, but it won't stop oozing glue out the tip.  As soon as you take the cap off it starts oozing, and no matter what position you put it in, glue just keeps on coming out.  I had to cap it between every single leaf cluster I glued on, or balance it upright against something and wipe the ooze off before I could use it.  Because another weird feature of this glue is it dries quickly, and yet also gives you time to reposition stuff.  Weird, but effective.

He has hair!  And eyebrows

I continued adding leaves, slipping them under the first layer, alternating between the psuedo-mums and ivy.  Before I got too far, though, I added his eyebrows.  They are actually moss - I bought a roll of ProFlora moss ribbon that was on clearance at Wal-Mart.  It's cleaned (well, they claim - I was picking dried grass and other stuff out of it), dried, dyed and adhered (somehow) to a flexible canvas-type backing.  It's intended for floral arrangements: "ProFlora Moss Ribbon is an ideal accent for all types of floral, wedding and creative projects."  And Green Men.  You just cut the length and shape you want and glue it on.  (The moss is no longer alive, so you don't have to worry about watering your projects.  But they do recommend you mist it with water to "fluff" the moss.  Which I did before I glued the eyebrows on.  Hard to tell if it helped or not.)

More leaves, using ivy as "ears" and one of the tri-lobed leaves, with a couple small ivy leaves, for a "beard."  I cut one of the five-lobed leaves apart to keep the two smallest ones attached, and gave him a "mustache."  And I thought he looked pretty good.

Finished!  Or is he..?

But the more I looked at him, the more naked his face seemed.  His chin was too prominent, his cheeks too large.  So I slipped a couple ivy leaves in on the sides, covering his cheeks, and cut another set of five so there was a medium and a small leaf still attached to each other, and slipped those under the ends of his mustache, with the smaller leaves framing his bottom lip.  I also cut the leftover leaf in half and glued it under his lower lip to cover his chin more.

I took him outside for pictures against the green of my house, but, as I said, there wasn't anywhere I felt he fit.  Then I came in...and found the perfect spot for him right next to my back door.

You can't even tell I neglected to give him nostrils...

More is better

Looks right at home, doesn't he?

 

 

Uaithne, the Green Man

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm experimenting with plaster cloth.  You can purchase a roll of cloth from a variety of craft stores - I got mine at Hobby Lobby (brand name E-Z Form) but you can also buy it at Michael's, and online via Amazon, Dick Blick and Woodland Scenics (their own brand).  The roll I purchased was 8" x 180".

The roll is wrapped in waxed paper, inside a plastic bag.  I don't know that I need to store it in both, but that's how I'm doing it, just to be on the safe side.  Plus the dry plaster falls off easily, and this way there's less of a mess.  This is essentially loosely woven fibers that are coated in dry plaster - you cut off the length & size strip you want to use, quickly dip it in warm water, slide your fingers down the strip to distribute the plaster evenly & get the excess water off, and apply it to your project.  Model railroaders use it for building mountains and valleys, model horse people use it for building dioramas.  You can use just about anything for an armature, from cardboard to wire mesh, but if you want your project to be sturdy use something strong.

My first project is turning out to be a lot of fun!  For years I've wanted my own Green Man.  No, not that silly green bodysuit that's "all the rage" these days.  The leafy face of Celtic (and other) mythology.  He takes several forms - there's no "right" or "wrong" way to portray him.  Sometimes his face is composed entirely of leaves, sometimes the human face is more prominent, with only leaves for hair and perhaps roots for a beard.  Sometimes he's entirely green, sometimes he appears to be made of wood.  Cernunnos, the Horned One, is closely associated with the Green Man; some say they are two aspects of the same being, the one representing death and darkness, the other rebirth and light.

Whatever you want to believe, however you want to call him, he's been popular for centuries, appearing in church architecture, folk tales, sculpture, even modern literature.  My guy's a bit more humble than all that, though - he's just going to be hanging out on my front porch once I finish him.

So on to the sculpting process.  I bought a plastic mask a while ago for another project, and decided to keep the two plastic forms that protected it in the packaging.  I figured I was getting three masks for the price of one!  I used one of these forms to start building Uaithne (Pronounced "OON-yeh," it's an Irish name meaning..."green."), laying my strips horizontally across the form.

Hey look - a face!

The plaster cloth dries incredibly fast, especially compared to paper mache - by the time I'd reached the upper lip the first strip I'd laid was already drying.  As I put each strip down I tried to smooth it out as much as possible, hoping to fill in all the little holes with plaster.  But there really isn't that much plaster in the cloth, so he's not perfectly smooth.  However, that's going to work to my advantage, actually.

I let him sit for a full day, even though in 20 minutes he was totally dry.  Then I very carefully flexed the plastic form and took it out (the plaster did not stick to it, which is great) and added a second layer, this time going vertically.  I also wanted my Green Man to have antlers, so I laid the two I had (loose, not a full rack) under his forehead, in the position I wanted them, and cut notches out.  I was surprised how easy the cloth was to cut - two layers, which were thoroughly dried, could be cut with standard scissors.  Something to keep in mind..

After I had the antlers positioned where I wanted them, I used a Sharpie to dry eyes on, just to see how they'd look if I were to paint directly onto the plaster, and laid some leaves on top of his head.  He's starting to get a personality now, I think.

Of course I had to secure the antlers in place.  I laid a strip of plaster cloth across the back of the head, and once that was dry I turned him upside down and squeezed a LOT of Elmer's glue around the ends of the antlers.  That would've been easier to do if I'd done it before I added that strip, but...I tend to do things the hard way.  Ah well.  I folded a paper towel in quarters and wrapped it over his chin, then used a magnetic jaw clamp to hang him from the edge of the desk until the glue dried, keeping the antlers at the right width from each other by using an empty drink mix container.

The ends of the antlers

After the glue was completely dried I traced the plastic form onto a thin piece of cardboard and glued that to the back, trimming it once it was totally dry.  I had a small metal shelf hanger (the rectangular type with the teeth) that I attached to the middle of the back by lining it up with the bridge of the nose and pushing it into the cardboard, then applying glue to the legs before pushing them through all the way, and gluing all around it.  Then I covered the back with more plaster strips.  I also built him a bit of a top of head by rolling a newspaper flyer into a loose tube, tearing it to fit between the antlers & taping it in place, then going over it with plaster strips.

So now he has a face, antlers, and a hanger.  Now all he needs is eyes, and then I can paint him and glue on the leaves.  Eyes...eyes...oh, dear.

Well, as I said, I'm always doing things the hard way.  I got out some Sculpey (oven bake clay), cut off a small section, softened it, rolled it into a ball, cut the ball in half, rolled those halves into smaller balls, and then squished down the sides to get the eyeball shape.  I then carefully folded the sides back up, and voila!  Eyeballs!

That's...an eyeball??

I got out my little toaster oven, turned it on to 275, and then put the eyeballs on a piece of waxed paper on the tray and baked them for 15 minutes.  Then I cut holes in the face (Remember how easy I said that was?) just big enough, eased the baked eyes in, and glued all around them.  I'll let the glue dry overnight, then I want to go across the forehead with one more strip, and up around the antlers just to make sure there's no gaps, and then I can prime him and start painting. 

Here's looking at you

Now he's looking like something!

Oh, and remember how I said the texture was going to work to my advantage?  Well at first I was fretting, trying to figure out how to smooth him.  I'd planned on painting his face a green/gold, which I thought would go nicely with the leaves I have.  But you can't really sand this stuff, or you risk ripping the fibers loose.  I could mix up some patching compound and go over the entire face, but, man, that's a lot of work!  Everything I was thinking of would just be more complicated than really necessary.  And then it dawned on me: bark.  Why not just paint his face to look like the bark of a tree?  So that's what I'll do...when I get to that stage.  So far, not bad for my first attempt at using plaster cloth, hey?

Adventures in armor making

Ten years ago The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King came out in theaters.  I already had a Ringwraith costume, thanks in large part to my mother's sewing skills.  I added a child's vampire cape that I'd removed the collar from, and sewn a couple strips of black fabric to the front of, to act as the cowl.  The armor I made for it was from craft foam, and served its purpose for a few years.  But I really wanted the helm that the Morgul Lord, Witch King of Angmar, wore.  That thing's just wicked!

My first helm was made from craft foam.  And...it turned out decently enough that people knew what I was, but it didn't survive moving a few times, or my over-enthusiasm when I discovered spray paint that has the look of hammered metal.  Spray paint and craft foam do not like each other.  Stiff is ok.  Cracking, not so much.  So the poor helm languished, crumpled and forlorn, in a corner of my bedroom. (No, no pictures exist of this sad attempt.)

Years passed.  And I kept trying to work out a new helm, using soda box cardboard, since that's lightweight and flexible.  But not matter what I did, I just couldn't get it to look right.

Tissue box and soda box cardboard - UGH!

What....in the world??

So I put the project away for a while (meaning I threw out those hideous...things) until one day I stumbled across a really cool blog for paper mache, and it suddenly dawned on me how to make my helm!

But how to start?  Well, logically, the face. Ok...so...what do I have that can give me that shape?  Ah-ha!  Plastic eye mask!

Witch King...or demented unicorn?

The center spire was always a stumbling block.  The first one I made, in craft foam, was a cone that I stitched up the back.  This one is a cone...from the side of a paper grocery bag.  Where the bag folds is the part that's on the forehead of the mask.  The crown is actually the two handles, unfolded and taped to the sides of the mask and sized to fit my head.  Except...

I'm a bit on the small side, at least compared to the Wraiths.  So I needed a little more height.  Before I'd started working on the helm this time, I had taken a ball cap that I didn't like and cut half the bill off.  I coated the entire thing with fabric stiffener, and once it was dried I put on my invisible hood and fit the cap on over that.  Not only does this give me a bit of height, but the way the helm sits allows me to look out through the mouth opening, and it's held out away from the cap by what's left of the bill so anyone looking into the eyes sees only...an empty blackness.  Oooh!  Scary.

Then came the challenge of building the sides, or cheek guards, and the mouth guard.  Once more to the paper bag, and I was ready to go!  But wait.  What about the crown of spikes?  Well, I'd saved the spikes I'd made for the craft foam helm (from rolled index cards) and hot-glued them in place, using my Witch King action figure and several pictures of the helm for reference.  Once I had everything taped in place I set up the hood and cap on a Styrofoam head (which I had to rig a stand for) and started applying the paper mache, using newspaper strips and a flour-water paste.

Now we're getting somewhere!

Plastic bag to protect the hoods

After I did both sides of the helm, the center spire and the spikes, and everything was well dried, I took the helm off the form and applied paper mache to the inside, as well.  You can't quite see it in the pictures, but the cheek guards do have the "fin" shape that the actual helm has.  That was probably the easiest to accomplish - I simply creased the cheek guards where I needed to, which moved the mouth guards closer together, and held wonderfully while I applied the paper mache.  Paper grocery bags are awesome!

And instead of gluing black fabric to the ball cap like I'd originally planned, I remembered I'd saved the hood off a Halloween mask I bought on clearance at Goodwill last year, which works perfectly.  The invisible hood I wear over my own head has a black fabric that covers my entire face - I can see out, but no one can see in.  The other hood fits over the ball cap, although I am going to glue the edge of the hood to the bill to help keep it in place.  I actually can get this on by myself - invisible hood, then pull the ball cap/hood combination on over that, then slip into the helm.  But I gotta say, getting through doors is a bit of a challenge!  I have to remember to duck, or I whack that darn center spire on the door frame!

Once everything was fully dried I took it outside and sprayed it with primer, then sprayed it with a coat of one shade of hammered metal paint, then went over it with a darker shade of hammered metal paint.  And I was done!  Yay! 

Well, with the helm.  There's still the gauntlets, vambraces, pauldrons, greaves and sabatons to do.  (In layman's terms that gloves, arm, shoulder, shin and leg armor.)  I'm working on the gauntlets, but I recently purchased some plaster cloth, and I'm seriously considering using that for my future armor endeavors.  Once I get the hang of working with it, that is.  So to practice I started making a Green Man.  More on him in the next entry!

Oh, and in case anyone's wondering: The full-size replica of the Witch King's helm that was produced by United Cutlery is 30" x 23" x 21" and weighs a whopping 22 pounds!  By comparison, my helm is 26" from the top of the center spire to the tip of the cheek guard (The spire is 15"), 16" from tip to tip of the crown of spikes, and 9" back-to-front.