guess who has two thumbs, found a load of vintage buttons in their garage, and has absolutely no respect for the list of projects they should have been working on? this guyyyyyy
I have been lusting after this coat from the very first second I saw it, so the chance to make it falling into my lap was honestly a dream come true. Everything was stash except the beads and the jacket itself (what, you guys don't have 10m of gold pleather just sat around ready to go?)
I wasn't going for a perfect recreation, but I tried to stay true to the vision of the original, using the images the costume designer posted to make my templates and draw my construction ideas from- I had a genuine revelation when I saw the big stitches securing the patch in place for the first time!
I'm not 100% happy with some of the details- I feel like the claws are too silver for the rest of the colour palette, some of the paint has flaked where I glued the buttons before sewing (yes, every single button is sewn on!), and I did the actual positioning on the jacket in a bit of a rush, so one day I might go back and change some things, but those are only details I would notice & I still think it lookings so cool even when it's not perfect.
just... I fucking made that, you guys !!!
Process under the cut, if you want to know more about the how & why <3
So! I started off by making a template from the original design, and using that to stencil on the shape in leather paint- I tried to keep the layers thin so it wasn't too vibrant, and the gold shows through in slight places
(on the note of my fabric- I think the original is more likely a satin, or some other kind of fabric in a champagne-y colour- it definitely has a shine to it, but you can see it fraying on the images- but I had the pleather to hand, and I thought it would be more durable than a fabric, so I went with this instead)
Once the template was painted, I made a second template to mark out the lines. I did a lot of experimenting with couching until I got a result I liked... actually can I tell you guys a secret?
I completely restarted this project at one point because I didn't like how the wool I'd picked looked with the paint. It was too black, too thick, and I couldn't get any size variation with the lines. I already wasn't 100% about the size I'd started my first one at, so I made a new stencil and just completely started over with about 4 days notice till my soft deadline....
The new couching is done with a thread/cord I had lying about, and each line uses between 1-4 strands to get some size variations. Some of them also add in a piece as they radiate outwards to add dimension. It was a real labour, especially with all the switchbacks (each line took between 3-5 minutes to do) but it came out exactly as I wanted, so it was worth it to me!
heres the wool vs cord! theres a cord one at the bottom of the left too, which I think shows the difference in the blacks the best. Its really subtle, but theres less intensity too it, and it looks so much better to me
I made the claw pieces by moulding them from polymorph and then painting them, first in black, then silver. These pictures are from the first set I made, because... yeah, I remade these too! This was my first time doing something like this, and I had so much fun. They are just glued on with E6000, which didn't bond as well as I would like, but I couldn't figure out a better way to attach them at this stage. Maybe I'll try embedding a jump ring or something into them as I mould them next time.
The buttons were all positioned with PVA glue and then sewn through with really rough stitches of doubled strong thread. Since they're all completely non-functional, I just trailed the thread between them as though it was embroidery. I think the back looks really cool too, getting to see all the squiggly paths I went on.
The only thing I bought specifically for this project was 4mm red bicone beads and oh man, am I so happy I did. The original uses pearl shapes I think, but I just love the way these catch the light. This was really my first time beading, so it's not perfect, but I'm really happy with the results! My goal was to have every bead going its own direction so they would catch the light at different times, and the payoff is just so beautiful. I also used these for the little blood drops off the claws.
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LOVED to see Frenchie running scams again and recruiting the Revenge crew to help. Replica planks. Lucius signing fake Stede autographs for Black Pete to sell. Wee John doing Stede tattoos. Use your captain's new found infamy to grift everyone in sight. You're doing amazing babes.
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Sorry to Lucius for getting stuffed in that trunk, but we really were so blessed to get Frenchie's brief turn as Stede's scribe. Those two characters are just the perfect storm for that delightful scene to happen. Because someone like Pete or Roach or Wee John would've simply said, "I can't fucking write," and walked away, but I can totally buy Frenchie couching it as, "I'm not the strongest writer," thinking that would brush off Stede. But of course, Stede would be completely undeterred by that, and he'd say something like, "That'll be fine, just do your best!" And only Frenchie would hear that and think, "Ah yes, I know a good workaround for this...."
10/10 scene, no notes, I love everything about it!
