For the finishing touches on the cosplay Link armor, I used leather cement to attach the leather to the EVA foam, so the leather didn’t loose form when worn. To retain the rolled edge, I glued in cotton macrame cord.
Photo description: leather cement used to attach EVA foam and cotton cord to the underside of the vest
I sewed on metal buckles and hardware using a saddle stitch and corset stitch with waxed linen cord.
Photo description: square link sewn into the leather of the vest with a saddle stitchPhoto description: laying out the holes for a belt buckle and leather stayPhoto description: finished leather belt with cross strap attached with brass mushroom screw rivetsPhoto description: inside of the pauldron pieces with the lower one secured with wide elastic, and the upper one with cotton cord ties
For future reference, when placing grommets, make sure your pliers can reach the intended location. I set my grommets in too far, and had to use a vice to attach the metal, which was a pain.
Photo description: useless grommet pliers because I set the hole too deep
Time to dye the leather cosplay armor pieces. Where I am not partial to dying fiber, I don’t mind dying leather. Fiebing’s leather dyes are easy to use, especially with daubers or large wool pads (synthetic works fine too). First, I lightly dampen the leather, not so much that the color changes, but so that it is cool to the touch. Then I apply the color. The method of application effects the final color variation; small circles with a dauber produces a mottled color, large swipes with a pad gives more even color, but without some of the interesting depth. Applying color over existing color produces different looks as well. I always do a color swatch test when color is critical.
Photo description: freshly dyed leather treated with Buckskin colored dye
When the leather dried, I had a surprise.
Photo description: dried dyed leather, but the vest is several shades lighter than the pauldron pieces
The pauldron was a nice brown, but the vest was yellow, and they should have matched. What happened is that when I dyed the leather, the pauldron pieces were dry, and I rewetted them. The vest was still wet from shaping. They had a similar moisture content by feel, but obviously not a similar dye take up. Rewetting the vest and applying several more coats of dye fixed the issue.
For the straps, I dyed the underside with a dark brown dye, which also changed the surface color. I liked this effect, because Link’s armor is not all one color.
Now we get into wet shaping the leather I cut for the cosplay Link armor. To help bulk up the shape and give me something to shape to, I made forms from EVA foam sheet. The foam is water proof, so wet shaping the leather won’t damage it.
Photo description: EVA foam sheet formed into a two piece pauldron Photo description: 3/4 oz tanned leather wet formed over the EVA foam formPhoto description: leather vest wet formed with pieces of cut EVA foam and clear tubing
I continued to press the shape into the leather as it dried. The clear tube that I used the shape the edges of the vest worked well to start, then I removed it and hand shaped the ridge. When the pauldron pieces were dry, I trimmed the edges so they just wrapped the edges of the foam.
Yahaha! I’m not done making Zelda cosplay pieces! Yay! I also jumped on the opportunity to make some leather armor for a Link costume. I cut pattern pieces from paper for the fitting, then cut the leather using the paper as a guide. The leather is vegetable tanned tooling leather 3/4 oz, which is thinner than typically used for actual armor, but is suitable for cosplay where it is better to be light weight.
Photo description: paper patterns laid out on a side of tanned leather
I used my rolling ruler to lay out strips of leather for belts. It isn’t as precise as a strip maker, but worked better than I thought it might.
Photo description: rolling ruler and number 1 pencil on a side of leather marked with pencil lead
3/4 oz leather can be cut easily with kitchen shears, which also makes it nice for cosplay applications.
The reveal! Here is the full Zonai panel for Zelda from the Tears of the Kingdom game.
Photo description: Cosplay outfit from Zelda Tears of the Kingdom with green under dress, off-white gathered over dress, and newly created front panel made of EVA foam sheet, acrylic paint, and silk
The jewelry panel is pinned to the silk with straight pins, because the EVA foam is easy to pin. The silk panel is safety pinned into the white dress that is a reused element from a previous Halloween. I sewed on the gold chiffon fabric the last time it was worn so that the dress wasn’t strapless. The under dress was my grandmother’s and is the same blue/green silk as the panel, but with a silver thread overlay pattern. I did sew knit side panels on that dress so that it had some breathing space.
Photo description: jewelry panel lifted from the silk panel to show they are different elements and not just painted on
And not so say that I have an impressive craft stash, but I bought very little for this assembly. Everything was reused or repurposed from previous projects. I did need to buy antique copper acrylic paint because I ran out, and as long as I was getting paint, also picked up a metallic dark green, which was a good choice for an under layer of the patina.
Critters and Craft 