Shannan Costume – Bracers
I had no specific design in mind for the bracers when I first designed the costume. My knowledge of archery and leatherwork was nil. All I knew was that I didn’t want the tubed laced-down bracers that I’ve seen at renaissance faires. I wanted something more durable, more substantial, and a bit different looking. It was frustrating at first as all I seemed to be able to find were bulky designs made for muscle men and certainly not for a gal with a six inch wrist. To make matters worse, everything looked too clean, too modern. I finally turned to Deviantart as I knew there were some actual leatherworking artists under the costuming section. After a few hours of searching I came across a fantastic costumer and dare I say master leatherworker by the screenname of Sharpener from Sweden (http://sharpener.deviantart.com/). I adapted a design from his various bracers. Mine was much more crude and simplistic, but it got the job done.
Mrs. Elrod drew up her own sketch to jot down sewing notes. We decided to go for an extended triangle front on top of the hand to protect the wrist as well as to cover the archer’s glove on the right hand. In addition, Mrs. Elrod added a triple stitch around the top panel. This tri-stitch is repeated through the whole costume.
The mock-up
I then tried on the mock-up to make sure it fit properly. Thankfully, with the straps, it had enough room for the undershirt to fit in, but snug enough that it was form-fitting.
The mock-up with final fabric
Now here’s some amusing trivia on these bracers. Guess where the fabric came from! Yep, a pair of teensy leather pants from Goodwill (and a suede skirt. Alas I didn’t get a picture of the skirt before it was diced).
The straps ended up being a little long, so we cut them in half. In addition, the straps themselves needed more weight to them as we were working with a soft, light leather and not a heavy duty one as most bracers are made with. Mrs. Elrod placed a thick, almost plastic-like strip (forgive my ignorance, I don’t know what it’s called) in the middle of the top layer of layer and a bottom layer of poly-suede. The layering gave a thickening effect and it made it easier to hold the straps down lest they slip through the D-rings if I decided to start flailing.
The next time I saw the bracers they were finished. I didn’t think to ask for a closeup of the bracers during my photoshoot, so here’s the closest shot.
Final photograph © Lauren Athalia 2011. http://www.laurenathalia.com
