Some new pictures of this project were just released, so here is a full write up!
Commission for CollegeHumor/2K Games. This Big Sister costume (from the newly released Bioshock 2 game) was a super fun collaboration between God Save the Queen Fashions, LLC, Lab 604, Nathan Sharatt, SCAD (use of shop space), Outland Armor, and Chris Lane with additional assistance from JPM Coachworks, Jenny Barclay, Danny Hong, Meredith Placko, Matt Lewis, Miracole Burns, and Lindsay Lewis!
It was so awesome getting to work with a pool of such talented individuals!
I was commissioned to do the fabric and leather items. This included a corset, hot pants, upper leg wraps, lower leg wraps, glove pads, gauntlet straps, bodysuit, padded balaclava, and cage bows. Because I was commissioned under a VERY short timeline (6 days to be exact), I enlisted a little extra help from Joe Pavich of JPM Coachworks.
Now, some details about this costume!
Corset: The corset is made out of four layers. The outside is chocolate brown leather. The corset core is two layers of cotton duck canvas, and the lining is also cotton duck canvas. The back features two part grommets and the front features four decorative belts. The corset is made of eight panels and features leather binding at the top and bottom. Because I was very short on time, I adapted this corset pattern from the bodice pattern I made for an Ichigo (Tokyo Mew Mew) costume I did a few months ago. It is really cool to see what happens when you reduce the bust curve and move a few seam lines around! Joe helped me with cutting as well as putting his double-stitch machine to work on this piece. In total, we used about one and a half leather hides for this project.
Cage Bows: Made out of soft, pink silk dupioni. Sewn as long sashes, then tied to the cage.
Padded Balaclava: This was a very unusual piece that was made based on very specific requests from Lab 604 and Nathan. The balaclava needed to have a pad on the crown of the head, an open face, a connected padded piece that would be concealed by the helmet collar, as well as a connected transition piece that appears between the helmet top and bottom. The balaclava is made from black spandex and the collar transition as well as the collar pad are made from black cotton duck canvas and a good bit of batting.
Upper and Lower Leg Wraps, Knee Pads: The upper and lower leg wraps are also made of two layers - leather outer flatlined with cotton duck canvas. The upper leg wraps have a little extra boning to help them keep shape and the lower leg wraps lace up in the back (like a corset) with an additional back panel that covers the lacing and is held in place by the larger leather straps. Both wraps have strategically placed holes to attach to the metal leg braces. The knee pads are two layers of leather, with linen sandwiched in between (to show through the front hole). They feature leather binding at the top and bottom as well as a lace up back.
Boot Covers: I wanted to make the bootcovers look...not like bootcovers. To do this, I matched the extra topstitched panels that were already on the base boots. Because the boots had to be laced up, I also included a tongue for easy access to the laces underneath. The bootcovers feature three fully functinal straps.
Hot Pants: The shorts are made of two layers - leather outer flatlined with cotton duck canvas. They are held up via suspenders (same fabric as bodysuit). The front has a fully functional zipper. The waist and bottom hems are bound in matching leather. Joe also assited with the shorts, by cutting and double stitching the seams.
Bodysuit: Made of linen, unlined. There is an invisible zipper in the back, as well as an extra hole in the front so the model can go to the bathroom without having to take the costume completely off.
And, a full credit list for the project:
Nathan Sharratt - Production Head, Design Engineer, Project Manager, Fabricator, Video Model
Chris Donio: Fabrication Lead, Lead Sculptor, Caster, Design Engineer
Riki LeCotey : Sculptor, Mold Maker
Cathy Jones : Seamstress, Leather Designer
Duncan Shirah : MetalWork
Danny Ashby : Fabricator
Joe Hernandez : Cage Engineer, Fabricator
Adam Foote: Fabricator
Chris Lane : Fabrication
Joe Pavich : Additional leather assistance
Daniel Valdez : Lighting, Electronics
Jenny Barclay, Danny Hong, Meredith Placko, Matt Lewis : Additional assistance
Miracole Burns: Height reference model & Unused Corset
Lindsey Lewis: Photo Model
<----------- Costume this way!
Commission for CollegeHumor/2K Games. This Big Sister costume (from the newly released Bioshock 2 game) was a super fun collaboration between God Save the Queen Fashions, LLC, Lab 604, Nathan Sharatt, SCAD (use of shop space), Outland Armor, and Chris Lane with additional assistance from JPM Coachworks, Jenny Barclay, Danny Hong, Meredith Placko, Matt Lewis, Miracole Burns, and Lindsay Lewis!
It was so awesome getting to work with a pool of such talented individuals!
I was commissioned to do the fabric and leather items. This included a corset, hot pants, upper leg wraps, lower leg wraps, glove pads, gauntlet straps, bodysuit, padded balaclava, and cage bows. Because I was commissioned under a VERY short timeline (6 days to be exact), I enlisted a little extra help from Joe Pavich of JPM Coachworks.
Now, some details about this costume!
Corset: The corset is made out of four layers. The outside is chocolate brown leather. The corset core is two layers of cotton duck canvas, and the lining is also cotton duck canvas. The back features two part grommets and the front features four decorative belts. The corset is made of eight panels and features leather binding at the top and bottom. Because I was very short on time, I adapted this corset pattern from the bodice pattern I made for an Ichigo (Tokyo Mew Mew) costume I did a few months ago. It is really cool to see what happens when you reduce the bust curve and move a few seam lines around! Joe helped me with cutting as well as putting his double-stitch machine to work on this piece. In total, we used about one and a half leather hides for this project.
Cage Bows: Made out of soft, pink silk dupioni. Sewn as long sashes, then tied to the cage.
Padded Balaclava: This was a very unusual piece that was made based on very specific requests from Lab 604 and Nathan. The balaclava needed to have a pad on the crown of the head, an open face, a connected padded piece that would be concealed by the helmet collar, as well as a connected transition piece that appears between the helmet top and bottom. The balaclava is made from black spandex and the collar transition as well as the collar pad are made from black cotton duck canvas and a good bit of batting.
Upper and Lower Leg Wraps, Knee Pads: The upper and lower leg wraps are also made of two layers - leather outer flatlined with cotton duck canvas. The upper leg wraps have a little extra boning to help them keep shape and the lower leg wraps lace up in the back (like a corset) with an additional back panel that covers the lacing and is held in place by the larger leather straps. Both wraps have strategically placed holes to attach to the metal leg braces. The knee pads are two layers of leather, with linen sandwiched in between (to show through the front hole). They feature leather binding at the top and bottom as well as a lace up back.
Boot Covers: I wanted to make the bootcovers look...not like bootcovers. To do this, I matched the extra topstitched panels that were already on the base boots. Because the boots had to be laced up, I also included a tongue for easy access to the laces underneath. The bootcovers feature three fully functinal straps.
Hot Pants: The shorts are made of two layers - leather outer flatlined with cotton duck canvas. They are held up via suspenders (same fabric as bodysuit). The front has a fully functional zipper. The waist and bottom hems are bound in matching leather. Joe also assited with the shorts, by cutting and double stitching the seams.
Bodysuit: Made of linen, unlined. There is an invisible zipper in the back, as well as an extra hole in the front so the model can go to the bathroom without having to take the costume completely off.
And, a full credit list for the project:
Nathan Sharratt - Production Head, Design Engineer, Project Manager, Fabricator, Video Model
Chris Donio: Fabrication Lead, Lead Sculptor, Caster, Design Engineer
Riki LeCotey : Sculptor, Mold Maker
Cathy Jones : Seamstress, Leather Designer
Duncan Shirah : MetalWork
Danny Ashby : Fabricator
Joe Hernandez : Cage Engineer, Fabricator
Adam Foote: Fabricator
Chris Lane : Fabrication
Joe Pavich : Additional leather assistance
Daniel Valdez : Lighting, Electronics
Jenny Barclay, Danny Hong, Meredith Placko, Matt Lewis : Additional assistance
Miracole Burns: Height reference model & Unused Corset
Lindsey Lewis: Photo Model
<----------- Costume this way!