It’s been a while, but I finally got back into some creative activities. At the time of this project, it was the end of summer, so that means it was Renaissance Faire season in Pittsburgh! I wanted to make a kid’s knight costume and take my nephew to family weekend so he could dress up and have a fun, immersive experience. I had never made armor before so this was totally new for me, but it turned out to be a ton of fun! I also made myself a Tudor kirtle 🙂
The Knight
The Pattern and Materials
I had never made armor before, much less a full kid’s knight costume, so I knew I was going to need some help. I looked around and found a pattern for kid’s armor through the the Lost Wax. Their online tutorials are absolutely amazing and walk you through the whole thing. I purchased their bundle through their website so I can use any future patterns they may create. I used the smallest children’s size, since my nephew is four years old. I purchased this foam mat for the armor base, and sourced the rest of the material from the Lox Wax materials list either from Michaels or Amazon. I will say the adjustable temperature glue gun was game changer when working with the foam.
For the tunic, I used McCall’s M7224. I purchased a linen blend for the tunic that was on sale at Joann’s and used a very old and worn belt of mine for the circle belt.
Armor Adjustments
I knew since it was the beginning of September and temps were still really high, I had to make the armor a lot lighter. A four year old isn’t going to tolerate discomfort just for a costume (nor should they). I took the pattern for the breast plate and shortened it considerably to just be front and back neck pieces. This would allow me to maintain the functional shoulder pieces with a little more breathability.
I also chose the bracers, rather than the articulated arm pieces for similar reasons. The only other change I made was using Plastidip as a base for the painting rather than black acrylic paint.
I won’t go into detail about much else, because that’s all I changed. The Lost Wax tutorials and patterns are so incredible, I just did what they said!
Belt
I had a very, very, old belt that had been through a lot and rather than throw it out, I decided to give it a final hurrah for this costume.
Rather than find new hardware for the traditional circle style belt, I decided to simply adjust the existing hardware so it would function similarly. I flipped the belt over, and glued the tongue backward under the loop, leaving the D-loop free and open.
And voila! In the end it was far too big for my little nephew but it stayed on for at least a few minutes 🙂 .
Tunic
The tunic went smoothly and quickly, even though I hand-sewed the entire thing! I took the fabric and pattern with me on vacation and used it as a beach project. I have to say, I’m finding hand-sewing increasingly fun and satisfying.
The Kirtle
The Pattern and Materials
Since the Pittsburgh Renaissance Faire was officially set in the 1530’s I wanted to be at least somewhat historically accurate. I finally got to use the Tudor Tailor to make a simple women’s kirtle. I purchased all my material from Burnley and Trowbridge, including a lightweight green wool, canvas, and calico. I used the remainder of the grey cotton yardage I had left over from my end-of-summer napkins as the lining.
The Method
This was my first time drafting a more complicated pattern. I constructed a mockup out of muslin, made some adjustments, and finally moved on to the fabric.
The bodice is made of several structural layers that are pad-stitched together, and then lined afterward. It was pretty straight forward, though the instructions given in the Tudor Tailor required some intense concentration for the inexperienced.
The final step (minus creating the eyelets) was pleating and adding the skirt to the bodice. I used knife pleats, which worked quite nicely (although they were a bit uneven), giving a tidy effect.
I don’t have very good pictures of the finished product, and I may get some better shots and upload them later. I reused the chemise I made for last year’s 17th century witch costume, which worked perfectly. If I were to do this over, I would add one additional layer of calico to the bodice for structure. I felt supported enough, but there was a lot of creasing in the bodice after wearing it all day. I would also add a hook and eye to the very top of the bodice opening to keep the lacing from skewing the two sides.
Final Thoughts
The day-of was HOT. Sure enough, as the day went on, even the stripped down version of the armor came off, piece by piece. But he enjoyed it while it was on :). I would say I made a successful kid’s knight costume. He had a great time and scored not only one, but two, wooden swords courtesy of his loving parents and an over-indulgent aunt.
