Cake or Death Eater?

"Um... Death Eater, please."

 

Yep, it's time for John's big Death Eater reveal!

Ready for your close-up, Sweetie?

Oh yeah, he's ready.

 

Epic side-eye.

I've already done tutorials for the mask and wand, so the rest of the costume was relatively simple - assuming you can sew. (Which I can't. Good thing John can!)

John sewed the tunic from heavy embroidered upholstery fabric. It was pricey stuff, so to conserve fabric and provide a little ventilation, he used an old black t-shirt for the back panel. The pants are cheap cotton dress pants, and he's also wearing a cotton balaclava to hide his neck and ears. (Whose idea was it to have Leaky Con in August in Florida, again? ACK.)

The tunic fabric was solid black, so to make the embroidery stand out I gave John a good dusting with Fuller's Earth - the fake dirt & dust scenics use on actors. If you have a specialty paint store around, they may have it - it's quite cheap and SO FUN to use. (Just make sure you're outside; it's fine as flour and very dusty!)

  

 

We made the hood and robe using a pattern for a wizard's robe, just leaving off the sleeves and making the hood a bit longer & pointier. (I cut, John sewed.) It took a whopping five yards of fabric just for what you see here, so it billows out quite dramatically when John walks around.

 

The bracers are plain black vinyl which John hemmed & set with grommets on the inside edges. They're held on with black leather cording wrapped through the grommets and around. (The vinyl still looks quite new, so John may still rub on a little grey paint for age.)

John made the wand holster out of old leather belts, a large steel ring, some patterned vinyl, and metal duct tape for the decorative bits in the middle. (The tape looks great, but is pretty fragile; one end keeps peeling up. For my own belt I used a heftier glue, though, and it's holding up so far.)

To grunge up John's hands I swiped a little black craft paint over his nails and knuckles, and then had him wash his hands. The paint sticks in all the skin creases even through gentle hand washing, so it's a nice option for conventions. (And if you REALLY want it to stick, use black primer. That'll stay on for days.)

And finally, my favorite shot!

SO COOL.

Coming up next: my own Lady Death Eater!