Making the Wonder Woman Costume
The Body Armour
In this pattern there is everything you need to recreate the Wonder Woman redesign by the
cosplayer Goldbud it is sized for a 37” Bust 27” Waist and 38” Hips if you are significantly
off of these measurements you will need to adjust to suit. The pattern can also be altered for a
multitude of other uses, just by changing the tooling designs, dye colours, and basic shapes.
You will need;
Thick/thin leather for body armour, vambraces, shin guards, headband, pauldron, belt and
skirt panels
Suede for belt
Leather for bodice
Leather dye/paint pens
Tooling stuff
Knife/scissors
Antiquing fluid/gel
Sponge/brush
Rivets of various sizes.
Buckles
Wax
Body Armour
- Cut out the front panel, back panel and chest piece from thicker leather.
- Bevel the edges on both sides for comfort.
- You can jump right in with tooling at this point, either using the existing pattern or
your own.
- Once you are happy with the tooling, the front panel and chest plate will need to be
formed. I used a mannequin and bandages, as shown in the pictures. Soak the leather in hot
water as with the vambraces and place on the mannequin, securing it with bandages. This can
be tricky to do by yourself so you may want to get someone to help you, and one person can
hold the leather in place while the other applies the bandages.
- It will need to be left to dry, and then the other piece can be formed the same way.
- The back piece should not need to be formed.
- Once formed, the pieces can be dyed. Again, I dyed the front and back panels with
leather dye, and used metallic paint marker pens to colour the chest plate and the detail on the
tooling.
- Once the metallics are dry, you can add the straps and buckles. Using rivets. You can
attach the shoulder straps to the front and back panel pieces, and the side straps and buckles. I
always recommend putting the straps on the front and the buckles on the back.
- Once the straps are attached, you can fix the chest plate to the front panel. I used
contact glue. This way, you don’t see the rivets holding the shoulder straps to the armour, and
doesn’t interrupt the design on the chest plate.
- Finally, add antiquing if desired and wax.
General techniques
All these techniques can be applied to multiple items, and there are more in depth
explanations in the Crystal Anvil Vol 1 and lots of other tutorials online. Here are the basics
though!
Tooling
- Soak the leather in cold water for a few minutes, then let it dry until it is damp but not
wet. This makes it much easier to tool.
- You can use swivel knives to mark out your design and then go in with a stylus or
stamps to add more detail and texture. When using the stamps, you can use a rubber mallet to
press them to the leather.
Dying
- To prep leather for dying, soak it in cold water for a few moments. This will help the
dye permeate the surface better.
- You can apply the first layer in a dye bath, or even with sponges if you work quickly
to avoid streaks. If you use sponges, don’t try and make the dye stretch as far as it will go;
you won’t get an even layer if you do this.
- Once dry, if the colour is not dark enough you can apply another layer with a sponge
or dauber, working in circular motions. This helps to avoid streak marks.
Antiquing/Ageing
- When covering a large area, I usually get a sponge and some gel, dab off any excess
on some paper and run the sponge over the leather. It’s important to build it up gradually
rather than end up with a big splodge of colour which can’t be blended out. For this reason
some people find it easier to use a brush for antiquing, and I would certainly recommend
using a brush for detailed areas. You can use bigger brushes and use a technique called dry
brushing, or get a smaller one for detailed areas.
- When the first layer is dry you can go back in with more antiquing if you think that
some parts are not dark enough.
- While antiquing, think about where the natural weathering would occur; around the
buckles, underneath layers and overlays, in the tooling etc.
- Don’t be afraid to just dive in with this – if it looks too precise it will look more
painted than weathered, although you might prefer this depending on what look you’re after!
Waxing
- Waxing leather helps seal in the dye and protect it from things like small scratches
etc.
- Apply a layer of wax/dubbin to the inside of the leather. Using a heat gun, the wax
will sink into the leather quite quickly.
- On the outside of the leather, apply the wax in the same way. When applying the heat
gun, you will notice that the wax will go shiny. This is the point where you will want to buff
it into the leather with a non-fibrous cloth.
I hope you have fun creating your costume! If you ever have any questions please go the the
Crystal Anvil page, forums or search for Goldbud on facebook!
WW Body Armour
A1 1
