Library of Congress - historical posters and photos
NASA - you guessed it
Creative Commons - all kinds of stuff, homie
Even Adobe has some free images
There are so many ways to make moodboards, bookcovers, and icons without plagiarizing! As artists, authors, and other creatives, we need to be especially careful not to use someone elseās work and pass it off as our own.Ā
Please add on if you know any more resources for free images <3
...called thus because they use upholstery-weight leather for the bag body, that in my case was in fact skinned off a couch. š¤£ Turns out they are relatively quick and easy to make, so I tidied up the pattern for printing and took pictures to document the process when I made another five of them.
First off, print your pattern, 100% scale:
The bag shape was a modified version of the pattern I used for the Morpheus sandbag, but sized to fit in the roughly 11" squares that my couch skin came in. It makes a bag that sits very well on a tabletop, thanks to the flat base.
Though it turned out to not be the most efficient use of material, because that plus-shaped pattern tessellates well, if you're cutting them out of a full hide, but makes a lot of waste when you're cutting them out of squares of material. A more efficient design would have a half-rounded front and back, and a gusset between them, like so:
Ah well. It's not like I have any shortage of couch skin, though for the next round I'm going to experiment with a more efficient pattern.
First step, trace and cut out the bag body from your chrome-tan leather:
Like I said, this was upholstery leather, but anything that's flexible and ~1.5 mm thick will do.
The flap and front need to be a stiffer leather though -- I used 7 oz latigo, but veg-tan would work equally well. (And then you could āØtool it!āØ)
Cut them out, and then use the pattern to mark where your holes are going to be. Mark the holes on your bag body too:
The latigo pieces get hand-stitched to the bag body, so I used a stitching groover to carve out little channels for the thread -- it's not strictly necessary, but it makes your stitches lay a lot more neatly:
Punch the holes shown below:
I used a ~5 mm hole punch for those, and a 1.5" slot punch for the belt loops. Some of the holes on the front piece you're not punching yet, because they need to go through both layers.
I put a dab of contact cement on the pieces (circled in white) to help hold them in place when I go to punch the stitching holes:
(Make sure you're not putting glue between the belt loops)
Wait fifteen minutes for the contact cement to dry until tacky, and then line up the holes and the edges and press the pieces together:
Punch stitching holes:
Saddle-stitch both pieces in place (takes 28" of thread per):
Now you can punch these holes:
(I used a slightly smaller hole punch than for the others, but it doesn't really matter.)
Now press the right sides of the leather together and sew up the seams from the inside:
A regular sewing machine should be able to handle this, though you will need thicker thread, a heavy-duty leather-sewing needle, and a walking foot attachment. (If you don't have a walking foot attachment, it is SO WORTH getting one, even if you don't expect to sew much leather. Seriously, I use it for everything -- once you go walking foot, you don't go back. š) Because you can't pin leather without leaving permanent holes in it, tiny binder clips can be helpful for keeping your material lined up.
What they look like when you're finished sewing:
Cut 19" of lacing for the drawstring, and 11" of lacing for the toggle:
I use the 1/8" EcoSoft lace from Tandy, I think it's stronger than real leather would be at that thickness. The only important factor here is that you need something with a bit of texture and friction -- a silk cord isn't going to stay closed, it's going to slip open.
MANY BAGS.
For these I used a wooden toggle -- cut another 8" of lacing, looped it through the toggle twice, and then made a tight square knot on the back:
But another option is putting a concho or a large button on the flap. The bag I copied this design from, in fact, uses a concho toggle:
Thread some beads on the laces to keep the ends from getting lost, and you are DONE! š
Ok, it's time for an ears tutorial! Let's all be woodland creatures now!
So you wanna be an animal..or partially an animal..fine, you just want ears because theyāre super cute and youāre over the faun thing. Iāve got your back. Of course, there are tons of different ears out there and there are simpler ways to do this, butā¦letās take our ears up to 11. Or 7.
What you need:
fabric for the interior and exterior of your ears (this can vary depending on what you want but I used faux fur and felt)
plastic canvas
armature wire
sewing machine, thread, needles, scissors
First! Figure out the shape of your animalās ears. Remember, ears arenāt flat (usually). Theyāre fully three-dimensional body parts. Play around with some paper first and figure out what you want them to look like.
I chose rabbit ears. I could do this more easily by flattening them but I wanted them more realistic. I cut out the pieces.
I cut out 2 pieces for the interior of the ear of felt, 2 for the exterior of faux fur, and I also cut out 2 pattern pieces out of plastic canvas. The plastic canvasā¦letās talk about that for a sec. Plastic canvas is that stuff that old ladies make tissue box covers out of or book marks. Not insulting them, weāre just using it for a different purpose. Try to buy the plastic canvas with the finest or smallest grid possible. Weāll be using this on the inside of the ears as a support for the ear, the ācartilageā if you will. Just trust me on this.
Sew your ear fabrics together, right sides in. Flip them right-sides out. Theyāre pretty cute just like that! Butā¦letās push ourselves further.
Look at my nail polish! Iām in love with it. But back to business. Now here is where the whole process sloooooowwwwssss way down. You want to stitch your armature wire to the plastic canvas. Leave at least 4 inches of wire on both ends of the plastic canvas. But why are we wasting our time with this? It makes perfect sense! I promise. Basically, what Iām trying to do here is eliminate a need for extra stitching on the outside of the ear once itās finished and allow the wire to move the entire ear with the plastic canvas support like a real ear would move. Youāll also be able to position and reposition this all you want.
Stick the whole plastic canvas/wire thingy inside the pocket of your ears. Whoa! Youāve got ears! I left a few inches of wire on both ends of the plastic canvas. This is important because you can then either wrap the wire around a headband and plop it on your head OR you can stick the wires through a wig and onto a headband for support and an invisible way to attach it. You could also sew it directly onto a wig. My ears are too tall for this and need the extra support of a headband under my wig, but whatever you choose to do is all personal preference.
You should totally add a flower crown because that will be all like woodland creature royalty stuff. Just saying.
I love makeing witch hats. They are pretty simple to draft, and don't use too much fabric. so here are my instructions:
A = height of hat
B = circumference of head + 1 inch
C = radius of head (calculate from B)
D = C + width of brim
For the cone draw a circle with radius A, and measure B along outside.
For the brim make 2 circles with the same center point, with radius C and D.
Cut 1 of cone, and 2 of brim. I also like to line the cone with felt, and use canvas or something heavy to interface the brim.
Just inside the seam allowance of the brim, zigzag over a wire to help give the brim shape.
Right sides together, sew the side of the cone and the 2 brim pieces along the outside. Then sew the cone to the center of one of the brim pieces and flip it inside out. Then sew the bottom brim to the top in the center.
Since Iām currently working on a new panel for EVA foam detailing, sharing an abbreviated version of this so that I actually have some posts on my account. This is definitely not a complete list of every technique that could work, but these are ones that I have used before and found to be quite useful.
Sanding
This is probably the most well-known technique for detailing. A rotary tool is a must-have for working with EVA foam since itās such a versatile tool. A basic sanding drum is great for beveling edges or carving in battle-damage and weathering. Grinding stone tips can smooth and even out sanding. Depending on how the tips are angled on the surface, you can create a hammered metal look, soft leather-like crinkles, or circles that look like screws or bolts. Sanding is also the single best way to clean up rough seams. Be sure to wear a respirator and eye protection when sanding since the foam will generate a LOT of dust. You will your workspace will get covered with dust.
Burning
A soldering iron or wood burning iron can be used for detailing. These hot tools can be used to engrave precise or geometric lines or can be used to create a feather texture. These can also be used to make more organic textures like wood grain. Very much like a rotary tool, a wood burning or soldering iron has endless possibilities only limited by creativity. The foam can be easily burned through, especially when it is a thinner sheet (1-3 mm). Burning foam creates very nasty fumes so be sure to work outside with a respirator on.
Heat stamping
This is a more subtle technique but can still be very useful. The most common application is using crumpled tin foil to make a leather texture. Once foam has been heated up evenly (using a heat gun), it can pick up the texture of anything pressed against it.
Google eyes
For a cheap and easy way to get rivets or bolts, try using googly eyes. Once these are painted over, they can blend in perfectly (just donāt shake the armor or prop because they will rattle). Though real rivets can be used (that is my next point), googly eyes are easy to install and are very easy to find in a variety of sizes. These can be glued down with pretty much any type of glue.
Metal hardware
If authenticity is the goal, eyelets and rivets can be installed into EVA foam. The key to these is leather hole punches. You can buy these either as a pack of hole punchers or as a single tool that operates a lot like a paper hole puncher. For real leather or fabric, these are normally hammered into the material to generate a hole. Because EVA foam is so soft, a twisting motion works better for cutting a hole without crushing the surface. Eyelets will require a bit of glue but rivets have two separate ends that snap together nicely without any adhesive. O rings and metal buckles can also help with making realistic-looking armor.
Foam clay
Foam clay is an obsession of mine, but I have to admit that it is a detailing material and only works for specific tasks. Foam clay is great for adding organic textures like bone, monster skin, etc. It can be free sculpted some, but is limited due to being such a soft clay. It sticks to EVA foam without any glue required. It can be sanded or burned once it is completely dry to add more texture. It can be used to fill deep gaps in seams. It can also be pressed into molds.
Pre-cut bevels and scales
With cosplay becoming more common and mainstream, specialty products are readily available. Bevels are pre-cut strips of foam that can be used as trim. They most often come as half-round or triangular though some shops may carry less common shapes like low profile triangles or trapezoids. Scales are another great pre-fabricated material that can be bought from cosplay supply shops. They are sometimes sold as individual scales in packs of 50-100 or as scales attached to a strip.
Primer manipulation
I just recently discovered this technique while making Gyuratoās blood sickles. When using a brush on primer that has a slower drying time, it can be manipulated while still wet. Pressing something like upholstery foam or a sponge into the primer can add additional rough texture. I also used plastic wrap to add creases and wrinkles to the surface of the dried foam clay. Another thing to keep in mind with primers is that the finish (satin, matte, gloss) can change out a paint looks. Picking the right sheen, like gloss when painting a metallic, can help with achieving the right effect.
Hopefully these tips give you some ideas for future projects.
