A quick tip of the hat in thanks to Threadbanger for showing me the magical material Buckram. I have never used nor heard of this fabric but after watching a video on Threadbanger’s youtube page, I was all about finding and playing with this new medium. I purchased some Unicorn Buckram from JoAnne’s (online), a foam head (ebay) and set about making this up as I went.
*I freely admit I have no clue what I am doing most of the time, I go with the sink or swim method which can lead to sleepless nights and tantrums over the sewing table. (I do not recommend this method to anyone else, I am a crazy person)
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So, armed with 3 yards of unicorn buckram (it was $2.99 a yard, why not buy extra), a bowl of water, my foam head (side note I actually bought two heads the women’s head was just too small for me (19″) so I went with the Men’s 22″ circumference head) and my reference picture file I set about constructing the cowl first, using layers of buckram. I fit the buckram over the head, keeping it long enough to cover the ears and lower neck. I marked that length and then cut a couple pieces of the material in it’s dry state. Once I had those pieces I put them in water (1 at a time) to make the fabric malleable and easier to work with (as well as activate the starch in the fabric) I smoothed it over the head, pulling, pinching, folding and snipping until I had a shape that looked like a cap worn by the cast of The Crucible. I pined it into place on the head and thanks to all this lovely warm California weather I was able to set it outside to dry. Once dried I added felt on the top to give is a smoother surface for when I finally add the fabric cover and seam binding around the edges to give it a clean sharp line.
Next up I needed to make the mask. I bought a cheap mask ($2 bucks on ebay) that was similar in structure to what I needed to make. I pinned that mask onto my foam head and used it as a base for making a buckram mask. I followed the same steps as before, wetting, applying, smoothing, pinning and drying. I needed this to be a bit “softer” than the cap so I only did two layers. I added small pieces to the inside of the mask to stabilize the nose, cheek and sides of the eye holes after I had trimmed it and cut the eyes out, I used a glue gun for this. I took a scrap piece of buckram and used it like a spatula to smear the hot glue over the area I needed and not have any clumps. The glue also added stability.
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: HOW
