First Attempt at Garb

[Aelin Greenbough]

(This is not NaCl, its his friend who makes garb for him, I also fight but won't be going to any events in the near future)

SInce I first was introduced to Belegarth at Gen Con 09, I was excited by the prospect of making garb. I love to sew, and I really enjoy the idea of making something which is functional, beautiful, and partially historically accurate. Since NaCl was heading to Oktoberfest this year and the Ottawa chapter has just started up I decided to make some stuff for him to wear.

The following pictures are of the nicer of the two tabards I put together in the past two weeks or so, I hope this isn't too many pictures, but I'm happy with how things turned out. I made this from scratch, with no pattern, and designed the whole thing on the fly.


The sleeves are removable, laced on with waxed cotton cord, and there are 50 grommets on each side, 100 in total. They are a lot smaller than they look. The border is made from real leather, which I re-claimed from a jacket I got from a thrift store.


NaCl uses a weasel as part of his heraldry so I copied this design from a website, and quilted an image I put on cloth. This isn't painted, its sewn on, with a layer of batting underneath to create depth and texture


The Tunic and pants are fully lined, made with 100% natural fibers. The inside pattern was pre-printed on cotton, which I quilted to bring out the depth of the design. All of the interior of the tabard is embroidered with gold thread, done on my machine


All in all I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I plan to remake a new one using similar fabrics and colors, but this time quilt the entire outfit, so it isn't so plain. I would really love some feedback on what people think, and how I can improve my designs in the future, as I still need something for myself, and this is only my first go at making things for this sport. I imagine that there are some problems with my designs in regards to functionality, as I'm new at this. Although it is quite comfortable, and I tried to account for movement, and added knee pads. (Not my first attempt at sewing) Thanks for looking!

Saria

[The Great Gigsby]

Really incredible work, Saria. Looks like you put a lot of thought into this.

[Magpie Saegar]

Wow. This is the best first garb I have ever seen. I especially like the weasel image.

[Arrakis]

* nice work! The only things I would suggest are lengthening the splits in the front and back to near-crotch level, for more leg mobility, and doing set-in sleeves (you can do them the way you've done them here, too) for more arm mobility during crosses and high shots. The leather and the quilted applique (is that hand-applique?!) are really nice touches.

[Soo Ma Tai]

Very nice work.

[Derian]

Agreed, phenomenal work.

[Bevin]

Holy hell, that's amazing.
I think you should sell garb.

[Tobin]

Very, very, very, exceedingly well done! And kudos for going for natural fibers on your first garb attempt.

[Snot Carol]

Wow. That is really good. Keep up the good work!

[MeleeMoses]

2 LEGIT

**** looks good my friend

[Nish]

Fuuuuck Yesss.


Also, what she said:

Holy hell, that's amazing.
I think you should sell garb.

[Saria]

* nice work! The only things I would suggest are lengthening the splits in the front and back to near-crotch level, for more leg mobility, and doing set-in sleeves (you can do them the way you've done them here, too) for more arm mobility during crosses and high shots. The leather and the quilted applique (is that hand-applique?!) are really nice touches.

Yeah I was hoping to raise the slit with my next attempt, I wasn't able to do that with this one, since I had only lined the interior with the patterned cotton about half of the way up (also inside the sleeves) since that fabric was over 15$ a meter. When you say I should "Set in" the sleeves, do you mean cutting the bodice so that the sleeves are attached closer to the center of the garment? Or is it a special way to attach them?

Thanks for all the positive feedback, I was a bit worried about how the garb would turn out, and this one certainly isn't perfect. But my next attempt should be much better!

In response to people saying I should sell garb, I put over 45 hours of work into this. Since I was learning as I was going the next one should take around 25 (I had to re do much of the garment when I made a big mistake), but if I was going to sell something like this it would cost around 180$-200$ if I used the same materials, and I can't really imagine people wanting to pay that much money for garb.

[Arrakis]

That is indeed what I mean by set in. Doing deeply curved armholes and similarly, but inversely, curved sleeve-ends allows you to set your seam back into the body of the garment. That allows the body of the garment to be clear of the flexing portion, that is, if you took the sleeves off, you could move your arms wherever and the vest-like body piece would not move.

Also, please don't pay more than $10/yd for anything that isn't silk or high-end rayon or a super brocade or something. The internet is the best fabric store there is, with the best selection and the best prices.

I love http://www.fabric-store.com/ for linen and am probably putting in an order at http://www.fabric.com soon for some felted double-face wool melton.

Can't wait to see more inspirational stuff out of you!

[Saria]

noted

[Ilariia Bulochnika]

Also, please don't pay more than $10/yd for anything that isn't silk or high-end rayon or a super brocade or something. The internet is the best fabric store there is, with the best selection and the best prices.

Some of the heavy wools (like coating) could also cost you somewhere between $10 - $15, but that's usually out of season. Always look for deals, and don't be afraid to buy fabric if its on sale, even if you don't know what it'll be for

[Arvald]

ill take a dozen shirts built like that . freaking awesome work

[Kyrian]

Absolutely beautiful work! I had a chance to see it up close at Octoberfest. Tell Aelin I said hi.

Could you perhaps put together a tutorial for doing the batting applique? It really adds a sense of depth which is missing from the applique work I've done. Also, have you used the batting technique with folded, i.e., edges folded under instead of satin stitched, appliques?

[Poo]

saw it at ockfest, was totally creepy and told him he was beautiful every single time i saw him. awesome.

[Kensman Bam]

Saw and fought with the gentleman in the pic at Octoberfest.....that is indeed very well made garb! Good show!

[Satanaka]

great job! Keep up the great work. I am sure others might want to commission...

[Runner]

This is the best garb I've seen since I started playing. You kick *.

[Sir_Mel]

So you're moving to IL to teach us how to do this when?

[Saria]

Ok! so I have decided to post a few tutorials since there have been a few requests. Thanks so much for everybody's support, and I have received a few emails about commissions, so I am happy to make things if people want.

I'm moving on sunday, and have three term papers due before friday, but I have plans to make a tutorial on how to draft a pattern from a t shirt/ pants (this is what I did for this tabard) how to use quilting feet on standard machines, and some basic information on seam finishing for extra strength. I also wanted to make a tutorial about creating a dress form for designing armor, as since experimenting with leather working I think its a good tool for people to have on hand if they are making a lot of their own garb.

They should be up and running by the 18th of November