I kind of fell in love with tiny baby Mantis as son as I saw the precious thing. Also it seemed like it would be easy enough but it also wasn't at the top of my list. And then I fried what was supposed to be my new Yuna wig when I was trying to dye it darker so I figured that was my sign to do the tiny Mantis child.
The wig was spray painted in order to change it from brown to red. I had to hot water style it after painting and then heavily thin it afterwards as the wig was much poofier on my head than on my head double.
I spent the better part of an evening debating materials for the clothes but eventually settled on a pleather which actually wound up being a joy to sew. I can't wait to make more things with it. The leggings are actually the backside of a stretch alligator material but I liked the darker brown shade and the thick woolen feel. I toyed with the idea of doing the straps out of leather but I liked the color of the twill a lot and I wanted a bit more movement than leather likely would have given me. I also thought it would save me time but LITTLE DID I KNOW those straps with the center back seam then pulling inside out then doing the parallel seams then unpicking the ends of the parallel seams to add curves to the ends and lets not forget about adding eyelets, there's 90 of them, for enough straps to warrant 13 buckles. All I can say is bless ebay for helping a girl out when she needs 13 sizable buckles and doesn't want to break the bank. Also thank you Game Grumps and Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged, without y'all I wouldn't have remained sane through all that sewing. The bottom of the jacket is made with elastic so it stays fitted no matter what but allows for easy movement.
For the text on his jacket I lucked into a pretty decent screenshot which I cropped to just the text and emailed a Russian speaking colleague. She was able to get the first two lines and from there I was able to extrapolate the rest. It says Leningrad University Parapsychology in case you are wondering. So I typed that in the closest font I could find and imported it into my Silhouette editor and then copied the weathering from the screenshot. It was actually my first time using the Silhouette but I'm very pleased! The above picture was from a test I did on some spare vinyl the the gridded one is the final stencil.
Originally I was just going to buy an Israeli gas mask from ebay since it's super close but the hydration port is on the wrong side... So I made one from scratch. Because I'm crazy. The canister is worbla I formed over a pineapple can and the hydration port is a pipe fitting I sanded down. There was so much sanding. So much.
The straps velcro on one side to make for easy on/off. As for shoes, I got a pair of blush colored ballet flats since it's winter and I didn't want my toes to freeze. Little did I know PAX South was going to be unseasonably warm but it worked out since I shot Mantis in an abandoned plant later and the shoes protected my feet from all the broken glass. Because I'm not the real Mantis so I don't actually float. I spent a little more than I would have liked but the shoes are an investment and honestly a good part of this was just the findings/all those darn straps.
Cost
|
Amount
|
Item
|
Store
|
$3.79
|
2
|
1 ½” x1 ½” Triangle D rings
|
Northwest Tarp and Canvas (ebay)
|
$21.09
|
3yds
|
Black pleather
|
Joann’s
|
$12.98
|
1 yd
|
Brown croco stretch
|
Joann’s
|
$21.64
|
2yd
|
Olive twill
|
Joann’s
|
$5.22
|
2 cans
|
Spray paint
|
Walmart
|
$21.25
|
1
|
Buttercup silky in sepia
|
Arda
|
$2.30
|
4
|
Gas mask buckles (other 6 used on Cherche)
|
Ebay
|
$19.81
|
13
|
1 ½” Nickle Buckles
|
Ebay (Tandy)
|
$21.64
|
1
|
Shoes
|
DSW
|
$129.72
|
