Green Shoulder Armour

I wanted some armour to match with my Ariel cosplay. :)

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Step 1

You will need: fabric, I used green as it looked metalic and went with the rest of my cosplay outfit, but faux leather would look cool too. Cardboard; you'll need the stuff without the holes in it, so just some sturdy card will do. Split pins/brads, I used ones with pearls in them to match my crown and jewlery. Hot Glue, this is optional, its used for extra detail but isnt nescasary. PVA or fabric glue, fat black ribbon, a sturdy belt, You'll need it for the buckle across your back. Pliers, black spray-paint.

Step 2

Measure your pieces on cardboard; you'll need to measure your shoulder to get the length and width of your pieces. (Measure from the indent between your shoulder bone and your collar bone at the front to the same spot at the back.) For me this was approx 18cm. And I think I ended up with 10cm length.

Step 3

After you've cut out the pieces (two shoulders and a chest bit) spraypaint the underside black- this is so you don't have to put fabric on both sides but you won't see ugly brown cardboard when you can see under it.

Step 4

It's time to do the glue detail now, so draw your patern, bend the cardboard a bit to fit your shoulders, and glue in the detail.. It goes on the top piece of your shoulders and central piece.

Step 5

Now lay your cardboard pieces on the fabric and cut around the edges leaving a generous amount to fold over. I used PVA glue again to stick the card to the fabric, and I use a lot more glue on the glue, also press the fabric right into the edges around the glue while it's still wet to give maximum defenition. Also using an old paintbrush to spread the glue helps keep everything even with no dark spots showing through the fabric.

Step 6

Now leave to dry as long as needed. (It doesn't need to be fully dry) Use pegs to hold down the edges firmly. Also as you're going bend the pieces to fit your body.

Step 7

When they're done they should look like this.

Step 8

Once this is all done, add some fat black ribbon along the edge of all your pieces, glue and peg when drying.

Step 9

You may notice, I added a stone to the piece. This is a cracked marble (180 degrees celcius for 20 mins in an oven then straight into iced water to cool.) This is optional, but I think it looks cool. Use PVA glue to attatch.

Step 10

Now, since everythings held together by split pins, you'll need something to punch little holes in the pieces, as I dont have many fancy tools, I improvised with a safety pin and enlarged the holes a little by wedging my pliers into the holes. I then put in the split pins. Another method is to use a hammer and nail to punch the hole- do this on top of a block of wood or something :)

Step 11

To attatch the pieces to the body, you'll need to run two long strips of fat black ribbon along the underside of the inner edges of the two shoulder bits. Use PVA glue to hold this on with pegs. These bits will tie under your arms to pull it all into your body and give it shape. Once this has dried add some more split pins along the new ribbon line for extra strength.

Step 12

Once this is done you'll need to attatch a buckle of some sort- I just cut up an old belt- to hold in the pieces over the back of your shoulders. I just stuck this on with PVA glue and extra split pins again. It seems to hold well enough though you may need a surdier glue if your belt is a different style/ material.