IRL skillcape tuts or guides?

[Krixeh]

I'm going to comicon in august and was woundering if anyone has a good guide to look at to make a skillcape. I've looked around and cant seem to find anything. Any help would be appreciated.

[Lover Sexio]

JoAnn Fabrics & alot of safety pins.

[Major Dash]

I actually make one a few years ago. I made it out of red felt with a gold ribbon for trim. The pattern is pretty straight forward, but you just need to make sure that the shoulder pads fit appropriately around you. I might would try using a heavier fabric though.

 

I'd post a picture of it, but I don't have it at school with me.

[Krixeh]

I actually make one a few years ago. I made it out of red felt with a gold ribbon for trim. The pattern is pretty straight forward, but you just need to make sure that the shoulder pads fit appropriately around you. I might would try using a heavier fabric though.

 

I'd post a picture of it, but I don't have it at school with me.

do you have any instructions on how to do it? Id like to see the picture to get ideas on what to use ^_^@@

[Arceus]

I don't have any talent in sewing, but I'd love to see the finished product whenever it's done, so go for it!

[Krixeh]

I don't have any talent in sewing, but I'd love to see the finished product whenever it's done, so go for it!

me neither, i'm having a friend help me make it. her mother sews lots of things. trying to find a guide of some sort on materials and measurements.

[mlskid]

Honestly the measurements shouldn't be too hard, try googling how to make a cape and come up with a few general ideas on how it's done. I saw a couple pictures of different ideas on how to get the measurements, but really I would just lay down and mark where the cape height should be, then attach the finished cape to some other fabric that acts as your shoulder pads or whatever. Really just try something and go for it, take an idea and run with it. Deviant art probably has hundreds of good designs you can base it off of. Here's an image of a cape that I found just in a couple minutes of looking that looks pretty sweet.[hide]

 [/hide]

Of course you can always change the colors but I find that's a nice concept design. Really something cool to see would be taking the new 120 capes that are about to come out, and see if you can't model one of those. Probably the hardest part about that would be the particle trail, but I can see that easily being simulated by some fishing wire or something similar.

Edited March 31, 2014 by mlskid

[Krixeh]

Honestly the measurements shouldn't be too hard, try googling how to make a cape and come up with a few general ideas on how it's done.Then Google some images, get some ideas and then test it out a couple of times and see what works well and what doesn't. Here's an image of a cape that I found just in a couple minutes of looking that looks pretty sweet.[hide] [/hide]

Of course you can always change the colors but I find that's a nice concept design. Really something cool to see would be taking the new 120 capes that are about to come out, and see if you can't model one of those. Probably the hardest part about that would be the particle trail, but I can see that easily being simulated by some fishing wire or something similar.

thanks for the feedback! Ive seen a few capes on deviant art and saw a guide on the runescape forums. He had no pictures of the outcome though. Going to see what I can do for the top part of the cape. 

[mlskid]

No problem, just make sure you post a picture of what the end result ends up looking like, haha. I think that will be quite something to see!

[Krixeh]

No problem, just make sure you post a picture of what the end result ends up looking like, haha. I think that will be quite something to see!

will do man!

[strilmus]

my imagination puts forth the hypothesis that you could also simulate a particle cloud with lustrous colored artificial short fuzzy feathers (that look different when they rustle around), but it might be difficult to incorporate to achieve a satisfactory effect without experience

 

my common sense says that tinsel would be an adequate substitute with less drawbacks

[Hedgehog]

You're going to want to use a heavy wool for the fabric, which isn't exactly cheap, but if you use a less expensive and lighter fabric, you'll get a cape that looks stupid.

 

Line it with something like velvet.

 

Don't use wool for the trim.

 

Do all of your measurements before you start working on it, and make sure your measurements are perfect. The easiest way to mess this up is to make a cape that doesn't fit perfectly on you.

 

You'll probably have to get creative with the shoulder pads, since they're actually just obnoxious things sticking out, not shoulder pads.

 

Overall, I'd probably expect to spend $200-$250 on this.

[Maxingmck]

You gotta buy one after you get a 99. Like run a marathon, or make a garden. My friend james is 99 fm he got his cape.

[Arceus]

You gotta buy one after you get a 99. Like run a marathon, or make a garden. My friend james is 99 fm he got his cape.

I hate to be the guy who asks, but what did he do, burn down a building?  O.O

[Hedgehog]

 

You gotta buy one after you get a 99. Like run a marathon, or make a garden. My friend james is 99 fm he got his cape.

I hate to be the guy who asks, but what did he do, burn down a building?  O.O

 

Something like that.

[mlskid]

$200-250? Really? I can't imagine it being that much unless you really are going for perfection, and that's including at least one or two prototypes in which you buy all the fabric from an expensive store, and even then that might be an over estimate... i can't imagine the fabric really being all that much more than $10 per yard from a general store. As for decorative ribbons and such they will probably run you about much as the fabric if you try to get really fancy. Honestly i can see making a decent cape that works well for under $100 pretty easily.

One way to cut down on cost would be to find something that is fabric like and could work as a proto type to try your ideas on. A sheet you don't use, or an old bathroom curtain you don't use, try out a design our two on these to get as idea of your design and shape before going and buying the fabric.

Once you get the basic form that you like and are ready, try drawing ideas with pencil on the curtain/sheet that works well with. That should give you an idea of how to accent it with ribbons, markers etc.

[Lover Sexio]

Ok, I didn't think this thread was serious at first, but since it's looking like it is, here is what I did to make my cape...

 

First, you need to go to a party specialty store, like Partycity, and get a cheap vampire cape (usually runs around $5-10 & has a foam-like collar). Use this almost like both a pattern & armature for your cape. Buy velvet material for the actual skillcape (two different colors for trimmed cape). It's a good idea to get maybe like 50% more material than the length of the vampire cape. Buy a "square" of felt material to use as the skill icon. You will also need needles, scissors, plenty of thread, & safety pins.

 

Lay the vampire cape on your floor (inside facing up), and set the skillcape lining velvet (trimmed color) on top of it. Sew a top portion of the lining velvet into the top of the vampire cape, just below the collar. Cut along the sides of the velvet lining, from top to bottom, so that it lines up with the vampire cape (don't cut the end of the material to match the end of the vampire cape tho, as your skillcape will prolly be longer than the vampire cape). Make sure you make straight cuts, as the excess material on both sides will be used to make the trimmed scarf thingies that go over your cape along your shoulders. (I lost one of mine <.<)

 

Now, sew the lining velvet into each side of the vampire cape (can safety pin it first so the material doesn't move around while you sew). Don't sew along the bottom of the vampire cape. Once you have each side sewn in, go ahead and put the cape on. Use a mirror, or have a friend, to place a safety pin in each side of the cape, around your ankle area, as a marker. Place the cape back on the floor, and cut across the end of the cape, right above the safety pins.

 

For the outside of the cape, it is basically the same process, except make the cuts in the material ~.25-.5" more along the sides & end. Then proceed to sew the velvet onto the outside of the vampire cape, under the collar & kinda fold the excess .25" over onto the inside of the cape (along sides & end) while you sew.

 

For the shoulder pads, basically cut & fit the excess material from the end of you cape lining onto the vampire collar & sew it on (I got to skip this part since my vampire cape collar was red & matched my trim. Gudfite). Since the collar is foam, just cinch up each side & safety pin it to make it look like the pointy things of the skillcape shoulder pads (My cape is ~5 years old & not in good shape from me running around in it l0l, so I have yet to redo my shoulder pads <.<).

 

Finally, cut out the skill icon from felt, safety pin to where you think it should be on the cape, & use a mirror to make adjustments. Once you got it where you want it on the cape, sew it in. Use the excess material from the cape lining sides as the two scarf things that are the actual trim (goes over you shoulders and hangs in the front & back), and safety pin each one to the shoulder of the cape, under the collar. 

 

Fireworks irl, you got an irl skillcape.

 

Hope this "guide" made some sense L.

[Tim]

Shame Rachyea isn't around anymore, she made an amazing Hitpoints skillcape for the first Runefest.

[Hedgehog]

$200-250? Really? I can't imagine it being that much unless you really are going for perfection, and that's including at least one or two prototypes in which you buy all the fabric from an expensive store, and even then that might be an over estimate... i can't imagine the fabric really being all that much more than $10 per yard from a general store. As for decorative ribbons and such they will probably run you about much as the fabric if you try to get really fancy. Honestly i can see making a decent cape that works well for under $100 pretty easily.

One way to cut down on cost would be to find something that is fabric like and could work as a proto type to try your ideas on. A sheet you don't use, or an old bathroom curtain you don't use, try out a design our two on these to get as idea of your design and shape before going and buying the fabric.

Once you get the basic form that you like and are ready, try drawing ideas with pencil on the curtain/sheet that works well with. That should give you an idea of how to accent it with ribbons, markers etc.

I used this site for my estimation: http://www.cloakmaker.com/cloaks.html

 

My reading comprehension sucks though so yeah you could definitely do it for under $200, but probably not under $100 unless you cheap out on the clasp

[Ammako]

Hey at least it won't cost you $99,000

[Krixeh]

actually just got my first 99 last night. Magic, which was my goalbefore making this cape....i just happen to have a joAnn fabric store right down the street and purchased yellow felt for trim and some foam for the part around the nexk and for the fins (may not work, need to know a good material)...and dark blue for the trim and off white for the cape part...should be set on all that but dont know what to use for the fins on the nexk part.

[Lover Sexio]

By "fins" do you mean the pointy things on the shoulders?

 

If so, then use foam for them & cover them with material. It may be tricky to get them to stay up since they aren't pre-attached to a cape. Perhaps what you could do is use 2 pieces of foam under the cape to act as actual shoulder pads. Sew or safety pin the foam "fins" (if that's what they actually are) to the foam shoulder pads. Then cut slits into each shoulder of your cape, slip the fins through, & sew/safety pin the shoulder pads to the inside of the cape.