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retrace your pattern on a clean piece of paper/cardboard once
you have the shapes to your liking. Don’t be afraid to make
mistakes along the way. The whole purpose of pattern making
is trial and error with cheaper materials until it’s perfected, and
then the final pattern can be applied to the actual costume
armor materials.
A large aspect of patterning comes from understanding how
the armor functions on the character. Something to consider is
that in all forms of media apart from live action, the artists are
usually guilty of drawing/rendering armor in ways that allow
them to distort for the sake of the animation. In real life, armor
doesn’t stretch with your body, so you won’t always be able to
replicate the mobility of a set of armor to the extent it has in a
videogame. You will also need to figure out how all the pieces
connect to each other in a functional manner. There are plenty
of characters out there who are shirtless but have magically
attached pauldrons with no visible straps. Sometimes a bit of
artistic license needs to be taken for the sake of practicality. Elastic
straps are my favorite method for attaching the various layers of
armor together, because it provides extra flexibility and movement.
Making notes of this while you pattern will help alleviate any
stress later when you are constructing the costume.
Figure out which layers of armor need to be able to move with
you, and which ones won’t move at all. The ones that move can
use straps to anchor them to each other, while the static layers
can be consolidated. For example, a gauntlet with several layers
between the wrist and elbow can be glued together because
the forearm won’t bend, but you might use elastic straps to
connect the forearm to the elbow piece to allow movement. You
can typically draw out your pattern pieces in this fashion: start
with one shape, and then break it down into individual layers.
Consider extra allowances for overlapping layers when you are
ready to cut them out from the final material. Drawing
everything together first will help you to keep a fluid design.
Once you have created your finalized pattern, you may
consider tracing a copy so you have a backup in case anything
goes wrong, or if you need to make further alterations later. Having
a fully intact pattern can also be beneficial beyond your current
project if you decide to make duplicates for other people, or
start a new project with similarities to your current one.
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