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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.

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

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