Category: Projects

Band Hat Construction – reference for cosplay

I’m making a Jagermonster (from the Girl Genius webcomic) costume that can also function as a Steampunk / Victorian costume of an unspecified hussar (it’s a type of light cavalry with really cool costumes). Of course, that means I need a nice hat.

A horde of Jagermonsters in varying uniforms.

To make life easier, I bought a vintage band hat (shako) off ebay. So this post is how that hat is constructed in case somebody else wants to do the same thing. I’m sure construction varies depending on company and decade, but this should give you an idea.

One of the ebay photos

The historical shakos were made of stiffened felt and leather. Naturally, modern ones are much cheaper. From the inside out: the base is molded ABS plastic. It’s covered in twill fabric in two pieces – the top and the main part which is sewn in front with the seam hidden by the plaque (the big brass thing). The trim on top is also sewn in front, but the trim on bottom is sewn on one side. The whole fabric cover is glued on the inside and the outside under the trim pieces.. I suspect you could pull the fabric off to use as a pattern, but it would probably have some tears.

Showing the plastic body. Ignore the hole – I added that. The clothes pins are holding the headliner out of the way.

Over the twill covering goes the visor with the edge trimmed (printed on the visor is washing instructions: Don’t.) Mine seems to be a layer of stiff card and a layer of vinyl. The visor is sewn onto the inside. Sewn over that is a faux leather (vinyl) sweatband with a headliner attached. The headliner allows some size adjustment. Mine is fabric – I specifically looked for that – but the newer ones are vinyl.

Photo from ebay showing the inside of the hat, with the visor, sweatband, and headliner, as well as a tag.
Inside the shako, with the stitching holding everything in place removed.

You can see how things go a bit better here, hopefully. The large hole is a vent that I suspect doesn’t help much. The bottom hole I added, so ignore it. The twist ties show the position of the hole for the brad (see below). It looks like a button, but has long metal arms like a brad. Naturally, I can’t get that so I’m using buttons and temporarily holding them with twist ties. The brad holds on the cord and the chinstrap.

side of the hat, showing the button-like brad

The last detail is the plume holder for the plume, pompom, or whatever decoration, which also secures the plaque. This is a flattened plastic tube that goes in a hole in the top of the hat.

the top of the hat
inside the hat, with a screw on the back of the plaque through a hole in the plume holder

The holes are far enough up the hat that you shouldn’t ever feel the screw (which has a small nut that should go on there, but I didn’t bother for the photos). The plaque can turn freely, but I suspect you could solder or glue on another screw to prevent that, since there are three holes.

I think that’s everything. I’ve made a new pompom and I’m going to add fancier cords, like a military shako, that hang from near the top. I’m sculpting a new plaque using the old one as a base. Eventually I’ll make a new, black leather visor, but I think I’m going to run out of time. This is my very rough and ugly mock-up (the plaque will look like brass, not embroidery). I’ll probably also replace the blue trim with gold at some point.

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Story Sparks Cards sketches, part 1

For decades, I’ve been poking at a deck of writing prompts that I’ve named the Story Sparks Deck (literally decades – I was doing drawings for it for one of my final art classes). But I could never figure out an illustration style that would work with the more abstract prompts. If you follow me on Dreamwidth, you may have seen the events I’ve hosted on AllBingo with the prompts. I’ve revised the list some, which I’m probably going to end up doing more, but I’ve settled on about 76 cards.

I’ve finally figured out a symbolic style that’s working for me. After I had sketched a few, I revised the palette a little, so I have some that have two versions. I’m going to share sketches here in multiple parts. I welcome comments on whether or not the ideas work – I’ve gone very abstract and I worry that some of them are too abstract.

Some of the cards are reversible, sometimes with different meanings depending on orientation. Those ones I’ll show both ways.

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Silvercat x3

line art of Silvercat in three poses, overlaid over each other, in blue, teal, and green

An experiment to use up one of the last prompts on Beige. A T-1 line allows multiple calls to made over a single line. So I was thinking of animation and that sort of thing. I don’t know how well it worked, but I like the poses.

Traced over three photographs of myself. Technically fits into Up at Silvercat’s because the non-UAS version has furry wings.

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The One Where They’re Human (and Also Magical Warriors)

My first AU (alternate universe)!

Felino is now Felipe, aka Crimson Puma. He’s Latino and a trans man, previously a butch lesbian. He can’t grow facial hair and he’s annoyed by it. He’s always ready to fight. He took a while to figure out his new name, so different groups of friends know him as different things. When people need something, he always knows a guy. He like punk music and fashion.

Mya is now Miyako, aka Saffron Lioness. She’s still cute and sweet, and likes to cook especially pastries, but now she’s Japanese-American. She’s very femme, and no, she doesn’t know martial arts.

Silvercat is now Sky, aka Indigo Tiger. Their gender is somewhere between “gender? I don’t know her” and “BUTCH.” They’re always tired. They’re white. They’re introverted and would really just like to be left alone to read and write. Her style is best described as comfortable. They do know martial arts.

The three of them were friends in high school. Now that they’re in their 20s, they’ve started a coffee, tea, and ice cream shop together, until one day a chocolate-brown, and rather chunky, talking cat strolled into their lives and told them they were destined Magical Warriors, and gave them each a transformation talisman.

Crimson Puma’s is a friendship bracelet. As Crimson Puma, he has the most raw power, and can fit in anywhere. (because mountain lion’s have the largest range of almost any animal)

Saffron Lioness’ is a barrette. Her power is the power of teamwork, cooperation, and charm. And also the magical pride of lions she can call up.

Indigo Tiger’s is a pen. They are a master of camouflage, stealth, and disguise. And also can claw through almost anything.

They all grow a couple of inches when they transform, which makes Sky and Felipe very happy. The hoods on their uniforms can hide their faces. And they can transform into their cat, a housecat sized version, or a magical energy version.

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5 Things Felino Killed and 1 He Didn’t (Up at Silvercat’s)

Rating: PG for animal death, hunting, and blood, theoretical child endangerment

Fun fact! The name thing with the pumabirds is called a noa-name. Also keep in mind that an adult Nyji is only 4 to 4.5 feet tall. The Nyji nation Felino is part of separates things by hunter (/ gatherer / warrior) and homemaker (/ farmer / crafter) instead of male and female.

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Swordcat attacking

An anthro catman leaping off an abandoned wooden bridge toward the camera. He's snarling and slashing toward the camera. He's wearing just pants

I really need to model up his sword and a full version of his costume.

Rainbowlist prompts: Fade to Grey 10. Malison; Kohl 7. lipliner; styles: illustration, novelty beads (see image below), folk art (it’s in Daz3d); supplies: seed beads, beading wire ( https://www.vogue.com/photovogue/photos/best/gallery#5118846 ), parchment (what do you mean I haven’t done anything for Shard-verse since 2023?)

Bingo board prompts: Untranslateable Words January 2019, L’appel du vide (French): Literally translated to “the call of the void”; contextually used to describe the instinctive urge to jump from high places. Body Parts July 2022: body hair

Cross-stitched text: there are approximately 1,013,900 words in the English language, but I could never string any of them together to explain how much I want to hit you in the face with a chair.

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Bonfire Hearts and Fool Waters (Shard-verse)

Word count: 2151. Rating: all-ages

Summary: before Daisy Hart became Wild Heart, she was just a strawberry blonde in high school. And the Ginger Royals recruit from all red-heads…

Content notes: mild-ish verbal abuse from a parent, fatphobia, alcohol, implied underage drinking, realistic depiction of drowning (everybody’s okay), possible implied violence

Note: the gang’s name alternates freely between Ginger Queens, Ginger Kings, and Ginger Royals

Daisy wiped the water out of her eyes and pushed herself out of the pool.

“Hey Daisy, can we talk after we change?”

She glanced up – it was Lily Mills, who was the fastest swimmer in the class, had red hair that glowed like fire unlike Daisy’s pale strawberry blonde, and was a senior.

“S-sure!” Daisy was a sophomore and she’d taken swim and water safety instead of basic PE because she had thought she was already a good swimmer. Turns out she was only okay – too buoyant after a puberty boost that had turned her from round to curvy, undisciplined, and out of condition. And then she had almost no friends – her best friend ever had moved away last year after middle school, her second best friend had found cooler people to hang out with, and her other friends had so many others that Daisy was lost in the crowd. Which lately was kind of okay, because once she hit puberty her dad had changed from ignoring her to yelling at her. She looked too much like her mom, he said. Why didn’t he take care of herself? She was fat and stupid. And it was harder than ever to act like everything was okay, and school was harder, and she was just hanging on. So it would’ve been nice to have one class that she could ace.

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Donville’s Morning Prayer (Shard-verse)

CW: mentions of violence, gangs, and religious violence. I did a write-up of Nursgil earlier if you’re curious. Like any religion it can be followed by good and bad people.

Margarida Abreiza Samema Donville said the same prayer every morning. The prayer her aunts had taught her, that their mothers had taught them, probably all the way back to the when Nursgil was brought to the old country.

As she washed, she prayed to the gods: Dunu, protect me from harm. Aldu, guide me with your wisdom. Taus, lead me to where I should be and home again. Lords of creations, send your guides to me and keep me from weakness. And as she dressed, she prayed to the guides: Angels, lead me to reflection and not to self-flagellation. Devils, lead me to passion and not to disgrace. Spirits, lead me to knowledge and not to isolation. And to her saints, as she brushed her hair (and this is where she suspected her aunts would disapprove): Cheinte Samema, as you fed the people, let me too be fed. Cheinta Abreiza, as you led the children, let me too lead my people. Cheinta Margarida, as you guarded your town, let me too guard my streets. Cheinta Samtoma, as you destroyed the unbelievers, let me too destroy my enemies. And she pinned up her hair and set out her cosmetics as carefully as she burnt incense and lit candles at the temple. Dunu, send your angels with health. Aldu, send your devils with passion. Taus, send your spirits with enlightenment. With a steady hand and a firm heart, she lined her eyes with wings as sharp as thorns and painted her lips dark as blood. Amen.

She nodded to the mirror. Time once again for Rita Donville, Odd-eye, Bad Penny, Bloody Rita, to lead the Donny Boy’s gang to the destruction of all other gangs and total control of Shard City.

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drawing of an action figure's shoulder

Writing – BJD (Puzzle-Verse)

2 comments

Set at an undetermined time before Doll Eyes.

Word count: 404. Rating: PG. CN: mild injury (no blood or gore)

The screwdriver slipped from my fingers. This wasn’t working.

“Rowan!” I yelled toward my sister’s flat.

A shouted reply from the other flat. “Oy! Some of us are trying to sleep!”

I ground my teeth. The new tenant. A physician. Moved in two days ago. Kept mostly diurnal hours. I wasn’t sure why Ms. Harris thought he would work out. Bother. What time was it?

I glanced at the clock set to this time zone. Nearly eleven. The doctor would have gotten in an hour and a half ago, most likely and Rowan wouldn’t return to her flat until one. I’d just have to make do until then.

~~~

Ten till one. The smell of curry from the hallway – Rowan’s usual takeaway. I opened my door slightly. “Would you come in?” Her mouth twisted. “Please?”

She huffed slightly. She hated eating anywhere but home, but I wouldn’t ask unless it was important. She pushed the door open with her foot, her expression growing darker as she gazed around my flat. I found cleaning a distraction and rarely bothered.

“What is it?” she said irritably. She caught sight of my left arm and her tone changed. “Oh.”

I’d already laid out the tools on the kitchen table and she gingerly set her bag on the cleaned counters as I sat down. I’d scrubbed the kitchen, as well as I could considering. It’d given me something to do while I waited, as boring as the process was.

“What happened?” she asked as she leaned in to inspect. My arm hung limply, the shoulder slumped.

“I must have jarred it harder than I thought during the fight last night. The rotor’s frozen.”

She frowned, peering over her glasses. “The socket is corroded.”

“I’ll have it looked at.” She glanced up, eyebrows raised. Admittedly, I had the habit of forgetting things, but I’d filed this one as important. “Tomorrow. I’ve no desire to have it fail again.”

It took her only a minute to adjust. The time wasted waiting for her was irritating, but there just wasn’t a way for me to get to the back of my own frozen shoulder.

“I’m reconnecting the terminals now.” She closed the access panel and the skin melded, once again seamless. I bit my lip hard as sensation rushed back down my arm. It was nearly overwhelming but I allowed myself only a hissed breath as Rowan washed her hands.

I rose, flexing my hand to chase away the last of the pins and needles. “Thank you. Enjoy your dinner.”

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