After scaling up my pattern, I print or draw it out, and cut out a rough working copy to see how it fits. I adjust that, then finalize my pattern. The top image is an HDR test of Lord William's jacket material, dyed. I thought I botched it, but the unevenness looks neat-o. I like the idea of nobody in this film looking too clean or even.

Before I started making costumes, I assumed i'd go and and buy various coloured fabrics for various clothing items, sew them together, and that'd be it. Not at all. I've found that only cotton accepts colouring well, and is glue-able. So the process has been to use an assortment of cottons of different weight. I then laminate them together to control the stiffness of various parts of the costume (very important). I then colour them with various mediums, which all give their own level of stiffness. Even in a huge fabric store, there never seeems to be the right colourin the right type of frabric. Regular drawing ink works well, and doesn't increase the stiffness. Acrylic ink (due to the resin) makes it very stiff and crusty. Oil stain looks weathered, and makes it moderately stiff.

I almost feel guilty doing the fun part of the puppets first (costume) rather than the tedious robot heads. But i'm still waiting for clay to dry.