Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: menandore on August 24, 2009, 04:45:26 AM
-
Hey all! First time poster, new fan (and I have managed to push Elantris and the Mistborn books on several of my friends already), etc., working on my second re-read on my commute to campus. :P
I <3 universes with well-thought-out magic systems, oh so much. Comes from my background as a LARPer, I guess.
Anyway, I'm in the process of making a mistcloak (see http://crazy-projects.blogspot.com/search/label/mistcloak . I, uh, may or may not be going completely overboard. At least I'm not taking the metalworking class because of this project... although don't put it past me.) Because, see, some fans write fanfic, others do art... I make costumes. And write LARPs (well... I try to. We'll see if the Malazan game ever gets off the ground. We're still working out mechanics.) So from the minute I saw the description of a mistcloak, I absolutely had to make one, because I love the books and the costume concept is just that cool.
And I have one burning question.
Where do the tassels go?
For the life of me, I cannot figure out where they should be. Wouldn't they be too heavy to attach to the strips of fabric? Unless they were on the very bottom layer.
Ideas? I'd also be thrilled if anyone has suggestions on edge finishes. I'm still stuck on that, too.
-
Two suggestions:
1: search the forums for mistcloak. Nessa made one for someone back when FE came out (possably before) and has posted pics. (edit: here's a link to the topic with her mistcloak: http://www.timewastersguide.com/forum/index.php?topic=4487.0)
2: Check the fanart page around November. I posted some pics of a mistcloak I made. If you want more details about how/why pm me. (edit: direct link: http://www.timewastersguide.com/forum/index.php?topic=5585.msg131325#msg131325)
3: A lot of people want to do one based on inkthinker's art. Again, check the fanart page, or else I know he's on devart if you want to check out his stuff there. (edit: link to the latest version of Vin on devart. (a lot easier to find then on the fanart page. We need to get all of those compiled into one place.) http://inkthinker.deviantart.com/art/Mistborn-Vin-II-v-2-122875838)
Also, I checked out your blog, and while I am really proud of mine (and for good reason. I figured it out once, and with all the work I put into it I'm figuring it took me about 60+ hours to make), you're is going to kick butt. I might have to hire you to make me one...
Also, another bit that you might find useful (read: you'd better. It took forever to find this again!)
A mistcloak would be hard to get right. I've seen several people try, and they never quite feel right to me. Maybe they are one of those things that work in my imagination, but might not work in the real world.
What I would be looking for is something enveloping, something grand, yet also much more light-weight than most of the ones that people have made. I know that Vin describes hers as heavy, but that's all relative.
But here's my best answer to your questions:
Colors: All the same shade of dark, charcoal gray.
How wide are the strips: Between a half an inch and an inch wide.
Material: Cotton, perhaps. Lighter than canvas or wool, for certain. However, I do imagine each tassel being sewn individually, perhaps with a thicker back and an inside that is of something softer and lightweight.
Are all the tassels the same length: No, but close. Within an inch or two of one another.
Do they drag: No. They're cut so that they obscure the feet, but don't drag.
How many layers of tassels: 1 and a half.
The real trick, I think, to making one work would be to, in my opinion, make a cloak which looks cool on its own. Then, slit the bottom 2/3rds up to about the rib-cage area. Sew these into tassels, then sew some more tassels to the inside. Then, perhaps work with the shoulders/inner layers to make the cloak fall down so that it looks enveloping and the sides can fall straight.
Does that help?
Best,
Brandon
--------------------------------
(snipped for flow purposes.)
Mr. Sanderson,
What exactly are the specifications to make a mistcloak? From the book I can gather that they're long strips of material sewn together across the shoulders, chest, and top hem, and that they're made to blend in with the mists. But what color(s) exactly are they? Some parts of the book mention black while others deem it gray. Are the colors mixed? If so, are they mixed in any particular fashion, or just randomly on a tassel by tassel basis?
Is there any particular material the cloak is made out of? How wide and/or tall are each of the strips? Are all the tassels a uniform length/width? How many layers deep is a mistcloak? Should some of the tassels drag on the ground, rest on it, or they all float around?
I know it's a somewhat odd group of questions, but any additional information you can provide me with will be of much help, and that information like this combined with a trip to the local fabric store and some tedious sewing will net me this year's coolest Halloween costume.
-
As far as I could tell from reading the books, Brandon just sometimes calls the streamers tassels. Or the streamers could just split as they got close to the bottom. Despite not seeing inkthinker's art until after I made what I did of my cloak, it's fairly close to his interpretation, but more complex as far as the streamers go.
I read your bloggy posts. Do you think that silk will be too heavy for the streamers? It seems like it would be ideal for the main body of the cloak if you can get it to behave properly (IOW if it's tailored tightly and well enough). How many layers of streamers are you planning? I was planning on something like 12-20, but I ran out of fabric (I bought 4 yards of fabric, and was almost out after two rows). I wore my cloak for Halloween last year and properly freaked some people out just standing there. I have no idea why. Maybe the floaty tassels were unnatural looking.
My cloak 's base "coif" piece (as in the piece of mail armor) was made of a high density felt. This was quite hot, but allowed all kinds of holes to be poked in it without losing strength as well as holding a decent amount of weight without distortion. The streamers/tassels were navy and black organza. I thought that the mix would look good for mists, and I even bought a silvery color to add to it, but the black was plenty grey alone, as organza's kinda shiny and transparent. I cut strips between 1/2"-1" and sewed them in rows.
The problems with organza were twofold. 1) Organza is very loose and flimsy. When a strip was stepped on, it would rip wherever it decided. 2) As the evening wore on, the edges of my cuts caught on each other more and more.
If I were making the cloak today with the knowledge I have now, I would go with black 1" unwired organza ribbon (like this (http://www.threadart.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=517&catid=)) for the strips (it comes with a clean edge, so less catching would occur) and either a super-fine silk or fine but lightweight felt coif. If I had infinite time, I would forgo the coif and make the cloak completely out of strips (as I think Brandon described the cloaks in the books). Dark grey organza is, unfortunately, impossible to find. :-\
Do you cats know if there's something a little stronger and smoother than organza, but still lightweight enough to still keep the cloak light when used in massive quantities (20-30 yards)? I really need to make a proper cloak one of these days.
-
You have provided me with the Word of God on mistcloaks! Awesomesauce. Saving that right now.
Although I think I will have to modify that somewhat to get it to flow right, which in my mind is the most important bit. It does sound like starting with a heavier layer on the inside working toward a lighter layer on the outside would help give it the right sort of ... majestic? drape. I'm not sure I can accomplish that in 1.5 layers, though, not with 1" strips of fabric. Hmmm. (I love this kind of problem.) Well, that's why I got a yard of each weight to experiment with. And silk is great for getting a luxurious rich drape without lots and lots of weight. Actually, with silk I miiiight be able to get away with fewer layers. We will see. Tomorrow I will find my rotary cutter and get to work on that.
So... I'm confused about the difference between the "tassels" and the strips of fabric. Are they the same?
Heh, now that people might actually be reading my blog, I have to get things done. (Woo motivation.)
I should be honest and also post the series of failures I've experienced while trying to carve the !!$@!#$ cloak clasps, starting with my unexpected discovery that standard white copy paper burns in the oven and going from there. (It's still cool enough to be worth sitting down and spending several hours carving little pieces of wax with teeny tiny tools. I've been watching Mythbusters while working on it, and it's rather terrifyingly inspirational. It's certainly motivated me to get off my behind and take advantage of my last term and cross-register for some metalworking classes, in any case.)
I have to say, though, for any cloak but this one (I'm going to be far too attached to it to stab it with *anything*), some of the allomantic symbols would make wonderful cloak pins - you know, this type. http://www.wulflund.com/images_items/hand-forged-fantsy-cloak-pin_2.jpg (image picked at random from the internets). Incidentally, is there any significance to what look suspiciously like spikes in the allomancy symbols, or do they just look cool?
btw, firstRainbowRose: I suspect this is one of those projects that I will only ever want to do once. Kind of like the wings on my blog. Those took me at least 50 hours (including convincing all my friends that helping me paint them was what they wanted to be doing during finals week... I brought a box of cookies and declared it a party. I still can't believe that worked.) and you have no idea how much you'd have to pay me to make those again. Although with sufficient incentive... ;)
-
Yeah, dream on. I don't have any money right now. (Sadly, my dad gave me $20 today for helping him with a project and my first thought was "oo! what bills can I pay?")
As for tassle vs streamers, they're the same thing. (At least I think so. He said my cloak looked pretty good)
And I totally agree about the cloak pins. You should e-mail bandi (or whatever the company name is) and suggest it to them. I know I plan on it (That is, unless you'd rather I didn't...) (More then one person=them honestly thinking about it)
-
Oh, my clasp was weaksauce. I just had three or four ties down the front....
Badali (http://www.badalijewelry.com/) is the word you're looking for, I believe.
-
Hmm. IMO, organza is too stiff to drape correctly for this, but I haven't worked with it much - it may behave very differently in larger quantities. The 8mm silk I'm using for the outer layer is feather-light; if all goes according to plan, that will account for the "curling in the mist" bit, while the heavier inner weights give it a good drape and structure. That way you also don't have to use eleventy billion layers to get a solid-feeling garment. ...That's the theory, anyway.
Yeah... the edges catching on each other is something I'm trying to figure out how to avoid. That's why I'm still agonizing over how to finish the edges of the strips. :-/ I'm also terrified that strips narrower than ~2" will just get hopelessly tangled.
As for how many layers of streamers? No clue. We'll see what it looks like when I start chopping it up and basting it together. (I promise I'll take pictures!)
Dark gray organza? You can get all sorts of nice dyeable fabric from dharmatrading.com. If you're at all interested in dyeing your own, I highly recommend getting their full swatch set. It's plenty useful just as a reference for moments of "Hm. I want to make this thing. What do I want to make it out of? *gropes swatch set until I come across something that feels right*" fabric.com is also useful - if you're looking for something very, very specific, they're hit-or-miss, but they have cheap swatches. I get most of my fabric from the internet these days when I'm looking for something specific.
I think I'm going to try making this without a coif. If I need to, I can baste it all onto a stabilizer layer and remove it later. I have no idea what I'm going to do about the hood, though. I suppose I could just quilt the leftovers together to make a solid "fabric" and make the hood from that. Or something. I haven't sorted that out yet. (I'm totally making this up as I go along. Wheeeee...)
-
Ooh, they're the people who make all the Elantris/Mistborn jewelry? Nice.
Although if I get bored (term's starting in two weeks. ahahaha yeah right. undergrad thesis, database engineering class, as many SMFA classes as I can squeeze in, some random humanities course, a job, weekend LARPing, and entering a programming competition so that I can go to a UI design conference ...) and I feel more confident in my metalworking skills, I may try to make one myself. ("try" being the operative word there...)
-
I may have overlooked silk because of cost, but I'll take a look at some lightweight silks when I get some time to hit up the local sewing scene.
What is that material that is used in dress pant linings? That could work.
I really think that ribbons is the only way that it will be possible to get no sticking between tassels. Unfortunately, some materials are impossible to find ribbons in.
-
I think no matter what you do, you're going to have the tassles tangle. It's just a fact of the cloak.
As for edging, what I did (and I don't advise you do it) was took and litrally melted the edges of each of the tassles (streamser, whatever you want to call them). A lot of people thought it looked cool, but it was a pain in the butt to do.
-
Hmm. That's a good reason for using synthetics, actually. I hear that dyeing synthetics (other than rayon [which does an amazing silk imitation. ftr, "bamboo" fiber and fabric are actually rayon, but the source material is bamboo, instead of trees.] and nylon, which dye like plant fibers, but unfortunately don't melt nicely) is a pain, though.
This project is one of those that will probably take me a few months of off-and-on work - it's not for any particular purpose, so I can take the time to really get it right. If this involves hand-finishing a couple hundred edges... sigh. I guess I'm doing it. (A lot of times I'll find something to watch while I'm working on tedious stuff, though. I've got a pile of anime on the queue.)
...just read the other mistcloak thread. *facepalm* I totally failed to remember that metal on mistborn clothes = bad. It's still worth casting these, because it's still just that cool an idea, but maybe I'll try my hand at wood-carving again. Hopefully this time with less stabbing myself (I have one of these: http://www.woodcarvers.com/Gloves.htm but I continually forget to use it). There's a nice woodworking store down the street from me; maybe they have something nice. Ebony, maybe? Although super hard woods may be beyond my current skill level. I don't really have the tools, which is irritating. Maybe I'll go renew my hobby shop membership.
-
Oh, one thing I was wondering - sortitus, do you have pictures? If your cloak was actually doing cool tendril-y things, then I may be totally wrong about organza. I'd be interested in seeing how yours came out.
-menandore, who is rediscovering her hatred for satin (even with a rotary cutter, you can't cut it even close to straight. I hate my life.)
-
I'll try to find it. I don't have any pictures of it, as I was going to hold off until it was finished.
-
Not sure if this is excactly what you're looking for: When i went to the release/book signing of Hero, some one there had one that simply went around her waist.
From my viewpoint, it seemed simple enough. the mist "tendrils" were just pieces of thin cloth that were; Black, Charcoal, and Gray. probably a half an inch each, and became slimmer as it went down. she must have had over 400 of those on that... Anyway it was a simplified version of what you probably want to make, but just for some ideas i thought it may help.
-
Did you go to the offical release party Randomness, or did you go to another one?
-
Did you go to the offical release party Randomness, or did you go to another one?
Yes, I went to the release party at the BYU Bookstore. i got my book numbered too. 22/50. maybe i'll go put that as my profile pic
-
Hm... odd. I didn't see the person with it around their waste. (I was at the front with the "Bastille Diez' group. I got number three. I'm cursed with that number too... both HoA and Wabreaker were three, and with WB I was second in line. *le sigh*)
-
Oh, she was like at the very start of the line. haha you prolly know her then if you were number 3...
-
Ok, most recent progress is up at http://crazy-projects.blogspot.com/search/label/mistcloak. Preliminary results: sadly disappointing. :( I'm going to try narrower strips and see what happens.
-
While I think Inkthinker's drawing is AMAZING that's not how I picture VIN at all. Even on a rampage she seems smaller to me and more of a feminine (but small build). Also her not carrying a dagger kinda ruins it for me.
-
Randomness, are you sure you aren't thinking of me? I don't know if there was anyone else there with a mistcloak, or anything close. The thing that confuses me is mine isn't just around the waste, it was a full cloak.
As for the cloak, I think it looks awesome. Keep in mind that while the "tendral" like look also happens in denser air (or however you want to discribe it.) The mist might effect how they would react.
If you still don't like the silk, you might try a chaffon. (you know, the stuff that is put over skirts and junk that's pretty much see through. Very slippery to sew, and my aunt (who's a pro costumer) hates to use.) It seems like it'd be light enough to "float".
-
Chiffon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiffon_%28fabric%29) and organza (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organza) are very similar (as far as weave goes), but chiffon may be better for the floaty effect if it's not too rough. They are about the same as far as weight goes, but chiffon's extra surface area and reduced stiffness could help it out.
I found my cloak and got some pictures.
Knotted shoelaces as the tie work quite nicely. (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/Clasp.jpg) The roughness of the knots catch on each other, making it easy to tie lightly without it slipping off. Pulling the cloak off is also super easy if you don't do too complex a knot. I had leather here, but it stuck on itself too much if it was tight and slipped too much when it was loose.
Without the seams (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/ClaspDetail.jpg) where they are, the holes I made (with a button hole punch) would have ripped to the edges.
Streamers with flash. (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/Stream.jpg)
Closer shot of streamers with flash. (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/StreamDetail.jpg)
Close shot of streamers without flash. (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/StreamDetailUnflash.jpg) The actual appearance is somewhere between the flash and no flash pictures. If there's direct light on them, they kinda shine. Good or bad, depending on whether you think that a moist look is good permanently.
Hanging from a fan in front of a light. (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/Hang.jpg) You can see all of the streamers in this shot, so it shows how transparent it really is. Wear dark colors underneath, especially if you'll be in well lit places. :)
A shot of some individual streamers with a wall behind them (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/HangDetail.jpg).
I like one piece hoods with pleats on the forehead, so that's what I used. (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/Hood.jpg)
Just an overhand knot (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/Knot.jpg) with an extra turn is plenty of security with the knotted laces. (Flash) (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/KnotFlash.jpg)
The leather danglies are lighter on purpose. They're there to preform the action of pulling the streamers closer (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/Close.jpg). Vin mentions doing this at some points in the books, but without a solid piece of fabric available at that height, pulling a cloak around yourself is somewhat more difficult. One handed because the camera was in the other hand.
That's totally not me (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/Open.jpg).
I was planning on the layers alternating color up to the top (front edge of the hood), but if I were to do it again I would just use the black. I'd still sew streamers all the way up, getting shorter near the top. One thing I think could help the bunching issues at the base is staggering the length of streamers on each layer, the bottom layer being anywhere between 20 and 36 inches.
I can send a pattern for the coif if anybody wants them. I'll probably finish the cloak with short streamers up top to cover the coif and start over with a lighter coif or go coifless.
EDIT: Link to rar of two videos (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/MistAVI.rar) of the cloak spinning on my fan. (~6MB)
EDIT2: Removed embedded photos and replaced them with links, as loading times on this page were kinda ridiculous. For all of the photos in a rar, click here (http://sites.google.com/site/sortitus/home/MistLowJPG.rar). (~6MB)
-
Very, very nice! I may try taking out the heavy bottom layer and see if mine behaves anything like yours. Yours gets the tendril effect exactly right, IMO.
My lightest layer is only a hair heavier than chiffon... I was actually wondering if the extra stiffness of organza would help keep the streamers from stacking and sticking to each other in that direction. I think that's why mine didn't flow right - the outer layers just weren't getting any airflow. I should set up a fan and see if it actually does any better in a cross-current of air to test that. The organza really did seem to give yours a lot of body.
I ordered a yard of organza from dharma trading... (honestly, getting undyed silk from them isn't all that much more expensive than buying random fabric from a fabric store.) We will see how this goes. Possibly replacing the top layer (the 8mm flat crepe) with the organza will do the trick.
Progress reports will, as always, be forthcoming. :)
-
Ok, most recent progress is up at http://crazy-projects.blogspot.com/search/label/mistcloak. Preliminary results: sadly disappointing. :( I'm going to try narrower strips and see what happens.
I think that looks very well done. i would have to agree with you on the narrower strips though. excellent work thogh ;D
-
More updates! With video. Kind of terrible video, but at least it's there.
Conclusions:
*I really need to acquire some stabilizer
*Still stumped on edge finishing (although I'm wondering if cutting on the bias + edge stitching might not be terrible)
*Definitely need <2" strips
*After seeing Sortitus' cloak, I think I will put a layer (or at least a few strips) of organza on top, because that is the tendril look it should have when it's stationary.
*I still can't decide if I want to nix the heaviest inner layer. I feel like the cloak ought to have some warmth and solidity, but I don't know if it interferes with the cool flutteriness too much.
Oh, and it looks like BS is doing a book signing in my neck of the woods in early November, so I have a deadline...
Anyway. AFK -> implementing this stupid Flex widget; once I get it done I can get back to playing with fabric...
-
It looks like .75"-1" strips will be ideal for the material you're using. The .5" strips look good (they catch the wind excellently), but the durability would probably suffer massively. I've found that my thinner strips (mys strips run .25"-1.5") break, tangle, and generally cause problems.
Do you think that doing all of your cutting with a serger would finish the edges well enough? You'd have to do each edge of the fabric or wrap around the bottom of each strip, but it could work out. You're making the strips part-way up the fabric and leaving some for an anchor, right? If so, the blank area between each strip could be pleated to increase strip density. Of course, low strip density probably isn't an issue if you're doing 4+ layers. The biggest flaw of the serging idea in general is probably the massive amounts of fabric that can be lost if it's not done very precisely.
As far as cutting on the bias goes, stretching could make the cloak behave strangely (though I don't know how much that affects your fabric). I would be inclined to make sure that any stretch happens in the streamers' thinnest dimension. While strips that elongate while they're being pulled by the wind would look cool, they would probably wear quickly and become a problem length-wise.
BTW, some of these comments I'm throwing down are more of personal notes on what I may want to keep in mind when constructing v2.0.
-
I am considering serging it, but I'm still afraid that it'll weigh down the light layers too much - I'll have to experiment some more. (And get my serger tuned up; right now it HATES ME). I'd also have to figure out how to make it not look ugly - standard serger stitches don't really strike me as the sort of things that should show up on the outside of the garment. I'm still planning on doing each strip separately in any case... serging up and down one piece of fabric makes sense, but pleating the "blank" areas is just going to make the neckline bulky, I think.
As for stretching on the bias - I don't think the individual strips will be heavy enough to distort their shape. If I do bias-cut them, I'll let the cloak hang before doing final length adjustments.
I know Word Of God states that it should be solid charcoal gray, but I think I'm going to leave it somewhat variegated (although probably darker overall). It makes it a lot more interesting, and I think it'd blur your outline better, which I'm assuming is the secondary purpose (the first being making you look totally awesome :P)
I am half tempted to try making obsidian daggers in my Copious Free Time, because it's theoretically possible (and that's all the motivation I need). I took an archaeology class where we spent one lab hammering at pieces of obsidian to get a feel for what the chips looked like before going off to classify a bunch of them (yeah, it was a really cool class. the labs were basically archaeology field work practice.) ...But I have to remember that it didn't work out so well. It turns out that if you hold your rock wrong, you're likely to have the chips coming off slice RIGHT THROUGH your gloves (even if you're wearing heavy leather gardening gloves) and slice right into your hand. Oops. ("And that was the first time I ever coked my keyboard with blood.")
I still have my notes from that class somewhere, though...
-
Everything looks awesome. Just a warning: No matter if you hem all of the edges or just leave them be, everything will end up tattering. It's just the way the stupid thing goes.
Have you considered using the edging glue?
-
Fray-check type stuff? I dunno... I don't like how it looks, but if I get desperate I may try it.
-
I don't know what the brand name was, but I ended up using it on some of my tendrals since they're cotton, and if I try to melt them they just burn.
-
Yeah, natural fibers don't take very well to burning for the most part. :( A friend of mine once had to cut out a bunch of things from ripstop nylon, and her serger was acting up, If I recall correctly she cut out her fabric with a soldering iron. Classy. :P
-
Why didn't I think of that?! I'll be able to use that for my final layer at least. :D
-
Have you thought of using a rolled hem stitch? There is even a foot that will do most of the work for you.
-
Yup, I have a rolled hem foot, and I tried it. It's just too bulky, IMO.
-
This probably wouldn't work, but have you thought of sewing tubes? It would eliminate the rough edges, but double the weight of each streamer and probably make strange voodoo things happen with the wind. I don't think that the results would be very satisfying, but if you're looking into different ways to finish edges....
-
Oh, interesting thought. I may experiment with that.
-
I really just kind of skimmed this thread so forgive me if someone has said this already. This topic has been discussed at some length before. I always saw a mistcloak as being more like a ghillie suit that a soldier would wear. I mean they serve the same purpose right? So I looked at it more as having many small tassels instead of many long tassels. I think if you searched for instructions on how to make a ghillie suit then it would give you some good ideas. I have made a ghillie suit in the past and it worked quite well.
-
Oh my god.
Now I'm picturing a mist-ghillie-suit.
You just made my day. Even if I can't quite picture, say, Kelsier wearing one.
-
Although I agree that a form fitting ghillie suit variation would be more effective than a cloak, I don't think that's what Brandon had in mind. Building a mistcloak as described in the quote on page 1 of this thread would give a near normal cloak look when the wearer was stationary (assuming no wind), so my cloak certainly doesn't fit Brandon's vision either.
A ghillie suit would blend in much better in Terran foggy conditions than a mistcloak if it had sufficiently long tassels. Of course, it was my understanding that the mistcloak was more for intimidation than camouflage. Unless the mist behaved more erratically than I think it did.
Problems with ghillie suits:
- Somebody can grab a tassel and yank you back or stab you with a knife: Game Over. Unless you design the tassels to break away with a certain amount of force. You'd have to make this as close to the force a tassel would normally receive from high wind speeds and fast changes in direction or someone could just grab a handful of tassels and you're stuck anyway. I don't think that the strength needed for tassels in the wind would be low enough to allow for an easy escape by this method. Cloaks avoid this by being easy to remove. At one point in the book, Vin drops her cloak when someone grabs it.
- They are hot and heavy.
- It would be very difficult to affect the flow of the tassels (if you're trying to remain unseen while stationary in a cloak, you can hold the tassels or something similar).
- Cloaks look cooler when wind is in play. :P
If those problems could be properly addressed, a ghillie suit would be superior in every way to a cloak.
-
I have a winner!!! Putting a couple rows of stitching very close to edge of a bias-cut strip seems to control fraying without affecting the drape. I will be updating with pictures (and pictures of the new mockup with and without organza overlay) within the next couple days. Man am I relieved.
-
Now I didn't mean that you should construct a ghillie suit. I was only saying that you could use some of the same techniques to construct a good mist cloak. The main thing in constructing a ghillie suit is a base of netting. This allows the maker to tie strips of material to the different parts of the net. The strips can be varying sizes even allowing the ones near the top to be longer. This way the tassels overlap eachother giving the garment camouflage. If you take a cloak then attach a section of netting to the back nearly equal to the size of the cloak then this will give you a good platform to work with. The cloak could be dropped just as easy as any other and it would allow for individual tassels to be torn free without much effort. It would probably be a good idea to allow the netting to go over the shoulders to the front of the cloak as well. this would help break up the outline of the person wearing it. This is just an idea. I haven't done this so I don't know. But thinking about it I think it could be done fairly easily and quickly given the correct materials.
-
I was adjusting the design of my room today, and I moved my French flag. The flag fabric has excellent properties for a mistcloak based on Brandon's description if you do a full, flowy normal cloak with two layers of flag fabric, it may behave very nicely. Especially if it's waterproof and not especially heavy. If you use polyester you can singe the edges. :)
-
God hates the french....or wait was that band nerds...i hope it's the french cuz i still have my old band stuff