Buckles & Armour

11/10/2024

Sometimes I'll need a buckle of a certain size, and the fabric store doesn't carry any that small. I also am not a fan of ordering them online since I prefer to actually see what I'm buying. So, then I go check out the shoe section at Value Village on Senior's Day, looking for cheap second hand shoes that hopefully have at least two buckles on each shoe.

I used to feel guilty buying shoes just for their buckles, then throwing the shoes out, but after the Senior's discount, I get a handful of nice buckles for just a few dollars. And with no waiting or shipping fees.

Making Fabric 'Armour'

I was making a knight costume for one of my dolls, and it needed some armour. But it had to be made of fabric. So I designed the patterns for an armour breastplate and two shoulder-plates. I made the first set out of a textured silver lame. I tried adding studs for decoration but after a bit of handling they just started coming off. Then I tried making the same pieces out of a plain silver lame, but it looked too shiny, like it belonged to a spaceman or the tin woodsman from the Wizard of Oz....

So then I started over yet again with a silver-gray satin reinforced with stiff interfacing. I finally had something with a bit of a sheen, but not too shiny, that could pass for steel armour. So I added the studs and stitched small silver beads around the outer edge...

5 Comments

Dorothy

11/10/2024 10:31:46 am

That is so clever! I never would have thought about using shoe buckles but it certainly makes sense.

Cloth armour seems ideal as it probably adds less weight than metal armour and is probably easier to mold.

Martha

11/10/2024 11:30:52 am

One has to be creative sometimes, and look for supplies in unexpected places. The shoes are sometimes in bad shape. Like those black Mary Janes, where the fake leather was peeling off, just like it does on some older doll shoes. The shoes were basically garbage, but the buckles can live on.

Donna

11/11/2024 08:36:49 am

Shoe buckles are a great idea and a good way to give old shoes a second life.

I always enjoy seeing your creative process at work! Today's post is kind of a "behind the scenes" of costume development. Like your photography "behind-the-scenes", it is an educational experience.

Martha

11/11/2024 11:10:59 am

Thanks. I still feel a bit guilty buying old shoes just for the buckles, but it's about the fastest and cheapest way to get what I need. Of course not so much in winter, when there's not the selection of sandals like in summer. So I stock up.

Guyloup link

11/16/2024 06:42:42 pm

Thank you for this good idea of the shoe buckles, and bravo for this assembly of the armors.
Like you, I am sometimes embarrassed to cut up clothes that are still in very good condition, which could be useful to someone, when I buy clothes at the Village des Valeurs to sew for my dolls. But on the other hand, I tell myself that there is an important point not to neglect, by buying these things second-hand in thrift stores, we avoid two successive pollutions: that of the transport of new fabric which often comes from the Far East in cargo ships which create a lot of greenhouse gases, and that of the shipping from a website to our home. In addition, I particularly appreciate used fabrics, which are more flexible and easier to work with for doll clothes.

Buckles & Armour

Making Fabric 'Armour'

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