Post the Fifth: I Got Spurs That Jingle Jangle Jingle

Dapper.

 Welcome back! Been busy collecting bits n' bobs and various other accoutrements and today I wanted to go over what I've been able to find thus far. This is pretty photo-heavy, so grab yourself a cheese sandwich and settle in.

Wouldn't be much of a fantasy outfit if there weren't
bags of junk attached everywhere, now would it?

 Taking off the jacket so it's easier to see what's around the belt. Also, to be fair this outfit can stand on it's own. The pants are just a placeholder, but it's really sharp how they match perfectly. That never happens!

 

Not much of the sword is glued just yet, so I have to hold it in it's scabbard for now. Still no idea on how to hold the focus in place, but there looks to be enough space to put it on my hip at least. It'll overlap with the hip bag, but shouldn't be too badly in the way otherwise. There's also enough space on that side to squeeze in a small water bottle.

    
Calling it now. That top-most pouch is going to get crammed full of receipts.

 Thigh hipbag (with "key chain"). Wish I had a bigger butt because the back strap feels like it's going to slide off. Might need to punch another hole here. Otherwise comfy! It's really soft but doesn't feel flimsy at all. And it looks like a lot of stuff fit can in here--phone, wallet, snacks, ribbons, etc. None of that should be a problem.

 The cactuar key chain is actually an enamel pin currently being held in place with some string. Obviously that'll need something better if I go this route, but it does nicely compliment the Western theme totally blundered into here. No, seriously. That was not the intent.

No outfit is complete without a bag of random vials.

 Two vial bag. For storing powdered sports drink and just looking egregiously fantasy-ish. Buttons are the wrong color, but that should be fixable with either paint or foil. Could probably stick a third vial in there if the mood struck.

  Still need to adjust the frog. Currently it's being held in place with a twisty tie off a bread bad. So lux! Getting the angle on this is tricky, but looks doable once the weight from the sword is holding it down. 

 Should also make a sheath for said sword. Mostly because no matter how much reinforcing is done, the sword will always be just this side of delicate. Also, it keeps people from accidentally getting poked and jabbed in crowded hallways. I mean, you'd like to think people wouldn't walk body-first into a sword, but... (looks at the current state of the things)

Simple and worked shockingly well.

 Speaking of sheaths though:  current sheath is just two pieces of thin EVA foam glued together, wrapped in a "sock" of plain...want to say broadcloth? It was really cheap, but still fairly thick is what I'm getting at. Look, it was the Zero Hour and I needed SOMETHING. It's fairly floppy (what with the foam), but once a sword is in there it looks convincing enough. Unfortunately the new sword won't fit in there. At all.

For your consideration: a medieval Koosh ball.

 The finished chainmail bag. The red mage pattern sort of transferred over to scale maille. It's rather tricky since technically everything lays on a diagonal. Might go back and replace one or two scales. Maybe. It's an incredibly annoying thing to do after the fact and it's debatable how much better it would even look. If it's not completely filled, it makes this extremely satisfying shink-shink noise as you walk though. 

 While the tutorial at the bottom explains how to weave the bag, unfortunately the shop that sells that tutorial is currently closed. I've included the title for searching purposes, as they'll probably re-open the shop eventually. But really, there are a ton of tutorials out there and they're all extremely similar.

Obligatory "whip it good" joke no one under the age of 40 will get.

 The ends of the cording were tied off with a knot called sailmaker's whipping. It's a really effective way of tying off the ends of a rope to keep them from unraveling and it looks rather keen too, if I do say so myself. It's also super simple to do. No, really!

Because who else are you going to learn sailing knots from? Bricklayers?

 The only caveat here is that since you are (most likely) working with soft cord and not stiff rope, avoid unraveling the ends. YMMV, but for me once the cord comes unraveled it never twists back as nicely. Instead, tape up the end of the cord and gently untwist the cord enough that you can loop the thread through. This way, when you let go the cord will snap back into place and you won't have to struggle to get the cord re-twisted.

Apologies for the unmanicured nails.

 After some deliberating (and finding a 40% off sale), I decided to go with simply buying the half chaps. (One of the few perks of living in Horse Country is you somehow end up knowing about these things.) They do indeed look very sharp! Adding some decoration to these would be nice and they look high enough quality that it should be doable without destroying them. Not sure how though, but mercifully that can sit in the background and stew for a bit while other things get brought up to speed.

They weren't kidding when they said these'd be tight the first few times.

 They WILL, however, need some time to be broken in. Currently it's like strapping casts on my legs. All for not twisting my ankles, but would rather not have this weird strut around the hallways because I can't move my ankles. That's a little too cowboy.

Wait. Are you watching Record of Lodoss War while putting on your fantasy cosplay?
You giant. Effing. NERD.

 Along that line, here's a close up of the boots. Just a basic pair of black boots, but they'll fold nicely into my daily wardrobe.

Shoo, that was a lot. Here. Have a cat photo. As a little treat.

Most of the costume is stored in a garment bag to keep off the cat hair,
but I want it known that this is an uphill battle.

 Next time: Actually, I'm not sure! At a crossroads where there are a number of things that could be worked on, so we're just going to have to see what comes up. Suspense!

Material Directory
Thigh bag: Etsy (RidLLeather)
Three Vial Bag: Crimson Chain Leatherworks
Cactuar pin: Etsy (AsheBlitzenDeco)
Belt and frog: Amazon seller
Chainmail bag: Esty (Scalemail Dice Bag Tutorial by Jason Simpson)
Half Chaps: StateLine Tack
Shoes: Easy Spirit 

Current background music: 2 Mello. "move quixotic." Sunsound Collisions.

Time until deadline: 5 months, 1 week