Ally, a.k.a. Kitnip Cosplay, crafted her take on Dovahkiin armor from Skyrim last year. The costume mixes a variety of textures and involved making a replica of the Iron Armor Helmet from the game. She used foam and Worbla to create the prop and documented the build step-by-step. She began by making the pattern. She used screenshots from the game and a pepakura file to design hers. She also made a duct tape mold of her head to ensure the helmet would fit perfectly. She did half of the helmet and flipped it so the pattern would be symmetrical.

Once she completed and tested the pattern for fit, she redrew the pattern onto paper to clean it up and add a seam allowance. She says:

At this point I’ll also add in an extra half an inch or so to my outside pattern edges to account for the thickness of the foam. Think of this step as your “seam allowance”. This step is crucial to get a good fitting helmet. If you think about the pattern you just made, it’s right up against your head on thin paper. You draw that exact pattern out onto thicker foam you are going to lose some space due to the foams thickness. So make sure you add in that extra room to your patterns. It depends on the thickness of the foam with how much more “seam allowance” you need and also how loose you want the helmet to fit on your head.

See a few in-progress pics below.

See the progress of the entire build at Facebook.

via Reddit, top photo by William Tan’s Photography