Patters (and designing you armor)

Ok lets talk design,  By now you should have read the FAQ and the history of Japanese armor, if not you are a bad monkey and you need to go do it now.  So you should have an idea of what style armor you want your armor to look like.  Below are some easy steps to make a pattern to start your armor. Or be a wimp and use one of my patterns.  

How to make your own patterns

I highly suggest that you make your own patterns.  Your armor is an extension of yourself, make it fit your personality and mood.   A good example of this is in the movie highlander, there is a huge field with 100's of Scotsmen in kilts, it looks like a battle is brewing. Most of the warriors are in leather armor but they all look the same to you.   On the hill you see a man on a horse with a nasty looking suit of armor on him with a huge helmet that looks like a animals scull.   That's what your armor should do,  you want some one that looks at you to see a unique armor.  I am not saying that you should have fancy armor, but you should have a different look then any one else.  This can be done in many different ways.  You can use different color combinations or ornaments, the will change the look of the armor but you will can only do so much with color and adornments.  The easiest way to make a unique suit of armor is to create your own pattern.  Hand made patterns will always look unique even when coping a preexisting style. Below is a step by step guide to creating your own pattern. 

Make a sketch.

The first step in creating a pattern is getting a simple sketch. Start by thinking the armor out, Ask your self what do you want to have it look like? Draw your armor in a sketch pad.  I can hear you whining now "I can't draw a circle let alone a suit of armor."  listen I can't draw any better then any of you.   But that doesn't matter.  Drawing out your idea how ever poorly the sketch is will help you concrete your ideas and act as a road map for the other steps.

Paper pattern 

Ok you have a sketch,  Now you need to get  a piece of butcher paper or newspaper or tape pieces of scrap paper together.  With this piece of paper you can sketch out the pattern of the Do (breastplate). 

Cut out the pattern 

Once you have the Do cut out (you can have several pieces i.e. a front and back or front and back and sides) you want to mark the front and back of all pieces.  This sounds strange but when you cut the leather or metal you want to trace all the sides with the front up so you don't get reversed pieces. Nothing is worse then having 2 left handed kote (trust me every time I do Kote I have this issue).    

Fitting and re-cutting.

Ok now you have the Do cut out, start by tapping the pieces together like they will be when assembled.  Make sure you have chosen the side that you want the armor to open and leave it un-taped.   Now comes the part that you have to suck your pride and put on the pattern. Yes it feels strange and looks a bit dorkey (ok a LOT dorkey) but it will save you time and materials in the long run.  

Ok you have it on, is it tight? is it loose? is it 6 sizes to small? does it pudge out in strange places?  Ask these questions and redesign your pattern to make the corrections needed and refit it.  Once you have the Do fitted to the point that you think it is in the proper proportions you can start to add the other pieces still fitting them on and remaking them as needed.

Some things to keep in mind when fitting.   

Keep it loose, although the pattern is close to the size that your armor will be,  you want to have some slack in the pattern to allow some alteration.  Also leather is thicker then the paper.  It doesn't sound like much of a difference but it can make the difference of fitting or not.

Take into account the area the stitching and lacing will take.  If you are going to make a later style of armor that has rivets you will need allow overlap for the rivets to hold.

 Take your time,  the better your pattern the better the finished product will be.

If you are trying to make several sets of armor that looks the same you can make your paper patterns then x-fer them to mylar or some other sturdy paper/plastic product that will not rip. This will keep the pattern in better condition and allow for archiving of your patterns.

If you require a curve for your belly or shoulders (I know its just winter fat! Mine is too) you can cut a section out of the place to be curved and stitch it together.  The more pinches you put in the more curved it will become.  

The Pinching method.

Using my patterns

Ok you have just forgotten what I said 4 lines up and you are ready to take the easy way out and copy some of my patterns.  That's ok here's the deal,  These patterns are from a Japanese group called USAGI who have allowed me to publish them here.

There are a few things about these patterns, They are not made for a person of average American height.  They are for a person that is around 5 foot 4-6 inches and 140 LBS.   So you will have to do some adjustment in the size.  To get them download them and print them out.   Once you have all the patterns cut and tape them together using the index file as your guide.  Now you are ready for the fitting section.

Here are my patterns.

A standard Do-maru is here Below is a picture of the pieces included in the zip file.

Ok to use these files you need to understand how to put the pattern together,  Each image can be printed on one 81/2 x 11 sheet of paper (the normal size of your printer).  Once you have them printed out the will have some numbers on the like d1 and k1.  Cut out the patterns match up the numbers, tape and you have the patterns!

There will be more patterns available when I get around to it.  Feel free to bug me about it.   

Questions? Comments? Insults? contact the web master at: Ichiban@wakagashira.com