Halloween

Halloween is a big deal for the Taylor family. Since I was a kid we always eschewed store bought costumes. Mom was pretty good at the sewing machine so we could always be whatever we wanted and she's make a kickin' costume for us. When I was about 5 or so mom made a bat costume that I loved. Well that costume has been passed down and a few years ago Noah wore it for Halloween.
I'm pretty handy with a sewing machine too so I've done my best to continue the trend of homemade costumes. So far my coop-de-gras was a mermaid costume that I made for Eveybug when she was just a month old. The costume was essentially just a sock with fins but it was cute.
A few years ago my brother got into creating his own chain mail armor. He has made several suits including a nice one for Aaron. I got interested in creating one for myself. However, I wanted to create a samurai armor. Rather than being made of large metal plates or from small interlaced rings like some, samurai armor consists of several small tiles laced together with miles of cords.
So I got online and found a site on how to make very authentic armor. This guy actually studied in Japan and makes and restores museum pieces. He really knows his stuff. Official samurai armor is made from lacquered leather tiles. However, most model replicas use plastic tiles and still achieve a nice effect. Stephen found a guy who could make some tiles for me and last year he got me a couple hundred tiles for Christmas.
Well I've finally gotten around to lacing these puppies together. I quickly found out that I'm going to need about four times as many in order to complete the armor. I've just about finished the chest plate and then I'll have to get some more tiles before I can continue.
This will probably be one of those ongoing projects that takes me a year or two before I can get it completed. But, I'll enjoy every bit of it.
I think next week I'm going to figure out do chain mail in Japanese style and sit down and work on the sleeves and shoulder of the costume. I think a Kurosawa film playing in the background should help to set the mood while I work it out.
I'll be sure to post other pictures as the project continues.