Thor and Aquaman - planning the costumes

First step in my Halloween costume construction is to plan out the elements. I do this to get an idea of the scope of the work as well as supplies I'll need. At this point I have procured most of the supplies with just a few items yet to arrive (ebay purchases). I hope by drawing things out (despite my lack of designer level sketch ability) that I won't discover at the last minute that I overlooked some critical element and be forced to spend too much money, compromise, or even do without.
The basic Aquaman costume, represented on the left, should be pretty simple, except perhaps for the gloves (which I plan to sew rather than purchase). I have a fingerless glove pattern that could be adapted for fingered gloves - alternately I could design a simple pattern by cutting out two (flat) glove shapes - but I will lose the dimension offered by the fabric piece that runs between the fingers (but may be pretty tricky to sew). The most complex element of Aquaman is going to be the seahorse - which I visualize for this costume as a stick horse although I plan to attach a tail at the bottom end of the stick. Again I have a pattern to adapt but it will require reshaping for the head. I will have to draft the tail pattern from scratch myself.
Thor, shown on the right will be more complicated. I expect to make his tunic/jerkin from suede cloth(with silver lame circles) but I haven't decided how best to fit the top. Options include: open in back to fasten with velcro; open in back to fasten with snaps/snap tape; incorporate stretch panels in the sides so the top can be pulled on. The suede cloth is one of the supplies I'm awaiting so I will see how much stretch, if any, it has before making a final decision. I am not going to style the tunic as a bodysuit (fastening under the crotch) due to comfort concerns but I will shape it so that it hangs down in the front coming to a point so the visual image is similar.
I have not yet decided exactly how I will make the two character's belts, but both are yellow and I have some yellow fabric for Thor's boots (which will in fact be spats or gaiters for this costume). I have one thick elastic belt with plastic buckle that I can cover with the yellow, making a sort of applique design for Thor's logo. I''ll likely fashion Aquaman's "A" buckle out of a scrap of plastic or heavy cardboard (milk bottle, etc.) and then cover it with a coating of fabric.
Next - fabric choices; making the tights.

End of the season

Although I didn't blog about it, I had what I consider to be a good racing season with the TT bike I built. I competed in 3 duathlons, 1 medium-short triathlon (shorter than Olympic distance but longer than Sprint) and my first half ironman race.

The Fetish bike became a road bike but now sports Oval Concepts clip on aero bars.
I have ordered an Oval Concepts Jetstream Fork after reading what Zinn had to say about it on Velo News. Other than trying it out when it arrives, I have given that bike some vacation time. The fork sounds impressive and my only qualms are in replacing the fork that has been custom painted to match the frame. My next tentatively planned multisport event will be a duathlon in April.

I've done some more work on the KHS cyclocross bike shown in earlier posts - it now has Easton EA 70 bar and stem (to match the seatpost) and Bike Nashbar cantilever brakes both front and back (lost the squeal that comes for no additional charge with Avid Shorty 6s).

Next on the bike project list will be a replacement of the drivetrain of my KHS road bike. At this point I am leaning toward a Campy Chorus groupset but may use some or all of the parts from Centaur instead due to cost concerns (as well as the fact that Centaur should now have the ultratorque crankset in carbon available). I plan to have the road bike frame repainted in the next couple of months.

Next on my other project list are Halloween costumes and I have decided to try to document this process from start to finish. I sew a lot of my own work out and racing clothing, and since I do a lot of modifications to patterns (or even make my own), I have decided to start keeping track of some of the more interesting things (to me) I've tried. Pictures and plan detail for Halloween stuff to follow over the next couple of days...