Matrices.net

Diagrams

Often I try to help people out by drawing up quick diagrams to better explain how I do things. I decided it might be beneficial if I make some of these diagrams (as badly illustrated as they may be) available publicly so they may help more folks out. I'll try to describe a little about what's going on in the diagram, and maybe it'll inspire you to try out new techniques and innovations with your costume items!

A diagram to help someone who was trying to do a plastic canvas/balaclava hybrid mask. Where they combined the two techniques to get the balaclava's fit, but the plastic canvas's mechanical properties for a moving jaw. The plastic jaw mount squares would be sandwiched between the balaclava and the foam, and possibly glued/sewn into place. Of course, all placements would be variable to whatever worked best for the mask.

By popular demand: 3-D eyes that do not use plastic "domes" to construct. These eyes are recessed, and they are an optical illusion to the viewers that the costume is "looking" at you no matter what angle you are viewing at. Use plastic, fun foam, or any material you think will work good for this project (use your best judgment). Keep in mind that 3-D eyes will look off if your character is interacting with another character, it will appear that the character with 3-D eyes is looking at the viewer or photographer instead of the person they are supposed to be interacting with.

Yes! The ears really do move! Here's a hopefully self-explanatory diagram of how I made the ears "perk up" on my Matrices mask.

This was drawn for a question in fursuit where the person wanted to make a dragon mask with ear fins that folded up. This was my diagram that went with my suggestion:

Make the top "fin" of the ear be hollow, so a string can go through it, weight the bottom fin with a slight weight so the ears will fall open when you release the string. Affix a string through the boning to the bottom weighted fin, and then run a track inside the mask, down the wearer's sleeve, and so.. when you pull down the ears fold up. and when you release the string they open (due to the weights)

Think of how vertical blinds work, you pull the string down, and the blinds open, and there's strings going through each blind to keep them together, and then there's the large weighted blind at the bottom so when you release the string they close (or in the sake of the ear's terminology, they "open")

This is a diagram that I made on how to do a "whipstitch" a quick and simple method of hand-sewing. It was originally for a handout on sewing tails which I handed out at Conifur Northwest 2004. Hopefully its self-explanatory.