"Lord of the Rings Costume"

Costume Instructions

Costume Materials
Gimli has a silvery shirt to look like chain mail underneath a common plastic breast plate for kids. Over that is a long, red poncho/vest (curtain), all tied down with a unique belt. jeans=(. Beard and padded helmet, green cloak (curtain)

Legolas has a quiver (leather jacket sleeve with an old belt for a strap, riveted), bow, green knickers, green blouse, elven belt, boots, green cloak (wool skirt), elf ears (bandaid)

Saruman has a white table cloth skirt, maternity lingerie shirt, lingerie robe, black woven belt, white beard and wig, necklace (brass ring, purse strap), and a black staff (mop handle)

Gandalf has three big pieces of grey cloth. Two woven brown belts hooked together for length, wizard's hat, grey wig and beard, carved stick.

Aragorn has brown leather bracers (purse), long leather vest (cut leather coat), green cloak, green suede pants, long black belt, black finger glove, wig, red under/grey over shirt, sword, bootcovers, bracelet.

Eowyn has dress, shall, tiara

Costume Instructions
The biggest part of the project is the will tomake it work. The next is a TON of shopping at second-hand places/good wills etc. Belts make a costume work, and are cheap - make a great material. The key is seeing clothes as materials: don't be afraid to cut, rivet, attach - it works great. (at the goodwill outlet you can buy by the pound! GREAT source of materials)

long poncho/vest: get a long piece of red cloth. Cut it shoulder width, put a small head hole in the middle, cut down the middle of the front.
cape: curtain has a hole through the lenght of it you can put a string through to tie. Cut to length.
Axe: Cheap $3 axe from Walmart, take the head off, get a hanlde and file it down to fit. Stain handle dark, get a handle (blakc foam in this case) and wrap with leather string for handle, fasten with brads. Brass brads make it look great - make thm symetrical and go nuts. Leather highlights.

Green cape - shorter, but looks great. green wool skirt cut in half lengthwise, sewn half way down back, tied in front.
Quiver: cut off the sleeve of a heavy leather jacket, rivet a belt to the inside top and outside bottom. Insert arrows.
Bow: just a kids' recurve, fiberglass.
Belt: most of the belts I got were too small - so extend them! Cut a lenght from another belt, put two rivets in both connections, put the wider belt in back and cut down sides to match width.
Ears: cut the sticky part o a bandaid (not the cloth) off a bandaid. Put it lengthwise on the ear. Fold the top corner of the face-side backward and attach to other side of ear. Folding the other side give you a point!

For skirts - get a big peice of cloth. Figure out your 'lengthwise' and decrease the width to the height of the person's hips - fold over excess toward the inside and just safety pin it everywhere (make sure it's not too tight! it's best if the over lap is kept loose - so pin it in loose folds so it doesn't sag but doesn't restrict movement.)
Shirt: if your guy is HUGE and your shirt is for girls (even bigger, to-be-mommies) - just cut the back downawrd, cut the armpits downards for about 4 inches and then cut horizontally from there toward the back, so they can move. As long as you have a robe, no one will know!
Staff: a mop handle painted black, with the metal part burnished with emmory cloth (the green abrasive pad that looks like a sponge bottom), and a silver doorknob (I shaped mine, ground down a nut to fit inside the hole on the bottom, glued the nut in there, and screwed it on the handle!)

Gandalf: take one big cloth and just make a pncho of one piece for the shirt (put a small head hole in the middle.). Make a slirt as described above. Hold them down/together with a belt.
Cloak: get another peice of cloth (blanket sized), set on shoulders with about 1.5 feet drapping over on chest side. From the neck (behind them), pull down so the excess forms a hood looking deal. Take the two corners - now pulled toward the top of shoulders) together and pin them with a broach.

Bracers: cut a square from a large leather purse (like 10x10 in.) Hopefully you have a lip (form opening of purse), have that be the wrist. Roll it around your forearm (with wrist toward hand) and cut it to a length so that the side will be about an inch apart on your arm. Determine where you want the point/end on your arm (how long do you want these?), then mark your end point. Cut from there (in the center) IN AN ARCH like a rainbow down to the side. Repeat on other side. Punch four holes on both sides, along the sides. Put a shoe string/leather string through one hole, then the same hold of the other side, then the next etc. Lace it. Put your arm in, tighten, tie, hide the strings inside the bracer.
Leather vest: buy a girl's leather coat, cut the arms off, and he collar.
Boot topers: cut some long 6'' wide strips, open boot tops, wrapped strip downside-out around leg, tie boot, fold leather over.