Introduction: The Littlest Link- Kid Legend of Zelda Costume
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About: We are a husband/wife team. One is an elementary school teacher-turned-stay-at-home-mom, and the other a 2D/3D character animator. Needless to say, we both consider ourselves to be kids @ <3. This has been …
My husband, being a long-time avid Nintendo fan, noticed that our 20 month-old son could look a lot like Young Link from The Legend of Zelda. A Halloween costume project was born! I have to say, this didn’t take nearly as long to piece together as I had expected. After putting together the costume, we went out for a fun little photo session in a nearby park. My husband then added some Photoshop wizardry to bring some of the other fantasy bits to life.
You can view the entire photoset here: http://eric3dee.deviantart.com/gallery/33299409
We also made a screen test for fun which you can view below:
Supplies Needed:
- Green fabric for the tunic (I only needed a yard for my munchkin)
- faux leather upholstery for the shoes, belt, and sash, a buckle from the fabric store
- 1/2 yard of fleece (really, you need less for the hat, but I wanted to make sure to have plenty since I knew I’d probably mess up the first time)
- a lime-green long sleeved shirt (we found one at Wal-Mart and turned it inside out so the graphics on the shirt wouldn’t show)
- girly white cotton tights (hopefully this fact doesn’t scar our son for life) ;)
- measuring tape
- fabric scissors and sewing machine
- Velcro (peel and stick)
- Thor sword from Target (it comes with a shield, but we didn’t use that shield, though you could if you wanted to modify it)
- various acrylic and krylon paints for the shield and sword
- craft rivets
- masonite hardboard for the shield
- jigsaw
- Liquid NAILS
You can view the entire photoset here: http://eric3dee.deviantart.com/gallery/33299409
We also made a screen test for fun which you can view below:
Supplies Needed:
- Green fabric for the tunic (I only needed a yard for my munchkin)
- faux leather upholstery for the shoes, belt, and sash, a buckle from the fabric store
- 1/2 yard of fleece (really, you need less for the hat, but I wanted to make sure to have plenty since I knew I’d probably mess up the first time)
- a lime-green long sleeved shirt (we found one at Wal-Mart and turned it inside out so the graphics on the shirt wouldn’t show)
- girly white cotton tights (hopefully this fact doesn’t scar our son for life) ;)
- measuring tape
- fabric scissors and sewing machine
- Velcro (peel and stick)
- Thor sword from Target (it comes with a shield, but we didn’t use that shield, though you could if you wanted to modify it)
- various acrylic and krylon paints for the shield and sword
- craft rivets
- masonite hardboard for the shield
- jigsaw
- Liquid NAILS
Step 1: TUNIC
I began by looking online to find a tutorial, and found a great one which doesn’t use a traditional sewing pattern here:
http://meowaboutcosplay.com/guides_tutorials/link.html#tunic
The following is the section of the tutorial that I used to make an easy and adorable tunic. She made a sample tunic before she made the actual one out of nicer fabric. I decided to just dive right in. Some tips about using this tutorial: make sure to cut the neck hole big enough to fit “Link’s” head through if you’re using non-stretching fabric (my green fabric had no stretch). Also, I made mine too long the first time and had to cut some off once I tried it on my son. Thankfully, my mom has a serger sewing machine, so she finished off the edges for me. This way, I didn’t have to put a hem in the fabric and that saved me a lot of time.
--From meowaboutcosplay.com:
“Green Tunic
I got about a yard and a half of cheap fabric to make a sample with. I folded the fabric in half and laid an oversized T-shirt across the fabric so only half of it was on the fold. I used a permanent marker to trace where the neck, shoulders, and bottom of the shirt were on the fabric. The sleeves will be a separate piece, so I didn't trace those.
After tracing and cutting out the front and back of the shirt (the front has a "V" shape cut into the front), I sewed the sides and shoulders together. I made a few adjustments to the T-shirt - I made it longer, and flared the sides out slightly below the waist. At this point, the garment looks like a long, shapeless vest. Adding the belt helps give the tunic most of its shape.
If you want to make a really fancy Link tunic, you can make the basic tunic two separate pieces - the shirt part for the top, and a gathered "skirt" for the base. The skirt part should be a very wide strip of fabric (at least twice the width of your waist), which you'll gather and sew to the top. This will give you a more flared-out base, but you'd run the risk of making it look too much like a dress. The simplest way to make this is to do a one-piece tunic.
The collar was a little more difficult to make than the basic tunic. Using the "V" cutout in the front of the shirt, I drew the collar shape on another piece of scrap fabric and cut it out (1). Then I cut out another one, mirror flipped (2). Finally, I put these next to the "V" shape and cut another piece of fabric for the back of the collar that was the remaining space between the two collar front pieces (3). I sewed these three pieces together to make one big collar piece, then I sewed that to the "V" of the main shirt.”
http://meowaboutcosplay.com/guides_tutorials/link.html#tunic
The following is the section of the tutorial that I used to make an easy and adorable tunic. She made a sample tunic before she made the actual one out of nicer fabric. I decided to just dive right in. Some tips about using this tutorial: make sure to cut the neck hole big enough to fit “Link’s” head through if you’re using non-stretching fabric (my green fabric had no stretch). Also, I made mine too long the first time and had to cut some off once I tried it on my son. Thankfully, my mom has a serger sewing machine, so she finished off the edges for me. This way, I didn’t have to put a hem in the fabric and that saved me a lot of time.
--From meowaboutcosplay.com:
“Green Tunic
I got about a yard and a half of cheap fabric to make a sample with. I folded the fabric in half and laid an oversized T-shirt across the fabric so only half of it was on the fold. I used a permanent marker to trace where the neck, shoulders, and bottom of the shirt were on the fabric. The sleeves will be a separate piece, so I didn't trace those.
After tracing and cutting out the front and back of the shirt (the front has a "V" shape cut into the front), I sewed the sides and shoulders together. I made a few adjustments to the T-shirt - I made it longer, and flared the sides out slightly below the waist. At this point, the garment looks like a long, shapeless vest. Adding the belt helps give the tunic most of its shape.
If you want to make a really fancy Link tunic, you can make the basic tunic two separate pieces - the shirt part for the top, and a gathered "skirt" for the base. The skirt part should be a very wide strip of fabric (at least twice the width of your waist), which you'll gather and sew to the top. This will give you a more flared-out base, but you'd run the risk of making it look too much like a dress. The simplest way to make this is to do a one-piece tunic.
The collar was a little more difficult to make than the basic tunic. Using the "V" cutout in the front of the shirt, I drew the collar shape on another piece of scrap fabric and cut it out (1). Then I cut out another one, mirror flipped (2). Finally, I put these next to the "V" shape and cut another piece of fabric for the back of the collar that was the remaining space between the two collar front pieces (3). I sewed these three pieces together to make one big collar piece, then I sewed that to the "V" of the main shirt.”
Step 2: BOOTS
I actually just used a pattern for this one. Just find any pattern at the fabric store that has boots pictured on the pattern. I used this one.
Step 3: BELT and SASH
These were incredibly easy to make. Just use a measuring tape to measure “Link’s” waist, and then also measure from the hip to the opposite shoulder, around and back down to the waist.
BELT: Cut a 1-inch-wide belt to go around the waist (leave enough room to attach Velcro to fasten it with). Slide buckle on and then attach Velcro. I had the peel and stick kind of Velcro, but I also ran an “x” shaped seam through each piece on the belt and sash to make sure it stayed in place. Next, cut a 1-inch-wide belt loop, making sure it’s big enough to fit your sword of choice through. I just sewed one side of my belt loop to the belt, held the other side, slid the sword in and out to make sure it fit, then sewed the other side where I had held it. (Be sure to put the belt loop on the right side of the belt!! Young Link is left-handed.)
SASH: Cut a 3-inch-wide sash, leaving enough overlap to attach with Velcro. (Note: We used short screws to attach the shield to the sash.)
BELT: Cut a 1-inch-wide belt to go around the waist (leave enough room to attach Velcro to fasten it with). Slide buckle on and then attach Velcro. I had the peel and stick kind of Velcro, but I also ran an “x” shaped seam through each piece on the belt and sash to make sure it stayed in place. Next, cut a 1-inch-wide belt loop, making sure it’s big enough to fit your sword of choice through. I just sewed one side of my belt loop to the belt, held the other side, slid the sword in and out to make sure it fit, then sewed the other side where I had held it. (Be sure to put the belt loop on the right side of the belt!! Young Link is left-handed.)
SASH: Cut a 3-inch-wide sash, leaving enough overlap to attach with Velcro. (Note: We used short screws to attach the shield to the sash.)
Step 4: HAT
Use the measuring tape to measure around “Link’s” head. Measure along the straight edge of the fabric, making the base of the hat 1/2 inch shorter than the measurement. *Be sure to leave a seam allowance! I just used a quarter inch. For example, if the head measurement is 15 inches, make the base of the hat 14 and 3-quarter inches. That’ll be 14 1/2 inches once you’ve sewn the hat together. Fleece stretches, and this will make the hat stay on the head. Once you’ve measured, just cut out a square starting from the measured base and up. Then, fold the fabric in half like a book, so that the part you measured is on the bottom (the part that will fit over the head). Then, trace a contour as shown on the side of the fabric opposite the fold and cut. Turn the hat inside out and sew along the contour. We folded the hat up after we saw it on our little Link, and I whip stitched it by hand.
Step 5: SWORD, SHIELD, and Other PROPS
The shield consists of two pieces of masonite glued together.
First, I freehanded the overall shape of the shield and then cut it out with a hand jigsaw. Then, using the cut-out shield as a tracing guide, I freehanded both the border of the shield and the triforce shapes and proceeded to cut them out as well.
I then glued the pieces together using a small tube of Liquid NAILS.
I then painted a base coat with a small can of Krylon metallic blue. I painted all the rest of the detail in with various acrylic paints.
For a final touch, I hot-glued on a few craft jewelry rivets.
For the sword, we found a perfect-sized blade for our small child at our local Target for only $10. It came with a shield as well, but by this time we had already finished the shield. All that was needed was some more Krylon metallic blue paint and voila! Mini Master Sword.
For our photo shoot, we also picked up a few sundry bottles at our local craft supply store. Perfect for fairy hunting and medicinal storage ;)
First, I freehanded the overall shape of the shield and then cut it out with a hand jigsaw. Then, using the cut-out shield as a tracing guide, I freehanded both the border of the shield and the triforce shapes and proceeded to cut them out as well.
I then glued the pieces together using a small tube of Liquid NAILS.
I then painted a base coat with a small can of Krylon metallic blue. I painted all the rest of the detail in with various acrylic paints.
For a final touch, I hot-glued on a few craft jewelry rivets.
For the sword, we found a perfect-sized blade for our small child at our local Target for only $10. It came with a shield as well, but by this time we had already finished the shield. All that was needed was some more Krylon metallic blue paint and voila! Mini Master Sword.
For our photo shoot, we also picked up a few sundry bottles at our local craft supply store. Perfect for fairy hunting and medicinal storage ;)
Step 6: PHOTOSHOP MAGIC!
After all is said and done, it is time to capture the magic! We took our son to a nearby park for an impromptu photo shoot. Giving a one year old specific direction is next to impossible, so we simply took as many photos as we could and took advantage of the situation. All that was needed in the end was a little Photoshop magic to add in Navi (the blue fairy) and various other Zelda paraphernalia. Though I won't go into too many specifics (as this is not a Photoshop tutorial), some of the processes involved: stamping and patching out chainlink fences and neighborhood houses, painting in the fairy, using Liquify to make the ears pointy, and various other lighting, sparkle and color effects :)
Don't forget to check out the entire photoset here: http://eric3dee.deviantart.com/gallery/33299409
Don't forget to check out the entire photoset here: http://eric3dee.deviantart.com/gallery/33299409