How to make a Musketeer Costume!

Husband ran a stall at Eurogamer last week and wanted to Cosplay with 2 of his colleagues dressed as Musketeers. This is the costume I sewed to help him on his way...

He already had a white shirt so I sewed lace onto the collar and cuffs.

I bought stiff red fabric for the tabbard and made a plain front with gathered shoulders on the back to give a cloak effect and a huge buckle on one shoulder for a bit of swank!

Being an artist ( or a Musk-art-teer as he called it!!!), he designed and drew the crest on the shield fabric at the front 
(see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLJkRIg8BR8&list=UU7zvKSgUNc2tCuxybH07Wbw )

The boots were made from this...

...fake leather which is very easy to cut and sew. I drew round his wellies with a seam allowance to spare

Sewed them up down the front and, having snipped the curves with lots of tiny snips to help them turn easily without buckling, turned them the right way out.
With my trusty Cropodile, I punched a series of holes through the fabric where the back seam would go so that they could be laced (giving ample room for legs of different sizes to wear them easily). 

The sort of cuff piece at the top of the boot was a separate piece of fake leather, sewn inside and then folded back over. You have to make sure you place it the right way round before sewing so that it folds down to reveal the side you want. The back of fake leather is not very picturesque! 

The laces were made from long strips of the fake leather too, flexible and surprisingly strong.

The only improvement I would make is to sew elastic to go under the fake boots to hold them in place over his comfy trainers. On the day he used curls of masking tape to stick them in place.

For pics from Eurogamer, including the outfit being modeled, follow the link to 
http://kercal.wibsite.com/2014/10/02/the-next-event/
 or the photostream at https://www.flickr.com/photos/56759148@N00/with/15190848140/