Tag: Tutorial

Quick & Easy Ren Faire costumes – Last Minute Quality Edition

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Back with the costumes! This time a quick and easy go on the complicated look of Ren Faire costumes. Either way, you could also use these costume hacks for conventions, cosplays and even Halloween if you want to give your look a renaissance and fantasy flick. The looks are Scottish inspired, fairy inspired and strider / archer / badass / cloak inspired. And of course: super easy and quick to beat that last minute stress! Because.. We have all been there before ;).

takingarrowsYou might have noticed I’ve been away for a bit. With pain I have had to let go of my post-every-month resolution because of busy life outside and inside Baytree world. But now we are back with a very fresh post! Also, I do really want to thank Costume Yeti for featuring my Ygritte post on their site and giving it some love <3. I also want to thank the Guardian for featuring my Outlander tutorials. And I want to thank a certain customer for whom I am designing a custom costume (aha!). You are so lovely. Oh and: welcome to baytreecostumes.com!! So much excitement and new stuffs.

But now: This post highlights the problem of a lifetime. A cosplay / costumer lifetime of course ;). What do you wear when you are going to a ren(aissance) fair last minute? I’ll teach you how to make a Legolas or elf inspired costume, a strider or Aragorn inspired costume, an Elf or mage or witch inspired costume, a fairy inspired costume and how to go Scot with as little materials and time as possible! Excited yet? 😉

Fast forward to:

  1. Scot: Great Kilt / Arisaid
  2. Ren Fairey
  3. Badass cloak style (archer, elf, mage)

Continue reading →

DIY Honey Apple Iced Tea | Healthy

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It’s time for a first DIY food related post.. And I’m so excited for this one because it just tastes amazing and doesn’t require much work at all.

Round2Hello everybody ☀️,

A few days ago I bought my first mason jar after seeing so many people blog and post videos about mason jar smoothies and iced teas and other delicious and Instagrammable juices and foods. And I looked over to the fruit basket and wondered if I could brew something with tea and pieces of over-ripe apple. And after making it – it just looked and tasted amazing. If you are interested – read on! *Or: watch the video I made with it:*

You will need, for one person: Continue reading →

Make fur | Tutorial: Make Jon Snow’s costume fur under €25

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I am literally so excited to share this tutorial with you – since this is a struggle so “easily” solved! I loved the process a lot, it doesn’t take a lot of time, doesn’t hurt any animals, doesn’t cost too much money and the result is just amazing.

Let’s celebrate easter with a new tutorial!
Make your own Jon Snow fur, viking fur, a rug or even a fashionable shawl within one day.

Jon Snow’s imposing coat and characteristic fur hide – Courtesy of HBO

On the internet, a few things became very clear about Jon Snow costumes and cosplays. Most of the time, the costumes are absolutely amazing and beautifully tailored, – You can hear it coming – But.. A lot of people tend to get stuck on the fur-part. Mostly because real fur is too expensive or because the fake fur is not realistic and big, fluffy and imposing enough. I made my Jon Snow costume alongside my Ygritte costume which tutorial you can find here, which is some time ago now. As you can see from the title, this is not going to be a full Jon Snow tutorial – yet. Ygritte’s costume was a big project, but oh boy, Jon Snow’s was even bigger! It is a very “mathematical” and precise project, and even though my work is half done, it is still not near as close as I want it to be. Alongside that is the fact that season 6 is already on the doorstep (april!) and from photos, we can see that Jon’s costumes will dramatically change next season. I’ll have to see whether the hype around Jon’s older costume is going to change, because if it does, I might not finish the costume..

Collage Wool

But – why the tutorial on the fur? You can’t possibly make your own “real fur” now can you? …Can you? Continue reading →

Wearing the Great Kilt – A Retrospective

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It has been a while since I posted my “How to make an Outlander costume – Part 1” article. It covered all the basics of Great Kilt folding and Arisaid folding, and it was just so much fun to make, to fold and to write.

But here’s the catch: I never really finished the section of Kilt Types! The slightly irritating “will soon be updated” marred the decor that the Great Kilts flair had created. Soon became months quite quickly.. But hey – yes yes – it has been updated at last! Quickly visit the article and find out what new Kilt and Arisaid types have arrived in Baytree land.

Fun

Don’t mind me…

Since every photoshoot process takes about six to more than ten hours to do, to process and to touch up, it is always a shame when great photos are not good enough to be shown in the main article. And because some are just to precious or to cool to leave behind, I thought I would make a little behind the scenes article to give you an impression of the entire process behind a photoshoot like that. And just as this garments is awesome to alter and to re-create, it is also as much fun behind the scenes to wear and to mess around with, which sometimes results in quirky and funny photos. Continue reading →

How to make Ygritte’s costume from Game of Thrones

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Perhaps too late for Halloween this year, but certainly not less inspirational! Let’s celebrate creativity with this new tutorial. This time we’ll discover the costuming world of Game of Thrones.

After a long period of trying to keep this exciting project silent (just to give myself a little less stress), I can now finally come with all the details. And they are plenty!

If you have been following my blog, you know that I am always inspired by a variation of TV series and films. From period drama to fantasy, the cinematic scenery and images always speak to my imagination and from there to creativity. I have been working very hard on two amazing pieces from the enormous TV series Game of Thrones. I wanted to make a twin piece, and what immediately came to mind: Ygritte and Jon! (Pre season 6: Have you seen this picture already?). Click here to see my article on how to make Jon Snow’s fur, ecologically! And click here to see my Youtube video on this costume!

I based my design on this version from the show

I like that guy on the right haha!

The process was long and hard, as always, but again very insightful and the new fabrics and techniques were so exciting. I always enjoy learning something new (said the proud autodidact).

Ygritte 2

This is the result. If you have seen my last (and first) project inspired by the TV series from Outlander, you know how much I can meddle with one particular project. The most irritating thing always being the pattern (argh). Continue reading →

How to make an Outlander costume – Part 2: Claire’s jacket / bodice

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An Outlander Claire’s jacket tutorial for you! In season one from Starz’ Outlander, Claire mostly wears these warm wool blend jackets above a tartan skirt that look so Outlandish, I had to make one myself. I hope you’ll be inspired by my own process.

Still I can’t seem to keep my tutorials short and to the point – Oops

I loved doing this project, it was very insightful. If you’ve seen Part 1 of my Outlander costume, you’ll know that the traditional great kilt / Arisaid was actually really easy to make. Pleating was basically all you had to do. Of course my Arisaid is not true to Outlander, because they wear nicely tailored petticoats in the show. But I thought pleating a Scottish Arisaid would get me a bit more into that traditional and historical part of Scotland and its practicality in clothing. I just really wanted to learn how to pleat a great kilt (and it is also so much easier!).

These photos show on which design I have based my Claire inspired bodice: 1, 2, 3.

The finished costume

Click here to fast forward to the actual sewing how-to. Continue reading →

How to make a Kilt | Outlander costume – Part 1: Arisaid / Great Kilt

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An Outlander tutorial! An Outlander great kilt tutorial or Outlander Arisaid skirt tutorial that I crafted just for you. Click here to go to part 2.

“Well, well, well, Ava Baytree.. This article seems even longer than your other ginormous tutorials!”

Guess what, this one is actually much easier 😉 ! Perhaps you are here because of Outlander, or just because you are as much into Scotland as I am. Anyway, you probably want to know how to achieve that key Scottish look. The modern small kilts these days don’t even reach that traditional look and feel of the amazingly functional great kilt.

Wearing and pleating a great kilt or an Arisaid is easy, it is warm and comfortable! The only thing that holds the tartan together is a belt. So no hardcore sewing required whatsoever! I’ll try to break down every bit that is key to these ancient garments.

Outlander Great Kilt by Baytree Costumes Continue reading →

How I made my Semi-Corset

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My first freshly pressed costume how-to / tutorial / how-I-made!
This semi-corset is easy to make, looks great and requires little sewing skills.
Expensive boning? How about zip ties? Yes indeed, it made me feel like a costume hacker.

Semi-corset by Baytree Costumes1

Please note that I am not a professional. Costuming is a beloved hobby of mine, and with that sometimes come lazy solutions that provide that non-professional yet brilliant and beautiful outcome for those less experienced. Also it would be appropriate to point out that this is, in fact, my first real costume project.

Making this semi-corset took me about 3 days in total, and it was a project to happily make mistakes with! Believe me, I can now. And because I did some things wrong, I thought I would lay out my entire process for your inspiration in the hope you do not stress the same as I did ;). Continue reading →

The Outlander Project: Suaip Culaidh – An Introduction

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Hi there,

I’m so excited to show you my new Outlander TV-series inspired costume.

This is my first costume (or cosplay, whatever suits you 😉 ) on such a great scale.
It has taught me lots about 18th century Scotland and about costuming in general.

It has been such a blast, a grand journey like this. To happily make mistakes (never try to outdo that part, though) and perfect your ideas: it is all part of a trial-and-error project like this.
During the project, I always tend to look for the most revolutionary and practical way to achieve my set goal.

But what is that goal precisely? Well, let me tell you:
When I first watched the first half of season one from Starz’ Outlander, I was blown away by the characteristic and realistic costumes designed for the show. It gave so much atmosphere to the episodes, what first and foremost is the main purpose of a costume designer, that it made me start this project. Continue reading →