Bird of Creativity: October 2012

How to make a skeleton suit back using simple materials. Hello people from the USA. You can make it for halloween. I made mine for other reasons.

This is documentation of making a skeleton suit using a black jumper (sweater) and black pants. I like that it is quite obviously hand made and revel in the inadequacies and imperfections of it. If you wanted a more slick-looking thing, I’m sure there are ways to borrow some of my methods then thicken the paint, make more precise edges etc to achieve a more sleek version. The great advantage of making it this way is that you can tailor it perfectly to your body. The ‘one size fits all’ capitalist mantra is bullshit and you know it.

This procedure can also be used for making the front of a skeleton suit. I just didn't document that part so well.

First, you need to get yourself a cotton blend black jumper (sweater) and pants that fit you. Good luck with this. It took me a while. PLEASE NOTE:

1. A cotton blend takes the fabric medium and allows you to wash the piece.

2. Thicker fabric will not go out of shape using this masking tape method. Thin, t-shirt-weight fabric will go out of shape when you try to pull the masking tape off. Use a stencil for t-shirts!
New Skeleton T shirt
3. Try and get a jumper (sweater) with a crew neck or other high-cut neck. This gives you space for a nice collar bone.

Second, you need white acrylic paint and a textile medium. Follow the manufacturers instructions, especially the one about ironing it to set the paint. It is NOT FUNNY when your creation wears off in the washing machine.

Third, this will take a while. Only bad things happen quickly.

MATERIALS:

1. Black cotton blend suit

2. White paint and textile medium

3. Masking tape

4. Newspapers

5. Coat hanger, pants hanger

6. Paint brush

Put on your pants and top. Use the masking tape to mark out key points in your skeleton. Mark you knees, hips and coccyx on the pants.

Mark your shoulder blades, neck and shoulder joints on the back of the top. [For the front, mark the bottom of your ribs, sternum at both ends, shoulder joints and collar bone.]

On the pants, mark two lower leg bones and the thicker thigh bone. Use the mark for the knee to indicate the end of each.

The thigh bone is a big, iconic bone. Make sure it looks awesomely strong.

I make the bones look rough around the edges by tearing the masking tape in half. This prevents the bones looking too square.

Sometimes there are tiny bits that are ripped over and over to make the shape I want. Basically I am using the masking tape to make an outline drawing of the bones on the suit. This takes a long time but getting it right is worthwhile.

I made the hips into thin lines at the back, there is a lot of hip detail in the front. I'm still not sure about this coccyx part. It is aspiring to be anatomically coccyx-like but I'm not sure it's flattering.

This is the back of the pants nearly finished. On the left you can see the back-knee join very clearly. On the right you can see how the initial marker has been incorporated into the drawing.

On the top back, first mark out your shoulder blades and spine. The fastest way to get your spine in line is to mark it in a column and section off vertebrae. If you are after a more fiercely broken-down spine, mark out the vertebrae individually and let them go wonky.

To make the vertebrae more accurate, tear out small chunks from the side of each.

I got a little confused doing the back, so I consulted my handy model. I had to move the shoulder blades out from the middle. It seems easier to deal with the front bones because I can poke those without them moving so much while I do it.

Add a rib for each vertebrae. Measure by your fingers to add personal scale to the project. It may take several attempts to get the angles right on this stage. I try to end the ribs upward. I find it gives the suit a more jovial disposition.

When you are done drawing, carefully try the suit on. This is VERY IMPORTANT. Once it is painted, you cant adjust it. First, check the knee, hip, shoulder and rib points on the suit are more or less where those bone parts are underneath. Second, see if it is flattering too. As a general rule, if you are super-conscious of your hips or coccyx areas, don't put bright white stripey lines there. [For the top, for girls, tailor your suit ribs to your bust.]

Add newspaper to the outside of the drawing to mask off all areas you want to keep black.

Insert spare newspapers into the suit. This protects the other side from any bleed through.

Put a coathanger in the top. You can peg the inserted newspaper to this to stop it falling out when you hang the piece up to dry later. Put a pants hanger on the bottom. Spread newspapers around the area in case you have an accident.

Use a paint brush and paint on the bones. The masking tape is a guide. Ha! all this time you thought it was a stencil! Be creative. Add more paint at the middle of each bone to create a 3D effect. Add a strip of thick paint to the vertebrae to make the spine more realistic. My top was very absorbent. If I was making this more slick, I would leave the tape on until the paint was dry and do a second coat. But I was impatient.

When the painting is done, hang up the suit pieces somewhere where they cant smear paint on anything. I find they do better hanging rather than lying flat.

When completely dry, pull off the newspaper and masking tape. Remember to heat set (iron) the piece before you wash!