How to make a Plugsuit part 5- Lycra armour

Lyrcra armour is very simple, all you need is lycra, scissors, some glue and a breather so the glue doesn’t kill you.

For this project I used a combination of spray adhesive and painted on contact adhesive. The spray adhesive has a habit of seeping through fabric so check before you use!

I apply the glue to the fabric and the sides of the foam I want to cover. You can see me building the foam armour pieces here.

I trim the edges of the fabric and cut slits into it and fold it down. Often I need to apply a bit more glue to stick the flaps in.

And there it is! Super simple, until you start working with bigger and more complex pieces.

HERD U LIEK MILLIONS OF TINY PARTS.

All of these bits get the same treatment with their fabric of choice. The metal parts are made with PVC instead of lycra to give them a shine.

Here’s the back pack with me just about the glue the top plugs on. Fabric doesn’t glue to fabric as well as it does to foam so I’ve added some little blocks to give the plugs something to grip on to.

These are the hip pieces, you can see how the PVC is applied to the one on the right. To make sure they don’t pop off I decided to sew them directly into the suit. The left one is all pinned and ready to be forced into my machine.

Here’s the next ring of hip ready to be added.

Tahdah! One hip and it fits the place it’s supposed to. I then repeat on the other hip.

Now I work on the stomach. Here’s the pattern taken off the dummy and the two little plugs. The top right one shows how they’re lined so not to have bits of foam showing on the inside.

Here’s the plug pinned in the hole. I then carefully sew around it using a zipper foot, removing pins as I go.

Zip down the middle and back on the dummy to check the fit. SUCCESS!

Next week is how I made the glowing chest orb- for all your glowing orb needs.