In the wake of recent events, it's more important than ever that you urge your local politicians to support gun safety legislation. Learn more about how you can help: www.everytown.org/
I know you mean well, but would you make such an over simplifying statement if the issues were surrounding knives or any other weapon? I fully understand the need for regulation. What I fail to understand then is why over regulated/ limited areas face the most crime while fully armed communities face little. IMHO we still see a ton of knife and blade attacks, but no changes are made to further regulate anything that's pointy. Everyone chalks it up to, "If you're going to break up with her, don't do it anywhere near the kitchen," and flat out being responsible with the blades we have all around us from scissors and knitting needles on up. Guns already face tons of background checks, safety protocols, trainings and screenings in the vast majority of the States. Are there scumbags who subvert these laws? Yes, just like there are scumbags everywhere who subvert every law. That doesn't mean tell your Republican representative to "support gun safety legislation", because as far as they're concerned there already is a ton of gun safety legislation regarding IDs, FBI checks, coursework, hospital reports, etc. It means this argument is extremely nuanced, but just like every other weapon it's more important that the good guys outweigh the bad and can respond properly while people are trained to automatically go into lockdown if/when something happens. No more of this dilly dallying with locking doors, not having dedicated security for our children when we do have security for banks. We can all have an awful day and make snap decisions, and while it's important to not give the absolute loonies full access to destruction, it is on each of us to have the maturity and responsibility to know not to attack others. It's a moral thing, on top of a legislation thing, but I don't see as many calls for screenings or required appointments with a counsellor like we have sports physicals. ~A former K-12 music educator in Oregon, been through local tragedies as well as loads of drills and trainings
@@Undomaranel I mean... We barely have school shootings in Europe and strict gun laws... Instead of trying to shoot at crime, why don't you go to the root cause and do something about that?
@@rdb4996 My country is among the highest gun to person ratio in the world but stuff like school shootings doesn't happen, certainly not on a regular. There are other issues causing events like that to happen, like bullying and mental illness, that absolutely have to be dealt with as well (in the US, my country and elsewhere), but society's attitude towards guns is a part of the overall problem.
@@LadyDragonbane ahh, so you are saying that writing to your congress representatives is not the solution/action to take? I think we are saying the same thing: look the cause.
@@Undomaranel Please stop spreading misinformation. More guns, looser laws = more death. Massachusetts has the toughest gun laws and the lowest gun deaths in the US. Louisiana and Mississippi have disproportionately high firearm homicide rates. Most of the bottom 10 states for firearm homicides are in the bottom 10 for gun ownership. Don’t listen to the gun industry’s lies!
I am absolutely adoring the High Concept Goth fashion journey Morgan seems to be on at least some of the time. The blouses, especially the sheer one? The harness / vest layering? Impeccable. Five, no, six stars.
Watching you struggle with the rivets reminded me of when I made a duvet-sized quilt using the tiniest stitches known to man because that's what Laura Ingles Wilder told me to do. At the end of the day, I had to give myself permission to use those big stitches we all started using when we were children, and it went a lot faster. Instead of avoiding the task, I was actually enjoying it. I've made three quilts since then using the big stitches and I haven't looked back. Sometimes, you have to give yourself permission to do the things you're good at when you're trying to do something new and difficult. The Kevlar armor and the latex silly pants were lovely, but I promise you we'd be here even if you made a kirtle.
Laura Ingalls Wilder is who got me into historical costume. I made a bonnet and tried copying a favorite top. Unfortunately I didn’t understand seam allowance my first go round but they looked adorable on my three year old cousin! I was eleven.
The folks at Dupont have specialized scissors for the Kevlar fabric. I may or may not have procured a couple pairs from my dad who used to work in that department, and they are one of my favorite sewing tools.
I know that one of the keys with cutting kevlar is to use very very sharp blades. That would explain why the first cut was nice, but later ones had more issues. Also, kevlar is used for protective pants for lumberjacks...it'll jam a chainsaw with the fibers.
Memory unlocked!! We had several pairs (silver, all metal?) that my grandmother said she got from her husband that worked at DuPont. I wonder if he worked in the Kevlar dept???
This was so fun! Props to you for being persistent! Off topic silly RenFaire anecdote: my family went to the Sterling NY RenFaire last summer, and the jousting show was... pretty WWE. At one point, the Queen said, 'where did you find these knights, in a field?!' and the announcer replied, 'I am sorry, your majesty, these were the best we could get because of the plague.' 🤣🤣🤣
@@yolandabizzell5852 it was SO crowded last summer. They let in the same or more people than usual and had only half the staff. Hopefully it's less chaotic this year.
So, in the words of Rachel Maksy, "I have a mighty need." My dream is to have a photoshoot dressed in super feminine, glam armor. I have chain maille fabric in silver and gold and now I think I need to make a brigandine to go with...ahhhhhh! This is everything!
Brigandine is way better for armor, especially if you're making feminine shaped armor. Not only can you simply reverse the style to put the plates on the outside (Historically done sometimes!), but it allows a much more comfortable and flexible design like she mentioned in this video! A brigandine corset is functional, and good looking!
I appreciate how you didn't give up on this beast of a project. It through so many challenges your way but you definitely met it head on and made something amazing despite the tricksy-ness. It looks phenomenal, Morgan. Like holy heck is that thing "BADASS!" Your creativity, different eras mash ups, willingness to try new things and include us even when it could go all wrong truly make you near and dear to my maker heart.
I've had lots of similar mishaps with similar materials. Synthetics dull blades deceptively quickly, and yet still continue to cut through but with tons of tear out. And when materials are rigid and have such thickness, beveled cuts are a necessity. When you mentioned carbon fiber cloth I could feel your disappointment coming. I had the same experience. So pretty and yet unable to do it's job as a fabric! Fantastic execution despite the difficulties. Kydex material might be able to get you closer to your original vision.
She filmed the making of that outfit awhile ago! I’ll see if I can find the title of it so you can watch it😄 Edit: since trying to find it I’ve determined that I’ve seen it somewhere but have no idea where. It definitely is not something she filmed the making of😅 I’m thinking possibly it was in an IG story at some point?? Sorry if I raised anyones hopes🫠I’ll go now.
Carbon fiber fabric is like fiberglass, you lay it into a mold and add resin, it’s for building solid forms. Might have made a great cuirass; That fabric is for race bikes and fighter jets. And yeah, cool armor!
The carbon fiber fabric had me dead. A previous version of me once built relatively small rockets using both kevlar and carbon fiber, and wow, do I have much respect for you using that carbon fiber as a fabric. Cutting it results in the itchiest little splinters. They're very hard to get rid of because of the tubular shape of each fiber, so I wish you a successful cleanup~~
the Mycenaean chariot armor at 2:52 is a great choice for "thousands of years of armor development". in case anyone is curious, the helmet is a boars' tusk helmet, which is most notable for 1) being really really hard to get materials for and 2) being described in Homer's Iliad, a few hundred years after the Mycenaean civilization crashed and burned
I love it when people make things out of unusual fabrics for things. I once made a vest out of cork and no, I will never do that again, but I learned a lot doing it.
Just a heads up, be very careful handling carbon fiber, tiny little strands can very easily get under the skin (with just handling it) and cause irritation. Loved the project by the way, what a fun idea!
This video may not make me want to try working with Kevlar- but it does inspire me to keep working on the projects that frustrate me. Because in the end you got there! You did the thing! And THAT is what's so inspiring! I'm working on an animation right now and i'm HATING where i am with it- but i'm gonna keep pushing through. Because in the end i can say "i did this". You're awesome, Morgan! The armor looks awesome too! UPDATE: I DID IT! I finished the animation!
OH my gods, that looks so gorgeous! Especially combined with that black dress! It also definitely inspires me to make this, too. Except, of course, not with Kevlar, but with EVA Foam, like any good Cosplayer would. xD Honestly, this is perfect for a D&D Chracater I'm gonna play soon and I've been thinking of what he would wear and this fits perfectly! So thank you for all the inspiration!
For my job I do a lot of work that involves fibreglassing and the laying up of other composites so it was really cool to see a composite material used in a non traditional way! I sometimes use non composite fabrics to make parts like hemp and flax cloth which is also a fun non traditional material use :)
This concept make me think of Jill Bearup. She is a stage combat chorographer. She makes videos about armor in movies and how practical or impractical the armor is. Honestly you guys should do a collab.
@@FaerieDust Haha Jill's a great swordsma'am, and Morg's so creative, if they could get along we could get some gold star content (not saying they don't)
I know Kevlar from being a sailor, it's what modern sails are made out of, I'm very excited to see what you do with it! :) I absolutely love Kevlar, especially the way that it is woven in sails looks sooooo pretty when the sun shines through the sail....
Really appreciate your analytical comments when you figure things out along the way. Why kevlar panel frays, why rivet holes shrink, how raw carbon fiber behaves. It’s one of those little knowledge I might never need but if I ever do it will exist in my brain and pop up because I watched your videos :)
I recently found out that carbon fiber acts a little like fiberglass as in it can be highly irritating to skin and its dust will cause lung damage. So I just want to put an extra warning out there for anyone trying to handle carbon fiber, even though it isn’t really meant to be sewn with at all, as shown by Morgan.
I finished knitting a sweater made from a Red Cross World War II era pattern for a Navy service man but in the color pattern of Star Trek TNG (red) while watching this super cool video. Which seemed fitting. I also enjoys a historical mashup.
"it has that sheen like a silk but it absolutely feels like a polyester" i can confirm that. i work in a factory producing mainly polyamid threads and the thing is sorta great to work with. compared to cotton we sometimes get to run it's a lot more stretchy and you need to use a lot of power to snap the finished double spun thread (i'm talking about like 10kg of force for a thread you could use in ye ol' regular sewing machine) and when heated up it melts to itself, creating almost plastic like material that doesn't stick to anytning but other polyamid. real cool material to use for the dissipation of kinetic energy and friction into heat but a real hassle to deal with if it snaps mid production and coils around machine parts. in the worst case scenario you need metal wire clippers to get through that, and in the better case scenario you can cut that with a blade but the said blade is going to be uselessly dull after 2 or 3 of those.
Also about the second cut being worse - itcs not your fault. It's the material. It dulls any cutting hardware you use on it like you would not believe it. I don't know how follow up steps of polyamid production are dealth with on industrial scale since it's done in a different facility, but what i do in my step of production is i change lots and lots of one use blades. During the cleaning when a batch (usually anything between 5 and 60 tons, it depends) is done and the big spinning machine has to be cleaned so there isn't any cross contamination with different material fibers for the next order, at the bottom of spinning units there are tons of coiled threads (because that's where they are separated by literally rolling them around and snapping them by a combination of force + mechanical blade runner). To clean those you need to cut the whole tassle-like bunch off. Usually, a single new blade can do between 10 and 20 cuts about 4 cm on each cut, then you have to change the blade because it's done. My guess is that your cutter has to be treated the same - either you change the tape after every eeeeh 50cm of cut kevlar or skip the machine altogether, get a good old staple cutter and do it by hand, snapping segments of the blade away as you go. Itcs tedious, i know, but you will have cleaner edges.
@@sillyjellyfish2421 I wonder, if for this type of project, a CNC laser cutter would be an option. Never used one, but they seem all the rage with the DIY/woodworking crowd lately. You would get precision cut parts without any hassle, if the material is suitable for this. There are also shears specifically made for cutting kevlar fabrics - but nothing as thick as this. They do work well on more fabric like kevlar, though - the type used for heavy duty motorcycle clothes.
@@raraavis7782 i'm not saying that it's impossible but i would be sceptical about it. Laser works because it focuses lot of heat into tiny point to melt/burn away a fraction of the material. That melted and burned channel then becomes the cut. But when it comes to this particular synthetic fiber i don't think that there is any heat shrinkage. For one, it doesn't conduct heat well so while you may be able to cut through 1 or 2 layers at the same time, i would be very sceptical about being able to cut a whole plate like she has in the video. And then again, this whole laser cutting idea may be irrelevnat if the heat doesn't do anything to begin with. As i said, when the thread snaps during the production process, more often than not the free end tangles itself around moving parts like axis, cilinders, or it vedges itself between moving parts and stationary parts holding the whole machine together. The friction it creates is enough to literally temper those parts into rainbow while the thread is still there. It doesn't do much to the material. It doesn't singe, doesn't change colour, only gets really compacted to the point that it fuses into a single thick plastic layer. We had cases when the whole machine had to be out of commision because this friction twisted the main axis and we needed new machine parts. The fiber survived of course, baked onto friction melted steel like it was no big deal. So personally, i see the cross-fiber cutting with a physical blade as a more viable option
@@sillyjellyfish2421 Yes, I had doubts, too. All those properties, that make it so remarkable... sadly also make it a total pita to work with, it seems. I'ver only ever handled mixed fiber kevlar fabrics - the kind used in heavy duty motorcycle clothing. And those cut quite well with kevlar shears. But these plates...🤷🏻♀️. I mean, they did have clean edges to begin with, so there must be a way, to do it. I would love to know, what the manufacturer uses then.
@@sillyjellyfish2421 Well, I googled a bit and apparent some sort of rotating blade (from Dremel to big circular saw) and a thin, diamond studded blade are your best friend. Even that will dull pretty quickly, apparently, but give you a nice, clean cut for a while. Still. If it was possible, laser would be the way to go. So much less hassle 😅
I love how it turned out! Also, yeah, kevlar is totally what they would've used if they had it back then! But then, the purpose of kevlar is not-being-pierce-able, so holes=hard... And LOL your letterboards.
I was going to say "Amazing make!", but instead I think I should say "Amazing build!!" lol Your perseverance amazes me, too! Yeeesh, that looked like an epic pain in the butt.
The sleeves remind me of Meme Moms (Karolina Zebrowska) sleeping beauty dress, just without the slits in the puffs. Maybe that would be a starting point for the era/construction?
My interests have never coincided so elegantly! I think there are a lot neo-medieval aesthetic lovers who would love this. I would love to spar with this on at my HEMA club. You're awesome Morgan
As someone who worked with aramid fibres on my honours Textile Design project working on woven fabrics for motorcycle safety gear this video is a delight! I'm not alone in the world of trying to tame and cut that beautifully golden fibre... Hahaha!
Thank you for your introductory disclaimer. One can never be sure if some viewers may be disturbed by some of the discussion in the video so your concern is appreciated. And thank you also for showing sensitivity to recent horrific events, that is also greatly appreciated. Edited to say: Wow! The finished armor was very cool looking. And kudos to your ingenuity and problem solving with how to make that Kevlar and fabric do what you needed it to do. As always, you did an awesome job.
I am in love with those sleeves. I’ve done brigidine using corduroy for the outer shell with canvas to make pockets for metal plates. It was also blue and red counterchanged. However when we did rivets my exsquared had a tool to help dome them similar to what you use with grommets.
I feel the rivet pain, I've got over a pound of steel rivets in my spangen helm, and those had to be hammered inside the helmet!! And our armour shop's dye station is pernanently purple thanks to... incidents... mostly mine... Rubbing alcohol can take some of it out, thankfully it wears off skin way easier than it wears off leather! Now I'm totally wanting to try princess seam ed armour plates next time we do decorative armour :D Congrats, the whole thing looks amazing, and honestly, I think the aggravation is what levels up your skills... you don't learn nearly as much when everything goes smoothly, so gratz on the level! DING!
That looks phenomenal. But now you've gone to all the trouble to make it out of kevlar, I kind of want to see you put it on a manakin and take pot shots at it with a longbow.
As former military, your kevlar plates is NOT what I was expecting and I kept wondering how you where going to manage those monster plates I had in my IOTV 😂 (IOTV stands for Improved Outer Tactical Vest. It's what you see a lot of soliders wearing when doing range activities or deployed in hostile areas)
I absolutely love that you worked with Kevlar! I studied its material properties in my aerospace composite materials class and seriously wondered what it would be like to make a clothing item out of it. Now, you did it and I won't have to.
That black dress with the puff sleeves and buttoned cuff is just gorgeous! The mesh dress in the beginning is lovely too. I appreciate the goth mixed with vibrant color, historical influence and whimsy to create a personal and unique aesthetic. You're very brave to take on such a challenging project, and very talented to make it work despite the many hurdles. Looks pretty fantastic in the end!
What a trip! Super fun Morgan, and I totally understand not wanting to do something like this ever again 😅 Fun fact on the topic of Kevlar, we learned recently that you can get hurricane shutters made from Kevlar, which we thought was super cool and interesting. Thank you for sharing!
Having bullet proof mediaeval armour is worth it! Like holy wow, I want! Also, it looks fabulous. I'd want a padded lining fabric, maybe clipped sheepskin, to protect from the riven posts.
I love how the curl in the front of your hair 'greenscreened' and the vids shown through. Cute! I once met a man who reinforced existing garments with Kevlar as his primary business. (Most of his customers were in protection roles.) Always thought that was cool. As the material you used is an armor, I am interested in it's ballistic strength. I get that this would be triggering for some viewers, it seems to me like a valid question. Congrats on a stunningly effective project.
Hold the phone. I saw this and was like OH MY GOD SO COOL ETC but Morgan very effectively halted my ideas to do something like this myself. But consider a historybound version of this. No Kevlar, no riveting, just a chevron particolour vest jacket with the cool triangles out of buttons or something similar. And obviously, a different fabric. Also also can someone PLEASE tell me how to make that black shirt with the puffy sleeves I n e e d
We use that fabric as the outermost layer of prosthetic sockets, and have had to do quite a bit of trial and error before we managed to find a good way of working with it. I feel your pain...
Each medieval fair that passes I keep having the urge more and more to buy a brigandine. I'd just look so cool rocking up to the archery being one of the only ones wearing armour. I love the constant red and blue colour scheme you are putting with things.
I've used Kevlar for making small boats (it's excellent for abrasion resistance) and have wanted to experiment with it in clothing for sword protection in my martial arts training, but my scissors twitch in horror every time I consider it.
I am similarly impressed at the fact that you voluntarily worked with kevlar/carbon composite fabric! That stuff's Rude™ to work with for epoxy laminates, let alone like this. Go you, you mad mad lady. Many Kudos
I have to imagine that there is specialized equipment for working with these materials. Elsewhere in the comments someone mentioned specialized Kevlar scissors. I figure that there has to be some kind of heat press vacuform machine that could fuse Kevlar, carbon fiber, and vinyl in one move. I wonder how Adam Savage’s Tested would tackle the same project.
That's an awesome project! You might want to check out some of those Eastern Asian brigandines which utilized flat plates. Or I think some of the Visby brigandines also have minimum dishing (the curves may still present some challenges though.
"What a knightmare" - Good grief I snorted and choked. Morgan, you're absolutely fantastic. Even if it didn't go quite as you planned, the final result is gorgeous and impressive. Seriously.
I absolutely adore this. You have such an interesting way of combining unusual materials and concepts with historical elements, and I find your work really inspiring for my own projects!
Morgan: "I'm going to make modern armor. And because I'm me, I'm going to use the coolest/sexiest/most aesthetic style in history to as my inspiration!" Thank you for sharing even your "not great" projects and experiments with us. It looks pretty cool.
If I were to do this, I’d probably just go the rout making a normal brigandine with metal instead of Kevlar. It would be more protective, and maybe a bit easier to work with
I was just wondering the other day, “What has Morgan Donner been up to?” and then you dropped this video! It shows very clearly what a beast of a project this was. 😖 My fingers would be fully cracked and bleeding if I attempted all those rivets! Huge congratulations for persevering, and a job well done. The final result is awesome!
Wow it looks stunning!! While I have never worked with the Kevlar plates I have worked with Kevlar. It is without a doubt the most annoying fabric ever. It frays badly it’s horrid to cut. To top all that it didn’t survive the drag!! I had been hoping to use it to protect and eliminate wear on the bottom of snow pants. Kids snow pants take a real beating and I’m really tired of repairing them! So for future reference Kevlar is made for impact and will not survive being dragged on ice, snow and sidewalks! Someone suggested I try cordura found a Canadian supplier it’s easier to work with and will survive the beating kids do to snow pants! Hurrah!!
A very interesting build. This really makes me doubt that historical Brigantines were a cheaper type of armour. So much work goes into making one, and you can go really fancy with all components. Sure, the metal plates are smaller and probably easier to shape. But in the end, it still all has to work perfectly together.
Way fewer rivets than chainmail, but easier to fit to the wearer than later plate armour. They did quickly realise that using fancy fabric in the armour itself was extremely impractical, and switched to fancy surcoats over the armour instead.
One thing that I have heard brought up is that it is easier to repair because it is made of smaller pieces. Shadaversity has a decent video on the history of it too.
I was vending at that faire in the burlap barbarian looking tent right at the entrance! I can't believe I missed you in this epic armor! You are one of the UA-camrs who got me into historical sewing and it would have been an honor to meet you. I hope you all had a marvelous time!
Good luck with your crazy gun laws . I can remember hearing about one such event in Britain and that was about 40 years ago. Things are not all sweetness and light here but like every country on the planet except the USA such events are rare. So you don't have to live and die like this. If your population was as inventive as Ms Donner you could sort this quickly.
That idea of turning an armour garment into clothing has been dreading me, torturing me (in a good wat😅😂) for a while now and so I'm tempted...really tempted to dig out my sketches for that idea and maybe proceed.... I'm not going to use a Kevlar though.....I have to say your semi armour came out absolutely fabulous 🤩🥵✨🔥😻 but the project really felt like 'emotional damage' 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🔥
If you ever use the carbon fiber fabric again, try using a ball point needle in addition to the other steps you were using. They are designed to move between the strands rather than cutting the strands.
That looks like the same dress Sewstine was wearing in her latest video! Kevlar and carbon fiber armour is very cool. I can't even imagine the cost in time and money and mental spoons. Just amazing!.
Omg I love this so much!! You look so cute and badass at the same time! The cardboard draping was so interesting to watch, you're tempting me to do one of these (in an easier to work material of course)
awesome project! i love that you try different materials...entertaining, had a good chuckle, you sound so surprised that kevlar would be difficult to put a hole through...i looked into getting it a few years back for a tactical vest...the price dropped my jaw with a bang lol...great work, you always manage to do the most interesting makes...tfs:)
This was an awesome project, but I just want to point out that working with Carbon Fibre comes with health & safety risks! Carbon fibre, when cut, will create tiny little splinters, when breathed in these splinter can create respiratory issues, so using a mask is always advised! It also has some conductivity properties, and the tiny splinters/shards can cause short-circuiting in electrical equipment (such as a band saw, or a sewing machine). This was a great project, absolutely, but it saddens me that there wasn't any information on the health risks for using carbon fibre 😔
Yes, thank you! Let's get this comment to the top. You don't want to be breathing tiny carbon fibers, you don't want them stuck on or in your skin. So maybe use something else as outer fabric, it can still get coated in vinyl if it's such a loose weave, to stabilize it.
I guess putting that many rivets in wasn't exactly,,,,, riveting, you would say? 😉 On a more serious note, this looks sick as hell, your mash up ideas never fail to surprise me!
I wonder how it would fare in a HEMA setting. Probably wouldn’t spar with steel with the loose weave fabric but some 800N rated cotton fused to the Kevlar would be more protective than EVA foam.
*edit* after re-reading this, it probably comes off ugly to normal people. I'm sorry if it did, you got me on a subject I'm really passionate about, and I have trouble disengaging the overbearing side of my typing. I really do LIKE what she did as fantasy, I love Morgan's work. I'm tempted to delete the whole thing, but.. Ian Laspina did a video saying in a much more elegant way what I was trying to get at, listen to him, ignore me. The red velvet armor you showed is not extant as it sits now, though it is made with some extant pieces. The velvet is a period material, but the Bashford dean armor is a terrible mish mash of a corrazina and a various "associated" plates with a modern covering. The fauld is not based on any extant or artistic historical work, and the armor is the poster child for franken armors. From a harnischfechten practitioner, and an avid amateur armor historian, standpoint, the chest armor is excellent, and the proportioning for fantasy armor is MUCH better than I've seen anyone else pull off. The fauld would be difficult to fight in, and almost impossible to ride in. Typically faulds of this period are sets of hoop which telescope into each other and are suspended on leathers, much like a hoop skirt. The upward overlapping nature not only allows it to collapse without gaps, but also to turn the upward strike away, and the thrust upwards. From a costuming perspective I love it(especially the brettonian vibes!), just a nerdy input about construction/function. For the comment section, please save the typical "mansplaining" accusations, she's not the only girl here who likes armor, and I get tired of having to make the "well I'm a chick" retort every time someone doesn't like a nerdy comment.
We shouldn't forget the reasons why the second amendment exists. As long as the politicians don't support removing it or violating it in any way. The second amendment is there so the people can defend themselves against a corrupt and tyrannical government. The founding fathers knew what governments tend to be like. They tend to use fear to get us to bend to their will.
I haven't read the comments, except for the pinned one by you, Morgan. This is my first comment on your videos, though I have been following you for the last few years. I want to preface this by saying that I have so much respect for you. And I know that you wanted actual armor, but I need to tell you that you can buy good kevlar/aramid fabric by the yard, that is like the panels you used, just in a single, tightly woven layer, that can be cut and sewn into the layers of a pair of stays, corset, curaco jacket, or yes, a layered brigandine. And then you could use a nice velvet, silk, or brocade as the fashion layer. I am sorry to be a downer, but I just feel like you made this one so much harder than it needed to be. I hope my criticism is seen as constructive, as it's meant. I've been planning on making armored stays for a long time, and have still not gotten around to it. And now I just want to get on that, and dip into my stash. I got my kevlar from a seller on ebay, btw. In case you wanted to do that. Please keep doing what you do. You are such an inspiration.
First instinct when I see Mr. Donner. Throw a PokeBall at him because I've been following Morgan for about 3 years now and this is the first time I've ever seen him. Also, "aesthetic weathering choice." Totally using that. Beautiful
Morgan, we need to talk about how *amazing* your outfit is for the intro. You look so cool! That's a really nice mix of edgy and feminine, and the black really makes your hair pop. I love it!
Could the initial cut on the bandsaw have blunted the blade just enough to cause it to pull,the threads out? It wouldn't take much - I recently watched how a syringe needle (for insulin injection) deviates microscopically after use _it still breaks the skin but it becomes more painful. It would explain the pullrd threads. It might be worth checking a sample sefore using it on other fabrics
I kept trying to place your Intro look and it finally hit me: High Gothess of the Ancient and Dark Order of Goth Sewists and Dress Historians. Yep. Full-on masonic lodge vibes, but with way better outfits and hair.
Your work has inspired me Morgan. I love watching and re watching all of your videos. I know how complicated and frustrating making materials work sometimes. You do amazing work. I do agree with you as well about making a change in gun control legislation. Something has to be done, it’s been pushed back long enough. Anyway I love your work, I love todays project and thank you for everything you do and stand for.
I went to that faire this past Sunday! For opening year, it has promise. I wish I saw you and Abby because I think seeing this armor in person was out of this world.
Great video. Love the finished product. I get now why law enforcement doesn't really bother to make the vests look fitted. Also, I like the disclaimer at the beginning. Videos like this are great to distract us, but it is also important to recognize what is going on.
The carbon fiber party cloth you used is not supposed to be used raw. It is for carbon fiber resin parts. You soak the part in resin apply it on top of other carbon fiber and then let it cure. It becomes a hard inflexible part, like what you see on race cars. Working with carbon fiber and Kevlar is a very unique skill. To have it come out looking like it did is impressive. You are not the only one what has had issues making a garment out of carbon fiber and Kevlar. You might like Xyla Foxlin and her attempt at a bullet proof ball gown.
In the wake of recent events, it's more important than ever that you urge your local politicians to support gun safety legislation. Learn more about how you can help: www.everytown.org/
I know you mean well, but would you make such an over simplifying statement if the issues were surrounding knives or any other weapon? I fully understand the need for regulation. What I fail to understand then is why over regulated/ limited areas face the most crime while fully armed communities face little. IMHO we still see a ton of knife and blade attacks, but no changes are made to further regulate anything that's pointy. Everyone chalks it up to, "If you're going to break up with her, don't do it anywhere near the kitchen," and flat out being responsible with the blades we have all around us from scissors and knitting needles on up. Guns already face tons of background checks, safety protocols, trainings and screenings in the vast majority of the States. Are there scumbags who subvert these laws? Yes, just like there are scumbags everywhere who subvert every law. That doesn't mean tell your Republican representative to "support gun safety legislation", because as far as they're concerned there already is a ton of gun safety legislation regarding IDs, FBI checks, coursework, hospital reports, etc. It means this argument is extremely nuanced, but just like every other weapon it's more important that the good guys outweigh the bad and can respond properly while people are trained to automatically go into lockdown if/when something happens. No more of this dilly dallying with locking doors, not having dedicated security for our children when we do have security for banks. We can all have an awful day and make snap decisions, and while it's important to not give the absolute loonies full access to destruction, it is on each of us to have the maturity and responsibility to know not to attack others. It's a moral thing, on top of a legislation thing, but I don't see as many calls for screenings or required appointments with a counsellor like we have sports physicals.
~A former K-12 music educator in Oregon, been through local tragedies as well as loads of drills and trainings
@@Undomaranel I mean... We barely have school shootings in Europe and strict gun laws... Instead of trying to shoot at crime, why don't you go to the root cause and do something about that?
@@rdb4996 My country is among the highest gun to person ratio in the world but stuff like school shootings doesn't happen, certainly not on a regular. There are other issues causing events like that to happen, like bullying and mental illness, that absolutely have to be dealt with as well (in the US, my country and elsewhere), but society's attitude towards guns is a part of the overall problem.
@@LadyDragonbane ahh, so you are saying that writing to your congress representatives is not the solution/action to take? I think we are saying the same thing: look the cause.
@@Undomaranel
Please stop spreading misinformation.
More guns, looser laws = more death. Massachusetts has the toughest gun laws and the lowest gun deaths in the US.
Louisiana and Mississippi have disproportionately high firearm homicide rates. Most of the bottom 10 states for firearm homicides are in the bottom 10 for gun ownership. Don’t listen to the gun industry’s lies!
I am absolutely adoring the High Concept Goth fashion journey Morgan seems to be on at least some of the time. The blouses, especially the sheer one? The harness / vest layering? Impeccable. Five, no, six stars.
The black sheer with lace was an incredible marriage of "Edwardian lingerie shirtwaist" and "modern punk harness" and I'm so enamoured
@@WitchOracle dude, right?! I want one of my own
So so very obsessed with her style as of late!!
The intro deff made me more gay
Brigantine kevlar
Watching you struggle with the rivets reminded me of when I made a duvet-sized quilt using the tiniest stitches known to man because that's what Laura Ingles Wilder told me to do. At the end of the day, I had to give myself permission to use those big stitches we all started using when we were children, and it went a lot faster. Instead of avoiding the task, I was actually enjoying it. I've made three quilts since then using the big stitches and I haven't looked back. Sometimes, you have to give yourself permission to do the things you're good at when you're trying to do something new and difficult. The Kevlar armor and the latex silly pants were lovely, but I promise you we'd be here even if you made a kirtle.
Laura Ingalls Wilder is who got me into historical costume. I made a bonnet and tried copying a favorite top. Unfortunately I didn’t understand seam allowance my first go round but they looked adorable on my three year old cousin! I was eleven.
But would a Kevlar Kirtle be comfy?
Based on what we've seen so far, I'm gonna go with no.
That sounds so cute! I got started sewing by making costumes for me and my little sister's Polly Pockets. Trust me, they weren't any good.
@@meganthimmesch5887 Wow, that sounds really hard, for how small it is!
The folks at Dupont have specialized scissors for the Kevlar fabric. I may or may not have procured a couple pairs from my dad who used to work in that department, and they are one of my favorite sewing tools.
Ooh I’m curious about these. Are they similar to EMT shears (with the micro serrated blades), based on a harder material, or something else?
I know that one of the keys with cutting kevlar is to use very very sharp blades. That would explain why the first cut was nice, but later ones had more issues. Also, kevlar is used for protective pants for lumberjacks...it'll jam a chainsaw with the fibers.
Memory unlocked!! We had several pairs (silver, all metal?) that my grandmother said she got from her husband that worked at DuPont. I wonder if he worked in the Kevlar dept???
This was so fun! Props to you for being persistent! Off topic silly RenFaire anecdote: my family went to the Sterling NY RenFaire last summer, and the jousting show was... pretty WWE. At one point, the Queen said, 'where did you find these knights, in a field?!' and the announcer replied, 'I am sorry, your majesty, these were the best we could get because of the plague.' 🤣🤣🤣
This is my home faire!!! Miss it so much!!
@@yolandabizzell5852 it was SO crowded last summer. They let in the same or more people than usual and had only half the staff. Hopefully it's less chaotic this year.
Attending this year, prepared to die in my damn brown gambeson like I did last year
So, in the words of Rachel Maksy, "I have a mighty need." My dream is to have a photoshoot dressed in super feminine, glam armor. I have chain maille fabric in silver and gold and now I think I need to make a brigandine to go with...ahhhhhh! This is everything!
Brigandine is way better for armor, especially if you're making feminine shaped armor. Not only can you simply reverse the style to put the plates on the outside (Historically done sometimes!), but it allows a much more comfortable and flexible design like she mentioned in this video!
A brigandine corset is functional, and good looking!
I appreciate how you didn't give up on this beast of a project. It through so many challenges your way but you definitely met it head on and made something amazing despite the tricksy-ness. It looks phenomenal, Morgan. Like holy heck is that thing "BADASS!" Your creativity, different eras mash ups, willingness to try new things and include us even when it could go all wrong truly make you near and dear to my maker heart.
I love your sorta time-bending videos recently. Victorian bondage pants, a kevlar medieval cuirass... so cool 😍
I've had lots of similar mishaps with similar materials. Synthetics dull blades deceptively quickly, and yet still continue to cut through but with tons of tear out. And when materials are rigid and have such thickness, beveled cuts are a necessity. When you mentioned carbon fiber cloth I could feel your disappointment coming. I had the same experience. So pretty and yet unable to do it's job as a fabric! Fantastic execution despite the difficulties. Kydex material might be able to get you closer to your original vision.
I am just wishing Morgan had shared her sources for these materials! :-)
I also utterly love the not so historical gothic outfit you're wearing in the beginning of this vid ❤️❤️❤️
I would LOVE to learn more about that opening outfit. Everything was styled so well and you looked so cute 😍 💗 💕
Right? The moment the video started I went “Damn girl!”
She filmed the making of that outfit awhile ago! I’ll see if I can find the title of it so you can watch it😄
Edit: since trying to find it I’ve determined that I’ve seen it somewhere but have no idea where. It definitely is not something she filmed the making of😅 I’m thinking possibly it was in an IG story at some point?? Sorry if I raised anyones hopes🫠I’ll go now.
@@planningtolive_thebestlife453 you tried! I appreciate it, thank you 🙂
The brand is I Do Declare! They're very popular in gothic lolita and egl in general
This project wasn’t just a rollercoaster it was a whole theme park
At least she wasn't the entire circus
I love that the sign behind you sums up your experience creating this amazing piece. "What a knight mare" lol. Love your humor. 😂❤️
Carbon fiber fabric is like fiberglass, you lay it into a mold and add resin, it’s for building solid forms. Might have made a great cuirass; That fabric is for race bikes and fighter jets. And yeah, cool armor!
The carbon fiber fabric had me dead. A previous version of me once built relatively small rockets using both kevlar and carbon fiber, and wow, do I have much respect for you using that carbon fiber as a fabric. Cutting it results in the itchiest little splinters. They're very hard to get rid of because of the tubular shape of each fiber, so I wish you a successful cleanup~~
the Mycenaean chariot armor at 2:52 is a great choice for "thousands of years of armor development". in case anyone is curious, the helmet is a boars' tusk helmet, which is most notable for 1) being really really hard to get materials for and 2) being described in Homer's Iliad, a few hundred years after the Mycenaean civilization crashed and burned
I love it when people make things out of unusual fabrics for things. I once made a vest out of cork and no, I will never do that again, but I learned a lot doing it.
Check out "Seamstressed" video - she hand stamped cork straps, and made an entire outfit (including hay!) out of it.
was it a shrek cosplay, it's ok you can tell me
Just a heads up, be very careful handling carbon fiber, tiny little strands can very easily get under the skin (with just handling it) and cause irritation.
Loved the project by the way, what a fun idea!
This video may not make me want to try working with Kevlar- but it does inspire me to keep working on the projects that frustrate me. Because in the end you got there! You did the thing! And THAT is what's so inspiring! I'm working on an animation right now and i'm HATING where i am with it- but i'm gonna keep pushing through. Because in the end i can say "i did this".
You're awesome, Morgan! The armor looks awesome too!
UPDATE: I DID IT! I finished the animation!
OH my gods, that looks so gorgeous! Especially combined with that black dress!
It also definitely inspires me to make this, too. Except, of course, not with Kevlar, but with EVA Foam, like any good Cosplayer would. xD
Honestly, this is perfect for a D&D Chracater I'm gonna play soon and I've been thinking of what he would wear and this fits perfectly! So thank you for all the inspiration!
I might do it with cardboard. Having bought Ikea furniture recently, I have a ton of really nice cardboard to play with.
For my job I do a lot of work that involves fibreglassing and the laying up of other composites so it was really cool to see a composite material used in a non traditional way! I sometimes use non composite fabrics to make parts like hemp and flax cloth which is also a fun non traditional material use :)
This concept make me think of Jill Bearup. She is a stage combat chorographer. She makes videos about armor in movies and how practical or impractical the armor is. Honestly you guys should do a collab.
I have a feeling politics might get in the way...
@@juniper2346 aw crap, I googled and now I'm Very Disappointed. But better to know than not... Bleh.
@@FaerieDust Haha Jill's a great swordsma'am, and Morg's so creative, if they could get along we could get some gold star content (not saying they don't)
I know Kevlar from being a sailor, it's what modern sails are made out of, I'm very excited to see what you do with it! :)
I absolutely love Kevlar, especially the way that it is woven in sails looks sooooo pretty when the sun shines through the sail....
Very cool!!! ✨
Really appreciate your analytical comments when you figure things out along the way. Why kevlar panel frays, why rivet holes shrink, how raw carbon fiber behaves. It’s one of those little knowledge I might never need but if I ever do it will exist in my brain and pop up because I watched your videos :)
I recently found out that carbon fiber acts a little like fiberglass as in it can be highly irritating to skin and its dust will cause lung damage. So I just want to put an extra warning out there for anyone trying to handle carbon fiber, even though it isn’t really meant to be sewn with at all, as shown by Morgan.
That armor is GORGEOUS. As usual, amazing costuming. It sounds like it was a LOT of effort, but it turned out SO well.
I finished knitting a sweater made from a Red Cross World War II era pattern for a Navy service man but in the color pattern of Star Trek TNG (red) while watching this super cool video. Which seemed fitting. I also enjoys a historical mashup.
"it has that sheen like a silk but it absolutely feels like a polyester" i can confirm that. i work in a factory producing mainly polyamid threads and the thing is sorta great to work with. compared to cotton we sometimes get to run it's a lot more stretchy and you need to use a lot of power to snap the finished double spun thread (i'm talking about like 10kg of force for a thread you could use in ye ol' regular sewing machine) and when heated up it melts to itself, creating almost plastic like material that doesn't stick to anytning but other polyamid. real cool material to use for the dissipation of kinetic energy and friction into heat but a real hassle to deal with if it snaps mid production and coils around machine parts. in the worst case scenario you need metal wire clippers to get through that, and in the better case scenario you can cut that with a blade but the said blade is going to be uselessly dull after 2 or 3 of those.
Also about the second cut being worse - itcs not your fault. It's the material. It dulls any cutting hardware you use on it like you would not believe it. I don't know how follow up steps of polyamid production are dealth with on industrial scale since it's done in a different facility, but what i do in my step of production is i change lots and lots of one use blades. During the cleaning when a batch (usually anything between 5 and 60 tons, it depends) is done and the big spinning machine has to be cleaned so there isn't any cross contamination with different material fibers for the next order, at the bottom of spinning units there are tons of coiled threads (because that's where they are separated by literally rolling them around and snapping them by a combination of force + mechanical blade runner). To clean those you need to cut the whole tassle-like bunch off. Usually, a single new blade can do between 10 and 20 cuts about 4 cm on each cut, then you have to change the blade because it's done.
My guess is that your cutter has to be treated the same - either you change the tape after every eeeeh 50cm of cut kevlar or skip the machine altogether, get a good old staple cutter and do it by hand, snapping segments of the blade away as you go. Itcs tedious, i know, but you will have cleaner edges.
@@sillyjellyfish2421
I wonder, if for this type of project, a CNC laser cutter would be an option.
Never used one, but they seem all the rage with the DIY/woodworking crowd lately.
You would get precision cut parts without any hassle, if the material is suitable for this.
There are also shears specifically made for cutting kevlar fabrics - but nothing as thick as this. They do work well on more fabric like kevlar, though - the type used for heavy duty motorcycle clothes.
@@raraavis7782 i'm not saying that it's impossible but i would be sceptical about it. Laser works because it focuses lot of heat into tiny point to melt/burn away a fraction of the material. That melted and burned channel then becomes the cut.
But when it comes to this particular synthetic fiber i don't think that there is any heat shrinkage. For one, it doesn't conduct heat well so while you may be able to cut through 1 or 2 layers at the same time, i would be very sceptical about being able to cut a whole plate like she has in the video.
And then again, this whole laser cutting idea may be irrelevnat if the heat doesn't do anything to begin with. As i said, when the thread snaps during the production process, more often than not the free end tangles itself around moving parts like axis, cilinders, or it vedges itself between moving parts and stationary parts holding the whole machine together. The friction it creates is enough to literally temper those parts into rainbow while the thread is still there. It doesn't do much to the material. It doesn't singe, doesn't change colour, only gets really compacted to the point that it fuses into a single thick plastic layer. We had cases when the whole machine had to be out of commision because this friction twisted the main axis and we needed new machine parts. The fiber survived of course, baked onto friction melted steel like it was no big deal.
So personally, i see the cross-fiber cutting with a physical blade as a more viable option
@@sillyjellyfish2421
Yes, I had doubts, too. All those properties, that make it so remarkable... sadly also make it a total pita to work with, it seems.
I'ver only ever handled mixed fiber kevlar fabrics - the kind used in heavy duty motorcycle clothing. And those cut quite well with kevlar shears. But these plates...🤷🏻♀️.
I mean, they did have clean edges to begin with, so there must be a way, to do it. I would love to know, what the manufacturer uses then.
@@sillyjellyfish2421
Well, I googled a bit and apparent some sort of rotating blade (from Dremel to big circular saw) and a thin, diamond studded blade are your best friend. Even that will dull pretty quickly, apparently, but give you a nice, clean cut for a while.
Still. If it was possible, laser would be the way to go. So much less hassle 😅
I love how it turned out! Also, yeah, kevlar is totally what they would've used if they had it back then! But then, the purpose of kevlar is not-being-pierce-able, so holes=hard... And LOL your letterboards.
I was going to say "Amazing make!", but instead I think I should say "Amazing build!!" lol
Your perseverance amazes me, too! Yeeesh, that looked like an epic pain in the butt.
The "what a knight mare" sign in the background was a nice touch :)
This is straight up next level. Side note: I adore your dress sleeves! Is that a specific historical style? I’d love to see how they’re made!
The sleeves remind me of Meme Moms (Karolina Zebrowska) sleeping beauty dress, just without the slits in the puffs. Maybe that would be a starting point for the era/construction?
@@tf7602 oh, great call! Thank you ☺️
Parti-colour medieval armour from modern materials? WELL NOW I NEED ONE I GUESS
My interests have never coincided so elegantly! I think there are a lot neo-medieval aesthetic lovers who would love this. I would love to spar with this on at my HEMA club. You're awesome Morgan
Gosh that was a cute shirt in the intro. Feels nothing like what you usually wear yet it's so unique and lovely!
As someone who worked with aramid fibres on my honours Textile Design project working on woven fabrics for motorcycle safety gear this video is a delight! I'm not alone in the world of trying to tame and cut that beautifully golden fibre... Hahaha!
Thank you for your introductory disclaimer. One can never be sure if some viewers may be disturbed by some of the discussion in the video so your concern is appreciated. And thank you also for showing sensitivity to recent horrific events, that is also greatly appreciated. Edited to say: Wow! The finished armor was very cool looking. And kudos to your ingenuity and problem solving with how to make that Kevlar and fabric do what you needed it to do. As always, you did an awesome job.
Every time I think, “Welp, this tops it, Morgan can’t get any more awesomely weird & creative than THIS”, you prove me wrong. 😀🤣
I am in love with those sleeves. I’ve done brigidine using corduroy for the outer shell with canvas to make pockets for metal plates. It was also blue and red counterchanged. However when we did rivets my exsquared had a tool to help dome them similar to what you use with grommets.
I feel the rivet pain, I've got over a pound of steel rivets in my spangen helm, and those had to be hammered inside the helmet!!
And our armour shop's dye station is pernanently purple thanks to... incidents... mostly mine... Rubbing alcohol can take some of it out, thankfully it wears off skin way easier than it wears off leather!
Now I'm totally wanting to try princess seam ed armour plates next time we do decorative armour :D
Congrats, the whole thing looks amazing, and honestly, I think the aggravation is what levels up your skills... you don't learn nearly as much when everything goes smoothly, so gratz on the level! DING!
That looks phenomenal. But now you've gone to all the trouble to make it out of kevlar, I kind of want to see you put it on a manakin and take pot shots at it with a longbow.
As former military, your kevlar plates is NOT what I was expecting and I kept wondering how you where going to manage those monster plates I had in my IOTV 😂
(IOTV stands for Improved Outer Tactical Vest. It's what you see a lot of soliders wearing when doing range activities or deployed in hostile areas)
I absolutely love that you worked with Kevlar! I studied its material properties in my aerospace composite materials class and seriously wondered what it would be like to make a clothing item out of it. Now, you did it and I won't have to.
That black dress with the puff sleeves and buttoned cuff is just gorgeous! The mesh dress in the beginning is lovely too. I appreciate the goth mixed with vibrant color, historical influence and whimsy to create a personal and unique aesthetic.
You're very brave to take on such a challenging project, and very talented to make it work despite the many hurdles. Looks pretty fantastic in the end!
What a trip! Super fun Morgan, and I totally understand not wanting to do something like this ever again 😅
Fun fact on the topic of Kevlar, we learned recently that you can get hurricane shutters made from Kevlar, which we thought was super cool and interesting.
Thank you for sharing!
Having bullet proof mediaeval armour is worth it! Like holy wow, I want! Also, it looks fabulous. I'd want a padded lining fabric, maybe clipped sheepskin, to protect from the riven posts.
Yeah I was worrying her dress would get snagged
I love how the curl in the front of your hair 'greenscreened' and the vids shown through. Cute! I once met a man who reinforced existing garments with Kevlar as his primary business. (Most of his customers were in protection roles.) Always thought that was cool. As the material you used is an armor, I am interested in it's ballistic strength. I get that this would be triggering for some viewers, it seems to me like a valid question. Congrats on a stunningly effective project.
Hold the phone. I saw this and was like OH MY GOD SO COOL ETC but Morgan very effectively halted my ideas to do something like this myself. But consider a historybound version of this. No Kevlar, no riveting, just a chevron particolour vest jacket with the cool triangles out of buttons or something similar. And obviously, a different fabric.
Also also can someone PLEASE tell me how to make that black shirt with the puffy sleeves I n e e d
Complicated project, but cool! Love your coordinated eye shadow.
can i just say - that black outfit at the start! so good! i desperatly need that shirt!
We use that fabric as the outermost layer of prosthetic sockets, and have had to do quite a bit of trial and error before we managed to find a good way of working with it. I feel your pain...
Each medieval fair that passes I keep having the urge more and more to buy a brigandine. I'd just look so cool rocking up to the archery being one of the only ones wearing armour. I love the constant red and blue colour scheme you are putting with things.
Morgan, your style evolution has been so fun to watch! Keep on taking chances and make yourself happy 🙌🏻
I've used Kevlar for making small boats (it's excellent for abrasion resistance) and have wanted to experiment with it in clothing for sword protection in my martial arts training, but my scissors twitch in horror every time I consider it.
Also, RIP your bandsaw. Kevlar is nasty on tools.
I am similarly impressed at the fact that you voluntarily worked with kevlar/carbon composite fabric!
That stuff's Rude™ to work with for epoxy laminates, let alone like this.
Go you, you mad mad lady. Many Kudos
I want to make one... Just with stiffer canvas and a metallic fabric quilted over some padding.
should use plate too to combine bullet and knife defense. looks great actually. needs shoulder and arm sets too.
A knight's horse wears barding, but a bard's horse does not.🤔
I have to imagine that there is specialized equipment for working with these materials. Elsewhere in the comments someone mentioned specialized Kevlar scissors. I figure that there has to be some kind of heat press vacuform machine that could fuse Kevlar, carbon fiber, and vinyl in one move. I wonder how Adam Savage’s Tested would tackle the same project.
That would be a EXCELLENT collaboration! Maybe get Simone in on it, too !
That's an awesome project! You might want to check out some of those Eastern Asian brigandines which utilized flat plates. Or I think some of the Visby brigandines also have minimum dishing (the curves may still present some challenges though.
"What a knightmare" - Good grief I snorted and choked.
Morgan, you're absolutely fantastic. Even if it didn't go quite as you planned, the final result is gorgeous and impressive. Seriously.
I absolutely adore this. You have such an interesting way of combining unusual materials and concepts with historical elements, and I find your work really inspiring for my own projects!
Morgan: "I'm going to make modern armor. And because I'm me, I'm going to use the coolest/sexiest/most aesthetic style in history to as my inspiration!" Thank you for sharing even your "not great" projects and experiments with us. It looks pretty cool.
If I were to do this, I’d probably just go the rout making a normal brigandine with metal instead of Kevlar. It would be more protective, and maybe a bit easier to work with
I was just wondering the other day, “What has Morgan Donner been up to?” and then you dropped this video! It shows very clearly what a beast of a project this was. 😖 My fingers would be fully cracked and bleeding if I attempted all those rivets! Huge congratulations for persevering, and a job well done. The final result is awesome!
Wow it looks stunning!! While I have never worked with the Kevlar plates I have worked with Kevlar. It is without a doubt the most annoying fabric ever. It frays badly it’s horrid to cut. To top all that it didn’t survive the drag!! I had been hoping to use it to protect and eliminate wear on the bottom of snow pants. Kids snow pants take a real beating and I’m really tired of repairing them! So for future reference Kevlar is made for impact and will not survive being dragged on ice, snow and sidewalks! Someone suggested I try cordura found a Canadian supplier it’s easier to work with and will survive the beating kids do to snow pants! Hurrah!!
Before I get into the rest of the video… I just wanna say I LOVE YOUR TOP in the intro
I have to say, for a 30 minute video this was- well, riveting!
I have now fallen in love with all things party colour
A very interesting build. This really makes me doubt that historical Brigantines were a cheaper type of armour. So much work goes into making one, and you can go really fancy with all components. Sure, the metal plates are smaller and probably easier to shape. But in the end, it still all has to work perfectly together.
Way fewer rivets than chainmail, but easier to fit to the wearer than later plate armour. They did quickly realise that using fancy fabric in the armour itself was extremely impractical, and switched to fancy surcoats over the armour instead.
One thing that I have heard brought up is that it is easier to repair because it is made of smaller pieces. Shadaversity has a decent video on the history of it too.
Ah, Morgan. Queen of the craziest ideas in CosTube. The result looks insanely good. And no I am not inspired to try to make one myself!!
I was vending at that faire in the burlap barbarian looking tent right at the entrance! I can't believe I missed you in this epic armor! You are one of the UA-camrs who got me into historical sewing and it would have been an honor to meet you. I hope you all had a marvelous time!
Excellent and interesting project as always!!
Also I loved the chroma key silliness going on in your hair during the Wonderium ad 😄
Good luck with your crazy gun laws . I can remember hearing about one such event in Britain and that was about 40 years ago. Things are not all sweetness and light here but like every country on the planet except the USA such events are rare. So you don't have to live and die like this. If your population was as inventive as Ms Donner you could sort this quickly.
That idea of turning an armour garment into clothing has been dreading me, torturing me (in a good wat😅😂) for a while now and so I'm tempted...really tempted to dig out my sketches for that idea and maybe proceed.... I'm not going to use a Kevlar though.....I have to say your semi armour came out absolutely fabulous 🤩🥵✨🔥😻 but the project really felt like 'emotional damage' 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🔥
Your outfits are *so* on point!
For future riveting, you need a rivet press. Kamsnaps has tabletop presses that have dies for rivets, grommets and snaps.The armor looked awesome!
If you ever use the carbon fiber fabric again, try using a ball point needle in addition to the other steps you were using. They are designed to move between the strands rather than cutting the strands.
That looks like the same dress Sewstine was wearing in her latest video! Kevlar and carbon fiber armour is very cool. I can't even imagine the cost in time and money and mental spoons. Just amazing!.
Omg I love this so much!! You look so cute and badass at the same time! The cardboard draping was so interesting to watch, you're tempting me to do one of these (in an easier to work material of course)
awesome project! i love that you try different materials...entertaining, had a good chuckle, you sound so surprised that kevlar would be difficult to put a hole through...i looked into getting it a few years back for a tactical vest...the price dropped my jaw with a bang lol...great work, you always manage to do the most interesting makes...tfs:)
my monkey brain was so amazed by the greenscreen hole in your hair xD
as always you did an amazing job ♡
This was an awesome project, but I just want to point out that working with Carbon Fibre comes with health & safety risks!
Carbon fibre, when cut, will create tiny little splinters, when breathed in these splinter can create respiratory issues, so using a mask is always advised! It also has some conductivity properties, and the tiny splinters/shards can cause short-circuiting in electrical equipment (such as a band saw, or a sewing machine).
This was a great project, absolutely, but it saddens me that there wasn't any information on the health risks for using carbon fibre 😔
Yikes. Thanks for the info. I wouldn't have thought about that bit. So that was a good reminder.
Yes, thank you! Let's get this comment to the top. You don't want to be breathing tiny carbon fibers, you don't want them stuck on or in your skin. So maybe use something else as outer fabric, it can still get coated in vinyl if it's such a loose weave, to stabilize it.
I guess putting that many rivets in wasn't exactly,,,,, riveting, you would say? 😉
On a more serious note, this looks sick as hell, your mash up ideas never fail to surprise me!
I wonder how it would fare in a HEMA setting. Probably wouldn’t spar with steel with the loose weave fabric but some 800N rated cotton fused to the Kevlar would be more protective than EVA foam.
*edit* after re-reading this, it probably comes off ugly to normal people. I'm sorry if it did, you got me on a subject I'm really passionate about, and I have trouble disengaging the overbearing side of my typing. I really do LIKE what she did as fantasy, I love Morgan's work. I'm tempted to delete the whole thing, but.. Ian Laspina did a video saying in a much more elegant way what I was trying to get at, listen to him, ignore me.
The red velvet armor you showed is not extant as it sits now, though it is made with some extant pieces. The velvet is a period material, but the Bashford dean armor is a terrible mish mash of a corrazina and a various "associated" plates with a modern covering. The fauld is not based on any extant or artistic historical work, and the armor is the poster child for franken armors.
From a harnischfechten practitioner, and an avid amateur armor historian, standpoint, the chest armor is excellent, and the proportioning for fantasy armor is MUCH better than I've seen anyone else pull off. The fauld would be difficult to fight in, and almost impossible to ride in. Typically faulds of this period are sets of hoop which telescope into each other and are suspended on leathers, much like a hoop skirt. The upward overlapping nature not only allows it to collapse without gaps, but also to turn the upward strike away, and the thrust upwards.
From a costuming perspective I love it(especially the brettonian vibes!), just a nerdy input about construction/function. For the comment section, please save the typical "mansplaining" accusations, she's not the only girl here who likes armor, and I get tired of having to make the "well I'm a chick" retort every time someone doesn't like a nerdy comment.
As somone who made a brigandine for SCA fighting I feel your pain in riveting a bazillion rivets. I'm glad you had help though xD
I’m convinced. You are batshit crazy. You pulled it off though.😂😂😂
We shouldn't forget the reasons why the second amendment exists. As long as the politicians don't support removing it or violating it in any way. The second amendment is there so the people can defend themselves against a corrupt and tyrannical government. The founding fathers knew what governments tend to be like. They tend to use fear to get us to bend to their will.
You're amazing Morgan. I especially liked the part of you on the greenscreen where the blueish green parts of your hair looked like holes
I haven't read the comments, except for the pinned one by you, Morgan. This is my first comment on your videos, though I have been following you for the last few years. I want to preface this by saying that I have so much respect for you. And I know that you wanted actual armor, but I need to tell you that you can buy good kevlar/aramid fabric by the yard, that is like the panels you used, just in a single, tightly woven layer, that can be cut and sewn into the layers of a pair of stays, corset, curaco jacket, or yes, a layered brigandine. And then you could use a nice velvet, silk, or brocade as the fashion layer. I am sorry to be a downer, but I just feel like you made this one so much harder than it needed to be. I hope my criticism is seen as constructive, as it's meant. I've been planning on making armored stays for a long time, and have still not gotten around to it. And now I just want to get on that, and dip into my stash. I got my kevlar from a seller on ebay, btw. In case you wanted to do that. Please keep doing what you do. You are such an inspiration.
First instinct when I see Mr. Donner. Throw a PokeBall at him because I've been following Morgan for about 3 years now and this is the first time I've ever seen him.
Also, "aesthetic weathering choice." Totally using that. Beautiful
Can you please tell us about your blouse?!!!! LOVE IT!!
Morgan, we need to talk about how *amazing* your outfit is for the intro. You look so cool! That's a really nice mix of edgy and feminine, and the black really makes your hair pop. I love it!
Are those I DO Declare dresses?!? Absolutely stunning! And as always, well done
Since I have worn bullet proof vest, a lot in my previous job, I can also say that the vest is almost always backed with a armor plate.
I love how dedicated and meticulous you are on every project you do ! That looked amazing !
Could the initial cut on the bandsaw have blunted the blade just enough to cause it to pull,the threads out? It wouldn't take much - I recently watched how a syringe needle (for insulin injection) deviates microscopically after use _it still breaks the skin but it becomes more painful. It would explain the pullrd threads. It might be worth checking a sample sefore using it on other fabrics
I kept trying to place your Intro look and it finally hit me: High Gothess of the Ancient and Dark Order of Goth Sewists and Dress Historians. Yep. Full-on masonic lodge vibes, but with way better outfits and hair.
Your work has inspired me Morgan. I love watching and re watching all of your videos. I know how complicated and frustrating making materials work sometimes. You do amazing work. I do agree with you as well about making a change in gun control legislation. Something has to be done, it’s been pushed back long enough.
Anyway I love your work, I love todays project and thank you for everything you do and stand for.
I went to that faire this past Sunday! For opening year, it has promise. I wish I saw you and Abby because I think seeing this armor in person was out of this world.
Great video. Love the finished product. I get now why law enforcement doesn't really bother to make the vests look fitted. Also, I like the disclaimer at the beginning. Videos like this are great to distract us, but it is also important to recognize what is going on.
The carbon fiber party cloth you used is not supposed to be used raw. It is for carbon fiber resin parts. You soak the part in resin apply it on top of other carbon fiber and then let it cure. It becomes a hard inflexible part, like what you see on race cars. Working with carbon fiber and Kevlar is a very unique skill. To have it come out looking like it did is impressive. You are not the only one what has had issues making a garment out of carbon fiber and Kevlar. You might like Xyla Foxlin and her attempt at a bullet proof ball gown.
Here is a link to her video if you want to check it out.
ua-cam.com/video/DuS6Q6Xb6KM/v-deo.html
from the bottom of my gay little bottom heart Morgan.... Morgan in armor makes brain go burrrrr