Su-per cutesy happy fun game and craft time!
For a long time, I’ve been looking for the perfect winter sailor coat/military coat. Don’t ask. Unfortunately, when I came across a coat I was actually happy with, it came with really rubbish fake army-inspired patches on the arm. No. Just… no. Not satisfied with the patches in my local haberdashery – flowers, animals and the like didn’t belong on a military coat – I turned to the incredible edible internet.
Thankfully, the Bioware store came to the rescue. Alongside coasters (Fran got me a Qunari one for Christmas!), character tshirts and N7 flight jackets, there was a set of Mass Effect patches. I’m not one to turn down an opportunity to combine two hobbies so I ordered a set.
Have you gone through a phase of sewing band patches on your rucksack? Yeah, that was me and my friends. Anyway, thank goodness for that early sewing training because sewing these patches on was a nightmare and a half. Almost as horrifying as trying to get the original crap patches off the coat in the first place without tearing the sleeve to shreds. The problem is that woven patches can be quite thick and difficult to push a needle through. There was actual blood from accidental stabbings, but hey, everyone suffers for their art, right?
The end result is a Mass Effect coat, deemed so because of the three patches on the arms. On one side, SR2 and N7. On the other, the patch to honour the fallen of the Normandy SR1. They fit nicely with the style of the coat, and are colour co-ordinated with black/white/red. They really suit the coat and give it that stylish gamer gear edge!
The coat isn’t completely finished yet. I still need to stitch red thread around one buttonhole to mimic Sherlock the red on the N7 logo. The buttons also need replacing since they’re metal but they’re stamped with a fake regiment logo involving a mini-crest and some laurel leaves. It’s not really space-military now, is it? I’m not looking forward to having to replace something like 12 buttons, but it’ll be worth it in the end.
I got yelled at in the street by someone who mistook the N7 as a postcode logo. Apart from that, it’s quite fun walking around feeling a little bit like Commander Shepard in semi-casuals, and getting a knowing nod from one or two people. Yes! I highly encourage everyone to do the little bit extra beyond ordering a gaming t-shirt or two or ten. It’s definitely worth it for the fandom-friendly, eye-catching result.
Many thanks to Nadia and Rob for taking the Citadel-inspired photos at Stratford Westfield. ♥
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.