Chess King and Queen Costumes

These Chess costumes are relatively easy and can be inexpensive to make. They are adaptable for all sizes and ages. An entire group could create a whole set. I am working on the adult versions right now.

THe King headpiece is made from a piece of rubber foam about !/2 in thick. I made a template from paper to get the right size and proportion for the design. If you measure the size of the wearers head and divide by 4 you can space the cut out evenly.

I used a serrated bread knife to cut the foam.After I cut the foam I glued together the back seam using a silicone cement.

To cover the crown with fabric ,I used the same template that I made to cut the foam. There were 2 pieces of fabric cut using the template. One piece is for the outside, the other for the inside. I used 1 inch ribbon in a matching color to connect the inside and outside fabric pieces. The ribbon only goes along the top edge of the crown. There is no ribbon on the back edge or bottom. After sewing the ribbon on, I fitted the fabric over the foam ,adjusting the fit so it was smooth and even all over. The back and bottom edges were then hand sewn closed.

For the rounded bottom edge of the crown I cut a pool noodle in half long ways. The noodle piece was then cut to fit around the bottom edge of the crown.I covered the noodle with fabric. To cover the noodle I glued fabric on, hiding the edges of the fabric on the inside of the noodle half. The edges of the noodle were glued together and the fabric was hand sewn closed.

In the top center of the crown I inserted half of a large plastic Easter egg that I painted to match the fabric. The egg was glued in place.

I made a paper cross and glued that to the center of the top of the egg.

Gold trim was glued on for decoration.

The Queen's crown was done in the same method as the King crown on the previous page. The only differences being that the queen has rounded corns on the top edge and a half a ball instead of a crown. For the ball I cut a ping-pong ball in half and glued to the center of the top of the crown.

The body of the costume is a simple a-line dress. I made my version with princess seams,meaning there are 3 panels of fabric on the front and 3 on the back.

For each costume 6 pieces of fabric. There is 1 center front , 1 center back, 2 side front and 2 side back pieces.

Sew one front side piece to each side of the center front piece. The right sides of the fabric should be facing each other when sewing. All pieces of fabric will be sewn with right sides facing each other.

Repeat this for the back .

Now sew the front of the dress to the back at the shoulders, Next, sew the side from the armhole down to the bottom hem.

Cut 2 sleeves and sew these onto the armholes. Turn the edges of the sleeve and hem.

The bottom of the dress is hemmed and a ring of boning is sewn over the hem on the inside of the costume to keep the bottom of the dress open in a circle. Next I added an extension of fabric the same circumference as the hem to reach almost to the floor to give the chess piece the appearance of a base.

Trim was glued on for decoration. I placed a snap at the top of the opening in the back for closure.

The collars are made from a circle of rubber foam.

I first made a template from paper to check for a good size for the wearer. I used the template to then cut 1/2 inch foam and 2 pieces of fabric for each collar.

I sewed 1 inch ribbon matching the fabric to outside edge of the top collar piece and the sewed the same ribbon to the bottom collar piece. there is only ribbon on the outside edge. I then fitted the fabric over the collar foam and smoothed it out. The fabric was then hand sewn on all the remaining edges.

Lastly, gold trim was glued to the outside edge of the collar.