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Tarma Oathsworn
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Outline the story …
Tarma Shena Tale’sedrin is a character from Mercedes Lackey’s Oathsworn series. She became Kal’enedral – a black-clad and oathsworn warrior given special abilities to gain revenge, serving their goddess and the Shin’a’in people - after the slaughter of her clan and being left for dead.
Tarma is one of my favorite characters; she’s a strong individual who exudes a quiet but intimidating aura. When I costume, there is usually something about the character that I dress as that I want to emulate. With Tarma, I wanted to evoke her presence and self-assuredness. It was an interesting costuming endeavour for me as well, as I tend to stick to bright colors and bold patterns but an oathsworn wears all black. (Making details ‘pop’ in an all-black costume was challenging and required the creative use of texture and fabric!) Tarma is also often described as being “sexless” in behavior and appearance as she also swears a vow of celibacy. This was also appealing to me - even though I identify as female, I love expressing myself as more masculine or androgynous at times.
Outline the construction…
The shirt is satin and Simplicity 4923D. I widened the collar, made the cuffs longer, narrower, and with tie closures. The pants are linen and pattern Simplicity 5359C, modified to include a cuff bottom done up with ties, tied waistband and slits down the sides.
The overtunic is wool, lined in linen and quilted with cotton batting. The pattern was McCalls 7585A with modifications. I shortened it, changed it to close across the chest, and split the back for horse riding. I raised godets to the waist and added darts to the front and back of the arm holes, back panels, and front panel to create a better fit. I removed the sleeves and took the curve out of the neckline. I also added a layer of batting quilted in a crosshatch pattern to look like a gambeson. I hand-stitched trim to all the edges and used ties on the inside and outside to close it, with one toggle at the shoulder.
The hood was self-drafted. The outside is wool, with the front pieces made out of knit and the lining in drapery fabric. It is trimmed with faux fur and has a small tassel on the end. The bracers are made from leather and felt – the hawks are hand painted. The belt is made from two strips of leather riveted together at the back and closed with braided leather cord. The sword is wood (shaped with saw, rasps, and sandpaper) and painted, and the hilt was bound in leather.
Absolutely wonderful!
Love the use of materials with different sheens to counter the colour-on-colour of the black! Great work!
this is so great and badass too !
A lot of layers and details on this outfit! You can easily see the hard work put into it♡
The contrasting textures are great and add detail to your costume. I love the look – it is fit for a fierce warrior.
I adore these books, and this is a wonderful interpretation of Tarma! Well done!
This is so badass!! 👏🤩🤩