[EDIT: You can now find the full tutorial and pattern for this project here.]

Now and then I’ve mentioned how my ties with LoadingReadyRun can lead to abrupt and somewhat random crafting requests. A couple weeks ago I was in the middle of vital and uninteresting work stuff, when my phone dinged with a message from Graham that read: “How much time would you need to make an Assassin’s Creed 3 hoodie?”

It’s these moments in life that make it easier to bear the other moments in life, the ones where you’re not getting to make cool stuff or disembowel Bugbears with your D&D party.

Graham also helpfully informed me that the costume only needed to work from mid-torso up, saving me the trouble of making a full garment, or laughing hysterically when he asked if I’d have time to get this done within the week. After following my customary research procedures (Google image searches and screenshots – it’s very scientific and technical, my research) I decided that a white button-up shirt would work as the base, with the hood obviously being the critical crafting piece.

These are the two images I found most useful, though their costume details do conflict with each other in places (but that’s when you get to pull out that dynamic duo: “artistic license” and “creative interpretation”):

Instead of creating a whole top garment of any kind, I simply made white cloth triangles rimmed with brown ribbon to be pinned to either shoulder, one with the added detail of the little fabric loop you see in the left-hand image above, helpful for holding a leather strap (read: someone’s belt) in place over the shoulder. LRR added the detail of a brown vest, and I think the whole thing turned out looking pretty awesome.

The fabric is a nice thick cotton from a repurposed, good quality king-sized sheet I was lucky enough to find for $10 at a local thrift store. Way cheaper than going to the fabric store.

At some point I may post a tutorial for the Assassin’s Creed hood, which took me a couple tries to get right, but is generally fairly simple. But for now, here’s a shot of the pattern pieces I drafted and used, for those who might want to figure it out for themselves. They’re a little deceptive, because I had to make adjustments after sewing the pieces together – I went back and cut out the large upward V so at the bottom of the hood, so it can sit over the shoulders (see the next photo down after this one), but this should still give you a general idea of pattern shape.

Cut two of each for the outer hood, and two of each for the lining. Sew the long pointy pieces together along their straight edge, and sew their other edges to the back, outward-curving edge of the hood shaped pieces.

You want to line a hood like this, because it’s fairly open so you’re going to see inside it somewhat (and thus see any raw edges of seams), and because it needs to hold its shape to some extent, and the extra layer of fabric helps with that.

I did this the same way I did the lined dice bags – make an outer shell and a lining in exactly the same way, sew them together around the edges, right sides facing each other, and leave an opening to then turn them right side out and voila, you have a lined hood.

I also made a separate diamond piece to sew onto the outside front of the hood. The hood was already the right shape there, but the added piece a)is what the original in the game has and b)like the lining, helped stabilize that front piece of the hood even more so it sat flat as it does in the game. I also stitched an eagle onto that diamond piece in white thread, not because it would be visible at all on camera, but because it’s there in the game, and I am sometimes detail-oriented to my own disadvantage. I enjoy knowing it’s there, though.

All this has led me to think it would be a great deal of fun and a worthwhile experiment to make a full Assassin’s Creed costume at some point. More on that later, when (ha!) I have some extra time.

Once the hood and shoulder pieces were done, I tried it myself with the white shirt and belt added to make sure it was going to look approximately right:

And here’s Cam, trying on the costume pieces in our Mount Washington cabin, and looking very dashing (it’s difficult for him not to). A bunch of us went up there (it’s a Vancouver Island ski resort) for the weekend, and LRR cleverly decided to shoot the Assassin’s Creed bits on location, since there was, most appropriately, actual snow. Apart from Cam’s near-acquaintance with hypothermia, it seemed to go well.

Once more, this time with scenery!

And silly moustaches.

Video images are screenshots from the LoadingReadyRun video “Assassin Creeds,” viewable on and licensed to The Escapist. Thanks to LoadingReadyRun for the crafting opportunity, and to Cameron Lauder for making the costume look so damn good.