Dragon Scale Epaulets Crochet Armor

Renaissance Faire season is coming up my friends! I get super excited every year and want to buy a new outfit. However, now that I’ve been going there for several years, I have so many outfits. My friends and I have dressed as our numerous d&d characters over the years, and so many other fighter, royal, and pirate-inspired outfits! I’ve had this idea in my mind for a while now, and I finally had the inspiration to bring it to life!

I’ve always wanted dragon-scale epaulets and I’ve spent years researching the best way to make them. My first thought was to buy a bunch of those metal (aluminum?) ones from a craft store, but they are EXPENSIVE! Especially since I would need 100s of the scales to get the effect I was looking for. I’ve seen the crocodile stitch for a while, but I always thought it was going to be super difficult to make. Turns out, it’s way easier than I thought! Once I got a hang of the individual scales, I was immediately inspired to make the epaulets I had been dreaming of.

Now that the epaulets have been made I knew I wanted to attach it to something. I had been struggling with myself to figure out exactly what. I honestly think it would look just as good with some kind of chain holding them together, but I wanted to see what it would look like on some kind of breastplate-inspired look.

The light grey “breastplate” does kind of seem more like a poncho to me, but I still think it’s cute. The front post/back post ribbing looks amazing with the armor feel to me. The poncho itself is very customizable for sizing. I’ve only included in this free pattern the sizing that works best for me, which is typically medium or large. I can’t decide the best way to increase the length of the poncho, but you can either repeat more rows of each pattern or repeat the whole pattern completely.

Here’s an adventuring-inspired look! This poncho is crocheted in the round, but I began each row on the shoulder portion to keep a smooth look on both the back and the front. I had also thought to add a collar, I haven’t decided the best way to do that, but feel free to create your own and post it in the comments!

Finally, I have the D&D-inspired look, and I’m able to show off the many, MANY, dice I have collected over the years. (I don’t have a problem). I hope you’re inspired to make this, or make something similar based on this pattern. I might use a different type of yarn than the one I used. I was so excited to create it, but I didn’t think about wearing this in the late summer California heat… a cotton or bamboo yarn might work better.

Pattern

Materials:
2 skeins Caron Simply Soft in Feathered Gray
1 skein Clisil Metallic Yarn in Light Gray
Size 5mm Crochet Hook
Size 3mm Crochet Hook
Yarn Scissors
Tapestry Needle

Legend:
ch – chain
st – stitch
sk – skip
rep – repeat
sl st – slip stitch
dc – double crochet
hdc – half double crochet
blo – back loop only
fpdc – front post double crochet
bpdc – back post double crochet

Instructions:

Epauletes:
Use Metallic Yarn
Use 3mm crochet hook

ch 4
Row 1: dc in 4th ch from hook
Row 2: ch 3, 4dc around dc post, ch 1, 5dc around dc post {1 scale}
Row 3: ch 3, dc in same st, ch 2, 2dc in middle of scale, 2dc in 3ch st of previous row
Row 4: ch 3, 4dc around dc post, ch 1, 5dc around dc post, ch 1, sk 2ch spc & 2dc & 2ch sp, 5dc around dc post, ch 1, 5dc around dc post {2 scales}
Row 5: ch 3, dc in same st, ch 2, 2dc in middle of scale, ch 2, 2dc on ch sp between 2 scales, and through middle of 2dc of previous row, ch 2, 2dc in middle of scale, ch 2, 2 dc in ch 3 st of previous row
Row 6: ch 3, 4dc around dc post, ch 1, 5dc around dc post, [ch 1, sk 2ch spc & 2dc & 2ch sp, 5dc around dc post, ch 1, 5dc around dc post] repeat. {3 scales}
Row 7: ch 3, dc in same st, [ch 2, 2dc in middle of scale, ch 2, 2dc on ch sp between 2 scales, and through middle of 2dc of previous row] repeat, ch 2, 2dc in middle of scale, ch 2, 2 dc in ch 3 st of previous row
Row 8: ch 3, 4dc around dc post, ch 1, 5dc around dc post, [ch 1, sk 2ch spc & 2dc & 2ch sp, 5dc around dc post, ch 1, 5dc around dc post] rep twice. {4 scales}
Row 9: ch 3, dc in same st, [ch 2, 2dc in middle of scale, ch 2, 2dc on ch sp between 2 scales, and through middle of 2dc of previous row] repeat twice, ch 2, 2dc in middle of scale, ch 2, 2 dc in ch 3 st of previous row
Row 10: ch 3, 4dc around dc post, ch 1, 5dc around dc post, [ch 1, sk 2ch spc & 2dc & 2ch sp, 5dc around dc post, ch 1, 5dc around dc post] rep 3 times. {5 scales}
Row 11: ch 3, dc in same st, [ch 2, 2dc in middle of scale, ch 2, 2dc on ch sp between 2 scales, and through middle of 2dc of previous row] repeat three times, ch 2, 2dc in middle of scale, ch 2, 2 dc in ch 3 st of previous row
Row 12: ch 3, 4dc around dc post, ch 1, 5dc around dc post, [ch 1, sk 2ch spc & 2dc & 2ch sp, 5dc around dc post, ch 1, 5dc around dc post] rep 4 times. {6 scales}

At this point, you can continue to repeat rows until it reaches your desired width. End on a even number of scales. The next rows will increase the length but not the width, alternating between number of scales for each row.

Row 13: ch 3, 1 dc in middle of scale, ch 2, 2dc on ch sp between 2 scales, and through middle of 2dc of previous row [ch 2, 2dc in middle of scale, ch 2, 2dc on ch sp between 2 scales, and through middle of 2dc of previous row] repeat 3 times, ch 2, 2dc on ch sp between 2 scales, and through middle of 2dc of previous row
Row 14: ch 1, sk 2 dc posts and sk 2 ch, 5dc around dc post, ch 1, 5dc around dc post, [ch 1, sk 2ch spc & 2dc & 2ch sp, 5dc around dc post, ch 1, 5dc around dc post] repeat 3 times. sl st to 3ch space of previous row. {5 scales}
Row 15: ch 3, dc in 3ch sp of previous row, [ch 2, 2dc in middle of scale, ch 2, 2dc on ch sp between 2 scales, and through middle of 2dc of previous row] repeat 3 times, ch 2, 2dc in middle of scale, ch 2, 2dc in ch sp & through middle of 2dc of previous row.
Row 16: same as Row 12
Repeat rows 13 – 16 5 times, or until desired length, ending in a Row 16 repeat.
Last Row: [ch 2, 2sc in middle of scale, ch 2, 2sc on ch sp between 2 scales, and through middle of 2dc of previous row] repeat until end, ch 2, 2 sc in middle of scale.
Tie off.

Poncho:
Use Caron Simply Soft
Use 5.5 mm Crochet Hook

ch 96, join as circle
Round 1: ch 2, hdc in each st in 24th ch: 2hdc, ch 2, 2hdc, hdc in next 48 st, in 72nd st: 2hdc, ch 2, 2hdc, hdc in rest of stitches, sl st to join
Round 2: ch 2, [hdc in next st, ch 1, hdc in same st, sk st] rep until ch 2 sp, in ch 2 sp: hdc, ch 1, hdc, ch 2, hdc, ch 1, hdc, [hdc in next st, ch 1, hdc in same st, sk st] rep until ch 2 sp, in ch 2 sp: hdc, ch 1, hdc, ch 2, hdc, ch 1, hdc, [hdc in next st, ch 1, hdc in same st, sk st] rep til end, sl st to join
Round 3: ch 2, [in ch space of previous row: hdc, ch 1, hdc] rep til ch 2 sp, in ch 2 sp: hdc, ch 1, hdc, ch 2, hdc, ch 1, hdc, [in ch space of previous row: hdc, ch 1, hdc] rep til ch 2 sp, in ch 2 sp: hdc, ch 1, hdc, ch 2, hdc, ch 1, hdc, [in ch space of previous row: hdc, ch 1, hdc] rep til end, sl st to join
Round 4 – 5: Repeat Round 3
Round 6: ch 3, [dc in each hdc st, skipping ch 1 spaces, repeat until ch 2 sp, in ch 2 sp: 2dc, ch 2, 2 dc] repeat once, sl st to join
Round 7: ch 3, [dc in each st until ch 2 sp, in ch 2 sp: 2dc, ch 2, 2 dc] repeat once, sl st to join
Round 8 – 10: Repeat round 7
Round 11: Ch 3, [1dc ch 1, sk 1 st] repeat until ch 2 space, in chain 2 space: 2 dc, ch 2, 2dc, [1dc ch 1, sk 1 st] repeat until ch 2 space: in chain 2 space: 2 dc, ch 2, 2dc, [1dc ch 1, sk 1 st] repeat until end, sl st to join
Round 12: Ch 2, hdc in each st & ch space until ch 2 space, in ch 2 space: 2dc, ch 2, 2 dc, hdc in each st & ch space until ch 2 space, in ch 2 space: 2dc, ch 2, 2 dc, hdc in each st & ch space, sl st to join
Round 13: Repeat Round 2
Round 14: Repeat Round 3
Round 15: Repeat Round 6
Round 16 – 17: Repeat Round 7
Round 18: ch 3, [dc blo in each st until ch 2 sp, in ch 2 sp: 2dc, ch 2, 2 dc] repeat once, sl st to join
Round 19: ch 3, [fpdc, bpdc in each alternating st until ch 2 sp: 2dc, ch 2, 2dc] repeat once, sl st to join
Round 20: ch 3, [bpdc, fpdc in each alternating st until ch 2 sp: 2dc, ch 2, 2dc] repeat once, sl st to join
Round 21: Repeat Round 19
Round 22: Repeat Round 20
Round 23: [sl st in each st until ch 2 sp, 2 sl st in space] repeat once, bind off

Sew Epaulets to shoulder seams on the poncho.