I started with a basic plan. And I needed a name to get into character. I landed on Captain Jolly Jack Rackham.
Purchase List:
(1) 18" x 30" moving dolly
6' long 1.5" closet rod
12" leather cord
Gray, white, black, brown, tan spray paint
hobby knife/blades
pencil
3/16" drill bit for pilot holes
heat gun
dremel
2x4s
I had most of this on hand. I only bought the moving dolly, vinyl, closet rod, 2x2. Everything else I had on hand, so I only spent about $90. If you were buying all the supplies, you'd probably spend $300-400.
Introduction
I start nearly all of my projects in Sketchup. This lets me figure it out before I start cutting. I always try to maximize quality and cost. With this costume, the concern was the size of the wheel. While bigger is better, I also needed this to fit through doorways. With an 18x30 dolly, I decided to make the ships wheel a 30" diameter.
The critical soft goods were the pirate coat and hat. I knew the wheel would attract most of the attention. I made the hat out of foam, a bandana out of scrap cloth, the shirt is a modified dress shirt, the pants are from my Scorpion costume, the boots are from my Templar Knight costume, surprisingly I already had a sash, I made a spy glass with a scrap lens I had, created rum jugs, and printed/weathered a Letters of Marque as I'm privateer - not a pirate!
Ship's Wheel
This was critical as it would take this costume over the top. The moving dolly helped govern size as I wanted this to fit within door ways. While I hoped to purchase a complete wheel, it was beyond my budget. I then considered buying table legs, but that was also more than I wanted to spend.
The core of the wheel is a 2x4 cut to 3.5"x3.5" and then the corners were cut to create an octagon - 8 sides. I drilled a 1.5" hole in the center with a hole saw bit. Then I cut the 2x2 into (8) 7" lengths and glued it to the 2x4.
To get the circular shape, I cut half circles attached to the spokes. To enclose that I cut a 1.75" x 4' strip of 8' plywood. It will snap if you try to curve it, so I kerf cut it every .75". I should have done .5" as I still had some snapping. The kerf cut was approximately half the thickness of the ply. I needed roughly 56" of length. I started at one spoke, gluing and clamping at each spoke. I did half and then the other half.
For the handles, I took the 1.5" closet rod and turned it on a lathe. The problem is that the closet rod isn't a perfect circle. I didn't want trim it down as I was concerned the handles would look to thin. I ended up with handles that aren't turned the best, but I plan to blame the ship's carpenter. You don't need a lathe, but turned handles are a nice detail. Alternatively you could use table legs.
I cut my .5" dowels to 1" lengths, then drilled .5" holes in the closet rod handles and 2x2 spokes. I assembled, glued, and clamped the handles.
I cut another section of dowel to roughly 6.5" length and glued it to the center of the wheel. Then I cut a 4" and 2" circle out of the 1/8" plywood, glued them together and used that as a cover for the center of the ship's wheel.
Now I need to create a base. I had an old pallet that I dismantled and reassembled to an 18" x 30" size. I used 1.5" steel angle brackets and screwed the pallet to the dolly, using a dolly to ensure it's level. I used 1.25" coarse thread screws, drilling pilot holes first. I went back and added black material to hide the dolly.
I used angle brackets to attach 2x4s to the dolly in a triangular shape to support the wheel. I cut a 2x4 cross brace, and I added a bracket to attach one leg to the pallet as it wasn't solid enough. I cut pallet wood to create sides and a top for the ship's wheel spindle. The spindle is longer so I can put a rough cut masonry nail into the end so it doesn't slide out. I cut a plywood 'washer' so the masonry nail wouldn't get caught on the post.
It was lacking something. I had a piece of dark gray LVT that I cut to fit the triangular shape of the post. I used furniture tacks I had to secure it to the wood as they looked old. I then printed out the Sea of Thieves logo, cut it out with a hobby knife, used spray glue to tack the back, then attached it to the LVT and sprayed the logo. It's an appropriate 'pirate flag.' That and the Sea of Thieves logo is such a great design. The stencil template came out better than I could have hoped. The only thing left was to weather the wheel. My scrap wood and pallet looked distressed enough. I used wood stain and paint to make it suitable dirty looking. The stain added the base. I lightly sprayed on paint and wiped it off the handles for a worn look.
It still wasn't done. I added some rope. I bought it at the dollar store, since it wasn't thick enough I bought five and hot glued them together so it looks like thicker nautical rope.
I then create rum jugs out of EVA foam. These were quick and dirty, but it adds to the look. I then created a craft foam pouch to hide the metal bracket that attaches the post to the pallet. It slightly wraps around the post for a tension fit.
Captain's Coat
My pirate, I mean privateer, need an awesome coat. I'm not great at sewing. I find something similar and use that as a template. I happened to have an old trench coat that was perfect. I added the high collar, cuffed sleeves, shoulder extensions, and pockets. The look of the coat is my own design, I don't know what to call the shoulder extensions as I've never seen them before, but I like how they make the jacket look more imposing.
Using the trench coat as a template, I cut paper patterns, adjusting as needed. From there I traced the paper patterns onto the vinyl in chalk, adding 1" all the way around for hem/adjustment.
I chose the vinyl based on it being the lowest price in the store.
I added braided trim to the collar and pockets. I would have added it to the bottom of the jacket, but I ran out and wasn't going to buy more. 
I added the lapels later in the design without recutting the collar. The lapels are actual leather. I assumed it would work itself out. The problem is that vinyl doesn't drape. I added some stitches to try to pull some wrinkles out and so that the lapels would stay open. I also added stitches to help the collar hold it's shape.
While I usually try to weather everything, I like this coat too much. That and with vinyl, it's too easy to wear through the vinyl coating into the backing.
Tricorn Hat
The hat is EVA foam. I cut four triangles for the dome. The brim is a wide circle, that when tied back to the hat creates the triangular shape. I cut a template out in paper to get the size right. I used craft foam to cover the seams in the dome, heating and stretching it first to fit. The hat brim is craft foam and covers where it's short. The brim is attached to the dome with contact cement. both at the hat band and dome.
To finish the hat, I heated the foam with a heat gun to prep for Plasti-dip. Then I sprayed it a base brown and did mist coats of black and white, wiping away as needed to add texture. Then I used acrylic paints, brown and sepia, to add some dirt and highlights to weather the hat. I used leather cord to tie the brim to the dome, using acrylic paint to match the color of the cord to the hat.
I used some scrap cloth to sew together a bandana, sewing the knot in place. I dyed it a burgundy. The bandana will help hold the wig in place.
Shirt, Sash, Boots
The sash I already had. After years of costuming, I have a lot stock. It was even burgundy which was perfect.
The shirt is an old white dress shirt. I removed all buttons and tags, then sewed the front shut, leaving an wide open collar. I also sewed any button holes shut too. I cut off the cuffs. I used a white tee to create the ruffled sleeves and collar.
That's not enough. I used sepia water color to weather the ruffled cuffs, collar, and front of the shirt. The yellow tone makes it look well used.
The boot are costume boots I used for a previous costume. To give them the fold down look, I created a craft foam collar that I painted. I did not plasti dip it as I wanted an uneven finish.
Spy Glass
I had an old lens that I can't remember where I got it. I use that at one end, clear plastic at the other, wrapping them in non-corrugated cardboard and duct taping it together. The lens are hot glued in placed. I then cut strips of white craft foam and wrapped the entire thing, using contact cement. Acrylic paint was used to weather it. I tied a leather cord around it, used a rough cut masonry nail with a pilot hole in the ships wheels support to give me a place to hang it.
Letters of Marque
At some point in the process I decided I wanted to be a pirate posing as a privateer. I Googled what made a privateer legitimate, and the answer is a Letters of the Marque. I Google that, found an image of one and printed it. I used a hobby knife to rough up the edges, then put the paper in a container of water mixed with brown water color. Sitting over night, the colors leeched which makes it look authentic while adding texture.
Hook Hand
A pirate has to have a hook hand, right? I used a 3/4" wood dowel and shaped steel into a u-shaped bracket as a base. Then I shaped EVA foam around that. The hook is threaded rod bent to shape and embedded in EVA foam. I was afraid a foam only hook would rip off. The threaded rod is bolted to the u-shaped bracket. Then I heat treated the foam, Plastidipped it, then sprayed it with silver. Black acrylic was used to weather it.
I had an old belt that I used the pin buckle and cut a strip of leather for the base. 
Weapons
Did I want a flintlock pistol and knives? Yes. Somehow I have a flintlock replica and an old knife. While I used these for controlled photo shoots, I did not bring weapons into public. Any replica pistol is required to have an orange stopper in the end, and that just ruins the look I want.
Finish
For finished EVA foam, I use a dremel to knock down any edges. A heat gun pass seals the pores so paint won't be absorbed as much. For a clean finish I will Plasti-dip it. If I want a more weathered finish I will forgo Plasti-dip.
I worked on a peg leg, using the left of the platform to my advantage, but it wasn't stable enough and it becomes to big and bulky when accounting to my foot.
A few finishing touches were gold chains I already had, and dark make up below the eyes to make me look more ghastly. I also added some paint and hair spray to the wig and beard to provide texture. A pirate is a neat costume. A pirate with a ship's wheel is the exact over the top I want when I create a Halloween costume.
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