Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Matthew's Jedi Costume - Simplicity 5840

Matthew heard about me from a mutual friend, and commissioned me to make him a Jedi costume for a Comic Convention.  My first reaction was absolute excitement.  I love making costumes!
I think this is Ewan Macgregor.  Don't quote me on that.  :)
He had already done a lot of research, so I did my best to catch up, and we decided that this pattern would be perfect.
 I went to Fabricland and got some linen, and got to work.  This pattern is so easy, I don't know what to say about it.  My favorite part was the neck band.  It's just a straight band, and you sew it to the front edge and around the back of the neck, and voila!  It stands up and looks really spiffy.


Here is Matthew at his first fitting.  The white dickey is done, and the tunic is mostly done.  I just had to serge the sleeve/side seams, put in side slits, and hem it.  I made him a straight XL and it fit perfectly.  I added 1" to the sleeve length.
 Here is the fun part.  Now, let me educate you on the proper Jedi names for this thing.  The pattern calls this 'shoulder armour' and a 'belt'.  In Jedi terms, the shoulder armour is the 'tabbard', and the belt is the 'obi'.  Got that?  There's a test later.  Hee hee.  Just kidding.  But seriously, pay attention.


I have these pieces pinned on him where we wanted them to sit.  I also added extension thingys that hang down below the belt.
According to the pattern, the obi is separate, and the tabbard is attached to a narrow belt with velcro on it.  We didn't like that.  So, I sewed it all together as one piece.  This required some sandwiching to sew all the pieces inside out.  But it worked!  Yay!
 Isn't the white dickey cute?  It looks like a bib.  Not glamorous, but it serves its purpose.  Matthew is sure to stay nice and cool without an extra shirt underneath.  Plus, it saved me a lot of sewing time.  Who wants to make an extra shirt if you can get the job done with just the neck?  


Okay, for all you nerds out there, and I know you're reading this, aren't we all thinking of Howard from The Big Bang Theory?  He loves dickeys.  I can't help but think of the time he ripped his shirt open in slow motion to 'We Are The Champions' to reveal that scrawny chest and that dorky little turtleneck.  Bahahahahaha!!!  I love it.  :D
 Anyways, back to the tunic.  I put in my nifty little label.  Here you can see the texture of the linen.  It's nice stuff.  I enjoyed working with it.
 Matthew came for his final fitting, and I rigged him up with all the layers.  It's quite a production to get dressed in this getup.  Looks pretty good, don't he?  I like how the tie looks at the front of the obi.
 I didn't know if Matthew was as excited as I was, but apparently, he was.  As soon as he got home that day, he got dressed up again, including the accessories, and posted it on facebook and even gave me a shout-out.  Thanks, Matt!  I can't even tell you how excited I was to work on this for you!  I can't wait till you send me more pictures.  Complete with light saber battles.  I'll be waiting!  Have fun at Comic Con!

1 comment:

  1. That is so fun!!

    Also, LOVE the turquoise satin Vogue dress. Too hot!

    ReplyDelete