Jedi / Light Side Mara Jade costume

I though you guys might want to see this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Working-Mara-Jade-Lightsaber-not-Master-Replicas_W0QQitemZ200161016202QQihZ010QQcategoryZ99971QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Very nice!

You've made yet another great saber.

 

I have shin guards Temporary ones until I cast my legs and custom make a pair They are Hockey goalie shin pads and I just removed the padding tonight. These will need to be formed a little closer to my leg so I'll need to buy a nice big stock pot....

I found a suitable foot to sew my piping in I just need some leather needles as the needles I currently have don't cut the plastic well enough to stop the thread gripping and thus not forming a stitch. I will probably need to get some universal 70s as well for a back up.

My piping elastic might be a little narrow for the Decipher card version but it looks nice compared to the artwork.

I have managed to lose my buckles though, which is mighty annoying. Not surprising though after a house fire to not know where things are

 

Er...hello!

This is my first post here on the Jedi Council forums, and I'm hoping for some advice.

Specifically, (sigh: you've heard this before) Mara's jumpsuit. I can't use a sewing machine, you see. I want to learn but in the meantime I would quite like a jumpsuit. I can do enough to add piping and padding, I reckon, but I can't make it from scratch. Is there an online shop where anyone else got their jumpsuit from? Or would I be better off learning to make one from scratch?

Thanks!

 

Well I did just spot in my trawlings of images that there is at least one artwork that depicts a centre front seam which means that yes you can if you want adapt an existing suit (most being made in 4 panels). It will be a little trickier because you can't lay the parts out flat to mark where you want to put the various lines. Some of the artwork shows no seams at all.. so it depends on what you are aiming for with your costume.

If you are hand sewing I'd recommend you use a back stitch for the markings because that will still offer you some stretch. I wouldn't recommend hand sewing for this though if you can find someone with a sewing machine that has a stretch stitch and could do that part for you.

Premade pvc catsuits are everywhere, ebay, dance shops.... shops for discerning adults..... You will probably have better luck searching for catsuit than bodysuit.

 

Ah, true. Well, that they're on ebay, anyway. I still can't find the perfect one though. They either have front zips or the wrong shape of neck or long sleeves or goodness knows what else...

I think I may just try and make my own. It'll be fun and it'll definitely fit. I'll just have to find a nice friend with a sewing machine.

This may be a little tricky, but I'll have a go.

Hee. This will be fun.

I've already got Mara's green outfit:



But I always wanted the jumpsuit.

 

Woo! I got me a jumpsuit pattern!

And then I fiddled about with it a bit, and then I cut it out!

Now the problem is my total lack of thread. So I have lots of sad little jumpsuit pieces, all lonely by themselves...

Any tips on the kind of thread to use, other than, y'know, black and stretchy?

 

what are you sewing with (machine, serger, hand) - if by machine or serger (or by hand maybe) i would go with wolly nylon - it gives you a bit more stretch

jen

 

By hand at the moment: I should buy a sewing machine but I'm currently living on 2.3p a day or something (yay student loan) so I will have to wait until after Easter when I'll have, y'know, about 5p. Sewing shop in town doesn't do stretchy thread (why?) so the internet it is. I can only find wooly nylon in 'nearly black'. Tch. Would this do? Why is there no black? WHY?

Ahem, sorry. I've been writing a project report, I'm a little nuts at the moment.

 

I wouldn't worry about stretchy thread on a regular machine.
Use plain black thread. But use the straight stitch on "stretch" setting. That's what I did with my Mara suit (4-way stretch PVC) and it worked fine and has proven to be perfectly durable. No "blowouts" on the suit ever.

 

For handsewing I still really recommend back stitch. I've just cut my Mara gloves and they will require hand sewing at the fingertips and the bottom of the cuts for the fingers. I have just finished one glove (and need to sew the fingertips of the other) for another costume I will alternate with Mara pretty soon. Drafted my own pattern because my hands do not do well with premade gloves at all.
Weeell technically I didn't do backstitch as I had a gap between each stitch then did a second row. It just seems to make it a little more secure than a single row of closed backstitch.

In further own Mara costume news, I have duct tape to make double of my legs to sculpt on and I also have cut my leather templates for the harness and belt. It is quite a nifty shape for the harness really.

My cloak is on the way to being ready and my jumpsuit is all piped up and ready for final fitting

Still hunting perfect boots down.

 

Can't wait to see results

 

[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/glittersweet/costume/marabody2.jpg]
[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/glittersweet/costume/maragloves3.jpg]

Just what I have so far. I'm still needing to tweak the bodysuit as I am rather more curvy than my form (I go in where it goes straight up and down for instance-though I'm loving the way the photo resizing shows what curves there are ) As I'm not finished with shaping the body I've left off cutting the armholes any further.

Those are stunt belts and harness, I need to discuss with leatherworkers about options considering mara has no stitches showing on her belt and that will lead to stretching over time with the wrong kind of hide.

Those are gloves being custom made to my hands. I still need to sew 6 fingertips but the thumbs are both in. I'm also looking at ways to finished the cuffs so I get the right depth of slit on the side. Backstitching the thumb and fingertips, machine straight sewing the rest as it's a two way stretch not four.

I need most of the hardware still.

 

The bodysuit looks great. Is that 2 way or 4 way stretch material?

 

Thanks It's a two way but I cut the long pieces on the bias to give it more stretch through the length I got the idea after reading a Batman (tv series) forum and the discovery that the original Batgirl suit was made that way When you look at hi-res images you can see that the lame is indeed cut on the bias.

 

Hmmm...good idea. I think my KwikSew pattern's back piece is drawn mostly on the bias. I should try that on the front.

I"m going to start my "muslin" this week of my 2-way stretch fabric that has a lower sheen than the 4-way "wet" PVC. I"m using some of the stuff that JoAnns had a Halloween as the practice material before cutting into the good stuff.
This will be Mara v 5.0 for me. LOL

 

so ive had the fabric for this costume for a while now. i finally decided to make it theres still a few kinks i need to work out, but i've got it mostly completed...enough to wear it to I-Con this year. I even randomly won the 2008 Fanny Award for Favorite Star Wars Costume at I-Con 27 lol.

here it is:

[image=http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/5388/1001997pb9.jpg]


[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SilverJedi331/100_2001.jpg]



my hair is darker than usual here. someone switched out the bottles in the hair dye i bought and replaced it with brown the re-dye job didn't do much to repair the color, but hopefully i'll get it back to a nice bright red soon.

 

Quite cool! What reference image did you base it on?

I kind of want to do one of the "emporer's hand" Mara, from the SW Miniatures. She looks awesome in it.

 

Hey ya'll!!! First time posting here in costuming...and I have to say, I'm inspired after reading all of you! Now, I'm bound and determined to make my own specacular mara costume--and look amazingly sexy! My brothers have decided that me being a starwars nerd is akin to a guy loving care bears or strawberry shortcake. I'm going to show them that its for us ladies too!!! Any advice for a newbie to this? (keeping in mind I can't sew for my life?)

Irish

 

hmmm...only beware. it will suck all your financial resources! But it's fun. If you suck at sewing, you could pick up leather pants and vest and wear your belt over it so it looks like a one-piece. That's what I've done.

 

That's really cool! I've thought about doing that version, but I don't know how often I'd be able to wear it.
You look great! I'm glad that someone did this version.

 

my refrences are from the By The Emperors Hand comic. heres a few pics from it

[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SilverJedi331/mj41JPG.jpg]

[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SilverJedi331/marawithgunbteh.jpg]

[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SilverJedi331/marakicksassbteh5.jpg]

[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SilverJedi331/marakicksass3bteh.jpg]

 

cool! Thanks! You did a great job. It looks very similiar...and I feel that outfit fits more of what I would picture to be inclined Mara to wear than her black flightsuit...not to knock that because that's the one I wear. LOL.

 

First off, beautiful work everyone! You have all done some really great Mara costumes I'm hoping to add myself to your ranks shortly.

Let me set the scene for this before I ask my questions, so it'll all make more sense. Hothie and I play Star Wars miniatures quite a bit. "Mara Jade, Jedi" is one of my favorite pieces in the game. So I'm working on a costume based on that miniature (see below). I have no desire to try and join any costume group with this costume so I don't need to worry about each seam being accurate or anything thing like that. Mainly I just want to be recognized as this character while in the costume.

Here's the miniature:
[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/JediDajuan/Costumes/Mara%20Jade/MaraMini.jpg]

The mini is based on this and another drawing from the "Last Command" comic where Mara's actually in the mini's pose. I can't find a pic of that on line though.
[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/JediDajuan/Costumes/Mara%20Jade/MaraComic.jpg]

Ok, my questions are: where did everyone find their knee pads/shin guards and why type are they (skater, hockey etc). Also even though the miniature looks to have shin guards, the picture it's based on doesn't. Just getting the knee pads would be cheaper, easier, and far more comfy do you think the costume will work with out the shin guards? This costume will also have a slight twist to it. At Gen Con hothie and I made actual bases to walk around in to be "Star Wars miniatures" (see below again). So I'll actually be squatting down like Mara's mini for a significant amount of time. Shin guards could make that tricky.

Actually typing all this out has really made me decide the skip the shin guards for the time being (answered my own question ) but I still would like opinions on how people would think it would look in general with out them.

Miniatures:
[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/JediDajuan/Gen%20Con%202008/4Minis.jpg]

Costumes:
[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/JediDajuan/Gen%20Con%202008/genconpics017.jpg]

 

I have a pair of hockey shin guards but they are just too big, they also are made to wear over different sorts of padding so bulge out quite a bit over the front of the shin. I have an alternative that I'm working on but I have no idea if it will work out given different plastics properties and all that.

As far as omitting them, if you aren't aiming to join the 501st or RL then you will be fine The artwork from the New Essential Guide is really lovely and clearly doesn't have them.

Please keep us updated with your progress