Princess Leia Princess Leia Hoth & Bespin city costumes

Does anyone have any advice on how to attach the fairly thick braids to my head for the Leia Bespin costume? I was planning on using my own hair to do the bun and I have two fake braids I want to attach. I'm not sure how best to attach them.. The braids are fairly thick and heavy..

Thanks!
Maggie

 

kreleia - thanks! Sorry - I didn't see your post or I would have replied sooner! Yep - the embroidery took 9 months! But I took my time with it because I had a year to finish the costume.

DestinyFroste - it's looking good so far!

 

Maggie, when I did my hair, I started with putting my hair in a pony tail fairly high up. Then using the really large bobby pins, I wrapped the tail ends of the braids around my pony tail and pinned them in place. Last I wrap my pony tail into a bun covering the bobby pins and braid ends. And I was done!

Here's a photo of one of my braids and the bobby pins I used if that helps any.

 

I was thinking of something similar to Naboo_Girl, but with a slight variation:

You could attach the braids to hair elastics that wrap around the base of your ponytail before you make the bun -- that way, there's NO chance of them falling off/out.

Just a thought, untested.

 

thanks for the suggestions! My braids are so thick the ends are bulky! But I worked on it tonight - and though I'll need to practice it, I think I might have something that works - I did the high pony-tail - and strung a ribbon through the elastics at the ends of the braids and spaced the braids out how I wanted them - then I tied that around the ponytail and bobbypinned the braid ends down as best as I could. Then I wrapped the bun around. I think my hair needs to be longer and one length. Hopefully it'll grow some more in the month til CIII! I will have to keep practicing the hairdo!

 

Wowee Maggie! I totally missed your post with the finished results. Your costume looks perfect, totally amazing! I can't wait to see it at CIII

- kay dee

 

Thanks!!

 

Wow Maggie! That costume is beautiful and amazing! How many hours do you think you spent on it?

There are some are some really dedicated costumers here. Or maybe they are just crazy! LOL

 

I think that most people have made the coat with one long piece of silk chiffon. HOwever, I"m 5'7" and think that it would come out too short.
Has anyone done this in pannels that they sewed together? If so, how'd you do it?

 

You'd probably be fine with 54" chiffon. 5'7" is 67 inches, then taking into account the height of your head and the fact that the flowing part of the cloak starts well below her shoulders (thanks to the yoke)...yeah, that's probably at least 13 inches.

 

I know LeiaYT1300 made it out of panels - so she could probably better answer your questions.

I'm 5'4" and the 45" was more than enough for my heigh - because the yoke comes down to about mid-breast level - so you don't need the embroidered part to come up much higher than the top of your chest - so 45" might be ok on you. thaisilks.com (where I got my chiffon) does have 54" chiffon - it's just a bit more expensive.

 

Thanks. I know someone had tried the pannels from reading through the thread in the past. I just couldn't remember who.

 

[color=660099]So I saw a few Bespin's at CIII. Holly, I met you during Happy Hour while you were in Bespin and I was in snow Padme. I later changed into Bespin for Celebration at CIII and you and another girl asked if I was someone else while I was taking some pictures. I tried to track you guys back down after that, but I just wanted to let you know that was me.

I have not done the embroidery yet, and there are parts I want to fix on the costume. My sewing machine broke while I was in the middle of hemming and before I attached the collar. I was the Leia in the Bespin group by the Cingular disply on Friday if anyone saw that. I heard our Lando was going to be done so I threw together Leia to suprise the others. We stopped traffic in the hallway. The total group was: Chewbacca, Han, Lando, Lobot, Boba Fett, Leia, C-3PO (on chewbacca's back) and the Ice Cream maker guy. If anyone has pictures of that I am searching for them.[/color]

 

I really enjoyed getting to see everyone's Bespin Leias in person.
It makes me really excited to try my hand at it, although I'm going to use the less accurate, though easier on the fingers embroidery machine version of the stitching. The programming will be an interesting adventure, though.

 

Seeing all the Bespin gowns has inspired me as well. I've been sitting on this project for years. I think that's because the embroidery terrifies me!

 

Wow, everyone's costumes are so awesome! Attending C3 really made me want to make a Leia costume (that and the fact that all my friends are encouraging me to be Leia because I look like her, lol), so I decided to make the Hoth/Bespin jumpsuit, sans vest. THANKS to whoever posted the link to buy a jumpsuit pattern - I'm going to ask my friend to help me make this. Now I just need to find fabric that will work.

 

Anyone have any ideas on where to get the fabric for the Bespin tunic and pants?? All I can find is a satin in the right colour...


Sarah

 

I got my fabric at Hancock Fabrics. It's a rayon/poly twill, and I'm not 100% sure it's the right color. It's more brown than red, but that costume changes color so much it's hard to tell what color it really is. Plus, it's darned good enough for me
Sarah

 

Joann had the right color in the home dec department where all the sheer curtain stuff is - it's a voile in a dark brownish reddish color. Then I just found something for under it that would make it however brownish/reddish I wanted it to be...

 

I am officially a lunatic. . .I've started the embroidery on my new Bespin cape. . .four yards of silk habotai is sitting in my lap as we speak. I'm doing it mostly sating stitch (because otherwise it might be too easy), with rayon machine embroidery thread. I found I liked it better than the DMC, 'cause the rayon's slicker and finer and doesn't snag on the silk fibers as it passes through. Another reason I'm certifiable: I'm doing the embroidery with a size 12 quilting between. You know, the kind that completely disappears if you drop it. I'm not well

 

Unlocked and bumping for recent query.

 

Hi, I'm relatively new here.

I'm seriously considering making a Bespin Leia costume. I've been thinking about it for well over a year now and I think it's time I finally tackled it. I know it's been heavily discussed in other threads but I had a specific request.

Does anyone out there have a mock-up of the embriodery or hi-res photos that show the cloak laid out flat that they'd be willing to share? I've been looking for good reference for a while and it's giving me some trouble.

Many thanks for any help you can give!

Jenn

 

Have you checked out Maggie's Padawan's Guide section on it yet? Lots of research images of the actual costume, with some great close-ups of the embroidery. There's also her costume site page with info on her excellent version.

 

Anyone making the Hoth/Escape from Bespin Leia jumpsuit? I saw the pattern that many may be using a few pages back, but as for fabric does anyone have any good suggestions? It almost looks like a canvasy material to me, but some have mentioned cotton or even a jersy knit.

Thoughts?

~Obischick~

 

I had the perfect fabric on a swatch, and now I cannot find it! It was a nylon that was soft with a slight sheen. If you watch the film closely you can see that sheen. It was also visible when the costume was displayed at CIII.

I used cotton twill the first time I made this. It was too heavy, IMO. I do plan to re-do it with that fabric I found (if I can find it again).

I'll post the place if I can find it in the next couple of days.

Edit: I found this link in my favorites, so I ordered a sample of "Supplex water-repellant Nylon, 56-60" wide". If this is the right place, and I think it is, they send the all the color samples for the selected fabric on a card. I do remember that the sample card I had included a white and a beige/off white that could be used for the vest.


Extra Edit: I ended up mixing the Green Pepper women's jumpsuit pattern and Kwik Sew 2588.