Phx SW Costume Info

For those who are interested in making Jedi Robes and lightsaber hilts, here are a couple of good pages I've been haunting lately:

Obi-Wan's Jedi Academy - has Sith garb instructions too.
Amber's Jedi Meditation Chamber - super ultra-picky Jedi robe details.
The Big Yellow Box - lightsabers!! WOOHOO!!
You can also contact JediToren about his Jedi robe info. Apparently, it's good info. I haven't seen or used it, but he's done a bang-up job on his Obi-Wan robes.

If you want to see one of my Amidala costumes, and give it a go too, here's the page that explains how I did it, and has a couple of pics:

Queen Amidala's White Parade Gown

Now, if you're really inspired, or just plain out obsessed, here's a site that goes step-by-grueling-step over the details of making Stormtrooper (or any imperial trooper) armor - just keep in mind, it's a *very* expensive, *very* time-consuming venture:

StudioCreations DH2

Any other questions, ask me, or check out the Costuming & Props board.

kreleia ^.^

multiple edits: Went through and updated all the links to the correct addresses.

 

Okay, here's a bunch of information that I've been able to dig up for costume accessories (boots and belts).

Boots: (for Jedi or Imperial Officers, or whoever else wears knee-high boots)
The Sportsmans Guide website has a ton of great stuff to check out, besides boots. But these are the two pairs that look really good (they're actual East German Military Officer's boots):
Officer's Boots, Black - $19.97 (new)
German Goosestepper Boots - $9.97 (used)
The only complaint I've heard on the Officer's boots ($19.97 version) is about the rubber sole being *very* squeaky at first. Other than that, people have said they really like them.
**Also, the information at The Sportsmans Guide changes and updates on a regular basis. If the links don't work, go to the main website and do a search for "boots." You should be able to find "Officer's Boots" listed.

Grand Prix OnLine has some really good looking riding boots too - they have more of the shine that I picture an Imperial Officer having on his boots. A little more expensive, but really good looking.
Foxwood Cadett synthetic Boots - $32.95
All the other brands I looked at on Grand Prix were enormously expensive (as in $150 and up). These would be just fine for what you'd use 'em for.

Jedi Belt:
Good-NESS!! I had no idea that when I actually started digging for belt tutorials that people would get so nit-picky on itty-bitty details! ; This is the best, and probably least-involved, belt tutorial I've been able to find so far. And the belt is actually quite good-looking (and accurate) when finished.
Obi-Wan Jedi Belt Tutorial
You could also check out Amber's Jedi Meditation Chamber (I have a link posted to her site in the first message).

 

Thanks, Idiot's Array, for posting this info about specialty contact lenses.

Just about any eye clinic can get contact lenses for you, or you can even order them online. I think they usually run about $100, not counting an eye exam to have them fitted for your eyes. (If you order online you'll still need to set an appointment with an opthamalogist to have a fitting done.)

A few websites to check out if you are interested:

http://www.coloredcontacts.com/index.htm

http://www.buy-contact-lenses-online.com/

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/mypiercing/colconlen.html (seems to be about the cheapest prices, but they don't have the greatest warranty)

 

Here's some good info for an Imperial Officer/Grand Admiral uniform costume.

Simplicity Pattern #7274 is actually a CivilWar uniform pattern, but is easily modified to be used as an Officer's coat. It has the right neckline and jacket closure-style (the overlapping button-on-the-side look). It also works for adding medals, decorations and extra pockets for rank cylinders. I found this pattern at JoAnn's Etc in Ahwatukee for half-price! Apparently, JoAnn's *always* has Simplicity patterns at half-price. YAY!!
The only drawback about this pattern is the pants - unless you don't care about being dead-on accurate. The Imperials wear jodhpurs (the pants that are puffy on top, and tight around the calves). You can get a similar look by just stuffing your pants into your boots, but jodhpurs look a lot better since they were made to do just that. I'm still looking for a pattern for these, although they'd probably be fairly easy to "wing".

Fabrics to use - I would recommend a white/olive green/black wool suiting, or a heavy cotton blend suiting. I know, you're thinking you'd die from heat in wool, but trust me, you'd die a lot quicker in polyester. Wool breathes, as do other natural fabrics. Polyester and other man-mades do not. Personally, I'd look for a cotton blend (that's 50/50 or higher in cotton) for our area.
I looked at suiting at JoAnn's - they only had polyester. Besides, they're expensive. I'd try SAS (the fabric remnant store) or shop around. SAS usually has really good rolls of wool fabrics too.

Rank insignia buttons and cylinders: (quoted from Nostradamus on the C&P board)

Buttons: "Plexiglass scraps - I cut them out by hand, sanded and filed them and it took a long time. I painted the squares with acryllic paint, clear matte laquered them and then attached them to a piece of aluminum flashing that I attached to yet an other piece of plexiglass. I painted the sides of the base with a silver testors paint marker. Right now I have velcro on the back to attach it to the tunic. Vince (husband) has a pinback on his."

Cylinders: "The code cylinder/chalk holders are plastic ones that I chromed with model paints. $3 per holder and a few bucks for the paint."

The belt can be done using pieces from Tandy Leather (online or there's a store in Tempe). Just a plain rectangular buckle and black belt.

The gold shoulder epaulettes that Thrawn wears are available (I believe) at military surplus stores. If not, I'm sure someone online has them.

I also don't know exactly how Thrawn's rank insignia buttons are color-coded. I'll ask.

Here are pics of the costumes Nostradamus has done (she's been my main resource so far):
http://www.geocities.com/tkvanb/imperialcostumepageone.html

BUT if you want to just chuck all this detailed stuff out the window in the name of cost, you can check out the tutorial here:
http://tatooine.fortunecity.com/swampthing/97/imp-officer1.html
It actually gives you a rather good-looking imp uniform at low low cost.

kreleia ^.^

 

Basic Cloak (not a Jedi cloak!)

[image=http://members.cox.net/kreleia/cosplay/images/McCalls_8936.jpg] (click to see it full size)

The fabric I used for this is a cotton/lycra knit (it's kinda stretchy). Really, though, this pattern works with all kinds of fabric. Just go to the store, and find something you like. Make sure it's not too stiff, or too light-weight. You'll walk in with an idea of what you want, and most likely be able to find it. It'll be on the heavier side if you want a good "drape" (the way it hangs when you have it on).

The pattern envelope suggests: Wool, wool blends, Melton (?), Double Knits, Gabardine, Mohair, Alpaca (?), Velveteen, Double Jersey, Wool Crepe, Tweed, Fleece, Flannel or Velvet. (So, basically, whatever you want.)

You'll need 5½ yards of your main fabric - make sure the fabric is a 60" width (just ask if you're not sure).

For the hood lining, I just found a polyester satin finish fabric. This stuff is everywhere. Wal-Mart has it, Jo-Anns has it, you can't miss it. It's very light-weight and usually shiny. Get whatever color you want, or to match your main fabric.

You'll need 5/8 of a yard for the lining. This can be a shorter width (45" is standard).

Avoiding the arm holes is easy. Instead of stopping where they would be, you just keep on sewing. The hood might be a little more challenging, but I could help with that no problem. The construction of it is easy, but attaching it to the cloak body would be the more difficult part (it has to be gathered).

^.^

 

yeah the zam costume looks like if i can even make it it's *guaranteed* to look bad because i can only find vinyl in the (sort of) right colors. so i guess that's okay, i'll get it made eventually, but i think not this time.

i'm in love with the mustard/reddish handmaiden costume but now i feel all goofy after stumbling across that thread on the costume board where someone said everyone makes that one. hehehe. i think i might still make it anyway because i can never have enough costumes and i can probably make three or four for myself in the time it would take to make one cruddy looking zam costume.

so i guess i'm gonna start deciding soon. anyway i'm pretty sure i'm gonna make an obi-wan costume (god i'm in love with those robes, they're so...JEDI looking ) so that stuff will come in handy. thanks for the links!

i'd already had the belt tutorial bookmarked, i was really surprised by how good that looked. and i already bought my sculpey so i can start on it right away now.

 

okay i've figured it out.

i'm making my obi-wanish jedi robes for the premiere, and possibly also the spectrafade/"flame" handmaiden thing, cause i've always wanted that. the zam costume will be taken care of at some later date and if i can i'll try making time to join the 501st.

ooh i'm so proud of myself for figuring this out. i'm looking at all those links now, so thanks again for posting them.

anwelei (i hope i spelled that right), if you come across this, maybe we should talk so our robes don't end up looking really similar, if you're making some (i think you said you were). PM me or IM me, or email me...contact me however you want.

 

Jupitertronic, I am making the same belt. Where did you get your sculpey?

 

I know I'm not jupitertronic, but I've used Sculpey, so...

You can find Sculpey at pretty much any craft store. Michaels, Craftmart, JoAnn's, etc. It's usually with all the "artsy" stuff - paints and brushes, molds, rigid wrap (plaster) and whatnot. If you can't find it, just ask. MiraxH recommends Premo Sculpey - she used it for her Slave Leia-ish costume, and really liked it. I'm still waiting for her to post pics! (The Premo Sculpey is made by the same company as regular Sculpey, except it's stronger and a higher quality - although the regular stuff isn't bad at all.)

Hope that helps!
kreleia ^.^

 

Thanks Kreleia, I hope to have everything for both my lightsaber (missing 2 parts) and my Jedi belt (yet to do any shopping for that) by Saturday.

 

Yes, the premo is much better, trust me! And it comes in tons of colors. I ordered it here in 1 lb blocks:
http://www.clayfactoryinc.com/premo.htm
They were very prompt in their delivery.

 

i just got done baking the sculpey and it looks awesome. it took quite a while for me to get used to the consistency of it, so it was about an hour or two before stuff started looking good... at first i could see too many fingerprints and it was starting to bug me, but then i found a way around that (rub out the prints, it's not too hard). anyway i started having so much fun that i made 5 buckles (all a little different...i need to fix one of the sides of the buckles), a chance cube, a japor snippet and a snitch (no feathers yet).

stuff works very nice. i was looking through my visual dictionary for anything else to make and i almost made a handmaiden blaster pistol but decided i could easily make that out of a toilet paper roll and some plastic eggs, so i thought i shouldn't waste the sculpey. anyway that stuff goes a long way; everything i made was with one package of sculpey. i bought 5 so i can make a crapload more. anyway it's nice stuff, but yeah it doesn't seem like the most sturdy stuff. it's definitely hard but probably pretty breakable. i plan on using the chance cube for the hell of it though.

anyway i definitely recommend the stuff, but give yourself some time to get used to it (maybe it was my batch but that stuff is sticky!) and don't expect it to look perfect. even though mine doesn't look like it came from a metal mold or anything, i actually kind of prefer the handmade look of the buckles.

now i just need to see if the leather (that i haven't bought yet) will fit through it. it's not too hard to do so i don't mind making another set if i need to (i'm talking about the things on the sides of the buckle that the belt goes through).

i'm kind of antsy about buying stuff online (especially when i don't want to wait for it), so i think i'm gonna buy leather at a store if i see any (or maybe cut up a cheap belt). but so far it's looking pleasantly and surprisingly good.

 

Jupitertronic, I?m glad you were able to make some cool things with your sculpey. I just purchased a couple of bars today for eventual use on my Jedi belt. Jupitertronic are you coming to the saber building get together? I have a couple of costuming questions for everyone. In several boards I have heard that people were able to buy inexpensive ?riding boots? for their Jedi costumes. Does anybody know of a place locally that boots of this type can be found? I don?t like to order online. Also, does anyone know of a place that sells the custom cuts of leather and the leather accessories. I have tried a couple of places in my area (Phoenix) and haven?t had any luck.

 

Aahhh QuiGon. You have stumbled upon the problem that is currently plaguing IA and me - boots. IA ordered some from the Sportsmans Guide website, and they ended up being huge, so ever since then, we've both been scouring local businesses and websites trying to find others.

The best boots I have found online are here:
http://gprix.com They're under "boots" -> "Foxwood" and are the synthetic Cadet boots. The only thing is that they only sell in whole sizes.

I also found some riding boots at Petsmart yesterday (at Baseline and Stapley in Mesa - they carry riding gear) - the problem there was selection. Not a big one by any means, and at the time, they only had Ladies styles in stock. Still, there were a few on clearance for $30 to $40 (originally $100+). So, that might help out the women here who are interested in boots.

I have yet to find any other boots locally that aren't more than $75.

Check out some of the boot links in that PM I sent you - they might have some, or list other resources.

kreleia ^.^

EDIT: The only place in town I've found that sells the type of leather you're looking for jupitertronic is The Copper Saguaro in Tempe. They're a Tandy Leather dealer, and have lots of leather, dye, and accessories. Or you could order directly from Tandy - from what I hear, they're reliable (although I've never ordered from them myself).

 

Thanks for the tips. I have scoured qwestdex.com and have found some likely leather and boots stores. I am going to call them tonight and see if they can help. I am also going to try a couple of thrift stores. I?ll let you know what I find.

 

yesterday we got a magazine in the mail (jessica london) and i was just looking through it, even though it's not my taste, and lo and behold there were the perfect boots (for women). genuine leather, brown, knee high, etc etc. very much like adi gallia's if i remember. $49 it says, and they come in varying degrees of width because it's basically a catalog for larger women (that doesn't matter for me though cause even though i'm not small, i've got some skinny feet ). anyway if you like mail order better than online (i know i do), you might want to go to site and have them send you a catalog...but i don't know how long that would take to get the catalog delivered to you.

walmart has a lot of stuff that could come in useful, but i'm a size ten (in women's) and their stuff doesn't seem to go up higher than 9, which is very stupid.

www.delias.com (they also have a mail order catalog) has some boots i think are PERFECT. they have a buckle on top and everything. the only problem is they seem to be constantly out of stock. but i think they run around $30 or so if you can find them in stock. again, these are women's shoes. ((and i've just checked the website and they appear to not be selling *any* boots, it must be the season))

you might want to try like a harley davidson store (pricey) or some other kind of equestrian store or something like that for men's boots. maybe hunting catalogs/stores might carry stuff too.

otherwise i'd say the mall is your best bet. but it's gonna cost you no matter where you go if you want nice looking boots that are made of leather.

 

Thanks for the research Jupitertronic. I might were women's boots as long as they look right and they cover my tootsies.

 

krelia: I got the goosestepper boots from the Sportsman's Guide and LOVE them. They absolutely make my Luke Jedi costume, and will do nicely for the Imp Officer one that I'm trying to start (or will when I get a job).

And the booots say only for a 15" or smaller calf, and mine is about 16.5" and they still fit great. Not bad for $17 delivered.

Great thread here, BTW. I'm going to link this int eh Denver forums. This is an absolutely fantastic compillation thread.

OW

 

Thanks OW! I created it in hopes that we could get some local costuming going. After today's saber (and cloak) construction party, I think we're gonna have one smashing-looking group in the near future. Woohoo!!

kreleia ^.^

 

This boot information was posted by Void Dancer - good stuff!:

In my quest for alternate boots I've found these sites. New Rock has some domestic vendors that are lower in price, I'm still looking for something domestic (and cheaper) for the others.

www.newrockstore.com

www.reactor.net.au/store/cat8.htm

BTW, my friend forwarded me the reactor link, I had nothing to do with it.

-Void Dancer

 

Here's the "How to make the cloak" info I posted in the "obsessed" thread: (btw, this clarifies the cloak-making technique described at Amber's Jedi Meditation Chamber).

The McCalls pattern recommends 5½ yards of fabric for the regular cloak alone. For the Jedi Cloak, since you're doing sleeves as well, I would go with an additional yard. So, 6½ yards (if you want, go for a full 7 - that way you'll definitely have enough, mistakes or no). Make sure the fabric is 60" wide!

For the tunic.... let me pull out my pattern... Okay:

Simiplicity #8311:
Tunic (or short kimono + belt + kimono edging): 5 yards - make sure you get at least a 45" fabric width.

If you want to do the pants out of the same fabric as the tunic, add on 2 more yards.

BTW, I'm estimating generously here. I'm looking at the pattern envelope and instructions, but they recommend different fabric for the sash/belt and the edging of the kimono jacket. I'm adding all of that yardage in, so, 7 yards total *should* be plenty to do all that, the pants, AND the tabbard. And, hey, if it ends up being far too much, then maybe one of us other prospective Jedi can buy the remainder off of you.

If you want to double the fabric for the tunic thickness, that's up to you. When I was looking at weaver's cloth, it was a thicker heavier fabric already. I personally think it would be just fine without doubling. But, again, it's up to you. Check it out, see what you think.

For the Jedi Cloak: (this is turning in to a long post - sorry)

Okay, using McCalls #8936 (or Butterick #3084), the cloak pattern piece looks like this:
[image=http://members.cox.net/kreleia/images/cloak_pattern_piece1.jpg]

For the Jedi cloak, though, you're adding a sleeve to the pattern before you cut.
Following Amber's directions (these are her pictures too - I modified them a little), this is what you will add to the pattern:
[image=http://members.cox.net/kreleia/images/cloak_pattern_piece2.jpg]

The Purple Line at the top: Outstretch your arm, and measure it starting from the top middle of your back, and going to your wrist. Add 4 more inches to that length. That's the sleeve length (with hem allowance).

The Short Straight Red Line is the sleeve opening. Make it anywhere between 20 to 25 inches long (your preference). Yes, that long. The sleeves are very wide.

I dashed the shoulder line on the pattern so that you can see exactly where the sleeve addition will go. YOU WILL *NOT* CUT THE SHOULDER. You will follow the sleeve addition, making one solid piece.

BUT, there's one last thing. For the robe to be *truly* accurate, you're going to do this:
[image=http://members.cox.net/kreleia/images/cloak_pattern_piece3.jpg]

Yes, you're going to stack the pattern on top of itself to make one very large continuous piece. NOW you can cut it out. And when you're done with that piece, cut out one more just like it.

I'll tell you how to sew it together in another post, or via e-mail - OR you can go browse through Amber's Site.

kreleia ^.^

 

This most excellent post about boots was posted in the Costuming & Props board by Mrs_MayimNaar. Fantastic info!!

---

As an equestrian, I know quite a bit about riding boots, and the style of boots used in SW. I even used to work at a tack shop where we sold lots of boots, from synthetic all the way up to custom made. Even though the word "rubber" may turn you off, please hear me out. You can buy synthetic boots that look very realistic. I have two pairs myself that I use for riding in the rain. To look at them, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between real leather ones. Plus they are easier to fit into and a fraction of the cost of leather boots. You can get a decent pair of synthetic boots for $30-50. If you want to buy actual leather boots, however, you are looking at at least $100 for them, and upwards of $400 for actual polo boots. Another option is to buy half-chaps that can be worn over the top of work boots. Half-chaps come in smoothe or suede finish and are very easy to fit to your calves. They also have the strappy look that many Jedi boots have. They come in a wide range of prices as well, but usually run for $30-90. Here are links to many of the different sites that offer each of these options:

Half-Chaps:
Grand Prix
Ariat
State Line Tack

Synthetic Boots:
State Line Tack
State Line Tack 2
Chicks

Leather Boots:
Devon Aire
Grand Prix

Custom Boots This is the best site you will find for any kind of custom boots.

 

Excellent site for wigs - just in case, of course. ^.^

http://www.internationalwig.com/

Found the wig for Ysanne Isard there. Took some digging, but it was worth the effort!

 

Sadly, I must resort to hiring an artisan to manufacture my gear or purchase it. I hate being a poor starving college student with no resources...

 

What costume are you looking into or interested in, CK?