Two years ago I originally made this costume for my first pregnancy, entered it in the Con Carolina cosplay competition and placed 2nd in the novice division, first costume I ever entered in a contest. I was fairly pleased with it at the time, but after talking with another cosplayer from Rebel Legion a few weeks later, I found that I had made some major errors with it. Fast forward to this past November and I'm pregnant with my second Padawan! Now I knew I had to remake this one more accurately so I could submit it to Rebel Legion.
Version one.
I used the wrong color fabric, my pants were not off white, and I was missing the Naboo symbol on the sleeve.
Materials used
Patterns: Burda Style 6958 (Bust), McCall's MP363 (Skirt), McCall's 1773 (Gloves)
Fabric: From Hancock Fabrics 3 yards of microsude polyester in khaki, 2 yards cashmere tan polyester pongee lining fabric
You'll also need either vinyl or leather for the straps
Notions: Khaki zipper (12 in or longer), brown embroidery floss, two snaps
The Top
The Top
For the top, I took the top portion from view B of the Burda maternity pattern and modified it to follow the seams on the original top. With a separate piece of paper, I traced the center front panel. From here I made my adjustments, making the neck line a slight V, as this pattern is set up to be a button down. Now, I took a look at the original costume and placed a line on the pattern where I would cut it for another panel to create the correct number of seams. When I was done, I had templates for five panels on the front, looking like this:
The center panel piece was lined up with the fabric fold and the rest laid out normally. I repeated this process with the back pattern pieces, but when laying them out on the fabric, I did not line up the center piece with the fold, as that is where I would be placing my zipper.
Next, I took both central pattern pieces and laid them out on the lining fabric the same as I did on the suede and cut those out. They would be used as seen in the image above.
I placed the suede and lining together and "surged" them together (I didn't have a surger yet). Then I did the same with the edges of all the other pieces. Next I proceeded to sew the front panels together to look like this:
On the mannequin, I adjusted the inverted V at the waist. Next, I went back and top stitched over every seam, save the sides and top of the shoulders, as I didn't see top stitching there in the exhibit photos.
After I was done with that, I attached the zipper, hemmed the arm holes with the same top stitching, then moved on to the collar. This I had no pattern for. The original was a separate piece, attached with magnets, and I wanted to do the same, but not with magnets, but with snaps. I measured the neckline then used the measurements to make an arch shape with the suede fabric. I sewed the two pieces together, then measured, cut and placed a piece of felt to go in between the fabric to stiffen it so it would hold it's shape. Then I "surged" the edges together. I added snaps where I wanted the collar to attach. However, it wasn't holding when I put it on, as the weight of the metal pin (I'll get to that later) was causing the snaps to pop. So I tacked the collar down on the front, shoulder seams and either side of the V, this way I was still able to get my head through. I kept the snaps by the zipper so the collar would stay down in the back. This worked really well!
After I was done with that, I attached the zipper, hemmed the arm holes with the same top stitching, then moved on to the collar. This I had no pattern for. The original was a separate piece, attached with magnets, and I wanted to do the same, but not with magnets, but with snaps. I measured the neckline then used the measurements to make an arch shape with the suede fabric. I sewed the two pieces together, then measured, cut and placed a piece of felt to go in between the fabric to stiffen it so it would hold it's shape. Then I "surged" the edges together. I added snaps where I wanted the collar to attach. However, it wasn't holding when I put it on, as the weight of the metal pin (I'll get to that later) was causing the snaps to pop. So I tacked the collar down on the front, shoulder seams and either side of the V, this way I was still able to get my head through. I kept the snaps by the zipper so the collar would stay down in the back. This worked really well!
For the skirt, I used Padawan's Guide for most of my info for this build, but when I got to the skirt and misread the instructions, thinking that is said that it was a full circle skirt. So I took my McCall's pattern, which has a circle skirt pattern, and cut my suede and lining, then attached them to the top, so it looked like this:
I even finished the bottom, thinking I was done, then popped it on and realized not only was it a wee bit too long, but WAY too full! Then I went back to Padawan's Guide and saw that it was HALF A CIRCLE skirt. So I took apart the skirt, and adjusted it with the McCall's pattern, making sure that I also was making the back of the skirt longer than the front. I hemmed the bottom, with the same top/double stitching that I did for the arm holes, and for the lining I just used a rolled hem foot, which made my life SO much easier! It was a pain, but when I was done the whole thing looked SO much better and fit very well.
The Sleeves
Now on to the sleeves. I just used the sleeve pattern from this, which works SO well for anything fitted! I measured my arms from my knuckles to about five to six inches to the top of my shoulders and used that measurement to determine how much of the full sleeve pattern I needed. I added a little over an inch for hemming and went from there. I "surged" my edges, top/double stitched the top and bottom edges, then I pinned the sleeves together, slid them on for fitting, adjusted the pins for a snug fit and stitched up the sides.
Lastly, I cut a stencil of the Naboo symbol. I was just going to paint this on in brown, but after looking at it, all put together, I really needed that last element to pop, so I went back over it and hand embroidered the symbol, and that looked SO much better!
The Straps, Buckle, and Brooch
You probably have been wondering about the straps, buckle and broo ch as you've been looking at my progress photos. This is the same set of straps I used in my original costume. They were made out of pleather, folded and hot glued together. The two straps are criss crossed in the back and front, sewn together in the back. Velcro was sewn in so I could easily get in and out of it.
The buckle and brooch were originally made in gold Sculpy and baked. I was SO afraid of it breaking while I moved, so I talked to my father, who has a foundry, and he cast the pieces in metal for me. The result looked very much like the on screen version!
I do have these for sale, and you can contact me on my FB page if you are interested in purchasing a set for your own costume!
The Pants and Boots
For the pants, I bought a white pair of jeggings made from a stretch jean fabric. I turned them inside out and added the front and back seams to each of the legs. Then I tea dyed them with four tea bags. If you make them too dark, it's okay, just wash them with detergent right after, and this will fade the color down. The boots I purchased from Shoe Show. I had to take them in on the side a little bit, but they worked well for this costume.
Final Notes
If you are making this costume and you are pregnant, make sure you leave room for your boobs to grow. You will also want to wear a really supportive bra, as the straps can give the illusion that you are really sagging.
I am really pleased with how this costume turned out and I ended up placing second in the Master's Division at Oak City Comicon with this one!
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to message me on my FB page Owl Feathers Cosplay, I would be more than happy to help!
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