Jedi Robe Tutorial

I, like every other good nerd, am more than a little excited for The Force Awakens this December!!! Naturally I will be going on opening night in costume.  But as I always seem to procrastinate on my costumes, I'm getting a jump on this one!  Perhaps I can wear it for Halloween as well.  So without further ado, the first part of my Jedi costume, the robe.

(Just four pieces, really)

To begin with I looked up what other people had done to make their Jedi robes and just about everything I found claimed that you needed between 7 and 10 yards of fabric.  That right there was inspiration enough to do my own thing because hello, I cannot afford 10 yards of fabric.  I did mine with about 4.5 yards.  Although, I must say if you want it to flow a bit more and do ginormous sleeves, you will need more fabric.  Mine is still pretty large on me, but the sleeves and such could be bigger, but being poor trumped bigger sleeves.  Apparently Simplicity used to make a really cool Jedi costume pattern but not it's obsolete and you can only buy it on ebay for $120.  Which just made me laugh hysterically.  So let's start!  Get yourself some lunch (very important) and put on the Star Wars soundtrack or a movie on in the background.  No prequels.

(Close up of my material)

Fabric: I used a cotton gauze type material that I found on sale at Joann's in a dark brown.
Alterations: Since I started with nothing I suppose the whole thing is an alteration...

Measurements

First, we do lots of measurements of yourself!  As someone who has been fit in a costume shop many times, I used my memories of what numbers they had taken to craft a basic pattern.  I recommend writing it down on a diagram so you recall which number was which.

(longest piece being the left half of the front of the robe, we'll call it figure 1, the parallelogram being the sleeve, let's call it figure 2, and the last one is the hood, or figure 3)

The diagram shows what number corresponds to each measurement and what you'll need it for.

(For reference sake, with my measurements added on)

1. Measure from where the top of you shoulder meets the base of your neck to the floor, or a bit below where you'd like the robe to end.
2. Measure from just below your armpit (Or where you'd like the bottom of the armhole to be) to the floor or the same place as the above measurement.
3. Measure the length of your shoulder from the neck to the edge of your arm.  (This one should be easy if you're wearing a shirt when you're measuring. No judgement either way.)
4. Measure around your arm from the edge of the shoulder/arm, under the armpit and back to the shoulder.  Cut this measurement in half.
5. Measure your arm from the end of the shoulder seam to just past where you'd like the sleeve to end. Longer for a Jedi sleeve than a normal robe sleeve.
6. Measure from your armpit to the same place as the last measurement.
7. Measure loosely around your neck and divide by 4.
8. Measure from the base of your neck over your head to the other base of your neck.
Whew! Done!  Lots of measurements, but I promise it makes life easier.

Base of the Robe

For the base of the robe without sleeves or a hood start with measurement 1.  This is length you want for your robe.  Take that length and double it for the length of fabric.  Take that rather long piece of fabric and fold it in half so you have you measurement of 1.

(Note the fold)

Because I was not entirely sure I'd have the right amount of fabric (I did!), I pinned the whole outline before cutting anything out.  Now, to transfer figure 1, the half of the front of the rob onto the fabric. Find the dead center of the fabric along the fold and mark this.  Mark a straight line from dead center along the fold to dead center on the bottom.  I made the line with pins.  This is NOT measurement 1.  1 is merely a guide and does not need to be pinned out.  Now, using center along the fold as a guide, pin out measurement 7, or what will be the neck hole.  From the top edge of the neck hole, mark out measurement 3, or the shoulder seam.  Then make your curved line which will be the arm hole using measurement 4.  Lastly, from the bottom of the line made by 4, take an angled line down to the edge of the fabric using measurement 2.

(Since I wanted my robe as wide as possible, I pinned the line (measurement 2) to the very left corner of my fabric even if the number of inches wasn't exact.)

Okay! Done with the pinning for now!

(You should have the exact outline that you drew on paper with your measurements)

Then along the dead center line that you marked, fold the fabric in half.  You should then have 4 layers of fabric on top of each other.  Cut along the pinned edges that are not on the folds except the neck hole, do cut that out.

(You should end up with something that looks like this!)

Take out all the pins and you'll have an ugly brown shroud attached at the shoulders so you can put it over your head.  Pretty ugly so far.  Put it on and admire it in a mirror.  Now sew up the sides.  You should now have a very ugly jumper of sorts.  Also put that on just to check.  And now onto the sleeves!

Sleeves

The sleeves are a bit harder and I did break my "I don't need no pattern!" frame of mind a little bit. Because sleeves are a bit of a pain, I dug out one of my old patterns and used the "upper sleeve" piece as a guide.  I know, I know.  Honestly you really don't need to, but I wanted to get the shape right.  

(my pattern on the fabric)

Double your fabric over for a start so that you are making two sleeves, one on top of the other and they are the exact same size.

Whether you are using a pattern or making it up as you go, measurements are back!  If you're not using a pattern, you'll need to freehand that nice pleasing arc that my has.  Make sure that the arc is equal to measurement 4, which you will recall, is the arm hole, but adding in a little for seam allowance.  My pattern piece was a little to short so I added about half an inch on each side of the edge of the curve. Now for the length of the sleeve.  Take measurement 5 and draw a line straight down from the top of your curve and mark the end of that line with a pin.  Boom, half done.  Now you'll need two measurements to work together and here you can change things if you want.  First take measurement 6 and pin that line on both sides of the sleeve from the edge of the curved top of the sleeve in an angled out line down the fabric.  (See figure below)  Take your measuring tape and make a loop around your arm in the size that you think you'd like your sleeve.  If that happens to be the length between your two angled lines, you're golden.  If not, play around with how wide you truly want you sleeve and make a curve between the two angled lines.

(My angled lines go as far as the fabric allows)

Now cut out both layers so that you have two almost sleeves!

(Never leave your scissors on the floor)

Now hem up what will be the edge of the sleeves.  Then sew up the angled lines so that you new do indeed have sleeves!  Right sides together, pin and sew the curved edge side to the armholes of the weird looking jumper/not quite a robe.  Now you're left with a very large looking dress.

(Just a shroud at the moment)

I now suggest putting it on to decide which way you want to be the front.  Once you have determined, cut a slit up the front from bottom center to top center.  Hem the front slit and all the way around the bottom.  It's finally a robe!

Hood

Almost there, I promise!  To make the hood, start with a piece of fabric folded in half so that the fold is at the top.  First take the measurement number 8 and double check that this is the size of the hood you want.  Keep in mind that Jedi hoods are ginormous.  In hindsight I wish I'd made mine a bit bigger.  When you've for certain decided on your hood length, measure out that number from the top of the fold down the left side of the fabric.  I just pinned mine for a marking place.  Now double check what the measurement is for the neck hole.  That measurement plus seam allowance is the length of the bottom of the hood.  Perpendicular from the line you just made, pin that line straight across the fabric.  It should be parallel to the fold of the fabric.  The last line you have to make is not measured per say.  It should be a curved line starting at the back of the hood and going up towards the fold and then joining the fold.  This makes it so that your hood does not have a seam going all the way to the front.  Pin this in as well.  See image below.

(Hood opening to the left, hood back to the right, hood edge to be sewed to the neck opening, on the bottom edge)

Cut out along the bottom pin line and the curved pin line.  Sew along the curved pin line and open up your hood!  Now hem along the front edge of the hood and try it on for size.

Lastly, right sides together, pin the non hemmed edge of the hood to the neck opening and sew that sucker up.  Now put it on, grab your lightsaber, and frolic about your house!  A picture of my frolicking can be seen below.

(Not a complete costume, but I'm getting there!)

A Word About the World of Steam

Steampunk is a ridiculously fun genre to get into, but also rather expensive due to all the little details and pieces.  Buying goggles or boots or a leather bag can add up to hundreds of dollars way too quickly.  Instead of dropping a few hundred every time I want to go in steampunk regalia, I keep my eyes open for little pieces all the time and I visit lots of thrift stores.  The above picture represents about $25-$30 dollars worth of junk that I picked up over.  On my budget, spending $30 dollars at once is a big decision, but spending $5 here, or $10 there hurts a lot less.  I'm forever going through antique stores or garage sales looking for a key, or a gear, or a pocket watch that I can add to something or make more interesting.  Especially watch for a pair of goggles.  Buying a cheap pair and fixing them up yourself will save you upwards of $60 if you don't want to buy an already finished pair.  The boots shown in my picture I found for $3.99 at goodwill.  The bag was another thrift shop find for $2.  Just plain right now, but I can fix them up with the multitude of crap I have picked up waiting for the next steampunk opportunity to arise.  Costume pieces such as a skirt or a corset are wonderful finds.  Check your local thrift store!

A few of my finished ideas

(Look for my nerf weapons tutorial)

(Very proud of the satchel additions)

(Different direction altogether)

Steampunk Nerf Weapon Tutorial

Steampunk weapons look so cool and with a little effort, you can easily make one for very cheap.

Instead of going to a store and buying a nerf gun, which can get super expensive, I scoured my local thrift stores and found one for 90 cents.  Perfect and under budget.

(Possibly not what I'd have grabbed first, but hey, $.90)

Once you have obtained a nerf gun that you don't mind steampunking, you'll want to sand off anything that you don't want to show, such as labels, names, or extra patterning.  You can use a dremel tool if you can one, but I just used heavy grit sand paper.

(Make sure it's relatively smooth)

Be sure that you have everything off that you want, otherwise it'll be too late.  After I spray painted mine I could see a few spots that it would have been better to do some extra sanding.  Now you're ready to spray paint!

(I also made a crossbow)

If you want multiple colors of spray paint on your weapon, you'll have to take the time to tape off any areas you don't want colored.  However, I wanted mine all the same color, so I just went crazy with the paint.  The picture above is not all that great because I was doing this in the rain.  Outside.  In the dark.  At 10pm.  The night before I wanted them finished.  I don't recommend doing that.  Get them done in the day and in the sun.  The paint doesn't dry as smoothly as it could when it's getting partially wet from rain.

After they are dry you can start adding fun stuff!  I used metallic sharpies to draw on designs in gold and bronze, and I glued a couple gears to each of the weapons.  Let everything dry and you're ready to take on the world!

(Simple, yet pretty)

(Love my crossbow!)

Tangled Rapunzel Costume Tutorial

For Halloween a couple years ago I went as my favorite Disney Princess!  This costume did not quite turn out how I had anticipated.  It actually ended up being several inches shorter than the picture on the pattern claimed it would be and I hopefully will soon be adding more to it so I don't feel quite as conscious wearing it!

Note: While this is a tutorial, it's also mostly a scathing pattern review and if at all possible, I recommend using a different pattern than I did.
An adorable pic of Rapunzel for your inspiration:

I do not own this image.

Dress

(Not quite how the picture on the pattern looked...)

I made the costume from the pattern shown below, but I have recommendations to fix the issues I had.  

(This pattern is actually the devil)

Fabric: Purple satins in the shades you so desire.  I went a little darker than is movie accurate, but I really like the color!  You can still tell who I am.
Alterations: Oh dear god so many

First of all, the length.  According to the picture, it appears that A is too long for my purposes, so I went with B (upper left), which looks like it should be tea length.  False.  It is ridiculously short as evidenced in any and all of my pictures.  By the time I realized how short I was making my skirt, it was too late.

Next, be aware that this pattern is open in the front.  So that's a thing.  It's fine for the top because I laced it up using purple ribbon.  On the skirt I simply ran out of time before Halloween and I simply safety pinned it shut for the evening.  Not the greatest solution, but it worked.
So now that I've ranted about the deceit of this pattern, go ahead and make it using view A to their specifications.
Now the sleeves.  As you can see, the pattern does not call for sleeves at all, so I added my own.

(Puffed to perfection)

In order to add these, I looked up a puffed sleeve tutorial online and made them longer than anticipated and hemmed them up.  By hemmed I mean that if you look closely at the picture you can see where it's still pinned up because I was in crunch time.  I sewed on ribbons for the stripes.  Make sure you measure the arm hole so as to have enough fabric to go around after gathering the top of the sleeve.  Puffed sleeves are not too awful to make, but winging them and trying to get them to fit your pattern is more difficult.  If you can, find a pattern that has sleeves.

In order to get the dress to close and to add the lacing, you need to add rivets.

(Make sure they're relatively close together!)

I pounded in 12 rivets per side to make sure it would close appropriately and then laced it up using a pretty purple ribbon, matching that on the sleeves.

Hair and Accessories

The hair is the really tricky part.  I went with what would be the braid she wears in the kingdom if it were about a tenth of the thickness.  I really lucked up because my mom and I have the exact same hair color and for some reason she had a fake braid that she used to wear.  I braided my already semi long hair, attached the fake braid, wove in some more purple ribbon and some flowers and I was set to go!

(A weird picture, but you can see the braid)

Get yourself a crown and keep Eugene from stealing it from you!

A fry pan is an absolute must.

I already had a stuffed Pascal because my roommate is the best, so I pinned it to my shoulder.  Not necessary, but it's a cute touch.

All Done!

(Full costume shot.  With fry pan.)

(Mother knows best...)

(Rapunzel and Eugene Fitzherbert)

Star Trek Uniform Costume Tutorial

Hello there Trekkies! This costume is easy, easy, easy! And cheap!  At least the way I made it. Originally I made this for the Star Trek Into Darkness movie premiere and then recycled it for Phoenix Comicon that year.

Dress

(Doesn't look like much...)

I sort of "made" this.  I went to my local walmart.  I found the biggest, longest, men's t-shirt I could find in a blue athletic material.  That's most of the process.  Once you have the shirt you like, buy it. Then take it home.  Mostly done.  Put it on inside out and help a friend pin in the sides and sleeves so that it fits you like a dress.  Carefully take it off and sew up the sides.  If it is still super short, at a layer to the bottom of the dress with either your scraps or another shirt.  Now put it on and report to Mr. Spock.  Seriously, that's it.

Boots and Pin

The boots I used I already had.  Just plain black leather boots with a heel should do just fine.

The pin has a couple options.  Option 1: buy one of the cheap, but nice looking replica pins online. This is what I'll be doing next time I wear the costume, but the first time I wore it I waited until too soon before the movie to buy it and they were sold out.  So I went the next logical step which is option 2.  I made mine out of cardboard, tin foil, and a big safety pin.  Option 3 is to use shiny tape. Cut it out and slap it on your outfit.  See option 2 below.

(It's been through a lot...)

I cut the cardboard to the shape I wanted, carefully covered it in tinfoil and wrapped it around to the back where I sealed it up with hot glue and hot glued on the safety pin.

(Not as nice from the back)

After it dries, draw on the correct symbol for your costume in fine tip sharpie.

All Done! (Told you it was short)

(We look so official!)

(I actually only know Bones and Scotty. The girls found us.)

(Because I'm a Trekkie who loves her some Star Wars!)

1960s Batgirl Costume Tutorial

The Adam West Batman tv show is my guilty pleasure and I've always wanted to be Batgirl.  This costume is violently purple and sparkly.  I couldn't find a good tutorial for this one, so I made a lot of it up as I went.  I rather like to call this the costume of 1001 pieces, or so it seemed.  Originally I started making this for Madison Comic Con because Adam West and Burt Ward were going to be there.  Unfortunately they cancelled, so I slowed up the work on my costume, and instead I had it finished for Phoenix Comicon.

A picture of the real glorious costume follows:

Yvonne Craig as Batgirl.  I do not own this image.

Note: the pictures look a little weird because for some reason they initially looked bright blue, so I attempted to fix them

Bodysuit

(Yep.  I wore that.)

This is definitely the easiest part of the costume to make.  Very few pieces and quick, straight seams. I looked for a superhero costume pattern, but was unable to find one.  I ended up using the pattern below that I found on etsy.

(The scariest part is that this isn't a costume)

Fabric: All the sparkly spandex!!  I waited until I had a 60% off coupon from Joann's because it is not cheap fabric to start with.  Make sure you get some extra for the cape and accessories!

Alterations: None to the actual costume.  An addition of a batgirl symbol patch.

I used pattern view B so that the zipper was in the back.  Sew up a lovely, violet, sparkly body suit and your base costume is set to go!  Now to add the patch.

(Seriously, why was it blue?)

The symbol I traced onto the back of a yellow iron patch, cut it out, and ironed it on.  The hardest part was getting the symbol just right.  And centered.

Cape

(So shiny)

(Flip side)

The cape I did not have a pattern for but since it's a modified circle, it's not too difficult.

Fabric: More sparkly purple spandex and some sort of yellow.  In the show, it's a yellow satin, but I chose a stretchy yellow since it was much cheaper.

First decide how long you want your cape to be.  My decision was made for me because my boyfriend and I bought a large piece of yellow and cut it down the middle, half for his Robin cape, half for my Batgirl cape.  The length of your cape should just be determined by your height.  In other words, you want it to cover your butt.  Once you have your length determined, use that as a radius, and make two half circles, one purple, one yellow.  Then, determine the number of cutouts that you want around the edges.  I marked mine evenly with my tape measure instead of trying to wing it like I normally would.  Then take out a half circle for your neck.  This I measured just by using my neck as a guide.

From there, right sides together, pin and sew almost all around.  I left the neck open and turned it right side out through the neck hole.  Next, I top stitched all the way around the entire cape and folded over the rough edges at the neck to close the hole.

I wanted to have seams running down from the neck to each point, which proved more difficult that I had anticipated.  If you don't want to include this step, you're basically done!

(It just looks fancy with it)

Here's where more math comes in.  Measure around the neck hole and divide it by the number of points your cape has.  Mark that number of dots evenly along the neck.  Then, either with a pencil or something else erasable, draw light lines using a straight edge from each dot to the corresponding point.  Do not use a pen like I did.  I drew wrong lines twice before I finally got it right and if you look closely at my cape, you can still see the incorrect lines.  After your lines are drawn, sew with purple thread up the lines from dot to point.

Lastly, add in a clasp and you're good to go!  Put it around your neck and run through your house.

Accessories

Bodysuit and cape done?  Great, you're not even close to done!  Next up, bracers.

(Top right side out, bottom inside out)

I apologize now for not having in progress pictures since I have no pattern for these and it would probably be much easier to see it than have me explain it.  Now technically Batgirl wears gloves, but I didn't have the ambition to make gloves, so bracers it was!

Fabric: Sparkly purple scraps
The actual bracer size itself I determined by using paper as a pattern and measuring my arm and the length I wanted the bracer to cover.  I used the flip side of the sparkly fabric to have contrast between my purples, if such a thing is possible.  Before sewing the bracers shut however, you have to add the little...thingys...for lack of a better term.  I made my spikes (?) by freehanding a shape on some paper and then tracing that shape 12 times onto the purple fabric.  Yup, 12 times, 2 for each spike, 6 finished spikes in all.  Make sure you make them longer than you'd like since part of the bottom will be lost in the seam.  Trace 6 one way, then flip over your pattern and trace 6 the other way.   After cutting them out, pin them non sparkly side together and sew them up, leaving the bottom part open. Flip them all right side out.  Then, pin them into what will become the seam of the bracer.  In the bottom bracer in the picture listed above, the spikes are to the inside, which is where you'll place them to sew them inside.  Flip them right side out and try them on and make sure the spikes are placed where you'd like them before you sew them in.  Hem up the bracers before sewing them shut. Put on your arms and feel like a crimefighter.

(Belt number 1!)

The first belt is the utility belt.  Above it is pictured without an pouches.  The belt itself is made out of shiny gold trim that I found at Joann's measured to the size of my hips and closed with velcro.  The buckle I made out of a small decorative heavy cardboard box lid that I also found at Joann's.  I spray painted it black and glued on the symbol which I cut out of a yellow spiral notebook cover.

(Again, drawing the symbol took the longest on this)

I used more notebook cover to create a tiny box to place between the "buckle" and the belt and glued that sucker together.  The pouches took more time.

(Not exactly the same size, but close)

My pouches are made out of yellow felt because that's what I had laying around, but covered on the front with leftover cape fabric so that they would match the outfit better.  I cut out the general piece for the pouches and then sewed on a piece of extra yellow to what would be the front and the front flap.  This can literally be pieced together since no one will see the back.  Feel free to use whatever fabric you'd like.

(You can see the plain, uncovered felt)

Once you have your basic pouches sewn up, hand sew loops on the back cut to fit your utility belt size and add velcro to the front of the pouches so they stay closed.  Slip them on to the belt and you're ready to go!

Belt number 2 doesn't really serve a purpose but I wanted it anyway.

(Does not look like much)

Since the bodysuit gives you no waist, and Batgirls tapers around the waist, I made a small belt to go around my proper waist in addition to the utility belt around my hips.  All I did was sew sturdy interfacing into the sparkly fabric, measured my waist, added velcro and away I went.  I wasn't entirely sure if I'd even use it, but I did in the end.

Cowl and Wig

Oh god, here it is.  The part that nearly sent me into a nervous breakdown.

(So much unhappiness)

The bodysuit pattern I used also came with a hood pattern.  I have no idea why, but it did and I used that as a basis for my cowl.

Fabric: more of that damn sparkle crap and some plain black

Alterations: all of them

First step, get yourself a nice bowl of salty or chocolately goodness.  You're going to want it.

Step two, make a hood.  So far so good.  Now we get weird.

To make the mask, I looked at tons of pictures of Yvonne Craig in her cowl to determine shape, size etc.  Eventually I drew it out on paper, using my face as a guide.  Then I cut it out and traced it onto the black fabric, and cut out my mask.  Since hemming this would suck royally, I recommend using a few layers of fray check on all edges.  Works like a dream, makes like way easier.

Next, determine where you want the cowl to end at the back of your head and chop off the bottom of the hood.  I really advise using actual measurements here unlike how I did it.  Measuring will make it much easier in a few steps.  Then, decide where the mask and the top of the cowl should meet and pin on the mask.  Put it on your head after pinning to make sure that's where you like it.  Sew it on and trim it up.
I didn't want a strap or anything to hold it on, so I just sewed it up tight enough to stay on my head. To do this you'll want to experiment with pinning it in and sewing seams up the back to fit your head. You will definitely already want your wig on your head before you start this since the wig is a different thickness than your own head.  See my note about the wig below.
Hem around the whole cowl.
Now the ears...I also had no pattern for these...big surprise.

(Just look at the evil thing)

For the ears I again made a paper pattern of the size that I wanted and then traced it out on the black fabric and the sparkly devil's plaything, leaving room for seams on all sides.  Then I sewed them, right sides together, leaving the bottom open and flipped them right sides out.  I chose to purple topstitch around the edges, but you don't have to.  Then I cut cardboard from my already mutilated notebook cover to fit inside each ear so that they stand up nicely.  Don't crunch them!

In order to place them on the cowl you will need a good dose of extra sanity and a friend.  Put on your cowl and while looking in a mirror place one ear to your desired location on the side of your head.  Have a friend either pin it while it's on you (trust is the key), or carefully remove the cowl while holding it in place.  Pin it on and made sure it's where you want it.  I hope you measured on the hood because then you can just place one ear and measure the other side to make them even.  I did not measure, and therefore the sides were not even to begin with and I had to place both ears attempting to make them even on my head and of course moving them every time I tried to get a pin through.  Let's assume that you have both ears placed in a timely manner and with no temper tantrums.  Then top stitch with purple thread around the bottom of the ear and up the sides a little ways so that they don't fall over, but also do not bend inward.  It takes a little trial and error.  If you've gotten to this step allow me to shake your hand.

The wig!  If you have red hair, you're ridiculously lucky and you may also skip this part.  If you are going to be needing a wig, I for once suggest a cheap one because chances are you're going to murder it.  The wig I bought was way too poofy in front and did not fit under my cowl nicely at all.  I found the threads holding the individual strands of hair on and ripped out several layers until I had a half bald mullet wig.  I'm not putting a picture of it up.  Too ugly.  But!  It now fits perfectly under the cowl and the long layers of red hair come out the bottom of it.  All done.

Boots

(They really are purple, I swear)

Now these are my best find ever.  I searched everywhere for cheap purple boots, and I finally hit on this lovely pair for $15 on amazon.  They're actually the most expensive part of the costume.  But they look great! I had a woman at Con ask me if I had them made especially for my costume. Bahahahaha.

All Done! (Finally)

(Batgirl and Robin)

(Taking Catwoman to jail)

(Bat-signal)