New member! Senatorial Leia questions

[Sayyadina ()]

Hello!

Thanks for adding me! I've been a Star Wars fan for a long time but only recently learned about this group.

I'm getting ready to make the Senatorial Leia costume for an event. I'm not sure yet if I will fully join the Legion, but I would like to make my costume at a level that would be accepted should I decide to do so. Before I start, I have some questions:

1. WIP: I'm a reasonably experienced seamstress and feel confident that I can follow the dress tutorials. Is there any need to post WIP photos if things are going fine, or can I just submit when finished?

2. Belt materials: I'm having a bit of trouble finding leather or vinyl that is a bright as my fabric. They seem bright white by themselves but next to the fabric they look ivory. Is this ok or should I keep looking? Any Los Angeles area source suggestions? I've been to the garment district already, though I could have missed something.

3. Belt metal pieces: I've read some builders that painted the metal pieces. Is this necessary or can they be left plain bare metal? If it is needed, what paint is best?

4. Boots: I have some issues with my feet and knees that make many shoes hard to wear for any length of time. It's very difficult to find non-lacing boots that fit. (My feet are flat and narrow, and I use hard plastic arch supports.) I see some boots on Amazon that would suit the costume, but I'm wary of purchasing anything I can't try on. Any boot recommendations?

5. Elastic: Is elastic at waist (to help hold dress at proper level for belt and blousing) acceptable as long as it doesn't show?

6. Pockets: I want pockets! I don't they'll show. Any problem with that?

Apologies if these questions have been asked and answered a million times before. I did some searching first on the forums but didn't find what I was looking for. Thanks in advance!

Sayyadina

[Pandorachaan ()]

[Dark Radiance ()]

Yay! Welcome to being a Leia!

[Sayyadina ()]

Thanks for the suggestions so far!

I started the dress and things were going fine until I had to turn it right side out . . . could not figure out how to get the outer and inner dress going the right direction . . . ended up having to rip out most of the attachment seams and re-do them. Bleh. Good thing I have started this long before the event I'm using it for!

For the belt I had already bought a piece of thin white vinyl, I'm just not happy with the shade of white. I went to Tandy leather (so exciting! I didn't know that shop existed until I started reading these posts!) and bought some white Angelus paint and I'm going to see if that will stick to the vinyl to make it the color I want. It's a thin material and will need to be backed with something. I have some 2mm EVA foam. Would that work? I've never used it before. Tandy did not have any leather pieces that would work unless I bought a whole hide and I'm not doing that.

I'm currently scouring thrift stores for some cheap boots in the right shape that fit. If I find something that's not white I'll paint. I've got a while to look but if I don't find anything I could still order from Amazon and cross my fingers.

Still looking for a more definitive answer on the metal plates. Do most people leave bare? Or do most paint? Does anyone sand it to knock down shine or hide scratches? I'd like to do this right the first time rather than re-making things.

Thanks!

[Sayyadina ()]

Hi again!

I've been home sick recently so made much faster progress on costume than expected. Dress done. Belt done. Hair is in progress, easier than I expected but I still need to adjust size and placement a bit.

Still need boots, since shopping to try on requires actually leaving the house and must wait until I am healthy. So I am barefoot in the picture, which makes the dress look a bit long but I think with shoes it will be fine. See what you think. Thanks!

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[Lora Skywalker ()]

So far, so good.

I'd say to have more blousing over the top of the belt.
And then I have a question: what material are you using? Is it a knit or weave? Because it looks pretty stiff in your photo where it should drape softly instead.

Best of luck with your costume and hopefully a speedy recovery so you can go boots hunting.
_________________
DXO of Royalty & Senatorial detachment

Detachment website: http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/

[Sayyadina ()]

Thanks!

Yes, I will try to pull just a bit more over the belt. This was just a quick try-on.

The material is a knit but it's not Jet Set, it's something else I bought in the fabric district before I learned about that. It has a nice drape in a single layer but it is a bit heavy doubled. However, the double layer is very opaque, which is good considering I will be wearing it in front of my high school students, with backlighting!

[Lora Skywalker ()]

Sounds good. Best of luck with it.
_________________
DXO of Royalty & Senatorial detachment

Detachment website: http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/