Is the Senatorial Leia costume mom sewed 20yrs ago accurate?

jen0farc ()

I'm a brand new member of the RL, on to my second build when the news broke that Carrie Fisher passed away. Though I was deep into another project I wanted to join some of the tributes being planned, maybe even the Celebration photo.

So I dug out a Halloween costume my mom sewed for me in 1997, when the Special Editions came out. Yes, 20 YEARS AGO. My mom's a good sewer but this was an old Halloween costume for a teenager. It didn't occur to me this could make an an RL-approvable costume, I just wanted something to wear for a photo or for one of the impromptu memorials.

But I started to look closely at my mom's work and holy cow, I think she may have made this gown pretty close to screen accurate!

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Poly knit? Check.
Bell sleeves? Check.
No shoulder seam? Check.
Side slits? Check.
Hood? Check.
Neck hook closure? Check.

The ONLY thing so far I've spotted is she put an invisible zipper where the keyhole should be, but actually the length of the zipper looks right so all I'd have to do is take out the zipper, leaving the fabric pressed and then just finish the edges.

Oh, and this is the belt she made me.

She missed the dip on top, it's yellowed with age and .... you know, glitter ... but the shapes are actually right, the right size, and there's the right number!

Of course the belt is totally unusable for RL but there's something so lovely and charming about this belt for me. Just the image I have I my mind of my mom pausing the VHS tape and making notes and then cutting and gluing and glittering this vinyl belt just really warms my heart. I'll have it forever. Maybe I'll even wear it again for to be sentimental.

But right now I think I'm looking at:
1. Removing a zipper/finishing two edges
2. A belt build
3. Spinning some buns
4. Snagging some boots

And ... I could have another approved costume in my arsenal?!

I hadn't really studied ANH Leia closely before so definitely let me know what others see that perhaps I've missed. I'll use this thread as my WIP!

Lora Skywalker () · Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 7:55 pm Post subject:

It does look pretty good on the dressform, but we'd like to see you wearing it. Fit is important. Smile

I do see raglan seams on it, but the basics seems to be there.
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jen0farc () · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 3:53 am Post subject:

SongofAmazon (Jenna) · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 11:10 am Post subject:

We did recently disallow raglan shoulder seams, so unfortuantely those will have to go, but you could just redo the top and hiding a seam in the waist gathering. It looks pretty close to me otherwise, with the changes you mentioned.
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jen0farc () · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 4:01 pm Post subject:

Lora Skywalker () · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 7:52 pm Post subject:

No matter what you end up doing, I'm sure it will look great at the tribute event. Smile

And if you want you can always make a new dress later if you want to. Good luck with it.
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jen0farc () · Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:00 am Post subject:

Hi again all, I got my materials in for my belt and I'm doing my belt in two layers of heavy home decor vinyl with a layer of heavyweight-interfaced canvas in the middle.

I could have sworn I read that topstitching the belt was approvable, but now I can't find that anywhere so I don't want to proceed until I'm certain: Can you topstitch the edges of your belt?

Lora Skywalker () · Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 9:53 pm Post subject:

Can you make it invisible? It sounds like what you have planned will be pretty obvious, so that will be a problem.
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jen0farc () · Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 10:09 pm Post subject:

I was mostly just trying to avoid gluing the layers together because I was figuring stitching would look more tidy/be more sturdy. But thinking it through now, of course stitching is a no-go if it's supposed to appear like leather, so I shall glue away, just wanted to double-check, thanks!

I also got my boots in, I'm concerned the soles are too low and am thinking of adding a dremeled-down black flip flop bottom or bedroom slipper sole to the bottoms to make them look better/be a bit more comfortable.

Lora Skywalker () · Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 10:26 pm Post subject:

Good luck with it.

They are thin, but it's fine by us. If you want a thicker sole you can do that. (Though some of my best boots are those with the thin sole. Go figure).
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DXO of Royalty & Senatorial detachment

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

jen0farc () · Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 2:09 am Post subject:

Just checking on the size and shape of the belt and plates before I mount and glue everything. I know a couple of the plates look oddly wavy in the photo but that is just how they are reflecting the overhead light.

Tried on the dress again and it is just so huge on me, by the time I take everything in I may as well just re-make this whole dress after all and just go for approval....or am I just procrastinating practicing these buns? Very Happy

Lora Skywalker () · Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 12:33 pm Post subject:

Don't we all procrastinate by doing something else? Wink

I read other people's wips and research costumes as procrastination.

The belt looks too wide to me. I'd say it should be slimmed down and the curve on the top made softer at the same time. Smile

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DXO of Royalty & Senatorial detachment

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jen0farc () · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 3:43 am Post subject:

Thanks Lora, you're right, these photos helped me see the belt was too big. So I trimmed it and tried to soften the curve, and think the newer one is much better. Ignore the badly placed snaps, they are not in the correct positions yet.

In fact, it was when I went to set the snaps that I thought, "Hmm. I should be wearing the dress I'll actually be wearing underneath the belt to properly fit this thing."

The next thing I knew I was using a 50% off coupon at Joanns and taking home 7.5 yards of the white Jet Set.

(Anything to avoid messing with the buns, right?)

I cut out and sewed my 1st layer and wanted a little feedback before I go to the 2nd. First, ignore the puckery stitching, I had forgot to readjust my machine's tension after finishing a leather project on it Saturday, I've since resewn it to correct that.

Basically I want to make sure the shape is looking ok, the shape of the sleeves, the length of the slits, etc. Obviously it's not hemmed yet. Thanks so much for all the feedback so far, it's been super helpful.

jen0farc () · Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2017 3:08 am Post subject:

Actually, looking at yesterday's photos has been helpful because I've realized the sleeve bells were waaaaaay too wide and pointy and crazy. So I took them in and already things are looking much better:

How's everything else? Keyhole? Side slits? Want to make sure I'm on the right track before sewing layer #2. Thanks again!

jen0farc () · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 3:05 am Post subject:

Ok here's bun attempt #1. I'm going for the clip-on bun style since I'm not really one for a lot of fuss with my hair. This is without a hairnet, which I clearly will need.

I've sewn the hair into a circle of buckram with a series of temporary stitches. The stitches are pulling ridges into the bun, so I'm not thinking the stitches are a way to keep this thing in place. The excellent tutorial I followed (Angel Monkey Studios, http://costumesandartwork.blogspot.com/2010/10/anh-leia-senatorial-gown.html) said to glue as you twist. But I didn't want to start gluing on my first attempt and ruin it before I knew what I was doing, I mean, I had to twist it about three times to make it look even this bad.

How do I go about anchoring the twist in a way strong enough to hold it, but not that's going to cause ridges in the hair?

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