“What a piece of junk!” - Luke Skywalker

This right here is why I absolutely hate commercial patterns.  Well, this and the fact that the instructions they make for them make absolutely no sense and the pattern is always way bigger then it says it will be.

 What is this? Well in order to get the sleeve to fit in the armhole, and to match up the notches that the pattern came with I might add, I had to take the sleeve in that much.  Geez, talk about cheap!  Thank goodness I am making this sucker better!

These aren't the patterns you are looking for, move along.

Oh I'm gonna have fun with titles for this project.

So here is what I have done so far to my simplicity pattern:

This is the front, I've just lengthened the bottom and angled out the side a bit.  The original pattern was just too tight fitting for the Kimono-styled look the Jedi wear.  I am aware actual Kimonos are rather tight fitting, but these Jedi's need more freedom of movement for light-saber battles and  foiling the blasted Empire.

Mostly the same on the back here.  The original pattern cuts off just below the crotch and Mace Windu's is just above his knees.

And as for the sleeve, it seems really short, but the pattern is for a Raglyn styled sleeve (wide, and off the shoulder, like a baceball t-shirt).  All I did was lengthen the hem and widen the sides to make the sleeves looser looking.

And as for  how much fabric does it take to make a Jedi? The answer is  A LOT.  3-5m for the top(s), 2m for the pants and 5-6m for the robe.

The dark brown is the robe, the white is the pants and the off-white and light brown are for the tops/ waist belt obi.

The force is strong with this one, but he is no Jedi yet.

I  have been commissioned for a Jedi costume, due to time constraints and other commissions I will be using a  couple simplicity patterns as bases and then improving/ changing  the design:

I'll be using Simplicity #5840 (project D) for my base. Its not bad, but it could use some work, because when it is done it is supposed to look similar to Nick Fury's...er Mace Windu's costume below:

And to accomplish that I want, I need to make the shirts fuller and longer and make the obi band styled belt not a tie on (which the pattern is). I also have a basic pattern for a Kimono, which after I make the sleeves on the robe more bell shaped and fuller and attach a hood, should end up looking like his outer robe.

I've finished working on the top and plan on mocking it up and fitting my client later this week!  Stay tuned for progress shots of this costume!

It's time to play!

The Guess what these are game!!!

 If you just said neat old goggles you are partly right.  But what would they be used for!?

The Black (opaque) lenses flip up by a spring. There is no pinhole for light to get in.

They are lined in red velvet, but have no lenses.

What could they be?

Start guessing!  The winner wins the awesome prize of KNOWLEDGE!

 If you are one of the 3 people who were with me when the guy I bought them from told us, you don't get to play, you already know.

Challenge Excepted!

So now that all the cons are mostly over for the year, I am of course thinking of  what to wear next year already!

 I was leaning towards Penello from Final Fantasy 12. I do have all the materials for it already (minus a wig). But between other commissions, work, the Heart Truth Red Dress campaign 2013, the budding Fredericton Fashion council, the annual NBCCD fashion show AND two weddings next year I wasn't sure I could devote enough time to do it.

But then I had a brainstorm!
I've loved Comics since I was a kid/young teen, and thanks to the Adam West Batman series from the 60's and The 1990's Batman Animated series, I especially loved Batgirl.

I'd never done a group Cosplay before, and then Lauren Faust's (she's responsible for Power Puff Girls, My little pony: FiM, and Milky Way and the Galexy girls to name a few)  Super Best Friends Forever shorts started to air on Cartoon Networks DC Nation Block.

Well, after a brief conversation with MY two super best friends forever, we are planning doing the super trio, and even if life gets in the way, I'll still be doing Batgirl.

Not one to waste time, I've already begun collecting the materials for my costume.  So far I have the lining for the cape and 3 meters of lavender spandex for the Batgirl suit.  The jury is still out if I will be adding a pink power ranger style skirt over  it or not, depends on how brave I am feeling in the skin tight suit.

Also, I am definetly going to try is this:

Which is to say, I have a vintage pair of lace up roller skates, and if I can manage to learn to actually maneuver in them without falling on my behind / face (I am very accident prone :o) I will be adding them to my costume.

And yes, I'll still be doing Penelo at some point, it depends on when I can devote the time to it.