Costume advice

[The Kiwi Jedi]

Hello everyone.
I need some advice/help for a Jedi and sith robe. Basically a friend of mine wants to do a custom sith outfit and thought I would finally try making my own Jedi costume. To be honest I wouldn't know where to start and would love to hear any advice from you guys. I have often watched everyone's progress on different costumes with great interest but have had the confidence in myself to do it.
Would places like spotlight be a great place for fabric?

[MattG]

Hey Mike - cool to hear you're tackling the costume thing.

The first place to begin your research is to understand the basic components, and get a feel for which ones you can make yourself, and which ones you might choose to source. You don't have to go all the way in terms of accessories if you're doing it for fun (rather than aiming for the Rebel Legion entry criteria, for instance). Either way though, the Rebel Legion forums have a specific section on Tutorials for Jedi Costumes that is undoubtedly relevant to you: http://www.forum.rebellegion.com/forum/ ... .php?f=250

You can take a closer look at other people's Jedi projects in this section of the RL forums: http://www.forum.rebellegion.com/forum/ ... m.php?f=21 . You might have seen that local SWNZ member Tirenus started a thread for his thread here: http://swnz.dr-maul.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1508

[The Kiwi Jedi]

Great thanks Matt. Yeah I was going to browse through the forums tonight for a look. The plan was to start simple and practice and gain experience first. I was going to work under the old "if it looks about right it's good enough for me" mentality. A dream would be to gain a rebel legion entry but I would be years away from that haha but never know.
On a side note I have been working on a table project that I will start in a different threed but got to figure out which section to put it under.

[Anaria]

Yay, I love to see more people interested in jedi costuming My very first costume was a jedi - bought a second hand sewing machine and taught myself. My first jedi tunic pattern was drafted from a shirt I cut apart - and I joined the Rebel Legion with that first costume That was before I knew about commercial patterns, there's quite a few out there now that are a great shape to start with

Spotlight is a good place to look for fabrics - there are no hard rules about jedi fabrics, I have used a variety over the years (all from Spotlight). I look for something in the natural colour range (beige through brown), preferably a natural fibre (like cotton) with a little bit of texture. I like cotton, it irons nicely to give tabbards a good shape.

Here's a few brief descriptions of how I made my jedi costumes -
http://anaria.dr-maul.com/index.php?cid=jedi
http://anaria.dr-maul.com/index.php?cid=twilekjedi
http://anaria.dr-maul.com/index.php?cid=librarian

Feel free to ask any questions

[The Kiwi Jedi]

Oh cool Thanks Anaria looks like I have plenty of reading to do. I will pop into spotlight at some point for a look and see what's around. I will have to purchase a sewing machine but that shouldn't be too hard as the wife has been wanting one for ages. Gives me an excuse now lol.
Once I've started I will set up a new threed with my progress.
Thanks for the advice guys

[Archon Revuge]

Once I've started I will set up a new threed with my progress.

Awesome. Always love seeing costume WIPs!

[mdb]

I highly recommend going for quality from the start As Kristy said you can get good crinkly fabric at Spotlight and I think this weekend has a 40% discount on fabric? You can get lining and outer fabric for about what you'd pay just for the outer

It's not specified but the prequel Jedi tunics had a waist seam so you get that dramatic flare when force leaping It helps with shaping as well

But if you break down the costume elements it works out to be much more doable Like buying crinkle fabric, lining fabric and thread in one go. Getting the leather blanks and hardware at another. Pants can be purchased. Boots again.

But yeah lots of elements that are simple but super effective when time is taken to finish them all carefully

[The Kiwi Jedi]

If I have some spare time this weekend I might go and have a look and weigh up my options. I guess a standard robe like Obi-wan's is what I've been thinking of.
Would making a mock up out of paper to start with be handy to see it all works?