Rachel Kerns 11/13/17 Rachel Kerns 11/13/17

Rey's Scavenger Staff

The final touch for Rey's Jakku look was her scavenger's staff and it was by far, my favorite part.

I hadn't done some good old fashioned prop making for a project of my own in a long while and it was so nice to be back at it. After a quick Google search I had some great resources to work with.

Primarily, I used a shopping list from Instructables user kylegilbert (http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Reys-Staff-Star-Wars-The-Force-Awakens/), screen shots of the actual prop, and the detail breakdown from Sellfy user Ian Henry( https://sellfy.com/p/f9NU/) to build mine.

As per the Instructables list, I hit Home Depot for showers heads, faucet heads, electrical connectors, wire, and a pipe. I went with a metal pipe for my staff base instead of the PVC used in the Instructables tutorial - it adds weight to the finished prop, but it won't warp over time.

I started with the end details - first off, the shower heads. Now, I ended up with a slightly different shower head than what the Instructables shopping list called for because, retail. Our local Home Depot didn't have that particular shower head in stock and I wasn't going to pay more for shipping on $1 shower heads than for the product itself, so I settled for an equally cost effective option.

I wasn't able to remove the ball joint from this shower head, so instead I hot glued the ball joint into place and used some air-dry Cloud Clay to sculpt an end cap over the joint. Because Cloud Clay can crack pretty easily (particularly if it's thin or attached to a hard surface), I allowed it to dry before coating it in two thick layers of wood glue to seal it and hot glued it onto the ball joint.

After the shower heads were taken care of, it was just a matter of drilling through the end of the facet heads (very, very carefully - the cheap plastic cracks easily), cutting some fins from wood, and slicing the electrical connectors into two, before it was time for assembly.

I worked from the center of the pipe outwards, starting with just a wrap of craft foam (left from my Elsa Dress bodice) secured with E6000 and electrical tape. This was followed by connector pieces (also E6000ed) and the wire wraps. I did hot glue the ends of the wires down before I wrapped them tight around the pipe, but they were ultimately secured completely with electrical tape. I did detail these a bit wit my leather off cuts on the end (also hot glue and electrical tape).

The larger details, such as the faucet and shower heads went on the both E6000 and hot glue. Contact cement might have served a bit better, but so far, my staff has survived the Academy of Sciences Halloween party, Halloween night, Wizard World Sacramento, and SF Comic Con with only the need for a paint touch up. I tried to keep as many of the details as possible slotted over the pipe itself for stability - anything just glued onto the outside without a tape cover increases the risk of something breaking off. I did have to glue the shower heads at the ends directly onto slotted pieces - I wasn't able to drill into them with my cordless, though I imagine a drill press and a more sophisticated clamp set up than I have in my living room would get the job done. Three small foamie details, a larger Cloud Clay detail, and the wooden fins were also glued straight on with again a combination E6000 and wood glue, though the fins were also secured with electrical tape.

Once my staff was assembled, it was time for paint.

I'd never used spray-on Plasti-Dip on a metal surface, so I ran a few tests to check and ultimately, I based my entire staff first with two coats of Rustoleum clean metal primer before three coats of the Plasti-Dip, just to avoid any peeling or cracking. I painted the entire staff with alternating black and rust colored matte spray enamels from Rustoleum.

The final touch were strips of muslin and brown felt, just hot glued onto the body of the staff, over the large section of foam and small leather straps with d-rings for a shoulder strap (my strap came from my grandmother's sewing stash I inherited - I can't even begin to guess where or when it may have come from).

And that was Rey!

Ultimately, I was really, really pleased with the way this turned out. I still need some formal photos, but it is by far the most comfortable costume I own and I'm so pleased with the way it all looks!

Rachel Kerns 3/21/17 Rachel Kerns 3/21/17

Jakku Rey - Part One

My stepmom suggested Rey's Jakku scavenger outfit. We walked out of our second viewing of The Force Awakens at our local single screen theatre while I was home at Christmas and the first words out of her mouth were "You should make her outfit!"

Since I've been on a bit of a princess kick, I was inclined to agree with her. Besides, it had been a while since I'd tried to make a pair of pants and Rey's staff was super cool.

Also, I found the source the film used for her boots and I am a sucker for sci-fi shoes. I actually waited long enough that the exchange rate dropped and I was able to get the boots for about $160, down from about $220. So obviously I had to make the rest of the look.

The Pants

I knew exactly how I wanted my pants to be - I all ready owned them. Actually, I owned a pair of dance pants (Ainsliewear's Best Dance Pant, in case you're interested). These are very one of the most comfortable, flexible, and softest pieces of clothing I own and when pulled to knee, fold to make a very attractive capri-length pant. I love them and I knew they would make a near perfect Rey pant. Trouble is, they are a dark charcoal grey. Goes great with leos, but not for Rey.

I patterned with newsprint over them. I traced around the seams where I could and measured the rest. Perfect as they are, the dance pant is actually remarkably simple - four pattern pieces. One back leg, one front, the waistband, and the cuff. Fantastic.

Part of the glory of the dance pant is its fabric. It's a stretch cotton jersey. I (unsurprisingly) could not find something as gloriously soft at JoAnn's, but I did come up with something close in a cream color.

I sewed most of the pant by hand. I'm rubbish at sewing stretch fabrics on traditional machines and I hadn't gotten my surger yet. The hand sew held together for the California Academy of Science's NightLife Halloween party and Halloween night, plus three dye baths and two machine washes, so I was pretty happy. I did go back over the seams though once my surger arrived, just to be sure everything held up.

I dyed the pants post-assembly - in the event I ended up hating the final color, I had enough fabric for a second pair. I bathed them first in Rit's powdered Pearl Grey dye for about fifteen total minutes, following the instructions on the dye for my fabric. While the grey alone was great, I went ahead and gave them a two additional shorter baths in Rit's liquid Taupe to add a bit of desert grime to them. The taupe ultimately was a little more patchy than I'd planned (the first taupe bath was interrupted by my puppy and I didn't get the pants submerged completely in time), but I quite like it as sort of an unintentional weathering effect.

They look a little like dingy long underwear when they aren’t pulled up to the knee, but I’m really happy with the outcome of the pants. They’re super soft and make Scavenger Outfit one of the most comfortable costumes I've ever owned.

The Top

This was an easy one.

I didn't properly pattern. I swore to myself I wouldn't do this again after my ridiculous good luck with the Elsa top and train, but I had enough of the bleached muslin to make multiple shirts and I was feeling lucky.

I measured out the length of the shirt from front to back and over the shoulder and cut this out of my muslin. I then folded my freshly cut cloth in half and used, of all things a round cork placemat to chalk out a collar in the center of the fold.

I failed to get any construction shots of the top, since the whole thing ended up only taking about an hour to complete.

I cut the collar before I draped the whole thing over my dress form. My dress form is almost exactly to my measurements and for a looser garment like Rey’s Scavenger shirt, I didn’t even need to pad up the bust where the measurements differ. I pinned along the sides and chalked out where the sleeves and the slit in the collar needed to hit.

I cut the collar slit and trimmed off the excess muslin about an inch off the pins, for seam allowance and any adjustments I might have needed to make before I pulled pinned shirt off the dress form. I laid it out flat, used the same cork round to chalk out and cut arm holes, sewed up the pinned sides and then it was back on the dress form.

I was actually pretty happy with the initial outcome and I didn’t have to do a whole lot of alterations on the top, just evened the sides out a bit. I went ahead and finished the collar with bias tape, before I moved onto the little cap sleeves.

I had two perfect half circles of muslin all ready from where I cut the arm holes. I pleated one for the texture seen in research photos and then trimmed the other before sewing them in. I did have to adjust the length of the flat sleeve a few times before I was totally happy that it was even with the pleated sleeve, but I was pleasantly surprised with how well they turned out.

The muslin wasn’t bleached totally white to start with and when paired with my finished pants, I was really pleased with their existing color. I didn’t dye them as I’d initially planned, but I did go ahead and finish off the bottom hem and I had myself most of a Jakku scavenger outfit.

Next Time: The Wraps and the Leather Pieces

Rachel Kerns 1/9/17 Rachel Kerns 1/9/17

The Elsa Dress - Part One

I wasn’t going to make Elsa’s Snow Queen dress.

When I found the pattern, I going to make Anna’s Mountain Dress, with the cute little muff and cloak combination. I hadn’t been able to make a solid costume for myself in two years - the previous two Halloweens had found me in the midst of graduate program things with neither the time nor the energy for making anything that wasn’t going to be submitted for marks. Cloaks and muffs sounded like just the things I needed, but after researching the character design for Anna more thoroughly, I came to the conclusion that given the time, budget, and the sheer number of pieces required to properly create the Mountain look, that Anna’s dress would be a Bad Idea.

That’s when I looked at the Elsa research and, while outrageously sparkly, the Snow Queen look didn’t actually seem so bad. Bodice, skirt, train, shoes, and a truckload of glitter that I knew I would regret, but perfectly achievable.

Patterning

McCall's M7000; My pattern was on sale due to the outdated item number.

The McCall M7000 pattern turned out to be considerably less useful than I’d hoped. I tend to prefer historical-inspired and drafted patterns rather than character-specific patterns - I find that I can get more accurate silhouettes if I Frankenstein the historical shapes with my own draped and drafted patterns. Character patterns, particularly if they’re unlicensed, tend to simplify silhouettes to decrease the difficulty and avoid lawsuits with the companies that own the characters’ likeness, but I’d gotten this one on sale at Jo-Anns for two dollars, so I figured I give it a shot.

The McCall pattern is designed to make the whole garment as a single piece and cuts the train length to the hem of the skirt. I had all ready decided it would be best to keep the top and the bottom separate, since I wanted my bodice to be textured and that I wanted the train to actually hit the floor, so I did what I always do and Frankensteined, using the skirt and the princess seamed bodice from the McCall pattern, the sleeves off of a generic “medieval fantasy dress” from the Butterick pattern B4377, and draping.

In general, I rarely cut out store bought patterns - the theatre hoarder in me that just knows I’ll need a different size for something, someday demands I keep them completely intact just in case. Instead, I trace the appropriate size of the pattern onto newsprint (ideally I would use pattern paper, but I have large pads of newsprint left from undergrad drawing classes that need to be used up). The Elsa pattern was no exception - I traced and cut out what I needed off both the McCall and the Butterick patterns and held off on patterns for the chiffon top and the train until I had the fabric in hand.

Fabric and Other Materials

Left to right: Chiffon, remnant (possibly a rayon sateen? I lost the tag, so I'm not one hundred percent on it's exact content), and glittery nylon organza

Before shopping, I hit up my old friend Google. Google revealed quite a collection of other creators’ Snow Queen dresses. Skirts appeared to universally be purchased sequined fabric. Trains were either generally sparkly or were hand rhinestoned in the icicle pattern from the film. The bodice options included hand beading, purchasing sequined fabric, using foamy cutouts, and layering fabric rectangles using calk adhesive.

I knew I wanted my Snow Queen dress to be as light and as accurate as possible. I also knew I wanted my bodice to be at least a little bit flexible and I knew I wanted it to be if only a little practical for moving through crowds, so I ended up modifying ideas from the research. The bodice would be foamies, the train would have the icicle pattern, but I'd use glitter rather than rhinestones, and the skirt purchased fabric.

Adhesives and texture options. From left to right: Original E6000, Spray-On Liquid E6000, glitter glue, teal Tulip fabric paint, and Golden Acrylic Gel Medium (High Solid Gel; Gloss Finish)

For the skirt, I couldn’t find quite the color and sparkle I was looking for, so I ended up combining a glittery nylon organza (two yards) from Jo-Ann’s with a remnant I picked up from Britex (roughly a yard and a half).

The train and blouse fabric I picked up at Jo-Ann Fabrics - a poly chiffon. I decided to shorten the train by several feet, just so I could move around a room without being stepped on or catching on furniture, so I ultimately purchased four yards. I knew I wanted to glitter (rather than rhinestone) the pattern onto it, but I wasn’t sure what would work best, so I picked up some options - glitter glue and regular, fine glitter in white with liquid E6000.

The bodice I decided to base in muslin - no one was going to see it anyway and I could put the money into other things. For the bodice’s texture, I picked up five sheets of foam, three in teal and two in white, a tube of regular E6000, and Golden Acrylic Gel Medium.

Bodice Materials. Craft foam, glitter, and gel medium

For the shoes, I knew I wasn’t up to tackling shoes from scratch, particularly heels. Instead, I found a blue pair of discounted pair of Christian Sirano pumps from Payless ($10, on sale) with the pointed toe box of Elsa’s ice shoes. I had some vague notions of experimenting with the Gel Medium, though nothing concrete.

It was, all said and done, enough to get started.

Next Time: The Skirt and the Bodice