Photo by Bryan Humphrey https://bryanhumphrey.zenfolio.com/

To celebrate passing 1,000 followers on Instagram (@JenEyreCosplay), I ran a "share-away" contest where people could vote for which pattern I digitized next. Qi'ra won by a landslide, with almost 50% of the vote!


JenEyre's Qi'ra Crimson Dawn pattern

This is a challenging garment as you have to get the fit just right. Make sure you make a mock-up using fabric of similar weight! Then adjust and make another mock-up! Even if your measurements are exactly the same as mine, (C-37, W-30, H-39), your shape is going to be different, so make a mock-up! Or two, or three!

I used two invisible zippers on the right side seam. Both open from the waist and the zipper pulls are hidden by the belt. One starts under my right arm and the other starts on my hip. For guidance on construction, you can follow pictures I took as I worked here. And I'm happy to answer questions!



Other helpful links from my blog:

• My post about Qi'ra's jewelry
• My post about Qi'ra's belt
• Qi'ra update and photoshoot sneak peek

Finally, more Qi'ra pictures from DragonCon 2018, by Bryan Humprey https://www.facebook.com/MSwaC/

The forearm pieces seemed absolutely HUGE compared to my forearms. I was worried that I'd need to form new return edges, and do all kind of ridiculous things to make them fit. I was not looking forward to that.

The forearm cover strips are supposed to be 15mm, so I cut strips of painter's tape at 7mm. Yeah, I got rid of half a mm. I live dangerously. Actually, half of me thought cutting out a mm (1/2 on each side) was going to help the fit. The other half thought I would end up accidentally adding in that half a milimeter anyway. We shall see!

One section doesn't have a return edge. I only have two hands, so I couldn't take pictures of this in the process! I taped the side with two return edges, and the wrapped it around my arm. I lined up the section opposite the no return edge bit (the far left and far right parts in the picture below) I made marks where I wanted the edges to meet. I was able to reach inside and mark a line by tracing along the other edge. It actually seemed like there was a hint of a line from the mold there, too!



After trimming, I think they're still fairly symmetrical.

 Here's the left ear before I put the correct screws BACK in. You can see that the countersink was too big, as it was made for a larger screw. Fortunately, the larger screw was actually correct for centurion level! Check out the bottom screw. . .



Basically, I made a little piece, almost a washer, that fit inside the hole. This took a while, and turned out to be unnecessary!
 Finally, the correct screw is in! It actually took me almost an hour to get all the screws re-installed. It took that long the first time, too! The top and bottom screws are JUST long enough. I imagine I could have trimmed the ears a bit closer in general, but I am CERTAINLY not going back to do any more! What I found I needed to do was hold the nut while turning the screw with a flathead screwdriver. Once the screw threads caught, I'd hold the nut with a wrench. I couldn't get the washer to fit on all of them, though.

Oh! Another problem I ran into was that some of the ear screw holes were too close to the washers of the rivets to use a washer with the screw and nut. Well, the washer couldn't lay flat. So, I actually trimmed some washers so the nuts could be flat! That also helped the screws to lie better on the surface.

If you have smaller than man hands, just order your cut resistant gloves online. The ones on the left, from a local big box store, were wayyy to big for me. I ordered the smaller pair online and they are perfect.
Soooo, when you go to assemble your helmet, make sure to use the right screws. I *might* have accidentally used the silver ones on the left, not the correct brass ones on the right. In theory, this wouldn't have mattered, but I did a little countersinking of the screws, and did a little more countersinking than I would have liked for the actual, correct screw size. Oh well.

****CORRECTION!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently I was using the right screws for centurion the first time!!!!

That's what I get for not reading the forums enough. And not labeling all the parts. I'll put the correct screws back in tomorrow.*****


And I need to keep reminding myself that one ear higher than the other is also canon. . . .



Oh, wait. Before you do anything, meet the best YouTube video series ever. TK 1636's armor building tutorial on YouTube has been playing on repeat while I work. He's building for Centurion Level approval, which is my goal. Centurion is an optional, advanced approval level for the 501st.  Just watch this over and over again. Seriously. He is AMAZING.

I tend to pick costumes that provide some sort of challenge, or problem to be solved. I wanted to make a Resistance Rey (Rey at the end of The Force Awakens) because her vest presented an interesting challenge.


I decided to make an Imperial Staff Officer because I knew that both making the pattern and executing the tailoring would be satisfying challenges. With that project, I knew I had all the skills necessary to succeed, as much of the process actually mirrored the construction of many of my Victorian garments.




However.

Knowing I could pull that off also meant that it wasn't actually stretching my skills that much. I needed a bigger challenge. . .

Okay, so here's the truth. At all the 501stNEG / Alderaan Base troops I've done so far, our Stormtroopers totally steal the show. Well, sometimes I can hold my own as Leia, but the Stormtroopers are always a hit. And when you're not portraying a face character, you have a lot more flexibility with your role play or improvisation. For example, I remember this stormtrooper - teenage fan interaction at my very first troop:

Teenager - How much was your armor?
TK - It was free.
Teenager - Wow!!! Where do you get it from?
TK - It's free when you join the Empire.
Teenager - No, I mean how much?
TK - You just enlist as a Stormtrooper . ..

No matter how much the teen tried, he couldn't get that TK to break! As an avid LARPer (Live Action Role Player) I loved it! I think that was the moment when I knew I'd ultimately don the white armor.

At a more recent event, I witnessed another interaction, which set me along the path to the dark side for good. . .

Teenager - Who's your dad?
TK - Lord Vader
Teenager - Who's your mom?
TK- Lord Vader
Teenager - Who's your grandpa?
TK - Grandpa Vader
Teenager - Who's your grandma?
TK - Grandma Vader

And then I decided to jump in.