I'm so excited to share my pattern for Leia, Princess on Lothal! Please let me know if you notice any errors with the pattern as this was my first time digitizing with a new process!
Many of the designs from Star Wars Rebels draw from Ralph McQuarrie's concept art. (For more: https://www.starwars.com/news/original-trilogy-star-wars-rebels ) Above, you can see the concept art on the far left and Leia's ensemble in the Rebels episode, A Princess on Lothal (Season 2, Episode 12) in the middle.
I've found my new favorite legging pattern - Jalie 3887 Clara. To start, it doesn't have a seam center front! With the animated stuff not being limited by the reality of needing actual seams, it's always nice to find something that actually works in real life to limit seams! And its a really simple pattern. This is a high waisted legging pattern. I found that the grey showed through the off white fabric too much, so once the top was done I lowered the waist so it fell within the grey of the belt area. I will likely add a few snaps or hook and eyes to the back and sides to keep the pieces together if I end up bending over or kneeling a lot, although the belt helps keep everything in place.
I drew the pattern on a really close-fitting top, cut it apart (after adding tons of alignment marks for those curves) and traced it. I added 1/4 inch seam allowances. Initially, I tried to go without shoulder seams, as I thought I would rather have side seams than shoulder seams. However, I could not get the arm area to lie flat or fit closely, which was more distracting than a regular arm hold seam. I ended up with no side torso seam, but an armhole sleeve. I used the sleeve from the Jalie 3135 Skinsuit for my sleeve, so it is not included in the pattern. I HIGHLY recommend the pattern for all your bodysuit needs, however! I used it to make a jumpsuit to wear under my TK armor when I found that the leggings and shirt weren't staying in place to my satisfaction. I also added a pocket to keep my cell phone, which I use for my TK voice changer. If you're not able to purchase the pattern, you could try another tight-fitting sleeve meant for stretchy fabric, or possibly the sleeve from my Holdo pattern.
I got some secondhand boots off of eBay and painted them with leather paint. They were originally black so it took a lot of layers! The leather for the belt was left over from another project. I painted that with the same color leather paint as the boots. The overlapping parts enabled me to use a smaller piece of leather since I did not need one continuous strip to go all the way around my hips. I used plenty of velcro on the center front of the belt, behind the leather and on top of the leather attached to the center front belt piece to close the belt.
I used some of the brown paint from a set of
Leather paint supplies (I earn a small commission if you buy from these affiliate links, which helps partially fund the software and online hosting subscriptions that enable me to share my patterns and tutorials) :
I used a skinny black hair elastic fed through two small holes and secured with a safety pin to make my comlink float securely on the belt. The box was from a usb battery I had ordered to power my TK helmet fans. I painted it silver and used Chicago screws to attach it.
For the metal pieces, I used a sheet of aluminum I had left over from my senatorial belt. It cuts surprisingly easily. I sandwiched a piece of foam mat between two pieces of the aluminum for the chest box. I spray painted all the aluminum pieces with silver spray paint.
I used magnets from this set in a couple places, most importantly to hold the hair bun on to the back of my head. I found it was much easier to wig clip (I used clips similar to these) and bobby pin on a fabric base with embedded magnets than it was to try to secure the actual bun. Once the base is attached, the bun magnets into place. I also used two small magnets to hold the hair clip to a bobby pin. The hair was actually Kanekelon left over from my Fireside Padme build! I cut apart two big bun donuts as you can see in the photo tutorial I included at the end.
And here's a photo tutorial of how I did the hair -
https://jeneyrecosplay.smugmug.com/Star-Wars/Lothal-Leia/Lothal-Leia-Hair-tutorial/
I've found my new favorite legging pattern - Jalie 3887 Clara. To start, it doesn't have a seam center front! With the animated stuff not being limited by the reality of needing actual seams, it's always nice to find something that actually works in real life to limit seams! And its a really simple pattern. This is a high waisted legging pattern. I found that the grey showed through the off white fabric too much, so once the top was done I lowered the waist so it fell within the grey of the belt area. I will likely add a few snaps or hook and eyes to the back and sides to keep the pieces together if I end up bending over or kneeling a lot, although the belt helps keep everything in place.
I drew the pattern on a really close-fitting top, cut it apart (after adding tons of alignment marks for those curves) and traced it. I added 1/4 inch seam allowances. Initially, I tried to go without shoulder seams, as I thought I would rather have side seams than shoulder seams. However, I could not get the arm area to lie flat or fit closely, which was more distracting than a regular arm hold seam. I ended up with no side torso seam, but an armhole sleeve. I used the sleeve from the Jalie 3135 Skinsuit for my sleeve, so it is not included in the pattern. I HIGHLY recommend the pattern for all your bodysuit needs, however! I used it to make a jumpsuit to wear under my TK armor when I found that the leggings and shirt weren't staying in place to my satisfaction. I also added a pocket to keep my cell phone, which I use for my TK voice changer. If you're not able to purchase the pattern, you could try another tight-fitting sleeve meant for stretchy fabric, or possibly the sleeve from my Holdo pattern.
I got some secondhand boots off of eBay and painted them with leather paint. They were originally black so it took a lot of layers! The leather for the belt was left over from another project. I painted that with the same color leather paint as the boots. The overlapping parts enabled me to use a smaller piece of leather since I did not need one continuous strip to go all the way around my hips. I used plenty of velcro on the center front of the belt, behind the leather and on top of the leather attached to the center front belt piece to close the belt.
I used some of the brown paint from a set of
Leather paint supplies (I earn a small commission if you buy from these affiliate links, which helps partially fund the software and online hosting subscriptions that enable me to share my patterns and tutorials) :
- Angelus Leather Preparer & Deglazer 5 Oz
- Angelus Leather Paint Set of 12 1 Oz (I used the brown to tint the white off-white and the black for the toe lines on the boots. I also used this paint for my Hoth boots!)
- Angelus Leather Paint 4 Oz Flat White
- Angelus Brand Acrylic Leather Paint Matte Finisher
I used a skinny black hair elastic fed through two small holes and secured with a safety pin to make my comlink float securely on the belt. The box was from a usb battery I had ordered to power my TK helmet fans. I painted it silver and used Chicago screws to attach it.
For the metal pieces, I used a sheet of aluminum I had left over from my senatorial belt. It cuts surprisingly easily. I sandwiched a piece of foam mat between two pieces of the aluminum for the chest box. I spray painted all the aluminum pieces with silver spray paint.
I used magnets from this set in a couple places, most importantly to hold the hair bun on to the back of my head. I found it was much easier to wig clip (I used clips similar to these) and bobby pin on a fabric base with embedded magnets than it was to try to secure the actual bun. Once the base is attached, the bun magnets into place. I also used two small magnets to hold the hair clip to a bobby pin. The hair was actually Kanekelon left over from my Fireside Padme build! I cut apart two big bun donuts as you can see in the photo tutorial I included at the end.
And here's a photo tutorial of how I did the hair -
https://jeneyrecosplay.smugmug.com/Star-Wars/Lothal-Leia/Lothal-Leia-Hair-tutorial/
I'm pleased to be able to share my Hoth Leia vest pattern with you! Here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lxzBvlb6WSqH4pYCxYl1Zs0_GTPixShu/view?usp=sharing
It was made to fit - Chest 37/38", Waist 30", Hips 39". Those measurements don't include the lightly insulated snowsuit. I ended up using VERY narrow seam allowances on the side seams and front seams, as I wasn't happy with how narrow the front opening was at first.
I took some progress photos as I worked. Let me know if you have questions!
The line of piping in the back. On the pattern, I generally remembered to mark where piping would be set into the seam. Here's a good tutorial on making piping - https://blog.colettehq.com/tutorials/tutorial-how-to-make-piping
Here's the collar before I stuffed it.
I used a water soluble marking pen (affiliate link) to mark the location of the ID badge holder.
More piping!
I sewed the id badge holder by sewing on the middle blue rectangle. I cut the seam allowance on the innermost blue rectangle, clipped the inner corners, and turned it inside out.
I used A LOT of pins as I turned the outer seam allowance under. I ironed it (make sure you don't iron the plastic pins!)
Fun fact - the quilting pattern is different on the left and right sides. I included both sides in my pattern.
Would you like functional pockets? WHO DOESN'T?????? You can use the pocket flap placement line as the top of an extra piece.
Assembling the outer layer.
Stuffed the collar!
Pinning the collar to the outer layer. This will get sandwiched between the outer layer and lining.
On the pattern you'll see there's a section on the collar where I have the original cutting line marked, as well as my actual cutting line. I wanted the collar to end a bit before the front corner, so I trimmed off the part that extends above the lined section.
And now, the magic that is sewing a lined vest!
I hand finished the hole I'd left open to turn it right side out.
And that's it!
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My current method for digitizing hand-drawn patterns is a lot more streamlined than it was at first. Digitizing my Ceremonial Leia pattern involved tracing the pattern, cutting up the copy, mounting each piece on a template, and scanning each of those pieces. It took a while! This method is much faster!
You need to use an app that lets you scan documents and essentially identify where the corners are so the app can “square” the document. I have a sheet of white corrugated plastic that I used for some other project that now measures 51" x 36".
I lay the pattern pieces out and use the Notes app and “Scan Document” feature on my iPhone. I always check the corner location and try to get it as close as possible to the corners of the corrugated plastic. Then, I open up my iCloud on my laptop and download those images.
Then I use a program called Inkscape. It's the free version of Adobe Illustrator. I import the scanned images into a copy of this file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PH9ptj32pK_OGu6zorvvZJBy5uzCEW6c/view?usp=sharing and enlarge them to 51 in by 36 in. The proportion isn't always perfect but it's close enough. If you’re going to use this template, you should read up on the final pieces of software I use, the one from TitchyThreads, below. There are reasons why most of the elements are in the template, and you’ll need to know what you can safely delete, and what you can’t.
In theory, I could draw new lines in Inkscape over all the pattern lines from the scan, and it would be really clean and pretty. But as long as the lines on your hand drawn pattern are dark enough it works. People may use a bit more ink to print it, but it's the fastest and easiest way to share.
For the last step I use a program from TitchyThreads which will export the pattern layer into the printable PDF at the right scale. The regular version is $70, and I have the pro version. https://www.titchythreads.com/tools/inkscape_pdf_generator
I recorded a video showing, in real time*, how I do my hair for Hoth Leia. Here's how I made the Kanekelon hair extensions I used: http://www.jeneyre.com/2019/02/adding-anchors-to-kanekalon-braiding.html
*I'm saying "in real time" because I didn't edit it... so if you really want to know the process you get to experience all 36 minutes of it!
You can find the video of how I use these to create Hoth Leia hair here: http://www.jeneyre.com/2019/02/hoth-leia-hair-tutorial-video.html
About Me
Star Wars, Cosplay, and Historical Costumes.
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Jeneyre.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. JenEyre is also an affiliate with Pozu and ArdaWigs.
By purchasing items through my links, I earn a small commission on your purchase, which helps fund my work on this site.
By purchasing items through my links, I earn a small commission on your purchase, which helps fund my work on this site.