may the force be with you

 

Although I’m already busy with holiday commissions, I have to allow room in my schedule for Halloween costumes. My kids love dress up and costumes get used long after Halloween in our house. My oldest wanted Star Wars and it didn’t take much effort to get the others on board. All he had to do to convince his sister was utter the word “princess”.

 

 

The Jedi pretty much wear karate shirts and a bathrobe, so it’s all easy sewing. Knowing that ours will get much wear, I use cotton and finish these well to hold up to lots of washing. I even stitched their names on the inside with “love, Mama.”

We all had a lot of fun with these!

Of course my favorite was Leia’s dress. To recreate the fluid drape of Carrie Fisher’s iconic white gown, I used a bamboo rayon jersey. I lengthened a full peasant blouse pattern and drafted drapy bell sleeves based on an angel nativity pattern.

 

The huge hood and collar I had to make up for myself based on what I observed in the movie. It didn’t take much to convince the kids we had to watch Episode III again for “research.” The great thing about costume making is how you get to stretch your imagination and skills to make it all come together. I worked with fabrics I don’t normally and merged different patterns to create something unique.

 

 

Yes, the hair took an hour and many bobby pins, but you can't be Leia without the hair. Oh, I took them trick or treating as Darth Vadar, which was super fun.