Using the Force
Remember how Jude had a Star Wars party in November?
Remember how I was making Jedi robes for all my boys? (Except Levi, who gets to be an Ewok?)
Well, three of the planned robes are complete, for Jude, Noah, and Jabin. Other than the foam-and-duct-tape light sabres we made for the party, though, they do not have any other part of the costume as yet.
That's okay. The robes look great. And yesterday, I took advantage of all my boys being home for Easter break to get an impromptu photo shoot in.
The robes were patterned after the one that Obi-Wan Kenobe wears in the second trilogy (episodes I-III--it took the boys a while to figure out how that confusing order worked. :-D)
The design of these was aided greatly by a tutorial found at http://www.forum.rebellegion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36267. I altered the design to have a rounded bottom edge so that it would be the same length all around, and also drafted each robe to the corresponding boy's measurements.
I did quite a bit of math to figure out the formula for making each robe perfect, as I hate waste, and didn't want to be cutting off and throwing away the great deal of fabric that the linked-to tutorial suggests. Perhaps I will get my own version of the tutorial and how to draft a Jedi Robe to fit posted on my blog someday.
These turned out awesome, and my boys love them.
"Give me a Sith Snarl!" I said. And he did... kinda. What IS that, anyway?!!
Jason and Jude made the Light Sabres out of foam plumbing pipe insulation and coloured duct tape. They get daily use around here.
Young Obi-Wan. :-)
Noah got a double-ended Light Sabre.
He is also proficient in using The Force. :-)
While I was at it yesterday, I also photographed the costumes I made for their Christmas plays, neither of which they got to use. (Jude and Noah both got sick and missed their plays. Jabin was in his, but his costume was supplied by the school. Oh, well, there is always this year.)
I wanted Noah's angel costume to look a little more masculine and modern than the traditional "robe and sash and wings" look. So I bought an oversized white T-shirt, cream knit carf, and women's size small military-inspired jacket in cream from the thrift store, then made the felt top hat and bought the gold cord. Presto! Boy angel!
Noah wanted a "jumping shot"--so he could look like he was flying, I think.
Jude was supposed to be a shepherd. I had some tweedy-looking striped fabric and some nubbly-looking polyester "linen" fabric in my stash that I had intended to turn into a shepherd costume for years, so he got the whole shebang--right down to the kippah. For design inspiration, I looked at the costumes from the movie "The Nativity Story", from which I copied details like the reversed seams whip-stitched down, and yarn whip-stitched onto the sleeves for a piping detail.
Jude had the robe inside-out for this photo, unfortunately. The wind is whipping the hood over his right shoulder, which makes it look even more wonky.
While most of the kippah was machine-stitched, I added hand-stitching details by top-stitching in contrasting thread. I am really happy with how this turned out.
Little shepherd boy--with glasses?
Detail of cuff with yarn "piping". I miscalculated the neck size on the tunic an had to correct my error by deepening the gash and stitching the edges under--but it turned out okay, for the most part.
Love this face!
You see that snow that is just hanging around in the shadows of the trees in these photos I took yesterday? You see those dark clouds behind Jude's head in that last photo?
Yeah. They proceeded to turn into rain clouds, then snow clouds. It's been snowing since some time last night, and hasn't stopped since. Today, there has to be at least four inches sitting on the ground. Grr.
Not so bad in November... but it ain't November.
WINTER!! DIE ALREADY!!!