For me, this whole costume started with the ultrasaber. I got one, it's awesome, so I needed a belt, then I made/bought the rest of the costume, just as an excuse to wear the ultrasaber around! I figured that I should post some pics in the forum for people to see.
For convenience, I started with two pieces of chrome tanned leather from Springfield Leather, available on amazon. The Buffalo pieces they sell are usually about 60" long, so I was able to use just two pieces. If I had used vegetable leather in the 50" piece, I may have needed two, which I didn't want to pay for. In retrospect, I didn't realize how much softer the chrome tanned leather is and I am very glad I went that route. for reference, I used a 1" strip and a 3" strip for this belt.
Two Pieces of leather At first I was going to leave the edge rough due to laziness, but the piece is actually fairly thick! Then I saw a burnisher that went into a drill and knew that was the only way I would do something like this. Note that the chrome tanned leather is (apparently) much harder to burnish so the power tool method was a great choice. I made my own using a maple board, a hole saw and a long bolt. you drill a hole out of a board, bolt it through then center and groove it however you need. Then I burnished both strips. I wanted nice round corners, so I found two coins that were the appropriate diameter, clamped them on, and cut around them. Then I burnished the end as well.
I left the main belt much longer than I needed (almost a foot longer) and placed studs so that they were about 72 degrees apart, using a loop in the back as a connection point. An important lesson I learned much later is that, if you have a very thick tabbards and obi, you need more belt! I ended up using a few inches of my expansion material. I also used the coins to round the corners. i finished this belt piece with the little stud things everyone uses.
To make the over-belt adjustable, I put a whole bunch of holes in it. On one side, I put in a "extra-extra" holes to use which you'll see later. I bought a cheap metal buckle from Amazon that I liked and use a chicago screw to hold it down. This should make it clear how the over-belt adjustment is accomplished. I threaded the over-belt through the main belt, put on the other half of the buckle, and had the basic belt. I had also cut some pieces of each strap, which I now used to make the loops around the over belt and the back of the whole belt. I also added a second chicago screw to the over-belt on each side because it thought it looked good.
The three loops The finished belt is a very heavy duty object! Is is donned by threading the main belt through its loop, then centering and clipping the over-belt. Again, very heavy duty.
Obviously... At this point, I used my drill and solved a problem I saw mentioned in the forum relating to covertec clip fastening. I punched extra holes on one side of the over-belt so that the holes went to where the covertec would be, then I drilled a hole in the covertec clip and chicago screwed it to the over belt. This is not coming off, ever.
Covertec screwed to the over-belt At some point while working, I realized that the costume I was making was basically just a few pouches short of qualifying for generic jedi, so I made a plan and bought a single 12"x12" square of soft, thin, cheap leather. I cut it in to pieces for three pouches and side bits. I also used some extra strap to make belt loops and "washers" since the leather was so thin. This is the only reason I was able to provide any structure to these floppy pouches. I stitched the pouches after punching holes with an awl I borrowed. Then I used extra chicago screws to put on the belt loops and I used extra studs for a rudimentary closure. Note here. I had to go back later and "outline" the holes where the studs go through to make the leather stiff enough to stay closed.
They aren't the same quality as the belt but they exist Regarding the rest of the costume, I saw the brown tunic on Amazon, and liked the darker look. I was also looking at cotton duck fabric at the fabric store, which has few color choices. When I saw hunter green fabric, the thought came to me of combining them for a woodland camouflage color pattern. This was appealing because I was in the Army, and because It seems like something that would be prudent to wear at times. My thought is, would you wear white on Endor, or Dagobah? Only if you want to get dirty and/or shot at!
I made the tabbards essentially the way tutorials show on Rebel Legion, however I did connect them with scrap fabric for about 2" under the belt and about a foot on the back. I did this because they slipped down. This still happened, so I put a small strip of fabric behind my neck. This can be mostly concealed by the tunic if it is folded open. I made the obi about 8-9" wide to account for the belt width, and I made it triple the belt length so it could wrap multiple times like an obi. I also made the decision to make it double thickness, so it would be like a gi in a way, and put tie straps on each end that are far too long (although I like the final look and it is functional). Like my belt, it's made to be very adjustable.
I've worn this to one Halloween event at the elementary school and loved the reaction. People didn't know what I was supposed to be until I got close enough for them to see the lightsaber, which is exactly what I was going for!
Jedi Uniform - Front with Saber You can see this same text, but with more pictures here:
http://www.forum.rebellegion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=974526Thanks for reading!
