Jax - Inner Tunic & Pants

Here are the foundation pieces for Jax's costume. For fabric information, see this post. (Sorry about the bad lighting in the picture.)

Step one was taking good measurements of his length (from "neck bump" down), shoulders, chest, waist, hips, neck to shoulder, neck to fingertips, and shoulder to fingertips.

Pants

I started with the pants. I used the pattern Simplicity 3935 with no alterations. It turned out great except that I have the worst time getting the elastic for the waist band the right length. I always worry about it being too tight and make it too loose. This is something I need to work on. Anyway, I am also planning on adding stirrups later on to keep the pant cuff from coming out of his shoes.

Inner Tunic

The inner tunic took a little more work. I used the same pattern as a basis, but even the XS size is too large for Jax. I laid out the pattern pieces for the shirt front and started tracing, measuring and marking on tissue paper.

(click to enlarge)

I lined up the two pieces for the front sections, traced the armseye and angle for the side seam and shoulder seam. Then I referred to Jax's measurements and measured out the length of the side seam and shoulder. (Remember your seam allowances!) Next I traced the angle of the neck from the pattern, but redrew the lines until it looked how I thought it should go. A 6"x24" quilting ruler was very helpful in drawing those straight lines. Hopefully you can see from this picture how I drew and redrew the lines until it looked right.

I mostly used the back and sleeve patterns as is. The only adjustment was shortening the shoulder length so that it matched the front pattern, and shortening the sleeve to match Jax's measurements (with hem allowance).

I deviated from the pattern when adding what I am calling the facing (the strip of fabric around the collar and the open edges in the front). I cut two 4" wide strips on the bias and sewed them end-to-end so that I had one really long strip. I cut it on the bias since bias cut fabrics love curves. They like to bend and conform unlike straight cut strips of fabric. I pressed the strip in half with wrong sides together. I sewed the raw edge of the strip to the raw edge of the body of the tunic. I also topstitched along the back of the neck, between the shoulder seams, 1/8" below the seam between the tunic body and the facing to encourage the facing to stand up.

(click to enlarge)

I closed the front with a long strip of velcro. I have since talked to members of the Rebel Legion and they recommended staying away from velcro. Apparently it doesn't hold up well at over long periods of time and is a huge hassle to wash. In the future I would use snaps or buttons.

What I learned:

1. Use snaps instead of velcro.
2. Do not ignore others' advice about making a mock-up first. (Though I think it will take a long time for this lesson to sink in.)
3. I need to learn to to get facing strips to lie flat.
4. For children's costumes, use a crew neck T-shirt for the inner tunic instead of sewing one.
5. I need to work on getting waistband elastic length just right so that it is nice and snug.