AHSOKA TCW S3 PROGRESS 1 - Tunic, Leggings, Tabard thing.
- Jeybells
- Jun 26, 2017
- 4 min read
Ahsoka (clone wars season 3 onwards) has been the most different cosplay I've done. The clothing itself wasn't anything super outlandish but the amount of other things I've done; first time working with faux leather, metal work, sculpting foam, creating /that/ headpiece... I had my work cut out for me.
Hail to the Queen
I also wanted, like I do with all my cosplays, for the garments and accessories to feel genuine. Ahsoka was a Jedi since she was a young child, and grew up within the monastic order. I wanted the fabrics to feel used but durable and textured, like she had slowly added and worked on them as she was travelling through the galaxy as a meditation method. Obviously you rarely see the Jedi out of their gear, so it had to feel lived in. This is partly why it took me so long to construct everything, and I often cursed myself a lil for this. Ho hum. Also this wip is my 'real' Ahsoka - I am working on another that will (hopefully) be a total TCW replica which I can then use for Rebel Legion.
First I did something which I don't really recommend, I started with the easy stuff.
THE TUNIC
After finally getting the right fabric (I went for a burgundy corduroy in the end) I used this pattern for the tunic. I liked the panel details and thought it would make good lines, and I just extended it slightly so it was the right length to reach my mid thigh. (I didn't make the flouncy skirt at the bottom) Once I had the base tunic down I made the cut outs based on my own proportions.
Like I said, I wanted to make this cosplay really feel like a real person- so I added embroidery onto the edging on the 'windows' on the tunic, as I figured hey she was probably bored one time and it was an exercise in patience. Also I liked it. Once the neck was on I shaped the shoulders a little more and added the trim at the bottom. I had a slight issue with gaping at the back though - It was remedied by body tape but I intend to fix that later.
THE LEGGINGS
The leggings where a little harder as it wasn't quite as simple sewing. Obviously leggings are stretchy - something I failed to think about the first time I made the diamond cut outs. I cut them the exact size I wanted which I had traced on (NOT whilst I was wearing them, mind) and, as soon as I tried them on, they stretched all to hell and maybe 75% of my leg was on show? We live and learn.
I got a new pair of leggings which were a little thicker and whilst WEARING THEM got a friend to trace out the diamonds. I then cut them out but made the cut outs about 1 cm smaller than the traced shape - so I had some fabric to hem the cuts with. There was still the issue of the shapes stretching during wear but someone on RL had an ingenious idea - using wire to hold the shapes. I used welding wire that I bent to side and hemmed them into the leggings. It worked rather well. :3
Excuse my gross, gross mirror. As you can see the diamonds haven't stretched all to hell. I still need to go back and add binding but that's something for a later day!
THE TABARD THING
Is it a sash? Some kind of belt? a tabard? I could probably find out but I have not. This was definitely something that I got very focused on details with. I started with a beige linen and used Dylon flamingo pink and lavender to get the tone I wanted. Also, I dyed it on a day when I had a power cut so it was left in soak for about 3 hours too long as I couldn't see to see if the dye had taken at all. It turned out well in the end though! I've seen a lot of people use vinyl cut outs for this but I decided on embroidery again to give it the monastic feel I was after. I was very happy with the end result of this but fuck me did it take a long time. Once I was happy with the size of it I cut out some of that cross stitch fabric and lining to give it a little thickness and weight, then got going with the embroidery:
I used off cuts from another dye batch as the binding, which had turned out a little darker/more purple and I like how it sets it off. Here's a gratuitous stitching shot:
Next post will be about how I made the head piece! I didn't want this one to go on forever. Like I said, this was the easy stuff. The head piece was unlike anything I've made before so look forward to that record of my screaming and late nights. I guess it was worth it though for Ahsoka. Love! x
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