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Mighella WIP


Guest Anonymous

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Guest Anonymous

We all know by now that poor Mighella doesn't have enough references for 501st consideration right now, but I wanted to share my costuming progress with you guys and thought this might be the right place to do it :) Besides! There's always hope that there might be future comics about her ;)

 

This is my first attempt at sewing with a sewing machine. I've watched my mom do it a handful of times and probably sewed a single seam on a doll dress when I was a kid... but I am a serious novice. Add to that a lack of a standard pattern that I could use or modify and, well, I'm pulling this whole thing out of thin air. Sorry this post is really long and babble-y and doesn't include as many pictures as I'd like!

 

My first issue was deciding on how to make my pattern. I initially wanted to use the wonderful dress form draping method I read about in the sewing thread, but I couldn't find a dress form that I could afford and was impatient about getting started. So I ended up laying wax paper on top of a shirt I knew fit me well (folded in half so I'd have a quarter piece since my wax paper isn't as wide as me) and traced out the top part of the dress. I measured out the bottom portion of the pattern based on my hip-to-ankle length. For the sleeves I used the same method of wax paper tracing over a three-quarter sleeve shirt I had. I measured my neck and the collar of another shirt for the mock turtleneck collar dimensions.

 

family015.jpg

There's my dress panel pattern about to be cut out of the fabric. I'm using crushed satin since it already has awesome vertical crinkles in it and is the right color. Unfortunately it only really "stretches" in one direction (with the crinkles). I had initially wanted a lighter fabric with more "flow", like a nice ...light cotton or muslin or something, but was enamoured of the satin. :oops: I'm a fabric n00b too.

 

My plan was to have the dress as one piece, then have the wrappings and belt as two separate pieces.

 

The sleeves fit perfectly (okay.. I couldn't really bend my elbows, but I ripped out the seams part way and added a dart to each and all is well!).

 

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I had fun trying them on before attaching them to the dress :)

 

Everything seemed to be going fine for a while and I let my sewing ego get kind of inflated. It seemed like my next major issue was the fact that there wasn't enough space between the front and back panels of the skirt portion to make the front panel show my legs. My non-sewing friend suggested I add fabric "darts" into the side seams (seen below if you look hard) and I thought it would be a good idea to try. It did not work and looked like crap. All it did was make the dress too loose and sort of... box/sack shaped.

 

008.jpg

 

I did away with the extra fabric and now the dress fits much better and looks much better. I did a little tucking of the front panel underneath so that when I finished up the side seams the front panel was a tad skinnier than the back. I still haven't achieved the correct amount of legginess, but putting on the belt helps that a bit. I also had to shorten the sleeves a few inches so that they just cover my elbows instead of being halfway down my forearms. Unfortunately the dress ended up about three inches too short (I'm thinking I didn't give enough seam allowance at the shoulders with my pattern), but with the boots on it seems to minimize the length issue.

 

dress.jpg

Here is the dress as it is now.

 

Two days ago I was ready to chuck this in the bin and start over with new (better) fabric, having learned a lot about what NOT to do. I felt like the only thing I'd done right was the invisible zipper, collar and sleeves to a certain extent. I couldn't figure out how to get the wraps attached to the dress so that they fit snuggly and didn't pull the bottom of the dress up in an ungainly fashion. Mighella's dress in the comics has no criss-crossing wrappings on the back of the dress. I know it's just a drawing, but it defies real world garment logic so far as I can tell. My last ditch effort is going to be cutting two pieces off of the wrapping, take out a portion of the shoulder seams and side seams, then re-sew those seams with the ends of the wrappings sandwiched between both sides of the dress. I'll have enough of the wrap left over to make a new belt since I messed up the first one completely :?

 

Hopefully I'll have some new pictures after that attempted solution, ones of me wearing the dress, this weekend! :)

 

I've also done up the forehead beads as seen in this picture at wookieepedia: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Image:Mi ... attoos.jpg (I think that's the one from Essential Guide to the Force??)

 

In the comic for the first few images of Mighella her beads look very similar to the ones in that portrait. But for the last half (all the battle scenes) the beads are reduced to one equal-sided diamond with a small dot in the middle. I just like the more elaborate ones better!

 

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Before baking. I used fimo effects in gold metallic. The color is a lot more copper/bronze to me so I painted them.

 

paintedbeads.jpg

Gold!

 

My apologies for the lame picture quality on some of these. Our new digital camera is a bit tempermental and really hates the lack of lighting in our house after the sun goes down!

 

Thanks for reading my adventures in costuming ;) Any constructive crit would be welcomed :)

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Guest Anonymous

Yay for sunlight :D My feathers came today and they look lovely! I took a much better picture of the painted beads too.

 

Picture007.jpg

 

Picture008.jpg

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Guest bassclarinets

nice work so far.. you have been doing a great job! :)

 

believe me, we all have been there when it comes to chucking something and starting over (my red invasion gown that i use is actually version 2 of real fabric, version 1's fabric was a nightmare of satin crepe, so i started over..)

 

nice work so far..

 

jen

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for someone whose not done much sewing that first attempt is great. i do like the effect the satin has although i dont see any crinkle in the drawings ( those i think are actually bunched jersey effect)

 

looking at the images of the character, i would say a jersey would be a better choice of fabric for the entire dress and wrappings. I soft viscose jersey would be ideal

 

Think Padme blue tattoinne outfit, the top has similar wrapped look to it with a plain back. This fabric would also give the swishing effect as seen in the comic images. Youd also have far more movement to the outfit.

http://www.padawansguide.com/padme/cape/padme_cape_new2.jpg

http://www.padawansguide.com/padme/cape/padme_misc_trailer1.jpg

 

the jewellery is spot on! and im a sucker for feathers...soo pretty!

I do love the sith witches they have such cool looks to them so persevere!!! i keep my fingers crossed there will be another reference for you eventually, but even so this costume will rock anyway.

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Guest Anonymous

Thanks for the comments and advice! :)

 

I think I'll finish my run with the current fabric and see how it turns out. My husband's balking at me starting over ("...but you already have this one finished..." he's so sweet) but I might have to do a little fabric store browsing if I get the chance tomorrow. :D I got the crushed stuff on sale and got close to 4 yards for $17, so it wouldn't be a major loss. Especially not if I take the learning experience of it all into consideration :)

 

Those picture links didn't work for me, Sakara (got a 500 error) and a bit of browsing their site didn't lead me to the right images. I'd be interested to see a real top with wrapping in the front but a plain back!

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oh bum :D..ok heres a link to the main page...

 

http://www.padawansguide.com/cape_gallery.shtml

 

ok in the first load of pics( promo/posed images), the first image which is huge shows the wrappings of the top.

 

then in the second load of pics ( movie still or captures) the 3rd image is a front shot of that same top

 

here in the exhibit photos.... 2nd row, third in shows more of the side

http://www.padawansguide.com/cape_exhibit.shtml

 

...the wrappings do carry on but they disapate into folds.

think like a wrap cardigan really. with jersey fabric this is much easier to do than with a non stretchy flowing fabric.

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Guest Anonymous

Ooh thank you! Those are great :D The side shot is especially helpful.

 

I think I might've found a good candidate fabric at walmart for $1/yard. And heck, even if it's no good it's dirt cheap, so I might go back next week and snag some! :)

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Guest Anonymous

Well I had my mom dye my hair today to be Mighella colored! I'm happy with it, and now I can start looking for some hair extensions to match it. Whee!

 

I finished attaching the cut down pieces of the wrap and I am MUCH more satisfied with the way the dress looks now! I'll need to use a safety pin or two to hold one of them in the proper place, but other than that I feel like I'm done with the dress for now (barring any suggestions!).

 

016.jpg

 

My husband didn't like this one because I look "mean" :lol: But I think it's a decent picture :)

 

Any feedback would be awesome!

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Guest Anonymous

Thanks guys :)

 

I missed out on that super cheap fabric at walmart, but I've still got it in my head to redo the dress with the jersey fabric. I've got a good idea of how I want to put it together. Just have to find the right fabric for the job! I'm hesitant to buy any online, but I'll shop around locally and see what I come up with.

 

Other than a dress re-do, the only things I'm missing are the shoulder armor, hair extensions, hair tie/wraps, contacts, and body paint :)

 

I feel like time is slipping away from me already though LOL! Already February's half over :shock:

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Guest Anonymous

Finally found some fabric!! I'm very excited and I'll likely start on the new dress this week. I'll post pics once I have some and all that. :D

 

YAY!

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Guest Anonymous

I'm sleeve-and-collar-attachment away from having my new dress!!! :twisted: This fabric is freaking AWESOME. Comfortable! Soft! Light! Flowy!

 

I seriously cannot thank you guys enough for the fabric recommendation and encouragement! I'm pretty sure I got cotton jersey, and if not it's really close. :D Maybe tomorrow I can get some pictures of the completed dress in the daylight. Just had to share my costuming glee LOL!

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Guest Anonymous

Behold cruddy pics with my lame camera with lighting courtesy my very yellow bathroom! :lol:

 

mighellatake2004.jpg

 

mighellatake2005.jpg

 

:D

 

Still have to do some minor adjusting with the chest wraps to snug them up a bit, but nothing major :)

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Guest Anonymous

BELLA!!!

 

Holy Hottness, Violet.... WOW!! You look amazing.

 

I'm so excited, I can't wait to see your finished costume!!

 

Great job.

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Guest Anonymous

Aww thanks guys! :oops: (and that's a happy blush LOL)

 

I can't wait to get moving further on this. Just have to wait for my next paycheck :D

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Guest Anonymous

I ordered some pretty glass cabochons off of ebay and apparently have some leather on the way too, so my pauldrons will be the next thing completed. I was originally going to go for a shaped leather kind of thing, but I have a better idea that involves reinforcement with plastic. I need these babies to be rigid... there's nothing cool about saggy shoulder armor :P

 

That leaves only hair, contacts and body paint. I'm getting so close! :twisted:

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Guest Anonymous

And the pauldrons are about 90% complete! Barring some tidying of the edging and adding velcro and elastic to hold them on, they're done :D I had some help from a friend in putting these together, and I think it was a great collaboration.

 

IMG_0779t.jpg

 

YAY pauldrons :lol:

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