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NTX Visas Build


Darth Sunshine

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Hello, long time lurker here, and I’m finally getting ready to start my Visas Marr build! This will be my entry costume for the 501st.

 

I am interested in making both the Unseen Unheard and KoTOR II versions of the outfit. Ideally I would like to use the same veil for both costumes. However I have noticed that the CRL for the dress color is listed differently between the two. The KoTOR II is listed as being a “dark red”, and the Unseen, Unheard variation is listed as being a “dark burgundy”.

 

Unlike the sashes, I can’t really notice a difference in the dress fabric. Is this wording arbitrary, or is there an important difference between the two dress colors that I’m not noticing on my monitor?

 

I have most of my build planned out, and I already have my boots. I plan on doing the Unseen, Unheard variation first. The breezy sleeves will be better for troops here in Texas. ^^

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Hello, long time lurker here, and I’m finally getting ready to start my Visas Marr build! This will be my entry costume for the 501st.

 

I am interested in making both the Unseen Unheard and KoTOR II versions of the outfit. Ideally I would like to use the same veil for both costumes. However I have noticed that the CRL for the dress color is listed differently between the two. The KoTOR II is listed as being a “dark red”, and the Unseen, Unheard variation is listed as being a “dark burgundy”.

 

Unlike the sashes, I can’t really notice a difference in the dress fabric. Is this wording arbitrary, or is there an important difference between the two dress colors that I’m not noticing on my monitor?

 

I have most of my build planned out, and I already have my boots. I plan on doing the Unseen, Unheard variation first. The breezy sleeves will be better for troops here in Texas. ^^

 

 

Hi there

 

The two colors are very different, it is a dark burgundy and a dark red for the two- otherwise I would have used the veil for both variations too ;)

 

I also started out with the Unseen, Unheard dress - when you´ve done that one, it´s pretty "easy" to make the other variation by using the pattern from the innerdress and then just make the sleeves different + make a new veil, and the gloves also needs to get the gold pattern done for the KOTOR version.

 

Take a look around in the Visas Marr section, if you haven´t already done that, there is a lot of great info and how to.

 

Looking forward to follow your build :) - I´m going to make the KOTOR version also, but right now I´m in the making of Dark Traya.

 

Cheers

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Bummer, I was going to use the same skirt for both and make different tops to save even more fabric. :/ But having two different colors of fabric will increase the odds of actually finding one. :)

 

I'll be making a trip out to the Dallas fabric district in about two weeks. I'm really lucky that there's a warehouse sized store devoted to quinceañera/bridal fabrics out here. I'm hoping I'll have a pile of fabric (or two!) to post afterwards.

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Bummer, I was going to use the same skirt for both and make different tops to save even more fabric. :/ But having two different colors of fabric will increase the odds of actually finding one. :)

 

I'll be making a trip out to the Dallas fabric district in about two weeks. I'm really lucky that there's a warehouse sized store devoted to quinceañera/bridal fabrics out here. I'm hoping I'll have a pile of fabric (or two!) to post afterwards.

 

 

I had the same idea, but with the two different colors, we can´t do that - it would have been a whole lot easier ;)

 

Good luck with your trip - here in DK, we don´t have that many fabric stores, but I was lucky enough to find a perfect fabric in dark burgundy, still looking for the dark red one though... 8)

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I made a really lucky find this morning! I found a see-throughish spandex at Wherehouse fabrics that matches the satin I've had my eye on at another store. The spandex is on the bottom in the right photo. I feel like it's a good match to the Unseen, Unheard and concept art version. Finding the right dress and veil fabrics has been what's worried me most about being able to get this costume done, so that's a big relief.

 

I've found a black backed vinyl at Joann's might good for the outer dress. It has a nice drape and a slight sheen. It does have a slightly "pebbled" texture, and I'm not sure if that's approvable. I don't think that it will interfere with overall look or the pinwheel patterning. This is it. I'll take better pictures than what the website has next time I go back to a store. (If the pebbling isn't an automatic disqualification.)

 

I'm not going to start sewing this til sometime in the fall, so while I'll keep looking for the right outer dress and belt fabric, my main concern for the time being is going to be looking for a lightsaber. I know it's an optional accessory for this costume, but I really want a red saber. >_>

 

Would anyone with an approved KoTOR style / Visas sabers be able to recommend a sabersmith? I'm not comfortable building one myself, so it would be my preference to commission one.

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Great find ! that´s very similar to the fabric that I´ve used ;)

 

As to a lightsaber, I couldn´t find any either, but then I found this guy, who makes some awesome designs and top quality sabers, so I´ve ordered one from him. He is a bit pricy, but then again, you´re getting a one of the kind sabers... He has a waiting list, and I up in late may/june with my saber...

 

I´m sending you a pm with his name ;)

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I've been really busy with other projects lately, but this one is always on my mind. I've been keeping an eye out for a good outer dress fabric, but I haven't had a lot of luck. I found this black backed - black vinyl at the same place as my inner dress material, and wanted to see what you guys thought. It has your typical leather finish (it's not crazy glossy or anything), and has no texture like the other one I found. Thing is, it has a bit of a stretch to it, so I'm wondering if the drape is too much for Visas, and if I should look for a stiffer vinyl.

 

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Well, I lost control of my life because of school, and didn't get to start sewing this fall like I had hoped. I have an event coming up in a couple of weeks that I need to fix up some old costumes for, and after that I'll be diving right into this.

 

I went back to look at that stretch vinyl again, and decided it's not right for this project. I ordered a number of swatches online, and think I've found my winner. It's a "stretch" vinyl, but there's hardly any stretch to it at all, but that bit of stretch it does have makes it a little less stiff than my other candidates. It also has the all-important black backing. It does have a subtle texture to it. However, to get it to show up on camera I had to shine a light directly onto to it, and took this photo like, six inches from the surface, so I'm not worried about it.

 

20141216_133017_zpse1175b2e.jpg

 

I'll order that once I've finalized my outer dress pattern. Other than that, I just need to order my gloves, and look for sash material. I keep forgetting about the sash whenever I go shopping for some reason...

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It breaks my heart to do it, but I'm going to be delaying this project yet again. When the swatch for my outer dress fabric came in, I took the fabric I had bought for the inner dress and photographed the two outside, something I had not previously done with the inner dress fabric. Turns out is has a nasty habit of turning bright pink when photographed in the sunlight. I've haven't found anything suitable at the local stores during the two months I've been trying to replace it, and none of the swatches I've ordered offline have turned out to be an appropriate color or material.

 

The seller I ordered my outer dress fabric from sent me the wrong fabric, and it took them over two weeks to correct their mistake. So I'm sitting here with just a little over three weeks to go til the convention I had hoped to have my approval in time for, with only only a fraction of the materials I need, and the only thing I have finished are the gloves. Time to call it; it's not happening.

 

I'm going to be turning to my nuclear option for the inner dress fabric; I'm going try to dye it. It's been something I've been trying to avoid at all costs for a variety of reasons, but it's the only option I'm left with unless something magically shows up in the local fabric district sometime soon.

 

On the upside, by delaying it, I may get to do something cool with the outer dress. My friends who own a few CNC machines and were going to make the pinwheel stencil for me are getting a laser machine in March, and they think the might be able to use it to etch the pinwheels into the vinyl I have. I'll post pictures if the test run is successful.

 

Sorry for the wall of text, this has just been an incredibly frustrating project, and I'm extremely disappointed that I failed to meet my goal for All-Con. Hopefully It'll all come together in time for Dallas Comic Con.

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Well, I still haven't acquired a good material for the inner dress. Once again I thought I had something, but when the full yardage came in and it turned out to have a lot more stretch than the swatch lead on.  I haven't had a chance to try dying anything yet, so for now I'm working on the outer dress.

 

I'm pretty pleased with the way the paint I picked up is working with my vinyl. In some lighting, the pinwheels look etched or embossed in rather than painted on. I'm using Duplicolor Vinyl and Fabric Paint in Charcoal Gray. It seems pretty hardy. I stretched the heck out of a test piece, even tore it in some places, but the paint didn't flake, crack, or peel.  The stencil is basically a giant vinyl decal, made for me by some very awesome friends. :)

 

36868471121_a6bd0b8164_b.jpg20150518_165446_zpsoyesvxlu.jpg~original by Andrea Vao, on Flickr

 

They're 4 inches wide, which is pretty good scale on me.

 

I have a few more photos, here are some links so I don't flood the page with too many giant photos of pinwheels. :)
 

Indoors

Outdoors

Outdoors 2

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I finally have some progress to report! 8D

 

The outer dress is at a stand still at the moment.  We ran out of the vinyl we were using for the pinwheels, and ordered a new roll.  It was different kind this time; we didn't really know what we were using last time, it was unlabeled and found the back of a storage unit.  The new stuff didn't work out so well, and ended up destroying the three dress panels we applied it to.  I also had a serious allergic reaction to it.  I'm pretty sure this build is cursed. :*D

 

I ended up deciding not to dye my inner dress fabric myself, so I've kept looking these past few months.  I finally found something today!  It's a polyester with just a bit of stretch, so it has an awesome drape that'll work nicely with the veil.  It's a good match to the concept art version. 

 

36612187100_3af608effc_o.jpg

 

Both fabrics are darker than they appear in this photo, my camera never gets colors right.  

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Well, I had to set this aside (again), because school was so intense, and then a lot of house repairs had to happen.  But I was able to pick things back up a couple of weeks ago.  The inner dress is almost done, just needs some hemming and the trim.  I figured out how I'm going to get the veil to stay on my head, I just need to figure out how to better pattern the back; I'm not too happy with the shape.

 

It's getting there...

 

36173611354_bc83532c0f_o.jpg

 

 

 

36173615574_69a25491a0_o.jpg

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I'm very happy to say it's done! Things stared coming together very quickly once Spring Break started. So much so I didn't really have time to document it here.  I'll have pics to share tomorrow of the full outfit, and eventually post more on how I made mine for future reference.

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Thanks ya ladies! :D  Still haven't sent it in yet; waiting to get pictures back. It might need a couple of small tweaks, but no more than a day's worth of work. In the mean time, here are some construction notes.

The inner dress is based off of Simplicity 2917.  I removed the front center seam, lengthened it, and then took out a lot of the fullness to make it A-Line.  I was quite nervous to keep taking it in, I'm used to making very full dresses. XD

 

I used the sleeve pattern piece it came with as a starting point, and free handed the bell sleeve pattern. The unmodified sleeve for version B might very well work for KoTOR II Visas as is.  Rather than leaving the hem of the sleeves straight,  I tapered it to avoid a pointed look. 

 

 

36201030653_ea7a114332_o.jpg

 

One of the FAQ's I got over the weekend was how I did the gold trim.  I'll get to that in another post.

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Some notes on the outer dress -

 

Like a lot of people,  I used Simplicity 7078 for the outer dress.  I picked my copy up from ebay.  I modded the neckline by grabbing a jacket pattern with a turtle neck from my pattern stash, traced its neckline over the dress pattern, and used the turtle neck pattern as it was for the collar. Worked out well on the first try.

 

As I mentioned before, some friends of mine made giant vinyl decal stencils; the results were awesome.  I didn't have to worry about lining up a stencil correctly each time, or trying keep the paint even with each new section.  I just hit each panel with several light layers.

 

Unfortunately, I was running out of paint when I did a couple of the back panels.  I didn't notice until after I had taken all the stickers off. :'D  (Sunlight really makes them pop, regardless of how heavy the paint is, so they looked fine next to the other panels out side where I'd been painting them. Inside, where I peeled them off, it was kinda dark and I couldn't actually see the pinwheels on any of the panels.)  So those pinwheels came out super pale.  A very kind friend of mine used her CO2 laser cutter to make a stencil for me to touch those pieces up with. The stencil material I chose is .125" thick cast acrylic. I do not envy those of y'all who had to paint the entire dress this way....

 

36173699394_ef3be2fb84_z.jpg

 

When sewing, I used binder clips to keep the pieces together, since vinyl doesn't recover from pinholes the way other fabrics do.  I used bits of parchment paper when I had to clip them to the "right" side of the fabric; other wise they stuck and left nasty indents.

 

36173696894_c04962251c_z.jpg

 

Pressing this fabric was very time consuming.  A direct hot iron warped it, so I had to place a cloth between the seams and iron, press them, then lay a heavy book on top it and let it cool.  Felt more like working with thermoplastics than sewing, lol.  (Although since this is PVC, I guess I was doing a combo of both.)

 

37009551395_08f6062af0_b.jpg

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i used hot glue to "press" the seams. the first seam was a mess, but it looked fine on the outside, the subsequent seams got much nicer.

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Regarding the veil and trim –

 

I really really wish I’d documented this part better.  The veil was the most frustrating part, but I just didn’t think to stop and take a lot of pictures.  It’s kind of hard to describe how I did it, because a lot of it was just sticking it on a wig head, draping, pinning, stitching and seeing what happened.  But hopefully just knowing how I shaped the back will help people out in the future. 

 

The back of it is all one piece.   I cut the top of it on a fold, and started a seam in the middle a few inches back from the forehead seam.  The front of this piece is curved slightly forward.  I cut it at first where it’s outlined in red. The green is where the final cuts roughly ended up being after I stuck it on a wig head, and cut it to where it should hang.  It was self lined with another identical piece.   I wouldn’t recommend tracing this pattern; it’s just a quick sketch.   

 

 

36838436572_85581dc219_o.jpg

 

 

36838440052_a53bc1aee7_o.jpg

 

 

The trim was done using Siser Easy Weed Heat Transfer Vinyl.  I won’t go into the specifics of applying it, because you can find all that information elsewhere.  But basically, it’s a super thin vinyl with adhesive on the back.  You cut it out (by hand, or in my case, my friend’s did it with their plotter), place it on your fabric, and press it.  It bonds permanently to the fabric.

 

37009668615_d5d25088ca_z.jpg

 

It’s super thin stuff, and won’t affect the way your material drapes…. Unless you cut some excess and fold it under and press it like I did.  I’m glad I folded the trim of the eye piece under, but wish I hadn’t done that with the sleeves and hem of the veil, it made them a little stiff.  :/

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The sash is all one piece.  I chose a thin viscose with a soft drape since it appears sort of bunched all the references.  I made the first version out of three layers of viscose, but then remade it because it quickly stretched and warped with no stabilizer.

 

I cut one long piece of a regular cotton to act as a stabilizer, one piece of viscose cut to the exact same shape as the cotton, and a third piece about an inch wider.  This extra wide piece was the outside, and I allow it to fold on itself however it wants, creating that bunched look.  For more details, check out Vera’s self-scrunching obi tutorial. - http://www.forum.rebellegion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26587

 

36838560812_7f848e57ef_z.jpg

 

There are four snaps total. Two at the ends to hold it together, and one in the middle and the end to stabilize it.  That way I don’t have to worry about it shifting.

 

36838567692_d2f9283026_z.jpg

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