Cloud City Costume Belt

    Starting in January 2020 I began construction to replicate the costume Princess Leia wears on Cloud City. She only wears this outfit for a few minutes before she and Han Solo are betrayed and captured by Darth Vader and then it's back into her Hoth snowsuit. The costume though remains a fan favorite with its simple red tunic reminiscent of Indian kurtis, a harem pant, ballet flats, and a stiff corset like belt all covered with a beautiful hand embroidered robe that features a quilted yolk. 

    It took me a year and a half to hand embroider the 3 yards of custom printed Spoonflower fabric. I was able to complete the first panel in 31 days but between school and canceled events last year, I took my sweet time working through the other 4 panels. I finished the embroidery in March 2021. 

 

       Over the course of 2020 I also ordered fabric swatches from three different websites to settle on the perfect colors and fabric types to complete the red suit. I felt very prepared to make the tunic and pants, even the yolk on the robe, but the thing that really stressed me out was the belt. 

    How was I going to make that shape? How was I going to keep it stiff and also cover it with fabric? I didn't want it to be too bulky or complicated.  The answer came when my friend Shelly gave me a couple samples from Wonderflex, including one for FosShape 600. FosShape is a felt like material that becomes stiff like buckram when heated sufficiently and then cooled. I tested it with the fabric and a clothes iron and was pleased with the results so I ordered a yard. While FosShape isn't too expensive, in my opinion, the shipping is insane, so be prepared to spend some extra money on that.

    I have very little experience drafting patterns (in fact I will be taking a Draping and Drafting course for theater this coming semester). I was making the costume as per Rebel Legion standards and they read as follows: 

        "a. The belt is stiff and must be covered in the same fabric as the tunic and pants.

            b. The shape of the belt is a large diamond/rhombus 4-5″/10-13 cm with curved

points. Belt must be proportional to the wearer.

            c. The belt is fitted snugly to the wearer’s waist."

    Going off these numbers, I created a 5"x5" square and traced it onto some poster paper (red) from corner to corner it measures 7.5" (purple).

    Then after finding the center I created a 4" wide waistband (green). Then I used the top and bottom points to make the 5" rhombus lines (blue).

    While the shape seems large compared to the one Carrie wore on screen, the belt also "must be proportional to the wearer" which means the bigger the body, the bigger the belt- and I am definitely not as small as Carrie. After catching the "Covid 25" I am not even close, lol! My waist is about 30" right now and I also have a very long waist (with a torso girth over 60"). I think this pattern can easily be adjusted for anyone who is smaller or larger. I definitely think that 4" rhombus edges would work better on a smaller person, perhaps starting with a 4"x4" square. Just a suggestion.

    I used my poster paper pattern to cut out a piece of FosShape 600, and three pieces of the left over fabric from my tunic and pants, with a seam allowance. Two pieces for the front as it is thin material, and one for lining the back.

I tucked in the edges of the inside lining side and sewed them down on my machine.

    Then I basted the two layers of outer fabric to the inside lining fabric and applied heat with a clothes iron to shape the belt and make it stiff. In hindsight, this is where I should have only applied heat to one layer of fabric on each side, not two, and added the second layer after making the FosShape stiff. (The FosShape will fuse to fabric, temporarily, as well as to tissue paper. I do not apply an iron directly to it, also have not tried using parchment paper as a barrier, but it might be a good option.)

 

    I will also note that Wonderflex says that FosShape can be heated with a clothes steamer or heat gun, but when doing this the overall surface area of the FosShape shrinks and I needed my belt to meet measurement specifications. By using the clothes iron I was able to keep the surface area of the belt intact and also press the FosShape thinner. I do think that FosShape 400 would have been a better choice for this belt because I wanted to keep it thin and my final belt was bulkier than I anticipated, but I am still happy with the final belt! I added some flat hooks to hold the belt closed, something easy to adjust if I ever "recover" from the pesky "Covid 25" (haha).