Leia Briefing Room Vest Pattern

Probably one of the most challenging things to make in Princess Leia Costuming is the grey vest that she wears in the briefing room just before going to Endor in Return of the Jedi (and seen post battle as she is getting her arm bandaged indicating that she has this vest on under the camouflage poncho the entire time). This cap sleeved vest style is also seen in the movie Ewoks: Battle for Endor on Paul Gleason's character Jeremitt Towani. (Perhaps indicating that he was involved in Rebel activity at some point?)

I made my first pattern by draping a mannequin but the fit was not great. So I made this second pattern using a bodice sloper that I flat drafted following instructions in the book "Apparel Making in Fashion Design" by Injoo Kim and Mykyung Uh. You can find it on Amazon and if you sew a lot and want to make your own patterns, I strongly suggest you buy it. The bodice drafting instructions are on pages 24-29. You will also want a Variform ruler for the curved edges like the neck, arm holes, and cap sleeves

After making the sloper I moved all of the bust dart space to the waist to be gathered (see page 200). I also moved the shoulder dart to the back waist to be gathered but I probably should have moved it into the yoke area (much like the shoulder dart closure suggested on page 233). I still got a good fit out of this pattern though.

Once I had the dart space moved I was able to trace new slopers and create yoke pieces, pockets, etc. and add 5/8" seam allowances.

I do not know anything about enlarging patterns so the best I can do is say that this pattern was made for a 39" bust, 28" waist, a back length of 18", and a shoulder length of 5". Also the bust point was measured at 11.5" from the shoulder. I am about a size 6/8 with a long waist. I did have to shorten the the length on the bottom of the vest before I was done though, more on that later. All I have for now is sharing my pattern pieces with notes and the dimensions. Unfortunately I get so focused on the sewing process I forget to take step by step photos.

It is important to already have your pants and blouse for this costume done if you are making it for the Leia costume. You need to take a final waist band measurement from just below the waistband of your pants while wearing them and you will need to see where the cap sleeves are over the pockets on the shirt sleeves. Most of the pocket should be visible and I was able to create this final sleeve pattern (after much drafting and re-drafting) by seeing the vest on over the blouse and deciding how long the cap sleeve should be. Cap sleeves are hard, you may need extra fabric for re-doing the sleeves and waist band.

I suggest using Google to find as many images of this vest as you can, there is a lot of top stitching involved.

I made my vest from a medium grey Kona cotton from Joann's, it took 2.5 yards But you may need extra if you mess up the sleeves and waistband as I did). Most of these pieces you will be cutting 4 of unless you only line the yoke. Everything has a 5/8" seam allowance except the cap sleeves and I noted this on the pattern piece.

Lastly, I have not submitted this costume to Rebel Legion yet so I have no idea if my final vest will be approved.

 

The First thing you want to sew is the outer pocket to the lining. Fold right sides out and iron the folded seam  and then top stitch 1/2" from the edge. Make sure you make a right and a left pocket!  Set these aside.

 

Attach all 4 yokes to all 4 vest fronts, making sure to make two lefts and two rights. Iron the seams and set these aside and move to the back pieces. I am often lazy about ironing as I go but its really important to do that with this vest so it fits together nicely.

 

 

Attach the two yoke backs to the two vest backs and iron flat. Now you can attach a left and a right vest front at the shoulders to a vest back a repeat this with your other three vest pieces. Be sure to press the shoulder seams. Line up the bottom edges of the pockets to your outer vest fronts, and pin in place (remember that the narrow sides go in the side seams). Close up your outer vest side seams, then close up your lining side seams and iron all of these seams flat. At this point you should have two unfinished vests, one with pockets and one without (this is your lining).

You will want to sew the shoulders of your yoke batting pieces together now, but do not iron them. Put the right sides of your vest and lining together matching up the neck and front opening edges, place the batting on one of the wrong sides and pin in place. You want to seam from the bottom opening edge corner, up to the neck, around the neck, and back down the opposite opening edge to the bottom. Then carefully clip the corners and the neck, flip vest right side out (the batting should be between the outer fabric and the lining now) and press this seam flat but try not to press the batting in the center, just along the seam edge. Batting will flatten and fuse when its ironed and you need to wait until you've made the top stitching on the yoke to press the whole thing.

Now you need to check the vest length. It is best that you have your pants for this costume ready as you want the waist to overlap the waist of the pants. Don't forget that this has a finished waistband that is 1.5-2" wide which adds additional length to the finished vest. I had to take slightly less than 2" out of the length shown on the patterns here before I was done. (There was a lot of waist band adjustments before I was done).

I prefer to top-stitch the yoke quilt lines at this point to hold everything together. You should make these lines in something that will wash out or is iron erasable, I used pencil. Always top stitch on the outside of the yoke, the lining could be slightly off. I also leave long ends of thread and do not back stitch but use the extra thread length to finish the top stitching by hand with a needle, I just think this looks cleaner. For the back right half of the yoke, with line 1 on the center, I had a 1" spacing between all my quilt lines. On the front left yoke piece, there is one line, one inch from the center front opening that extends from the neck all the way to the bottom (but not on the waist band). This  stitch line is also on the right side of the jacket. There are another 4 top stitch lines on the left front yoke, mine happened to be 1.5" apart, I placed the next stitch line, after the front center line, 1.5" away and then spaced them out from there. Save the rest of the top-stitching for when you are done with the waistband and sleeves.

 

 

It does not matter if you do the sleeves or waistband next. Lets talk about the sleeves: they were a pain to pattern. This was not my first pattern, it is my final pattern. the sleeve is 5.125" tall (5 1/8) and 9.5" wide. I have also noted the shoulder curve length and the bottom curve length. I only gave the sleeves a 1/2" seam allowance on the bottom edge. Good luck!

 

Sew the lining and the outer sleeve pieces together. Carefully clip the curve, flip the piece right side out and press the folded seam. I then matched the top curve center to the shoulder seam, and sewed it to the outer fabric. Then basted the lining and the under arm part closed. Repeat on the other side. Iron the seam. If you already quilted the yoke you can press away with the iron however you like.

Now you can add more top-stitching if you want. Both yokes have a stitch line about 1/4" from the seams at the top of the vest fronts. The back yoke also has this stitch line along the seam. I used my edger foot to space this. Both shoulder seams have this narrow top-stitch line in front of them. Then there is another 1/4" top-stitch around the arm hole and along the seam where the sleeve attaches. There is also a top-stitch line 1/4" from the neck opening.

I like to do the waist band last. You need to go back and gather up the gather lines indicated on the vest front and back patterns. These are not approximate. Look at reference photos and adjust as needed to fit the waist band you make. Measure the waist over the waistband of your pants and be sure to have your blouse tucked in when you do this. This might be different from the measurement at your natural waist line. Divide in half and add the 1.25" to that (1 1/4" or 5/8+5/8" for the seam allowance on the ends). You can always just cut the waist band the full length and not place it on a fold but I made mine one that is cut on the fold.

Sew the outer waistband to the lining along the bottom edge and the ends, or three edges. Clip the corners and flip right side out. Iron the folded seams.

Alternatively: sew only the bottom edge of the outer fabric and lining, flip right side out and press the folded seam. Leave the ends open to baste shut later.

Either way you can now attach the waistband and adjust your gathers to fit. I like to machine stitch the  waistband to the outside and then baste the inside to the lining. I also baste the front closure edges. All 4 edges of the waistband have top-stitching 1/4" from the edge making a very long narrow rectangle. I then added two hook closures to this. Your belt will go over the top and the waistband will not be seen.

 

 

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).