Documenting My Journey to Becoming Boba Fett
Almost forgot this needed to be put back on…
I’ve never seen a real clear explanation of where this piece attaches, so using all of the available info, I think it just needs to go right under the waist band…
I sewed the loop part of the Velcro about 1/2 inch under the waist band, in the center of the back…
The result…
And, with the Butt/Mud Flap attached…
After a two hiatus, I tried on my Flight Suit, and because of the hot weather it doesn’t feel as “comfy” as it did when it was cooler…
Initially, I took in about two inches of the torso, but it just feels extremely constricting now. I’m going to let that out, and see about making a better adjustment.
I tried it on again, and determined that I can take in one inch, and it should feel a lot better…
Ready to do the new adjustment.
Adjustment pinned in place…
In the process of sewing.
Sewing all completed.
Now let’s attach the Butt/Mud Flap…
I centered the Velcro on the back of the Flight Suit, just below the waist band.
Sewing the Velcro…
Velcro install completed.
Butt/Mud Flap in place…
Front view of the Thigh Patches/Straps while wearing the Flight Suit.
Rear view of the Thigh Patches/Straps and Butt/Mud Flap while wearing the Flight Suit.
I won’t lie, this part of the build has been the most taxing, so far. I’m usually fairly adept at sewing things, even though I’ve never had any professional training but working with the suede and trying to get things all to fit correctly really pressed my patience.
I’m glad I stuck with it, though, because I think it turned out pretty good in the end.
My advice: No matter what, keep going. If you make a mistake, tear it apart and redo it. And never settle for “good enough”, always strive for excellence.
With the Thigh Patches done, it’s now time to add the Butt/Mud Flap…
This will be cut from my remaining suede material.
I cut a straight line across the top part.
Then cut a straight line down the left side.
By my measurements, I need the length of the flap to be 9 inches. So, I cut it at that length…
For the width, I figured it should be 10 inches.
And, here it is…
Rather than sew it directly to the Flight Suit, I will use Velcro so it can be removed…
Sewing the Velcro to the top of the flap.
Flap with the Velcro attached to the top…
Last night, I tried the Flight Suit on, and the fit was horrible. I was very discouraged, and decided just to walk away from it, and try to tackle it another day. So, this morning I will try working on it with a fresh mind…
The first part I decided to work on was the torso. The crotch area seemed to hang way too low, so I found that by bringing in some of the torso I could raise the crotch area. I used the horizontal waist band as a guide and ended up tucking in about 2 inches of material.
I then stitched it up, using the same stitch lines that were already there. I tried the Flight Suit on, and the fit felt way better.
The thigh area of the Flight suit is still a bit baggy, so I’m now going to start working on firming it up. I’m thinking I will start by bringing in the inseam a bit more.
Looking at my original stitch job, I didn’t really get it correct anyway. The front and back aren’t aligned correctly, plus I don’t think I stitched the inseam in deep enough because there’s a large hole that shouldn’t be there…
Ripping out the old seam…
Seam opened.
After making sure everything is correctly lining up, I stitched the inseam back together using the new guideline I sketched in…
Inseam resewn…
All of the pieces are now aligning correctly, and the big hole is gone. I knida dreaded having to redo this part, but now that it’s done, I’m glad I actually took the time to do it. The fit of the crotch area is way better. Now, I just need to tighten up the upper thigh area.
I tried the Flight Suit back on and made some rough marks to indicate how much material needed to be removed…
I used those marks to figure out the actual stitch lines for both legs….
I then ripped the old seams open.
This allowed me to redo the thigh straps. They were now way too loose. I ripped the seams on the back part to remove them, remeasured the length they needed to be, cut them, and then restitched them back into place.
Once the strap work was completed, I sewed up the thigh seam. Time for a new test fitting. I kinda need to be a bit of a contortionist to get into it, but this Flight suit now fits like a glove.
Continuing the installation…
Front crotch seam is now sewn together…
I probably should have re-sewn the inseams before I actually added the suede patches. Now, it’s impossible to get the machine to this location, so, I’ll have to stitch it by hand…
One side done…
And, the other side done. Not the prettiest stitch job, but…
Now, I just need to sew up the new inseam.
And, done. Time to try this thing on to see how it all fits with the suede patches in place…
Now, time to attach them…
I’ve read that keeping the suede in the correct position while sewing is difficult. So, I’m going to try using this to “tack” them in place…
I cut a piece that will cover the area, minus the seam allowance.
Then, ironed it on.
One piece done…
Both rear pieces done…
Front pieces done, as well…
Ironing the first piece to the Flight Suit…
Tacking complete…
To be able to get the sewing machine inside to attach the suede, I had to rip out the entire front crotch seam…
Sewing the suede on…
Sewing the second front piece on…
Both front pieces attached to the Flight Suit.
Following the same process, I got the two rear pieces sewn to the Flight Suit.
So far, so good… I started sewing the four pieces together, with the “butt” seam first.
For the main crotch seam, I was looking at the old seam on the Flight Suit, and made a huge mistake. I was thinking I made the seam allowance too wide, and cut the suede back to the fold on the Flight suit seam. I’ll now need to rip the rear pieces off, and re-cut them…
Removing the suede…
Ruined patches removed.
New rear panels cut out…
Heat n Bond applied…
New rear panels sewn to the Flight Suit…
I used blue painter’s tape to mark the area where the thigh straps will go.
I then ripped the seam, inserted the elastic in 1 inch, and ran a new stitch to secure it in place.
I followed the same process to install the thigh strap on the other side of the rear patches.
I then lined up the front and back and used blue painter’s tape to mark where the straps will go on the front.
Marked and ready to rip the seam and install the thigh strap.
Thigh straps all installed.
“Butt” seam, resewn.
I have been procrastinating working on the Thigh Patches because they seem like a very daunting project. I guess it’s now time to just jump into it…
First thing I did was try to get a rough idea of where my Knee Armor would sit. So, in a sitting position, I marked the top with a piece of painter’s tape.
This was then transfered to the other leg, as well.
The suggested sizing of the Thigh Patches is that they need to end roughly 2 to 3 inches from your knee cap. For me, it would make the inseam of the suede pieces about 10 inches. So, I marked that with a safety pin.
While wearing the Flight Suit, I then marked the front area approximately where the crotch began to go under. Another suggested measurement is the width of the Thigh Patch at the begining of the crotch area should be about 3 1/2 inches. So, I marked that, too. This now gives me a rough interpretation of where the Thigh Patch needs to go…
Using some newsprint paper, I did a rough sketch…
The template, cut out, with 1/2 seams added. I then used the template to cut a piece of felt and attached it to the Flight Suit with safety pins. I put the suit on, and the shape just wasn’t right. So, I made some mental notes of what needed to change on the template…
Making a new sketch…
The new template, cut to size…
I cut out a new piece of felt, and safety pinned it to the Flight Suit. After trying it on, it looked much better, this time. On to the rear…
I started by making a copy of the front template and used that to create the back template.
I cut out a test piece, in felt, and then tried the Flight Suit on. It seemed to look pretty good.
So, I now have my templates…
The dreaded part… Cutting up my suede…
One piece done.
Both rear panels cut out.
One front panel done.
Both front panels cut out.
All in all, this wasn’t really as bad as I thought it would be. It did take about 3 1/2 hours of continuously putting on the Flight Suit, testing pieces, making adjustments, etc. But, I think it all paid off. I guess we’ll see, once I begin sewing the suede pieces to the actual Flight Suit.
