Star Lord vest - UPDATE - Oct 31st: Vest completed, plus full costume

[Staar Lord Maan]

Re: Star Lord vest

Staar lord man, I hadn't seen those videos, thanks for the tip!...

You're welcome

I've been following your thread on your vest, keep up the good work, man! Did you manage to source the gray elastic banding for all the detail yet? I did find a military supplier of 'forest green' which looks gray so I ordered five yards of that just to see how it looks in natural light. I'll let you know how that turns out...

The edges of the vest are not folded over and sewn, as I assumed they would be, but simply have cut edges....But I guess since this is leather, it's already pretty sturdy, and there's no risk in the edges fraying like with fabric. It makes things easier for me, since, for the most part, I won't have to sew through two layers of leather, and all the curved edges will be simple cuts.

Something to consider, here... if you are, indeed, working with genuine leather, if you boil it, you'll find it to become more sturdy. In that high resolution image, you'll notice the military collar standing up like that? I suspect it's because they used pre-boiled leather and then the dyed it after. I don't honestly know if the dye will fade or age-out if you did boil your pieces, but I'd suggest testing this procedure with one of your scraps and see how it holds up. (a little research wouldn't hurt either, LOL)

 

[Bloop]

Re: Star Lord vest

Did you manage to source the gray elastic banding for all the detail yet?

No luck on the elastic, but I'm trying to find things locally instead of online because I things take longer to get to me if I order them, so I'm not confident of getting anything in time to complete my costume.
I haven't seen any elastic that looks like the straps in the pictures, but I did find bias tape, which I feel looks closer to those pics than any of the elastic I've seen. It's available let at fabric stores in a wide range of colors, so I may try to use that instead. I'm estimating 1" width fie the straps.

And here's some progress pics that I promised. I'm pretty much done with my layout, and I started creating patterns and cutting them out using the extra leather from the sleeves and other parts of the jacket.

 

[Jango Wes]

Re: Star Lord vest

Get some white elastic and dye it.

 

[Staar Lord Maan]

Re: Star Lord vest

Get some white elastic and dye it.

As he is limited on his resources, I think that, perhaps, some of us might be ale to help him out a bit. (By the way your estimate of 1" width on those straps is correct). In addition, my experience dying white elastic banding only dyes the fibers that surround the white rubber beneath and it shows through those fibers pretty patently; he'd be better off with his bias tape idea, in my honest opinion. @Bloop - Contact me via PM, let's chat a little more on your bias tape idea, I have a cunning plan...

Also, Thanks for posting the progress, it's coming along very nicely!

 

[Yrien]

Re: Star Lord vest

I spotted some 1" grey elastic on Fabric.com (https://www.fabric.com/buy/225110/1-dritz-knit-elastic-grey). There's also this grey trim, which apparently has some mechanical stretch (i.e. it's not made from a stretchy material but the way it's woven allows it to stretch) - meaning it looks a bit like elastic, even though technically it isnt (https://www.fabric.com/buy/0307408/team-spirit-1-solid-trim-grey).

There's also some 1" twill tape (https://www.fabric.com/buy/0340127/cotton-twill-tape-roll-1-x-55-yards-grey) that also comes in a darker grey (https://www.fabric.com/buy/0340125/cotton-twill-tape-roll-1-x-55-yards-dark-gray). The look of it isn't quite right, but might work.

I live in Canada and have ordered from Fabric.com before. I was extremely impressed with how quickly I received my package (within a few days), though they did accidentally send me someone else's order the first time. They did fix it really quickly, at least!

 

[Risu]

Re: Star Lord vest

The Dritz stuff isn't the correct weave. I bought some elastic recently that I think is correct. When it comes in and I verify that, I'll post a link to the store in my build thread.

 

[Staar Lord Maan]

Re: Star Lord vest

I have five yards of this Polypro Belting which I originally thought this stuff was, but I think that in a pinch, it can be more easily weathered. Please forgive the differences in color on these two images, I hit the 'auto balance levels' feature in the second one but it's more to show you the weave.

 

[FreelanceSculpt]

Re: Star Lord vest

Thank you for putting this thread together. I'm working on the trench coat now. The vest is next on my list!

Your vest is looking fantastic!

 

[Bloop]

Re: Star Lord vest

Thanks, FreelanceSculpt! I hope this thread is helpful.

New progress pics, I've finally been sewing!



I decided to replace the chest panels since there was some detailing around the collar on the original coat that I wasn't happy with. You can see a but of it in the first pic here, and also in previous pics of the jacket in its original state.
The second pic shows how it is now. Both sides of the chest and shoulders are sewn in place and I'm about to sew the bottom edge trim piece into place. I haven't added any of the finished seems yet, I'm still trying to figure out the best way of doing them without a sewing machine and still having them look good. I think I'm going to use a serrated tracing wheel to poke holes in the leather so I have a guide for my hand sewing. Hopefully, it will look more even and machine-like stitching. Boy do I wish I had access to a sewing machine right now! I'd be further along too.
I also bought some gray ribbon instead of the bias tape I was planning on using. I couldn't find gray bias tape anywhere I went. And no gray elastic was found, either. I'm starting to think I should have just ordered things online and hoped they'd make it to me in time. I still might, since at least I already have something that I can use. But I think the ribbon will actually work pretty well. I'll post pics of it later.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Star Lord vest

I also wanted to mention that I haven't cut the collar down to its proper height yet. I'm waiting until I install the zipper so I can lay it out better. I also haven't cut down the bottom parts of the arm holes yet. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to do the side areas, since the available pics don't show the area all that well. I think I've got it mostly figured out, but I want to be sure. It seems like the front and back of the vest don't attach directly to each other on the sides. The snaps and belts seem to attach them, though I could be wrong. I'll try to post some pics on how I think it works. Even if I'm wrong, I doubt anyone will know.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Star Lord vest

Here's pics of the ribbon:

The last pic is with the flash on. I think it looks pretty close to the costume, at least in the pics that are available. I may double it up or add some extra material to bulk up the thinkness. I also plan to weather it using black acrylic paint washes.

 

[Staar Lord Maan]

Re: Star Lord vest

I think that for your purposes, this grosgrain ribbon will work just fine. It's texture will pick up the weathering just fine. As it is polyester, I'd keep it away from any open flame, though.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Star Lord vest

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've made more progress but I haven't taken much in the way of good pics:

I've sewn quite a bit since the last pic, though it's hard to see. I had a minor setback, where I had mis-measured one side of my replacement chest pieces, and sewed it an inch too long. Easy enough to fix, but time consuming when sewing by hand.

On another front, I've finished version 1.0 of the layout for the medals/greeblies. I say 1.0 because I'm not entirely sure what some of them look like, so some of them are my best guess. I'm open to suggestions on how to improve them. They're roughly laid out where the go on the vest. I've drawn them "cleaner" than the originals, since the mesalsa are basically scrap metal looking.

 

[Kakarrot]

Re: Star Lord vest

nice work so far Bloop, have you decided what you are using for said medals/greeblies? i've been searching for weeks with no answers yet.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Star Lord vest

nice work so far Bloop, have you decided what you are using for said medals/greeblies? i've been searching for weeks with no answers yet.

I'm assuming the original material is some type of sheet metal. I was originally thinking of trying to use styrene or card stock or clay, but I think sheet metal is the best option. You can see in the pics that it looks like some of the medals are actually hammered into the leather. I haven't purchased any metal yet. If I had access to my tools back home, I'd probably just use sheet metal from a place like Home Depot. But it looks like they sell sheet metal for crafting and scrapbooking in craft stores that could work, and you can cut it with a scissors. I haven't seen it firsthand though, so I can't say for sure if it would look good.

 

[Risu]

Re: Star Lord vest UPDATE Oct 4: Medals/greeblies!

I think they might all be specialized studs for leather. Some of them look kind of familiar, but I don't know where I've seen them. I don't think they're at Tandy, that's for sure.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Star Lord vest UPDATE Oct 4: Medals/greeblies!

Zipper installed!



It's obviously not the screen accurate zipper, but I feel it works for now. I could always replace it in the future.
I folded in one side of the collar to see where I want to cut it. I realize the front shoulder "flaps" should be narrower at the bottoms, but I was waiting to see if I needed to make any adjustments to the chest before cutting them down.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Star Lord vest - UPDATE Oct 6: Zipper installed

Ok, another update. I tried dying the mesh I bought, but it didn't really take. I think the mesh is mostly polyester, so that's probably the reason it didn't absorb. So I went to plan B and used paint. The color came out like I wanted, so I'm reasonably pleased. The picture doesn't really capture the colors correctly, but its just a medium gray.
Here it is with the mesh sewed in. The mesh area looks much smaller than the screen used vest, partly due to the way it's hanging, but it is a little narrower since I'm a fair bit narrower than Chris Pratt. So I've been making alterations based on fit, while still maintaining the original look as much as possible. You can also see one of the belts loosely in place along with some of the extra flaps that aren't fastened down yet. I also finished the collar, but I may make some adjustments to it.


I also bought my Skechers and a long sleeve shirt today. The shoes have the same sole as the screen used ones (at least I hope so). The shirt is ok, I bought it in case I get sick of sewing (I already am). I have another, bluer long sleeve tee, but this has stripes down the arms similar to the screen shirt, so it might do in a pinch.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Star Lord vest - UPDATE - Oct 12: "Meshed" up back!

Here's a shot of the mesh taken with a flash that shows it better. I don't know if it's entirely accurate (probably not) but I like the weave I chose. I feel it's evocative of the pattern printed on the short leather jacket, and it has a chainmail sort of look that I like.

 

[Crazybug00]

Re: Star Lord vest - UPDATE - Oct 12: "Meshed" up back!

That's meshed up........ Awesome build, I wish I had your skills. Good luck man.