BigGeek
New Member
We decided to create the Endor Han Solo costume for our son, Liam, when my wife and I were building costumes for Ewok Village Leia and an Endor Rebel Soldier for myself. Just thought it would be cute, and we don't often see children done as Han.
As children outgrow their clothing quite quickly, we weren't necessarily planning to spend the time to do a completely accurate version of the costume, but wanted to make it very recognizable to any typical Star Wars fan. We started by purchasing a pair of solid brown pants at a local thrift store, and a long-sleeve white shirt at a local department store.
Shirt
Nothing was really required for the shirt, just used it as-is.
Pants
We determined the bloodstripes on his pants could probably be painted on with craft paint, rather than spend a ton of money on having someone embroider them, or taking the time to do it ourselves by hand. The bloodstripes turned out to be a bit of a tedious thing, but it worked out to great effect in the end. To make them, I used painters tape to create 2 long stripes, mapping out the desired width of the stripes all the way down each side of the pants. I then used painters tape to mask off stripes. We had to apply a few times to ensure good coloring on the stripes. Then, we had to remove the tape, and apply new tape strips offset down the side of the pants. We had to do this same technique 3 times on each side of the pants to complete the bloodstripes.
Vest
This piece I decided to make from scratch, as Han's vest is arguably one of the most recognizable elements of his costume, other than his gun/gunbelt (will get to that next). I did a bit of research on the Rebel Legion site, and a few others, regarding the design and layout of the vest and the pockets. Then I simply created a pattern based off of a shirt in my son's size (3T), laid-out and cut my fabric, sewed the base vest, then cut and sewed the pockets needed for the front, and the odd shapes for the top-back of the vest. It turned out really great, considering I'm no seamster.
Gun Belt
I once again used the Rebel Legion forums to do some research on Han's belt. Based on my research, I created a pattern out of paper, used that to size to my son, then used the resulting pattern to cut out the necessary pieces of the belt...in the same way you would do from leather if making a realistic replica for an adult. I even made the buckles from craft foam, and wifey was great at painting them to achieve the silver tone necessary for metal buckles, but without creating something that might cause Liam discomfort when wearing. The belt has velcro bits in the back (hidden, of course), to attach to itself and the holster. I ran out of time for our needs, so I just created a simple version of Han's blaster that sits in the holster. Although, Liam seems to really enjoy playing with it anyway!
Our Experience and Skills
My wife and I have created several costumes, for ourselves, our son, and helped several others do so, too. I do a bit of sewing, we work with materials such as craft foam, EVA foam, sintra, ABS, and pretty much any kind of object that might lend itself to costume creation. I'm absolutely NOT an expert in any way, but I'm never afraid to try new techniques or materials. We don't have 20+ costumes each or anything. I'd say we have around 10-ish each, as our lives involve more than just this wonderful hobby. But we certainly have a long list of costumes we want to do, and will continue to work on those things over the years, hopefully providing a fun experience for Liam to learn from as he grows up.
As children outgrow their clothing quite quickly, we weren't necessarily planning to spend the time to do a completely accurate version of the costume, but wanted to make it very recognizable to any typical Star Wars fan. We started by purchasing a pair of solid brown pants at a local thrift store, and a long-sleeve white shirt at a local department store.
Shirt
Nothing was really required for the shirt, just used it as-is.
Pants
We determined the bloodstripes on his pants could probably be painted on with craft paint, rather than spend a ton of money on having someone embroider them, or taking the time to do it ourselves by hand. The bloodstripes turned out to be a bit of a tedious thing, but it worked out to great effect in the end. To make them, I used painters tape to create 2 long stripes, mapping out the desired width of the stripes all the way down each side of the pants. I then used painters tape to mask off stripes. We had to apply a few times to ensure good coloring on the stripes. Then, we had to remove the tape, and apply new tape strips offset down the side of the pants. We had to do this same technique 3 times on each side of the pants to complete the bloodstripes.
Vest
This piece I decided to make from scratch, as Han's vest is arguably one of the most recognizable elements of his costume, other than his gun/gunbelt (will get to that next). I did a bit of research on the Rebel Legion site, and a few others, regarding the design and layout of the vest and the pockets. Then I simply created a pattern based off of a shirt in my son's size (3T), laid-out and cut my fabric, sewed the base vest, then cut and sewed the pockets needed for the front, and the odd shapes for the top-back of the vest. It turned out really great, considering I'm no seamster.
Gun Belt
I once again used the Rebel Legion forums to do some research on Han's belt. Based on my research, I created a pattern out of paper, used that to size to my son, then used the resulting pattern to cut out the necessary pieces of the belt...in the same way you would do from leather if making a realistic replica for an adult. I even made the buckles from craft foam, and wifey was great at painting them to achieve the silver tone necessary for metal buckles, but without creating something that might cause Liam discomfort when wearing. The belt has velcro bits in the back (hidden, of course), to attach to itself and the holster. I ran out of time for our needs, so I just created a simple version of Han's blaster that sits in the holster. Although, Liam seems to really enjoy playing with it anyway!
Our Experience and Skills
My wife and I have created several costumes, for ourselves, our son, and helped several others do so, too. I do a bit of sewing, we work with materials such as craft foam, EVA foam, sintra, ABS, and pretty much any kind of object that might lend itself to costume creation. I'm absolutely NOT an expert in any way, but I'm never afraid to try new techniques or materials. We don't have 20+ costumes each or anything. I'd say we have around 10-ish each, as our lives involve more than just this wonderful hobby. But we certainly have a long list of costumes we want to do, and will continue to work on those things over the years, hopefully providing a fun experience for Liam to learn from as he grows up.
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