Rey - Star Wars: The Force Awakens Build (open for everyone!)

A follow-up on the fabric from fabric.com. I saw today that they have a 100% viscose crinkle gauze in stock. Viscose is a type of Rayon with some differences in how it's processed I guess. A lot of people see them as interchangeable. I used the crinkle rayon and it worked fine. But I they do now have this crinkle viscose. It's not expensive and you can get swatches for $2. I think I'll try it out to see if there is difference. Jdsfire if you or anyone else was bummed to miss out on the eBay viscose, this might be the ticket.

https://www.fabric.com/buy/0462928/telio-crinkle-yoryu-gauze-white
 
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I have handstitched all of mine using tiger thread, leather needles, a sewing awl, and a compass.
The compass I set to 1/4 inch and used it to mark my sewing line. I then used a leather sewing wheel to mark the stitches and the awl to punch through the leather. I also watched several videos on handsewing leather. I simply don't have the money to buy a leather sewing machine, and all of the handsewing tools were at hand as I have family members who work in leather.
Plus, I just like handsewing! It's very scavenger-y for me:)
If you want to see how my pack looks I have a build thread for it on this forum.
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=267643

Alright. That backpack is my white whale. There were so many parts of this costume I thought I could never do, now it's a matter of pride! And I so agree with the handsewing, doing the little bits on the belt were already so much fun.

Alright! Most of the accessories save for the backpack and shoulder pad are done!

Waiting for the compression sleeves to come in, then aging the staff and figuring out the leather/cloth wraps and the slings.

reyaccesories.jpg

I got the goggle kit from GiveWaveStudios here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/464188...&ga_search_query=Rey goggles&ref=sr_gallery_8 For painting it I used, well, my boyfriend's Warhammer paint. All in all, good for rust, not very good for metallics, I thought.

Overall I thought it was a fantastic kit, his tutorial was super easy to follow. Except I forgot the two stitches above the nose ridge. AHkhfsdjfdkf.

It was my first time working with PVA foam, I come from a time where the closest we could get to shaping foam was blasting thin craft foam with a hair dryer or sculpting insulation foam with a thanksgiving turkey saw. I *much* preferred this foam!

I highly recommend the kit, with one caveat: As I learned, leatherworking isn't as ominous as it sounds. And while the kit includes a nice felt face plate, I do think a nice, lightweight leather might look a lot better and more accurate.

I got a little, ah, over enthusiastic with the aging, so the goggles are currently sitting outside, getting blasted with some UV in the hopes it lightens a little.

reystaff.jpg

Now for the staff: I got the 3D printed parts from Rawrbomb here https://www.etsy.com/transaction/1275937892 They're primed, painted, and now I'm just waiting for them to dry to return to my growing love of beating the everliving daylights out of stubborn costume parts and calling it aging and weathering.

If anyone is still interested in making your own goggles, I put up a step by step pictorial tutorial (nice rhyme) of how i make my Rey Ban Genuine Jakku Eyewear in the Rey Cosplay Community Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1672721166338925/permalink/1944112629199776/

The pictures and instructions are in the comments section.

...And this is why you should check the RPF thread regularly. I just saw that right after finishing my goggles.
 
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Can't wait to see how it all looks together!
I was nervous about the backpack too, but it turned out to not be so bad. It's currently one of my favorite parts, as I don't have to worry about little things like overdying it! I do recommend practicing your handstitching several times on scrap leather before beginning the backpack ;)
 
I've finished the belt pouch except for the alice clip, and I have the wrap cut down to size.
Yes, I delayed those things! I'm about to attach the shoulder straps to the backpack as well.
My goal is to have the backpack done very soon... We'll see.
 
Sorry bout that. :p

I had been meaning to put this up for a while now, but never did get round to it.

I'm thinking of cross posting it on my old goggles run thread.

I think you should go for it! Visual walkthroughs are such a lifeline, I'm sure there's a lot of people who'd love to see it!

I applied to the facebook community a couple of days ago, still waiting to get in. Can't wait to see your goggles tutorial! I had fun with the kit, but it's something I think I'd eventually like to try again to see if I can get it to look a bit more accurate.

Goldhawk said:
I've finished the belt pouch except for the alice clip, and I have the wrap cut down to size.
Yes, I delayed those things! I'm about to attach the shoulder straps to the backpack as well.
My goal is to have the backpack done very soon... We'll see.

I know earlier in the thread, Division6 posted the hard numbers for drafting a backpack yourself, how's that been going for you?

I've tried following the numbers out with some silly craft foam but I cannot seem to figure this out. I am absolutely hopeless at drafting.

I don't want to prod sensitive territory since this really seemed to be an issue of contention earlier in the thread, but has anybody come across a pattern that can be modified to work for the backpack?

I've got Division6's breakdown right here but I always slam into a wall when it comes to that bottom plate and the top flap. I really apologise if it looks like I'm asking someone else to do my work for me, but I am so hopelessly stuck with figuring out this pattern. I can get the five pieces alright, but the bottom bit, the dangly bits and the top flap are just never quite fitting in correctly, you know? Like I can't seem to get them into a cohesive shape. The "walls" are always gaping.
 
I think you should go for it! Visual walkthroughs are such a lifeline, I'm sure there's a lot of people who'd love to see it!

I applied to the facebook community a couple of days ago, still waiting to get in. Can't wait to see your goggles tutorial! I had fun with the kit, but it's something I think I'd eventually like to try again to see if I can get it to look a bit more accurate.



I know earlier in the thread, Division6 posted the hard numbers for drafting a backpack yourself, how's that been going for you?

I've tried following the numbers out with some silly craft foam but I cannot seem to figure this out. I am absolutely hopeless at drafting.

I don't want to prod sensitive territory since this really seemed to be an issue of contention earlier in the thread, but has anybody come across a pattern that can be modified to work for the backpack?

I've got Division6's breakdown right here but I always slam into a wall when it comes to that bottom plate and the top flap. I really apologise if it looks like I'm asking someone else to do my work for me, but I am so hopelessly stuck with figuring out this pattern. I can get the five pieces alright, but the bottom bit, the dangly bits and the top flap are just never quite fitting in correctly, you know? Like I can't seem to get them into a cohesive shape. The "walls" are always gaping.

Not sure what you mean by the bottom plate. The sides and bottom of the bag are all one continuous piece. The top flap is one piece with the back of the pack, and the strap that holds the water bottle on the bottom is placed in the middle and sewn down. I have lots of progress pics and I can send you pics of specific parts if you like.
 
Not sure what you mean by the bottom plate. The sides and bottom of the bag are all one continuous piece. The top flap is one piece with the back of the pack, and the strap that holds the water bottle on the bottom is placed in the middle and sewn down. I have lots of progress pics and I can send you pics of specific parts if you like.

Oh my god, I'm an idiot and you're my hero.

I got that completely backwards.

No wonder it wasn't working-- I was doing the top flap, back, bottom and front pannel as one piece, and the sides separate.

Thank you so much, back to the drawing board/foam!
 
Also if it would help you Ducky... here's a pic of all of my backpack pattern pieces plotted out on the back of the hide, ready for cutting:

pack.jpg

Also, here's the pack about midway through construction. The next step here is to attach the strap on the top flap, and then join the front and back with the sides strip:

19369497_10212884239637098_1016087498_n.jpg

And again after assembly.

I still have some bits to do... attach the side bottle strap, the shoulder strap canister strap and a bit of webbing.. as well as finish some stitchign along one seam. But this build is almost done.

This one was made for CKWindsong. :D

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Whoa! Kristen. This is amazing. Thanks for posting the pics. For scaling purposes, what is the overall size of the hide? And did you use the pattern from the bag build thread?
 
I did!

I'm unsure how big that bit of hide was, but by adding up the dimensions of the panels it looks to be approx. 2 feet by 5 feet or about 10 sq. feet.

The pack front panel is 11" x 14". The back/top flap panel is the same but about 21" long

The pack sides panel is 4" wide and approx. 39 inches long (I trimmed to fit once sewn)

The various straps (including the shoulder straps) are all 1-1/4" wide, as I used 1-1/2" hardware throughout.

The shoulder straps are approx. 56" long each because I folded them in half and glued together so there would be no raw back showing.

Here's an updated pic with rough dimensions given:

pack.jpg
 
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I have no pics of the bag drawn out before cutting, so you are a genius to have thought of that, Kristen!

The only construction differences between our backpacks, are that I sewed the middle/side panel to the front of the bag first and then added everything else. That allowed me to place the strap for the large water bottle and get that sewed early on.

As always your bags look astounding!
 
Thanks, Goldhawk.

To be fair, I was able to attach the items before putting the front on only because I've built 5 of these now :p So I've got a good handle on placement.

I'd love to see more people tackle the backpack... especially since now that everyone has got more or less burnt out on Jakku Rey and Resistence Rey and are now joining those of us who wanted Full Scavenger from the beginning. It's *the* coolest part of her outfit to me (regardless the fact it was only in the film for all of 5 minutes LOL) and ranks up with the goggles as one of my hand made props that I'm most proud to show off.
 
Scavenger or bust!

Hahaha. But really, When I started on this I was pretty sure I would just do Jakku Rey and call it a day. So much of the build of just the basics intimidated me! I made the hip pouch (took 4 tries). Then I made a staff. Made clothes for the first time. Dyed fabric for the first time (grrrrr). I gotta say I was feeling spent Then I pulled out some old muslin and tried making a mock up of the head wrap shirt. I may have gone over board with the sleeve and hem length and the arm pits are too tight. But I made it and it worked! Phew! Made me feel really happy and excited rather than intimidated to try and do all the scavenger pieces. So I've started supply list making.

I'm going to start with the headwrap and shoulder pad. I think I may just buy the gloves off eBay to save money I can put toward the backpack materials. I have a goggles kit I assembled that will do. I can upgrade later. I also want to make that scavenger tote bag thing. I've got a lot of the materials already. Yay!

Thanks for all the info and insight you all shared. You made a believer outta me!
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