If you followed along in part one, then you’ll know my next adventure was making the bodysuit itself. I’d put it off for a long time, but after confirmation in one forum and input from multiple Mara’s in Ladies of the Legions, I finally cut into my fabric.
Reminder that I was told to use the McCall’s M7269 pattern with heavy modifications.
You can see above that for the front piece I had to add material around the boobs and thighs. How did I figure out how much more to add? I measured my body, halved it and then measured the pattern before cutting it out. If the pattern lines were not big enough, I marked how much more space I’d need, then cut along that line to make my catsuit pattern.
Note that this is cut on a fold, so there is not a seam in the middle of the front piece. That would be unapprovable for a costume club.
The back of the suit needed a little more modification too. After cutting, I pretty much just sewed it together.
You can see I pinned this together before sewing. I wanted to double check that everything lined up how it should. After I sewed those seams, I used tailor’s chalk on the inside of the suit to mark where the thigh panels and piping should go.
I don’t have a photo, but I made the crotch diamond (why would that be a thing, ever?) by chalking the inside of the suit, seeing what shape looked right that way, cut the final shape out of the suit, used the piece I cut out to cut a new diamond (slightly larger than the one I just cut out for seam allowance) and then sewed it in. I redid this like three times.
One of the worst things about working on this was trying to make the unrealistic costume work with real materials. It’s not fun.
You can see chalk lines above and my pinned panels. I’d go on a rant about how useless and unflattering they are, but I feel like better costumers who have come before me have covered it.
To create the panels I used the chalk to draw where they should be and then put on the suit to make sure it looked right (I did this for every step of my process). I did the drawing on the inside of the suit because that’s where the sewing was going to happen, but also because I didn’t want to mess up anything on the outside.
For the panels I cut a layer of quilting batting that was the shape of the panels I drew, then I cut the same shape from the material I used for the suit. I pinned it down and then sewed away.
You can see the panels above. Next was the piping.
I used elastic cord for the piping to allow for movement while wearing the costume. If you want info on piping, look it up on YouTube! That’s how I learned it for my Agent Carter racetrack dress.
After the piping I was ready to sew the seams and the zipper.
I took approval pics soon after that. I was Rebel Legion and Saber Guild approved (with a different wig).
