A Long Time Ago, In Cloud City…..

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…….

Mia got tickets to an event at Disneyland, Star Wars night! Being a huge fan she wanted to dress up for the occasion. Usually, Disneyland does not allow guests to dress up as characters. However, this rule doesn’t apply to Star Wars night.

She didn’t want the typical Princess Leia outfit, white dress and side buns. She also didn’t want her other iconic look, you know, when she’s chained to Jabba the Hutt.

Instead she told me, “I want the outfit Princess Leia wears in The Empire Strikes Back, in Cloud City, when Lando betrays them.” As much as I’m a Star Wars fan, and as many times as I’ve seen “The Empire Strikes Back”, the outfit didn’t jump into my mind. So for those of you also drawing a blank, here’s a scene where you can see the outfit.

Here’s the betrayal, just in case you’ve watched this far! Take note that Leia is wearing a long tunic top, pants, a sheer cape with some sort of a quilted collar piece, and matching flats. Let me mention that the sheer cape is lined with a sheer fabric that matches the tunic top and pants. No small feat to recreate.

Mia got to work going through my patterns and finding pieces that looked similar to the pieces that Princess Leia wears. She pulled pictures from the internet that showed the tunic top, pants, and cape in greater detail. Then she found patterns that would work. For the cape, I would be on my own to create it without a pattern.

For the tunic top we chose this McCall’s pattern from 1973. The look of it was very “Leia”. We shopped for fabric that looked like the color she wears. We paid attention to the texture of the fabric as well. We both wanted it to be as close to the movie as possible.

I got to work cutting out the pattern.

The fabric wanted to shift so I laid it out on my kitchen counter.

This was printed on the pattern. If only I could order this book still!

Pinning the bodice front.

I didn’t like the look of the collar that the pattern called for, it didn’t match Leia’s look. So I altered the neckline to look more like Leia’s look.

Sewing it together.

Pinning the waistband together.

Ironing the seam allowances.

All together minus the sleeves. I pinned the collar down and would have to tack it down by hand.

The long sleeve piece of the pattern was missing, so I had to draft my own.

Pinning the zipper into place.

It was time to move onto the pants. Mia chose this pattern from 1983. They were very simple pants to make with an elastic waistband and elastic around the ankles. Leia’s pants seemed a little loose so I wanted to make sure that cut the pattern so they would be loose on Mia.

Sewing them together.

Time to sew the crotch seam. I decided to use really wide elastic in the ankles. You’ll see the end result soon!

It was then time to build a cape. I had Mia come home for the weekend so it would be made to fit. I laid muslin pieces on her to get the shape of the upper part of the cape. This is what I came up with.

I laid the template onto another whole piece of muslin.

I made sure to cut a seam allowance around the template.

Since Leia’s cape top looks quilted, I decided to layer a piece of cotton quilt batting in the muslin pieces.

I drew out a collar, cut it out, and sewed it with batting. I didn’t get any pictures of that though. I was concentrating too hard!

I measured and drew out the design that is on Leia’s cape top.

I then machine quilted along those lines.

Remember how I said Leia’s cape was lined with sheer fabric that matched her outfit? Well we found a sheer fabric that was close to it. I gathered both colors.

I then had to attach both sheer pieces to the cape top.

Making sure it will line up right.

It was starting to look like something!

Pinning the first layer into place.

Pinning the outside layer into place.

Cutting any threads that were still hanging, and getting ready to sew the sheer fabric on.

Sewing the sides together.

Mia had shoes that matched almost perfectly. All she had to do now was put it all on and go to Disneyland!

Now get ready for a photo dump of galactic proportions!

The whole outfit came together perfectly!

Lots of people recognized her as “Leia from Cloud City”.

Cast members at Disneyland referred to her as, “Your Highness”. They know royalty when they see it!

So many photo opportunties! Look at the wide elastic in the ankles. It gives it the right look. It doesn’t look like sweat pants from the 80’s at all!

Good thing we’re not all dramatic about blog photo shoots! HA!

The droid R5-D4.

This is just a great picture because it shows her hair and the back of the cape!

You might recognize this droid. In Star Wars, A New Hope, Luke was going to buy him but he malfunctioned. He instead bought R2-D2.

The Jawas took him back. Mia said they tried to steal from her during this photo shoot. You can’t trust Jawas.

Uh oh! A Gamorrean. Jabba the Hut hires them to guard his palace. I think this guy is admiring Mia’s costume.

I knew Jabba the Hutt wouldn’t be too far away from his guards! I told Mia this should be her Christmas Card! HA! “Season’s Greeting’s from Jabba’s Palace”.

Poor Han Solo! Frozen in carbonite because Lando betrayed them!!

Setting things on course, or maybe back in time….

…all the way back to to see your mother! Queen Amidala! She told Mia that her heart was with her.

No trip to Disneyland would be complete without seeing Mia’s favorite character, her cousin Mateo! He works in the Starbucks inside the park, so say “Hi” if you’re there! Maybe get a picture with him too! Let me know if you do!

This sew took lots of time and effort. I was really happy with the way it turned out! Mia had a great time and looked amazing so it was well worth it!

I’ve got a busy May, and this post starts it off! I’ll be busy sewing, but also traveling. As this posts I am in Georgia, watching Mia graduate and get her Master’s Degree. Next will be to Sacramento, to watch David get his Bachelor’s Degree from Sacramento State. Somewhere in there I’ll have a birthday. There will be another amazing destination sew to see, and others along the way!

Thanks for sticking with me so far, loyal readers!

As for me, onto the next!