Newbie needs help w/ Episode 1 Obi-Wan

[jediRyno]

Hi all, new here from San Jose, CA. I just got into the 501st and am looking forward to joining the ranks of the Rebel Legion and of course, you fine folks, The Jedi Assembly!

I want to get and be ready to wear an Episode 1 Obi-Wan Kenobi costume by February 10th, yep for The Phantom Menace 3D in theaters. I am a very busy guy and this time around, I'm not planning on learning to sew and make the costume myself.

What I'm really looking for is advice on who I can go to for quality work that will get me approved:

Any online stores that are any good?

Reputable eBay sellers?

Folks on here or RL forums that you'd recommend?

Should I even try episode 1 Obi-Wan Kenobi (is it very difficult to get approved)?

If anyone is interested in commissioning a costume, please PM me?

[Jon-Mar Teric]

Hey there, and welcome! Having done 3 of the 4 OWKs over on the RL side (not old enough for ANH yet…) I can tell you that it’s a pretty exacting costume, at least when it comes to the RL side for acceptance. Get your hair cut short and add your braid.

I’ve honestly not seen anyone off eBay or anything like that which has what I would look for in materials. The closest that I’ve seen commercially speaking is from Museum Replicas (episode 3 version). Their tunic is a bit on the thin side on the top, to be honest, and the color (in the catalog and one member I know of that wore it when he applied) looks a little more on the beige side than the ivory seen in Ep1.

If you are interested in trying it out... the specifics of the costume soft parts are along the lines of ‘making it look like the picture’… I use a Czech OWK fansite often for image references (http://www.cswu.cz/obiwan/eng/fotoobi11.html) because you can get so detailed as to finding the direction the material runs in the images. How specific do you want to make it? The tunic, tabards and obi are of a sort of crinkle cotton that you can find at JoAnns, but you’d probably want to plan on lining them, as they are pretty thin. For appearance sake, the most accurate OWK fabric I’ve seen, judging from the sample of the fabric from Dressing a Galaxy (and relating the same fabric from Ep3 to Ep1) is Dharma’s handwoven. Check out the after-washing image here. I’ve got a whole lined OT for him, and now I’m thinking about scrapping it and buying this material (got DAG after I finished re-working my OT, grr.) There are a ton of tutorials from members like JediKai that can help guide you through the process. Padawan’s Guide is another good reference (http://www.padawansguide.com/theboys.shtml).

Same with other parts like the belt and such – a trip to Tandy leather for the belts, British Tan dye, punch and rivets should get you off to a good start.

[JediKai]

If you're not going to make it yourself, you might be better off finding someone local who is an experienced costumer or sewer, willing to work with you and the tutorials available.
RE RL standards: I think to what Jon-Mar is refering are the standards for "face" character in that one must strive to actually look like a young Obi-Wan/Ewan M. We do not make such specifications here.

The back of the Obi-wan tabbards are different and there are tucks in the sleeves. My tutorials do not cover this. Mine are for "generic" Jedi.