Started my Zam

Blue

New Hunter
Hello everyone.

I'm Beth, known as Blue on most boards, and a member of both the 501 and Rebel Legion. I met some of you at Dragon Con last year.

After months of collecting pieces, I have started to create my Zam. I have the crop top and pants completed as well as various other little bits here and there.

Thanks for all the great information here.

I'll post some pictures when I get them uploaded.
 
Great!!! :cheers I would love to see some progress pics! Looking forward to seeing your Zam! Maybe it will help some of us erm... slower Zams *cough cough* get motivated! :)
 
MaulMaus, if you ever actually FINISH your Zam I think we'll all have heart attacks :p

Anyway, welcome Blue! Good luck!
 
Yeah... I know! :eek: I think I should hand out a group insurance policy for everyone waiting for this Zam... :lol: The CO and GML of my local garrison are getting rather impatient too - :lol: :lol:
 
can never have too many zammers! good luck and have fun! its a lot of hard work but rewarding when your finished! (are you ever finished? really?)
 
I have finally gotten some pictures up:

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I have more pictures here: http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z66/sl585/Costumes/Zam/

I'm not entirely happy with the way the suit turned out. I think I need to re-do the pants at a future date. The neoprene ended up having a little more stretch than I anticipated. Thankfully I should have enough left on the bolt to make a new pair of pants. It was very easy to sew, which surprised me. In the above picture, I had not yet finished off the cuffs, and edges, which I have finished now.

I'm currently working on the skirt at the moment. I have all the squares cut and my fiancé is punching all the holes. I have managed to stain my kitchen countertop purple from the dye as well, but I think I finally got the colors worked out. Hopefully this weekend I can work on dying and assembling the skirt. :)
 
Looking good there Blue!! :cheers Wow!! Looking forward to seeing the whole set-up!

I didn't think the fabric would be hard to sew... it's more getting the fit. And having to use those welt seams doesn't help. The shirt came off great! The pants are loose though... can you take the inseam in a bit and re-do the outer seam to make them not so loose?

How did you make the "saddle" part of the pants? That's one are that has concerned me. On my mock-up I couldn't get it right...

Ahhh yes... the leather dyeing part... :lol: I did that out in my garage (which also has some lovely purple stains on the concrete now!) just because I KNEW I'd make a mess of things!
 
I think it looks great! It's a relief to hear that the neoprene wasn't too bad to sew; I'm worried it's going to fry the motor of my little ol' Kenmore sewing machine! (I'm still procrastinating on mine... you aren't alone, MaulMaus. ;)). Where did you get your neoprene, BTW? I ordered mine from StretchHouse, and was wondering if it's the same thickness. I'm working on ANH Leia Senatorial Gown (I know... TURNCOAT! :) Honestly, just a LOT easier to get done for Halloween!) and Ep III Obi Wan for hubby (DOUBLE TURNCOAT!) now, so after they are done, maybe??? Frankly, I think I'm just too scared of it to start. :eek:
 
I didn't think the fabric would be hard to sew... it's more getting the fit. And having to use those welt seams doesn't help. The shirt came off great! The pants are loose though... can you take the inseam in a bit and re-do the outer seam to make them not so loose?
I've been toying with that idea. With both inseam, and side seam being welted, I'm not jumping up and down to go and tear it back apart. It was hard enough to get it all together the first time.. It might come to that though. I think I am going to work on the rest of it and leave that for last and make the decision if I want to make a new pair or try and fix the ones I made already.

How did you make the "saddle" part of the pants? That's one are that has concerned me. On my mock-up I couldn't get it right...
I made up my muslin from a pants pattern that I had. After I got the muslin to fit the way I wanted (not including the extra stretch, woops :eek:) , I had a friend draw the saddle in and cut the muslin and added seam allowances. That way I knew I had the seams in relatively the correct spot.

I think it looks great! It's a relief to hear that the neoprene wasn't too bad to sew; I'm worried it's going to fry the motor of my little ol' Kenmore sewing machine! (I'm still procrastinating on mine... you aren't alone, MaulMaus. ;)). Where did you get your neoprene, BTW? I ordered mine from StretchHouse, and was wondering if it's the same thickness. I'm working on ANH Leia Senatorial Gown (I know... TURNCOAT! :) Honestly, just a LOT easier to get done for Halloween!) and Ep III Obi Wan for hubby (DOUBLE TURNCOAT!) now, so after they are done, maybe??? Frankly, I think I'm just too scared of it to start. :eek:
My $99 singer handled the fabric great. I have a walking foot, which helped as well. If you don't have one, I would suggest looking into getting one.

The fabric I have is actually from the 1st run they did here. A friend of mine was getting rid of it and I scooped it up.

Have fun with Leia. It's a great costume. Most everyone recognizes it. :D
 
Yeah.. I'd leave it for last too! I think the pants look loose but fine - especially once you get all the other goodies (including the skirt) on. I don't know if anyone would notice! Don't worry about it! :D

I made up my muslin from a pants pattern that I had. After I got the muslin to fit the way I wanted (not including the extra stretch, woops :eek:) , I had a friend draw the saddle in and cut the muslin and added seam allowances. That way I knew I had the seams in relatively the correct spot.

So are the "saddle parts" separate parts or are the sort of applique'd on top of the pants? Did you use a regular pants pattern? I'm thinking it should be some sort of leggings/stretch pants pattern and then make the saddle parts pattern separate like you did (keeping in mind the stretch! ;) ).

Yes! Yes!!! a walking foot (or a roller foot) is a MUST!
 
So are the "saddle parts" separate parts or are the sort of applique'd on top of the pants? Did you use a regular pants pattern? I'm thinking it should be some sort of leggings/stretch pants pattern and then make the saddle parts pattern separate like you did (keeping in mind the stretch! ;) ).

The saddle parts are actually separate pieces. I used a normal pants pattern, which is where I think I made my mistake. I should have used a pattern made for stretch material. When I assembled the pants, I sewed the saddle part on each leg piece, welted the seam, then sewed the outside seam for each leg (Front to back), welted the seam, then the inseam, just to where the saddle ended (right around the knee) so I could do the welt there. Lastly I did the remaining section of the inseam. After that all I had to do was sew the two legs together and I had a pretty nice looking pair of pants.

I used Kwik Sew #3455 with a few alterations for the top. It worked great . The neoprene had enough stretch, that it worked with the pattern.
 
I'm not too sure how this will come out (first time I scanned and posted something on TDH boards), but this is the pattern I bought for the pants, mainly because the patterns was made to use with stretch material (Spandex, specifically). They look like bike pants, and I'm hoping the neoprene will play nice with them. Green Pepper patterns are a little hard to come across, but might be worth looking at if you really do think you want to re-do the pants, if only because a lot of their patterns seem to be made for 'active' lifestyles (unlike mine ;)) and ask for stretch materials. Got this online (gotta love the 'net!), but I know Jo-ann's carries them as well.

greenpepper.jpg
 
Hmmm... do these have outside seams? Can't tell from that pic. If not - you could add one, making allowances for the welt seam that goes on the outside. And also adding the "saddle parts" to the pattern. (Oh how I wish there was a Zam-pattern... :rolleyes )
 
*sigh* No, they are interior seams. But don't we all wish there were a Zam pattern! All of our issues would be solved (although if there were, there'd probably be a lot more running around). :facepalm
 
I finished the skirt last night. It took me about 3 weeks, and I have very sore fingers, but it was well worth it. I am fairly happy with the way it turned out :D

skirt pieces cut, dyed and resolened.
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After a few rows
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Finished
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More pictrues

My boots should be here by the end of the week, I might actually get this done by Dragon Con!
 
Your skirt looks great!!!! Wow, most impressive!

(I was gonna be a smartmouth and point out that the sandals aren't canon Zam... ;) ) Your costume is really coming along great... I hope you can get it done by Dcon!

I understand about the sore fingers... lacing isn't for the faint of heart! Three weeks isn't bad for the skirt though... I hate to admit how long I took. About the same if you don't count the year long hiatus because I didn't finish dyeing all the leather in one batch. :eek:

Looks great though... keep us updated on your progress!
 
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