AOTC Outer Robes

[Darth Skellington]

As I'm still working on my robes, I'm really not sure. I'll have to elt someone else comment on that. I think the way I am doing mine it wouldn't be that different. However, I don't think I'm going to completely pull off an accurate AOTC robe. AOTC has the front panel pulled up and almost over the shoulder. ROTJ would not have a shoulder like that. Mine I think will have a seam on the shoulder, similar to a ROTJ.

[spoox]

I wish there was a picture of the back of the AOTC guard. Like you said... the shoulder does not have a seam on top but it looks as if it goes more over the shoulders towards the upper back somehow. I really like the look of the front panel that goes over the shoulders that way but how??
It almost looks like a backward cape.

[Darth Skellington]

Haha! All right, I think I've discovered the secret to making my robes look the way I want them to. Maybe. Okay, I had two issues.....pointy shoulders/extra material flap.......and getting an over-the-shoulder look to the seam.

Well, getting rid of the too-pointy shoulders was easy...you sew the shoulder at a downward curving arc, so that your seam meets the side seam about 4 inches down from the "corner" of the shoulder. This gives you a rounded shoulder that matches the shape of your own shoulder. I'd tried this last week, but it didn't work out right that time around. To my surprise....it worked well this time around.

Secondly...acheiving the "over-the-shoulder" look to the front panel. Also surprisingly easy. You sew it over the shoulder. What I was doing wrong was this: I figured I could sew the side panels, back panel, and front panel shoulder seams all in one fell swoop, thus creating a nice seam. Well....maybe..but I think this was giving me bunching issues when I tried to arc the shoulder seam. What you do is this.....sew the tops of the side panels and the top of the back panel together first (arcing the seam). This gives you a cape reminiscent of Count Dooku, with tapered shoulders. (NOTE: I lost some length to the bottom of the back panel when I did this somehow....so make sure you cut your panels extra long, just in case.) Then, put on your cape and hold the Front Panel up to it so that the top edge is "over-the-shoulder"...the way you want it to look. Mark this line somehow. (I'm practicing on white sheets, so a marker worked for me. I'm guessing pins would work for the velvet) Then, you pin the front panel to the back, so that the velvet panels are facing each other (as if you'd flipped the front panel up and over your head and it was hanging behind you like another cape). Sew a straight seam along the line where you want the top edge to be. Then flip the front panel back over. It will drape from "over-your-shoulder" wherever you decided to attach it to. As a bonus, the front panel will now hide any shoulder seams from the side/back panels that would otherwise be visible at the shoulder or slightly down the front.

This still gave me some minor flap from the front panel near the shoulder corners, but I think this could be eliminated when you sew in the lining later and turn the red velvet under an inch or so to overlap the burgandy.


Okay, that probably made no sense to anyone, but I'll try and get some photos up this weekend to illustrate my ranting. I really think I'm getting close to something resembling the movie robes now.

Long story made short: sew the side panels to the back along the side and top seams, creating a Dooku-like cape. Don't forget to arc your shoulder seam. THEN attach the front panel with a straight seam.

[Peregrinus]

Thank you so much for tackling the AOTC cape, Skel. You seem to be on the right track.

--Jonah

[anton-042]

can you possibly post a close up shot of the collar neck area? im about to go out tomorrow and beggin on my outer cape.

[Vlade]

As a total beginner to all this sewing stuff, this thread has been most helpful. One thing that I didn't see from it though was how much material is needed for the outer robes. I know it will vary from person to person, but I was hoping a rough estimate of how much it took to do your mock-up robes would be close enough to get me on the right track. I have this 10-yard number in my head and I have no idea where it came from. I'm 5'9" (1.75 meters, I think).

[stripes]

10m should be close to enough for you to make your outer cloak. It never hurts to have more though