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I'm slowly getting the lining added to the outer robe. The new obi is complete and I redid the inner robe in all velvet as well. I did a blind stitch on the sleeves and the bottom seams. I updated some pics on my photobucket with a few build pics (still have a few more to add). I'm not a fan of how the velvet shows in photos since it looks shiny but it's laying on my sewing table and the light reflects on it weird. But I'm not looking for approval worthy pics, so I'm sure it'll look better once he has it on.
A lot of hand sewing since velvet slips a lot in my machine and just causes me frustration when I have to rip out the stitching and do it all over again. I"m getting the lining hand sewn into the outer robe now and will run it through my machine for extra support on the top collar only since that will get hidden by the helmet. I'm slowly learning what works with velvet and what doesn't. Little by little, I hope to have it done by March (fingers crossed).

As long as the nap is laying downwards you should be ok. If the nap is laying upwards you will get the shiny look to it when wearing it.

Flashes and light that is not natural will also give it a different look.

I'm getting close to the end! I working on all the seams with a blind stitch and have 95% of them done. I got the nap all facing down too on every piece. Since he has to do one more fitting before I give it to him, I made the seams about 2 inches with extra material tucked in it. This is in case I need to make it wider without having to redo the whole thing. It's not noticeable, luckily, as I know it can look bulky if too much is used.
I've been putting a few more pictures on my photobucket album with more progress.
I know he's itching to get trooping, but I rather take the extra time to get it right than rush and have him deferred.

hope you post photos of the finished costume and one with the client using it, we all would like to see it
what garrison is your client part of?? you mentioned there is more information on his garrison forum page then on the
current CRL of the 501st. love to see as much information as I can get

rwbowri wrote:hope you post photos of the finished costume and one with the client using it, we all would like to see it
what garrison is your client part of?? you mentioned there is more information on his garrison forum page then on the
current CRL of the 501st. love to see as much information as I can get

I plan on getting pictures of him in it when he gets the last fitting. I completely forgot last time!
We're both part of Carida in PA. He's a cadet in our academy, so not a full member yet.
I found the detachment had more CRL info than the 501st website when I originally signed up on here. That has changed since then. My garrison doesn't post CRLs in their forums, just cadet build threads that follow the 501st website CRL.

thanks very much for the information, I am a recruit on the New England Garrison and looking on doing the Royal Guard as my first project.
I have a kylo ren custome but it's not CRL compliant yet. so looking to work on the royal guard and get that compliant then finish off my Kylo Ren.

My Obi sash just goes together tightly with Velcro and seems ok. It never slips as its so tight like a belt.

heres a pic

We're almost done. He came for a fitting Sunday and the inner robe fits fine and the length is within the CRL guidelines, so he took that home with him. I'm tweaking the outer robe with the hem since I made the back about an inch too long or it will drag and ruin the bottom. It's puffy now with the lining and I don't like how it looks. I think I need to do a small stitch through the hem to attach to the outer fabric to keep it from ballooning out, but I don't know if that will work the way I want it to.

Does anyone have an idea how to put a crease in velvet? I don't like how the bottom looks and I'm not sure if ironing it would work (I tried it with the sash and couldn't get it to have that flat edge).
The pictures don't show it that well, but with all the velvet, it doesn't hang the way I think it should when he puts in on. I think the inner robe material keeps the outer robe from sliding down and laying correctly. I had to adjust it multiple times to get it to lay right but it kept keeping the bottom hem from looking poofy.

I did update my photobucket album with the build but my computer doesn't want to cooperate with me and won't let me post the link to the album. One of my earlier posts has the link.

You guys have been super helpful and put up with my questions! I can't wait until this is done!

McBoushh wrote:We're almost done. He came for a fitting Sunday and the inner robe fits fine and the length is within the CRL guidelines, so he took that home with him. I'm tweaking the outer robe with the hem since I made the back about an inch too long or it will drag and ruin the bottom. It's puffy now with the lining and I don't like how it looks. I think I need to do a small stitch through the hem to attach to the outer fabric to keep it from ballooning out, but I don't know if that will work the way I want it to.

Does anyone have an idea how to put a crease in velvet? I don't like how the bottom looks and I'm not sure if ironing it would work (I tried it with the sash and couldn't get it to have that flat edge).
The pictures don't show it that well, but with all the velvet, it doesn't hang the way I think it should when he puts in on. I think the inner robe material keeps the outer robe from sliding down and laying correctly. I had to adjust it multiple times to get it to lay right but it kept keeping the bottom hem from looking poofy.

I did update my photobucket album with the build but my computer doesn't want to cooperate with me and won't let me post the link to the album. One of my earlier posts has the link.

You guys have been super helpful and put up with my questions! I can't wait until this is done!

From what I am seeing you have the entire lining sewn shut on the cloak... this will likely be the reason for the "ballooning" as you describe it. There is no where for the airflow to allow the robes to settle. A solution that my fiance used was to not sew the bottom of the lining to the cloak but rather to hem each separately and only tack the pieces together along the bottom to keep them as a single piece for movement. This allows for the airflow and the fabrics to flow smoothly

Edit: Essentially what stripes said.

My seamstress used a combination of hems to get it to sit just right.

The bottom of each layer (outer and lining) were hemmed along the bottom separate of each other using a variation of a blind hem so it wouldn't be seen.
The two layers were then put together, and the top layers around the neck were hemmed using standard hem. Because it's hidden under the helmet it doesn't need to be too fancy or invisible.
Then the bottom two layers are loose, so to help keep them from floating too separately they are held together by a few threads between the layers holding them loosely together.

Doing it this way, ensures that the velvet won't pucker along the bottom (as sewing two pieces of velvet it can shift with the nap), and it pretty much undetectable to the eye.

I'm probably getting some of the terms wrong, as I'm not a seamstress. If needed I could ask the one I used to see if she could provide a better description.