BSG Beginnings

I have been working on getting started on making my Battlestar Galactica, or should I say Battlestar Valkyrie, costume. I am making an admiral's costume. So, as one of the purposes of this blog I am going to document my progress on my costume so I can keep track of it for myself and also I hope to post my entries on a BSG costuming site to help others make their own BSG costumes. It seems that there is a shortage of tutorials for them, especially for women. I haven't started sewing yet but I've made a list of what I will be using to make the costume. This list is subject to change as time goes on and I find out that I’m missing something haha

What You'll Need to Make a Female Admiral’s Uniform

Patterns:

-McCall’s M4745 (Men’s Civil War Costume – use coat B)

-McCall’s M5860 (The Perfect Jean Jacket – used as a reference to make princess seams)

-Vogue V8479 (Women’s dress pants)

Fabric and such:
-Navy Blue Suiting (I bought 6 yards of 'medieval blue melange' spring suiting (100% Polyester))

-Navy Blue Lining (I bought 4 yards to line the jacket)

-Fusible Interfacing (I bought ¼ yard)

-Silver Vinyl (I bought ¼ yard of shiny silver vinyl to make the piping – vinyl is used to make the piping of senior officers’ uniforms, not junior officers’ uniforms. Flat silver (gray) vinyl would also work nicely as long as it has some sheen)

-Gold Vinyl (I bought ¼ yard – see notes above for silver vinyl)

-Navy Ultrasuede (I bought ¼ yard, used for shoulder patches)

-Gold thread

-Silver thread

-Navy thread

Other Materials:

-1 Navy 4-in Zipper for the pants (not a “sports” zipper)

-Snap Buttons (it’s easiest if you buy a package with the application tool

included)

-Hook and Eye

-Rat Tail Cording (about 5 yards, used for piping)

Tools:

-Sewing Machine

-Various Sewing Machine Needles

-Hand Needles

-Iron and Ironing Board

-Pins

-Tomato Pin Cushion

-Tailoring Chalk

-Marking Pencil

-Sewing Gauge

-Measuring Tape

-Seam Ripper

-Sewing Shears (or plain scissors)

-‘Bodkin’ with Hook (see picture, used for turning tubes, don’t sweat it if you don’t have one – a safety pin will do the trick as well)

Accessories:

-Battlestar Patch (I bought mine from scifigeeks.com)

-8 Uniform Buttons (I got mine on eBay)

-2 Admirals’ Pins (eBay)

-Senior Flight Wings (eBay)

-Dog Tags (you can buy personalized dog tags at quantummechanix.com, but I am lucky enough to have an engraver for a brother so mine will be made by him)

-Law Pro Boots (I plan to buy mine at qmuniforms.com)

-1 ½ inch Navy Webbing Belt with Black Slide Release Buckle (I got mine at strapworks.com) (or you could make your own out of navy webbing and a slide release buckle)

- (2) ½ inch Black Plastic Slide Release Buckles (for cuffs)

Introductions and such

I am a new blogger and I;m really excited. I have 2, my other being on livejournal. I am planning on making both blogs very similar. My intent for these journals is to talk only about my current projects and ideas. Those being artist endeavors including but not limited to sewing, cooking, painting and drawing, other topics may include philosophy, poetry, short stories, books, and life. My goal is to make a journal that a stranger could read so I don't want to include a lot of personal information or person specific entries. I will however, include personal thoughts, but not complaints (e.g. school, money problems, family issues). My goal is to have an interesting, inspirational, and even instructional online journal that many people can enjoy. I will be posting my first official topic-related entry soon. Hopefully I will have some fabric soon to start my current sewing project. I am making a Battlestar Galactica Admiral's uniform, but I will talk more about that next time!


Just a little information about me: I'm 21. I live in St. Louis, MO. I'm a total geek/gamer chick and I love creating and viewing art. I also love baking and cooking, and philosophy. I'm currently reading Thus Spake Zarathustra (love Nietzsche!) which I also hope to talk about more in-depth in a future entry. I'm in school for psychology (undergrad) and planning to go to grad school for physical therapy. I'd like to be a physical therapist/yoga instructor and open my own practice. I may talk about the process a bit, though I don't want to get too caught up in that in this journal.