Ever sail in a Firefly

So I’ve been hard at work on my Halloween costume.

I’ve told you that I was planning on making a version of Kaylee’s dress from Out of Gas, one of my favorite episodes in Firefly. It also shows up in the The Message.

And I have! I promise! However, I haven’t exactly taken pictures in it yet. The post is upcoming, I promise!

I had decided while I was working on the dress that I should be Kaylee for Halloween!

Halloween where I live, though, is quite cold, so I always build in temperature ready ideas into my costume.

So I decided that my next project was going to be Kaylee’s blue oriental jacket.

Because I could.

I ordered my brocade from ebay, and it turned out to be exactly what I was hoping for. (I’ve had mixed results with finding fabric on ebay).

I made a muslin, which I had to hack up and maneuver to get it to fit. I had started with my bodice block, since I knew it was rather fitting, but I took out a bunch of the shaping on the bottom. The jacket in the show is oversized and shapeless, so I didn’t feel bad about taking some liberties.

I cut out the fabric, and had just enough to do so. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pattern match as much as I wanted, but I at least had everything set up in the right direction.

Starting out, I wanted to have a double breasted front for warmth. In the end it didn’t work out. The front closes about evenly matched with each other, and I can’t button the top button, because I have a thing about close fitting necks.

Looking back at past projects, I’ve never quite drafted sleeves correctly. One of these days I’ll figure it out, but that day wasn’t my cutting day. I ended up easing the remaining sleeve head fabric into pleats in the back, which gave a very cute tailored look.

The back is a bit tight, which at least  keeps me in better posture, having to stand up straight instead of my usual slumping. I don’t have the best movement range because of this and the kinda tight sleeve caps.

But I love my new jacket! And I’m going to wear it forever and ever.

I will leave you with a picture of my subtle cosplay for the day. Kaylee’s hairbuns and jacket!