Costuming Rey from Star Wars: Jacket & Gauntlets

Little girls and grown women alike were inspired by Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  So naturally, we want to build/buy/wear the costume(s), right?  You may find the scavenger outfit all over the place, but my friend Aimee Miller wanted to wear the outfit Rey has on at the very end of the film, known & referred to by the Rey Costume community & Rebel Legion as Resistance Rey.  We will most likely see this outfit at the beginning of The Last Jedi, just looking at the movie previews/photoshoots.  Aimee and I worked on this project together and wanted to share the build with you all.  While the specifics may not be 501st/Rebel Legion quality (neither of us are that good), we’re very proud of how the costume turned out.  This blog post is specifically for the jacket and gauntlets build.  Shirt and pants can be found here, and boots & accessories can be found here.

 

 

This post contains affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, Red Shoes. Red Wine. will earn a small commission for the referral at no cost to you.  Read more about affiliates & disclaimers here.  We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

 

 

Aimee did all the research and pattern sourcing online, mainly from the Rey Cosplay Community Facebook Group, so a special thank you to the contributors there.  I was just the monkey at the sewing machine, and the monkey with the blog.  Aimee is the real hero here.  After the shirt and pants were a success, we moved onto the jacket and gauntlets.  We found a dark grey herringbone fabric in Houston and then bleached the hell out of it with bleach and baking soda (separate soakings).  The pattern we used, much easier than the shirt I might add, is (Butterick Patterns B6097 Misses’ Shirt, Size E5), specifically View C.  If you’re following along at home, be sure to add to 1 and 3 pieces of the pattern like we did in the images above, tape pieces 1 and 2 together so there is no seam in the front, and add a couple inches to the left side of piece 7.  Don’t worry about jacket length for now, I cut that to Aimee’s body towards the end of the jacket build before hemming the jacket to lining.  Keep the sleeves piece 13, as that will be used for the gauntlets later.  All other pattern instructions (minus buttons) were used.

 

 

Aimee found the shoulder detail in the Rey Cosplay Community Facebook Group, which we scaled to her shoulders and used as a pattern piece similar to the knee pad method during the pants build.  Again, quilt batting was used to desired thickness/stiffness.  The shoulder pads were freehand machine sewing as well, and sewn on after the lining was added to the jacket.

 

 

Because we wanted 1980s style stiff collars, we added 2mm foam AND collar stays in the collars.  This can be added towards the end, when the hand stitching (closed blanket stitch) is added.

 

 

So after I did all the sewing machine monkey work, Aimee took the jacket home and added the edge stitching and frayed the bottom edge (BELOW the hem, which I put a basting stitch in to keep it from fraying all the way up) with a seam ripper.  She did such a great job adding this bit of detailing.  I don’t have the patience for it, which is why we made such a great team for this project.

 

 

So the gauntlets got interesting.  I recognized the sleeve piece 13 as close but not exact to what I had seen on Pinterest for gauntlets, so we just ran with it.  We took the piece, sight modified it with a sharpie marker, and cut some fabric hoping for the best.  It’s worth noting that these sleeve/gauntlets were fitted to Aimee’s arm, which you absolutely should do as well.  Another note is to make sure they aren’t too tight, as you have to wear these over Rey’s signature arm wraps, so you want room for those.

 

 

The detailing for the gauntlets followed everydaygeekygirl.blogspot.com, which was bloody brilliant.  I added padding at the top and Aimee punched holes in the bottom until she was cross-eyed and irritated (insert wine here).  Aimee used a leather hole punch (Revolving Punch Plier Kit or SE 790LP Leather Punch Set – Hollow, 6 Pc) with 2 for the outer pattern, and 2.5 for the inner pattern.  If you’re following along at home, please save your table and use a 2″ x 4″ wood block or something.

 

 

I sewed in a slit at the bottom, and instead of a hem, Aimee cut half-moons and applied a heavy coat of fray-stop (Dritz 674 Fray Check Liquid Seam Sealant, 0.75-Ounce).

 

 

Aimee took the gauntlets home and did more hand-stitching, bless her patient heart.  I’m so proud of how these turned out!

 

 

Also available on the blog: Rey’s shirt and pants and Rey’s Belt & Accessories!

 

Other Star Wars costumes on the blog:

Costuming Dark Rey (Concept) from Star Wars

Costuming a Jawa from Star Wars

Costuming a Jedi from Star Wars

 

 

“You will remove these restraints and leave this cell with the door open.”

– Rey, Star Wars: The Force Awakens