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 Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)

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NanukIsCurious13


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Hello! Nanuk here! I've been in the boards for a little over three weeks now (the first week spend hunting through the forums and researching) And now I am ready to begin my kit! Design is below!



I purchased a turtle neck and matching leggings to make up my flight suit about a week ago, and was able to find the appropriate fabrics and color for the rest of my soft parts as well.



Joann's is one of my favorite places, and they had some awesome deals going that day so I got lucky in that I was able to get what I needed for a decent price.
The two blues will make up my Kama and Flak Vest, while the pink will be my sash and a decorative outline on the kama.


Last Sunday I started just by getting my pattern set up and the pieces for my Flak Vest cut. I prefer a Princess seam when I'm sewing, I find it easier to work with and manipulate if I need to. So I re cut a basic one I've had around for awhile on some sturdier paper. Old paper grocery bags are a good thing to keep around.





^^^ I took me a bit to figure out the dark in the back again.  XD

I cut out the paper versions, laid them out on my fabric, and marked the lines again. And then for good measure I like to pin the two layers of fabric together so that there is little room for error between the two finished pieces.



Cutting canvas duck cloth as it turns out is A LOT easier than I though it was going to be. Knit fabric tends to be a real mess to cut (at least or me) but this was very nice and straight forward.



I also had enough fabric that if something went front I could easily recut a piece or two if I needed it. Yeah for over estimating!


Genrally speaking I work during the week, so I had to leave the pieces sit until today! But I got to it, and now I have a finished flak vest. I recently aquired a used sewing machine from my little sister. I read the instructions, strung it properly, watched a few more tutorials just ot be sure I had this right, only for there to be something wrong mechanically with the machine. I checked all the cords, but when my foot hit the pedal, nothing.

So that was a bust.

Lucky me everything I've sewn up till now has been by hand, so I had not trouble getting it done anyway. I tried useing small silver grommets for the laces up the one side, but a few fell out and it was frustrating enough getting them in the first time. I might re-try that again someday with a better kit.

But all in all, I believe it turned out okay.





I used a combination of laces and snaps to get it on me. Over the head, lace it up, and then flip the shoulder bell over to snap into place.





And that's where I am. I hope to get started on my sash, belt, and kama next weekend.

Question, Comments, and Concerns are always welcome. Advice is also much appreciated.

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Super excited to be here
Looking at starting my first kit
Any help is appreciated!!!!

Havelock


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #1 on: Mar 19, 2017, 09:22 PM »
Wow.  You're off to a great start!  Bravo.

Watching with interest.

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Karl Dha'Werda


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #2 on: Mar 20, 2017, 08:41 AM »
Awesome work Nanuk!

Wow.  You're off to a great start! 

She also came to one of our armour parties a few weeks ago and made a duct tape bust to make adjustments to her flak vest with.  Very ambitious and does amazing work.

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Aria


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #3 on: Mar 20, 2017, 11:26 AM »
That looks really nice so far! How does the vest fit?
I love that pink...  :laugh:

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NanukIsCurious13


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #4 on: Mar 20, 2017, 11:32 AM »
That looks really nice so far! How does the vest fit?
I love that pink...  :laugh:

I do have to undo the bottom two laces to get it on and off easily. But otherwise it fits great!
I'm not usually a pink person, but it went well with the other colors and wow I'm glad I stuck with it.

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Super excited to be here
Looking at starting my first kit
Any help is appreciated!!!!

Aria


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #5 on: Mar 20, 2017, 11:35 AM »
Can we get pics of it on you sometime? :)

I think the colors will all work really nicely together. I like your bucket design too.

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NanukIsCurious13


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #6 on: Mar 20, 2017, 11:59 AM »
Can we get pics of it on you sometime? :)

I think the colors will all work really nicely together. I like your bucket design too.

Absolutely! Probably next weekend when I get the sash and belt done.

Thank you!

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Tiric Keel


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #7 on: Mar 20, 2017, 08:19 PM »
Like everyone else is saying, great start, I really like that vest design!

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Sabine


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #8 on: Mar 20, 2017, 08:37 PM »
I like the color scheme and soft part designs. Just be careful the pattern doesn't stay too close to cheetah or leopard print.

The vest is looking good so far! Looking forward to seeing it on you, since the shoulders are lying a bit uneven in the pics. I wish I could hand sew garments and have them look that good though!

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NanukIsCurious13


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #9 on: Mar 20, 2017, 09:37 PM »
And I've been set back. Big time.

There are reasons why you should not leave scissors lying on top of your sewing kit. Especially if there are small children living in your home. My two year old niece decided while I was at work that aunty's cool new shirt needed some holes in it.
 :(  >:( :(
At the very least, she didn't hurt herself, and her mother (my older sister) promised to pay me the cost of the fabric. And I can use the left over fabric from the first one to start on a new one.

It didn't even last twenty four hours.  :(

Lesson learned. Do not leave scissors out, and get a lock my for my bedroom door.

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Looking at starting my first kit
Any help is appreciated!!!!

Havelock


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #10 on: Mar 20, 2017, 10:33 PM »
Ouch!  I'm so, so sorry!  That's so awful!

Don't let this discourage you, though.  You can make another one.  Just try not to grumble too much while you're remaking it.   :)

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Aria


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #11 on: Mar 21, 2017, 12:58 AM »
Oh no!  :'( That's terrible!

At least you can draw from the experience of making the first one to make the second one.

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Karl Dha'Werda


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #12 on: Mar 21, 2017, 08:40 AM »
At least you can draw from the experience of making the first one to make the second one.

Exactly what I was thinking.  You can make a better one with the experience you had in making the first one.  Things to think about when making the next one would be whether the armour will be attached already to the vest or if you are using an attachment method such as snaps to put the armour on later?  How difficult or easy will it be to put on when kitting up for troops?  Just a few things to consider when redoing it anyways.

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NanukIsCurious13


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #13 on: Mar 21, 2017, 09:03 AM »
Good points. Thank you for the encouragement. I'm still kind mad about it but, she's two. There's not a whole lot I can about it other than scold her and be thankful that she didn't hurt herself.

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Zarya Arthos


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #14 on: Mar 21, 2017, 01:23 PM »
I feel your frustration :o Best of luck on your next vest, which I am sure will turn out even better. Don't get discouraged! Also I LOVE the bright pink and orange combo!


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NanukIsCurious13


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #15 on: Mar 21, 2017, 07:20 PM »
I feel your frustration :o Best of luck on your next vest, which I am sure will turn out even better. Don't get discouraged! Also I LOVE the bright pink and orange combo!

Thank you! I was able to get more fabric this afternoon, so I'll start on new pieces tonight.
Also, I noticed you're on the approval team, what do you think of the pattern on the armour? Will it pass or do I need to tweak it?

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Super excited to be here
Looking at starting my first kit
Any help is appreciated!!!!

Zarya Arthos


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #16 on: Mar 21, 2017, 11:30 PM »
Thank you! I was able to get more fabric this afternoon, so I'll start on new pieces tonight.
Also, I noticed you're on the approval team, what do you think of the pattern on the armour? Will it pass or do I need to tweak it?

Well, animal patterns have been done before but it can be tricky. Typically an in-universe animal is more likely to be approved. The Nexu is an example. Try tweaking the design so that it doesn't resemble leopard spots so much. Unless you can dig up a good reference to a SW critter that looks like that.

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Kris Jasra


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #17 on: Mar 22, 2017, 10:44 AM »
Find a star wars reference, start from there and work the armour to that. Don't try and modify an earth animal into fitting a star wars beast.

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NanukIsCurious13


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #18 on: Mar 23, 2017, 11:36 AM »
Mmm, I've been searching through the creatures and there a few with an almost blotchy brindle pattern but it's very hard to see. There however several others with some really awesome patterns that could work really well with this armour.

UPDATE: So I found two creatures with some really cool patterns on Wookiepedia.
The Yara


and the Ferrazid Hound


Both are really nice and diverge from my original "feline" idea.  Thoughts?

« Last Edit: Mar 24, 2017, 04:31 PM by NanukIsCurious13 » Logged
Super excited to be here
Looking at starting my first kit
Any help is appreciated!!!!

Aria


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #19 on: Mar 26, 2017, 01:10 PM »
While those are both really cool and I love them (Aria needs all the pets!!), I don't think many members of the public, or even casual mando fans, are going to understand what you're going for.

This might be something where you have to play around with your design and sketch up lots and lots of patterns until you come up with something that says "star wars" without saying "earth animal" at the same time. Perhaps a mixture of spots and stripes? More large blotchy spots? Spots of various colors? Stripes in a non-earthy pattern?

It's not an easy task to find a good Star Wars critter to use as part of your kit. I've seen it done beautifully, and I have no doubts you can do it, it's just going to take a lot of work. Because, sadly, in reality, all people come from earth and are accustomed to thinking "earth animal" when they see stripes or spots. It's a big undertaking to challenge that and make people think "star wars" when they see the furry or patterned parts of your kit.

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NanukIsCurious13


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #20 on: Mar 26, 2017, 03:40 PM »
While those are both really cool and I love them (Aria needs all the pets!!), I don't think many members of the public, or even casual mando fans, are going to understand what you're going for.

This might be something where you have to play around with your design and sketch up lots and lots of patterns until you come up with something that says "star wars" without saying "earth animal" at the same time. Perhaps a mixture of spots and stripes? More large blotchy spots? Spots of various colors? Stripes in a non-earthy pattern?

It's not an easy task to find a good Star Wars critter to use as part of your kit. I've seen it done beautifully, and I have no doubts you can do it, it's just going to take a lot of work. Because, sadly, in reality, all people come from earth and are accustomed to thinking "earth animal" when they see stripes or spots. It's a big undertaking to challenge that and make people think "star wars" when they see the furry or patterned parts of your kit.

I had not actually considered that. That's a very good point. Not everyone is going to look at know right away "oh yeah, that's such and such really obscure creature". Definately something to play around with while I work on the soft parts.

Speaking of soft parts.
I finished my second flak vest!
I did end up changing a few things. While I really like the laces, it did make the vest harder to get on and off than I really liked. So I swapped the laces for snaps, and ditched the snaps over the shoulder, meaniong it still goes over my head, but I only have one arm hole to worry about. It also mean that my shoulders won't look all cockeyed.

 






Here it is off of me, front and back.
 




I made sure to pack away ALL of my sewing supplies this time and put the vest away in my closet for now. This means no more tinies will have the chance to destroy it.

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Tiric Keel


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #21 on: Mar 26, 2017, 07:03 PM »
New vest looks great.  It didn't set you back to much. 

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Aria


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  • Awards Award for 50 official invasions. Order of the Ori'Ramikad Clan with the most recorded invasions in 2016/2017 Repeat appearance in the invasion reports Most invasions trooped in 2017
Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #22 on: Mar 27, 2017, 11:40 AM »
That looks really sharp! Nice job!

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NanukIsCurious13


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #23 on: Mar 27, 2017, 12:09 PM »
Stayed up late to finish my sash last night!






I ended up a bit short when I originally measured my waist, and had to add a bit of fabric to it to make it long enough, but I don't think it's really noticeable. Snaps to attach it again.

I also drafted up three new patterns for me armour, and two new paw print variations. Take a look. Questions, comments, concerns are welcome.

Pattern 1


Pattern 2


Pattern 3


Personally, I like pattern 3. Mostly becasue it sticks the closest to my original, but adds just enough "that's not normal" factor to make it recognizable not from Earth I think.

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Jun'yar Ikaad


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Re: Nanuk's First Kit WIP (will try to post lots of pictures)
« Reply #24 on: Mar 27, 2017, 10:08 PM »
Really digging your concept vod! I like number 3 also, but I think adding some purple to it like the second design would look great and help with the alien look even more. Keep up the great work!

 


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