Darth Nihilus COTF Build

[Wendell]

BUILD UPDATE:
2. Completing the OBI

For a quick Sunday project I decided to build the Obi (a padded band that goes around the waist and underneath the belt). As per the CRL, the Obi needs to be about 10cm wide and join at the rear.

All the fabric in this project (except the sleeves) is black cotton linen, so I cut a 23cm wide band which will allow a 1cm seam allowance on both sides, plus a 0.5 to 1cm allowance for the loss in the fold over on the top and bottom edges of the Obi.

To this I heat fixed a 18cm wide strip of Heat and Bond which will be used to fix the padding material so it doesn't twist over time.



The padding material is bamboo padding. It's quite thin so I cut a 20cm wide strip and heat bonded it to the cotton linen. Even though it was now bonded to the cotton linen there could be a tendency for it to potentially lift on the edges so I sewed it down along the outer edges of the bamboo padding. This sewing line will be hidden as the long seam of the Obi will be in the centre back. I then folded the Obi inside out and stitched the long seam together.



I now had a long tube, which when turned back out the right way would be an almost complete Obi. Before turning it out the right way, I hand sewed the 2 seam edges flat. This ensures that the seam is not bulky and there is no "pressure point' against my body whilst wearing the Obi. I then turned the Obi out to the right side.

Next I needed to sew 3 pairs of parallel lines along the length of the Obi, as shown in the CRL. These have the benefit of ensuring the Obi is structurally sound, doesn't have the internal padding rolling loose, and gives the Obi that 'padded look".



This is a fairly simple garment to make and took me about 3 hours (4 if you count coffee breaks and cat interruptions   ).

This week I'll continue with the sleeves and undershirt which is nearly complete.