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Did some work on the second boot this morning.

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to speak to a member who recently had a costume approved and a recruit currently in the approval process of the first costume. But, unfortunately, I did not like what I heard at all. The GMOs of the German Garrison always had the reputation of being strict, but now they seem to take that to an extreme. So I will follow the CRL to the letter and make my coverall a one-piece instead of a two-piece like planned. My boots and pouches might also be of concern, but I will cross that bridge when I get there.

There were a lot of drunk people around here too. On Sunday, Ralf and I walked in a small "Fastnachtsparade" with one of our small local Star Wars costume groups (Imperial Navy) in Bexbach. Many adults and teenagers old enough to drink legally were pretty drunk even though it was just afternoon. Some people just walked through the parade to get to the other side of the street. One guy would have walked right into me if my husband had not seen him in time and held me back by the hand. We also walked in the parade in Ramstein yesterday. Some members of the German Garrison teamed up with another local Star Wars costume group (Imperial Order Saar). We walked behind a band from the US Air Force. That was cool because we had great music to listen to. The parade was about 2.5 kilometers long, with over 80 groups taking part. The atmosphere was excellent. The people were thrilled to have a large parade again after all the covid restrictions.

The 5 meters of black cotton polyester twill fabric arrived. However, I am still waiting for my patches to arrive. The guys from Herotec X were surprised to hear that the patches had not arrived yet. They told me to contact them again after Karneval if they had not come by then. Today is Ash Wednesday, but I am giving the German mail two more days before I reach out to Herotec X again.

I ordered 5 meters of black cotton-polyester twill fabric for the coverall and finished the first boots. I added stitching to the back and the top edge because I did not want to only rely on glue to keep everything together while trooping. I am happy about how the boots came out.

Thanks for the compliment and thank you for the welding goggles and ERT pants. I think that SpaceWelder pouches are also made from cratch. So he is the first person I am perhaps the second. https://imgur.com/a/crpsEX0 I can sew smaller items, such as Imerial Army Engineer pouches, Endor Gunner gaiters or Hoth technician caps if some one needs them but I currently cannot make items that are more time consuming such ERT soft packs, Hoth Trooper caps or similar items because I am too busy with university to sew such things.

Thank you for the compliment, IcyTrooper. I work on the boots yesterday afternoon and this morning. First I cut the soft leather into the shape that I needed. Then I glued the leather t the boots and let the glue dry over night. This morning I first seewed the lower row of stiches and then the top row of the stiches. Next I sewed the leather together where the ends met at the back of the boot. Then I glued a thin layer EVA foam to the inside of the leather because it was not stiff enough. Next I glued the leather strip in the back. Last I glued and folded over the top edge. The claps will stay in place until the glue is dry. The boots will be a little bit shorter than 9 inches. The leather is glued in place. First row of stiches.

I did some prototyping for my pouches. Originally I wanted to buy four Condor Handcuff Cases but decided against it when I saw what they cost in Germany. Then I decided to try to replicate them since I have all the materials to do that. So after making a prototype out of paper, which I did not like, I thought I might as well try to make a pouch from the comic. I think that the main part of the pouch looks good but the closure flap needs a little bit more work.

I am pretty sure that is the case. I did not know the different styles of pockets before I started sewing my costume pants. So far I made seven pairs of pants. Five of them either had large patch pockets with flaps, box bockets or both types of pockets. The 2 inches wide tri-glides for the harness arrived.

Thank you for your feedback, David and Chris. I decided that I will use a gusset pocket. The one in the photo is a little bit to narrow for my liking so I am going to make mine as wide as a BDU pocket.

The two Rebel Flight suits still need to be finished because I ran into some sizing issues. After all, everything has to fit my proportions. There are so many things I had to keep in mind, such as sleeve pockets, cuffs, sleeve holes, action pleats, chest pockets, etc. Another issue I ran into is that the torso of the flight suit has to be split into three parts to achieve the distinctive Imperial/Rebel look. I have to consider my breast size, or it will look incorrect. So I am currently learning to make my own pattern to make everything fit together. Yes, the split will be hidden under the belt (Endor Gunner and X-Wing pilot) or the vest in the case of the Hoth technician. The two-piece coverall for the Imperial Army Engineer is much easier to make. I can use the Kwik Sew K3389 overall pattern Size 2XL for that. I only have to add pockets and shorten the sleeves and legs. Making the collar into a mandarin is also very easy. I have done it for both of my Rogue One Officers. The IAE belt and harness are perfect for hiding the split line. No one should be able to see that it is a two-piece coverall and not a one-piece.

I have been thinking about the coverall that I have to sew. The CRL states: "One piece black coverall with a hidden front zipper and mandarin collar." I was wondering it would be possible to make a two piece overall if I am able to make it look like a black coverall. I have been working on creating a two piece orange rebel flight suit for my OT X-Wing pilot and a tan two piece tan rebel flight suit for my Hoth Technician / Endor Gunner. Another thing that is not clear for me is the type of cargo pocket. The CRL states "2 large cargo pockets sit on the outside of the legs from around mid-thigh and not extending past bottom of the knee, with a rectangular flap covering the top of the pocket." As far as I can tell many approved IAEs do not have cargo pockets. They only have "large patch pockets" on their legs. All cargo pockets that I knnow of have some type of pleat system so that more stuff fits into them. Which pocket types are approvable? Large patch pocket with flap Common styles of cargo pockets BDU pocket Box pocket Gussett pocket Helikon pocket Box pleat pocket Inverted box pleat pocket

Thank you for the advice. I was not aware of the fact that the harness was not completely H-shaped but rather a turned around "A".

The black 2 inch webbing for the harness arrived today. I ordered a 50m roll so that I have enough for other projects as well. It is cheaper that way because the meter webbing gets cheaper the more you buy and I save money for shipping.

Thank you for helping me out with the goggles, David.

Hi David. Thank you for the kind words. I have yet to look at the Specialist program, but I will try to make the features for the level from the start. It is easier to do it now than add them later. I have an idea of getting the boots to 8 inches, but I have to wait a bit to implement it. Sewing leather by hand always takes a lot of time. Unfortunately, I will be too busy the next few weeks with real-life things to start the sewing, so it will probably be March when I post the progress on the boots. I am having difficulties finding the small pouches I want, so I plan on making them out of a similar material to the large bag. The welding goggles are also giving me some trouble. The type of welding goggles shown in the CRL is not used in Germany anymore. The only black ones that I can find are for steampunk costumes, and I do not know if they are plain enough for the IAE.

I just ordered 2-inch black webbing and 2-inch sliders for the harness because I only had black webbing in 4cm, 3cm, and 2cm, and sliders in 3cm and 2cm.

I just ordered my patches from Herotec X. Sofar everything is coming together better than most of my other costume projects.

I had a black BW Brotbeutel in my closet that I used to use as my handbag/purse, and I decided to make it into my large back pouch since it has the correct size. I removed all extra straps and buckle. The only thing left to do is to add two black snaps to the closure flap and attach it to the belt. I might have to dye it black because the color is a little washed out.

The belt from tactical belt from Ultrakey that I ordered via Amazon arrived yesterday. The webbing is fine but the plastic quick closure buckle and the metal part are junk. I have high quality buckles from British PLCE belts that I replaced with roll pin buckle laying around so that is not an issue.

The GMOs of my Garrisons have a reputation of being very strict so I desided to add the missing inches to the boot. I looked at a lot of photos of commuter III boots from weatherproof and will try to replicate the look. I have two different types black leather that I can use. I have leather from a smaller pair of NVA boots that I took abart. I bought the size 25 boots in 2018 or 2019. They were very cheap because the misshaped. The foot got squished during storing. I tried to salvage them but it did not work. I also have soft leather from a pack leather pieces I bought on Amazon in 2017.

I ordered my belt today it should arrive tomorrow. I do not fit into store bought overalls and changing bought one to fit me is too much work so I am going to sew my overall myself. My favorite online fabric store ran out of the black cotton-polyester twill fabric that I use for my Imperial hat so I have to wait a little bit for them to restock again. I cannot find the four small pouches for the front of the belt and the large pouch for the back that I want so I am also going to sew those myself. I am corrently looking for a good fabric for them. I already have the 2 inch wide black nylon webbing for the harness since I also use it for other costume projects. I might have to order 2 inch wide tri-glides I think I ran out of those.

I have been considering making an Imperial Army Engineer for about a year but had difficulties finding Commuter style boots in my size in Germany. I have tiny but wide feet with high arches. I also have huge calves, which makes things more complicated. When I made my Imperial Bridge Crew, I had to buy MIL-TEC Knobelbecher in the German Men's size 41 because that was the smallest Knobelbecher I could get far enough to see if they fit my foot. I have four pairs of extra soles inside each boot because the foot is too long. A medical shoemaker added extra leather so that the shoes would fit my calves. Since I am only 62 inches tall, the boots come higher than mid-calf, but I was approved in April 2017. This week I finally found something that will work for my Engineer boots. I bought a brand new pair of NVA Filsstiefel in size 27, which is about German Men's size 40, for 30 Euros on Ebay.de. I cut away the felt, and the leather boots that are left are the right height for me. They will be 6.5 inches high. That is lower than the 8 or 9 inches mentioned in the CRL, but they are the correct height because I am so short. 8 or 9-inch boots would look too high on me. I still have some minor things to do on the boots. https://www.ebay.de/itm/Original-DDR-Filzstiefel-NVA-Winterstiefel-Groesse-27-/275638973980?nma=true&si=1BTrrJUl8IfZHzwnBhzuwwLQS88%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 Since my sewing skills have gotten better over the year, I am using a self-made cap instead the Master Replica cap size S that I am using for my Imperial Bridge Crew because I think it is too large for my small head. I used the Cyber Seams pattern and Hawk Worley's Youtube tutorial to make it. https://cyberseams.com/sewing/clothes/star-wars-imperial-officer-hat-pattern/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBrsac-aRMA&t=944s I have a pair of black leather gloves, size S that I used for back searches while working as a security guard. They look perfect for this project. I will order the Imperial Army patch from Herotec X. I just contacted them via Facebook messenger and hope to hear from them soon. Approved Imperial Bridge Crew with altered MIL-TEC knobelbecher and Master Replica Imperial Officer hat The boots before cutting away the felt (Photos are from the seller "kruemelmaik" on Ebay, because I forgot to take some when they arrived) Cut down NVA boots Self-made imperial hat Black Leather gloves