Construction Details:

The jumpsuit is from myjumpsuits.com, but though their little marketing ploy claims it's perfect for a Kaylee Frye cosplay, it needed a lot of work. I took off the sleeves--which is not as easy as it looks because they were raglan and not set in. Once that was done it was apparent the sides needed to be taken in as well. I am still not happy with how one side came out so I might re-do it, but the first side makes me very happy. I took some sand paper to various parts to age the fabric. The heart and flower patch were bought and ironed on. I'm fairly certain they are the exact same patches the costumers for the show bought given they've been in stores for years. Finally there's the teddy bear patch: I know there's a patch they sell online as Kaylee's teddy bear patch, but quite frankly it looks off to me. Too small and cartoony and simplfied. That's why I decided to make my own. The fabric is a little darker than I'd like, but otherwise I'm thrilled with the finished product. I freehanded the design on a piece of paper, then cut it out and traced the outline in fabric pencil on the back of my faux fur. Then I photo copied the drawing and cut into it in order to trace the designs. Next I stitched along the design markings to transfer them to the fur side. Once that was done I sewed a piece of brown felt to the back and put a little stuffing in the middle. Next I embroidered all the detail lines I'd stitched on earlier in brown and the eyes and nose in black. Finally I ironed some wonder-under onto the back to make it into a real iron-on patch. I hit the front side with the iron to mat and age the faux fur and then turned the jumpsuit inside-out since the patch was too thick to iron from the front. Last but not least I threw a ton of stage dirt on the costume. Unfortunately it doesn't really show so I'll have to find some oil or engine grease to truly get the stains in there. I also put some stage dirt on my face and arms when I wore the costume. The shirt is left over from one of my previous Kaylee costumes. The boots are from Macy's and were on saaaaale for way cheaper than they originally cost :D

Personal Thoughts:

Kaylee is one of my all time favorite characters ever. Therefore I am not too surprised she's the first character for whom I re-did an outfit mostly identical to something I'd made before. I was never fully happy with the first iteration of her green jumpsuit I'd made since I was young and stupid and forgot to add a collar. Also the teddybear patch I made then looked stupid. What can I say? It was 6 years ago. I've learned a lot about sewing and crafting since then. Kaylee is a very important character to me, and thus I have incredibly high standards for cosplaying her. Things like accurate patches and making the costume actually look worn and dirty are details I feel are often missed, and made a point of focusing on them in my costume. I hear there's also some obscure writing somewhere on the jumpsuit that I need to look up and fix, but I have yet to see a clear screencap of it so I'll have to do some digging. I am incredibly proud of how this costume came out and anticipate it getting a lot of wear in the future.

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