Tag: Star Wars

REVIEW: Star Wars at Madame Tussauds

If you’re a Star Wars fan who’s always wanted to know what it would feel like to sit next to Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon, or opposite Han Solo in a Mos Eisley Cantina, then the new Star Wars at Madame Tussauds attraction sounds perfect for you.

My wife and I took our little Star Wars fangirl along to it this week. With 16 different characters placed in a variety of iconic scenes from the movies, this latest addition to the famed London attraction offers Star Wars geeks plenty of opportunities to post selfies from the galaxy far, far away.

First up we sat down next to Chewie in the cockpit of the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.

As with the whole attraction, the attention to detail was great, and Chewie looked terrific.

But the best bit was…

…this big red button next to you. Hit it and you launch into lightspeed!

Chewie’s Corellian co-pilot was stuck in Mos Eisley, so my wife and daughter sat down next to keep him company – then an uninvited guest joined them.

Our droids? They had to wait outside.

These are definitely the droids we’re looking for. I was also really happy to see these guys.

I will never, ever, not get a kick out of seeing these original Stormtroopers. They were perfect 🙂

Generally, the models were great and the environments they were set in have been nicely realised. I personally felt that the non-human characters worked best as they look just like you imagine the ‘real’ ones would, and this is the most immersive aspect of the attraction. The others that are based on actors, while they’ve been finely realised, are more similar to the traditional Madame Tussauds figures. Still great for taking photos with though.

The choices of characters and scenarios is mostly satisfying for any Star Wars fan. However….

I was disappointed that there was no place for Padmé Amidala, and especially sad that the chosen setting for their Princess Leia figure was with Jabba wearing her ‘Slave’ outfit. Princess Leia is a badass, but this is the character’s lowest, most powerless period in the whole trilogy and it’s a shame it’s become the default Leia image to many.

Overall though, I feel that Star Wars at Madame Tussauds London offers us fans another fun way to interact and engage with the galaxy far, far away.

It’s worth noting that you can’t just visit the Star Wars exhibit on its own, but as part of entry to the whole of Madame Tussauds. This is a very linear experience, with all visitors starting at the same place and following the same route through various themed zones and rooms, the ‘Spirit of London’ ride, and the Marvel Superheroes 4D Experience, with the Star Wars attraction right at the very end. This journey through Madame Tussauds can be quite an overwhelming audio visual experience, and if your Star Wars loving child is prone to overstimulation, then a visit here may not be right for them.

But if this wretched hive of scum and villainy sounds like the place for you, head along and share your pics! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #StarWarsatMT, and tag/mention Madame Tussauds on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

While it may not offer the bells and whistles of a theme park ride, Star Wars at Madame Tussauds is a more elegant attraction for a more civilized age.

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Disclosure: While I was not paid to write this piece, we did receive free entry to the attraction.

We Didn’t Have any Princess Leia LEGO. So My Daughter Came Up With This Instead.

Do you remember that awesome scene in The Empire Strikes Back when Princess Leia was disguised as a Stormtrooper and had a lightsaber?

Of course not because it doesn’t exist – except in the imagination of my 3-year-old daughter. It’s just one of the scenarios and characters she has created for the Star Wars universe with her assorted LEGO.

We have a bunch of Star Wars LEGO, but sadly no Princess Leia LEGO minifig. I’ll gladly trade one of my three Luke Skywalkers or Qui-Gon’s if anyone’s interested in a swap? (Not slave Leia). But this hasn’t deterred my daughter from creating her own. She has decided a generic black ‘girl’ hair is in fact Princess Leia’s, and she first created an approximation of her Hoth look in The Empire Strikes Back.

The latest incarnation of her Princess Leia LEGO took things in a different direction. She often talks about the section of Star Wars when Han and Luke are dressed up as Stormtroopers. She’s also very into the fact that Luke and Leia are siblings, and that Darth Vader is their father. The men have lightsabers, why not her too?

So one day when we were playing LEGO and I wasn’t playing attention to what she was doing (I don’t just play LEGO to humour her – I play too, building my own stuff), she suddenly exclaimed “Look! It’s Princess Leia from The Empire Strikes Back, when she was dressed as a Stormtrooper and had a green lightsaber!” And indeed it was.

So, as we know, that scene didn’t happen, but it’s an intriguing scenario. Why has she disguised herself as a Stormtrooper? Is it an improvised solution as in Star Wars, or something more planned? How come she has a lightsaber? The force is strong in her family after all. The idea of Leia dressed as a trooper then brandishing and (hopefully) kicking off with a lightsaber is irresistibly cool.

The next minifig she came up with was a bit of a mashup – the little known Sith warrior, Lady Venom.

My daughter has no idea who Venom is, other than it was the ‘villain’ minifig with a Spider-Man LEGO set she had for her third birthday. Perhaps aware of the poor level of female representation in much merchandise, she instantly appropriated Venom as a female character. Having seen 5 Star Wars films, Rebels, and some of The Clone Wars, she also has a handle on the Sith, especially their penchant for wearing black. So, the black Venom, with added black hood & cloak (from a Darth Maul minifig) and voila – you have Sith warrior Lady Venom, possibly inspired by Asajj Ventress.

According to my daughter, Lady Venom knows Leia and Darth Vader, but Leia is working to make her normal again. I have imagined that Lady Venom was once a great Jedi, who was possessed by the alien Venom symbiote and her mental turmoil was exploited by the Sith to turn her to the dark side of the force. Her red lightsaber is meant to be like Kylo Ren’s from The Force Awakens.

We’ve also  been trying to figure out when in The Empire Strikes Back Leia could be disguised as a trooper and end up with a green lightsaber. Our best idea would be somewhere on Cloud City – probably after Boba Fett has flown off with Han and they’re battling to get back to the Millennium Falcon. The green lightsaber? Perhaps R2 had been carrying the one he fired at Luke in Return of the Jedi for a lot longer than we all thought?

Some of the most fertile ground for Star Wars creativity at the moment is between the films. The Clone Wars cartoon(s) were full of wonderful characters and scenarios, as is Star Wars Rebels. Marvel’s new Star Wars comics are doing a great job in filling in the gap between Star Wars and Empire with some really interesting ideas and developments – all of it canon.

My daughter is engaging in the same kind of creative storytelling that the writers and artists of the new series of Star Wars comics and cartoons are. But they’re overseen by the Lucasfilm Story Group. My daughter’s only limits are her ever expanding imagination.

I appreciate Lady Venom is the kind of cross property mash up that Star Wars hasn’t indulged in as of yet – but if we can get Mickey Mouse Jedi knights, why not a Venom Sith?

And c’mon – how awesome would a storyline involving Leia going undercover as a Stormtrooper that ends up with her brandishing a lightsaber be?

Especially if she takes on Lady Venom of the Sith at the end.

I propose that my daughter join the Lucasfilm Story Group. I guarantee there will be lots of cool and kickass female characters as a result. Or perhaps she’ll make her own comic. She’s already on her way to becoming a Star Wars artist.

‘Black Angel’, the Film That WASN’T The Empire Strikes Back

This short film – which has just been uploaded to You Tube – represents one of the most traumatic experiences of my childhood (up there with the time I was run over by a lorry).

Picture this. It’s 1980. You’re 9 years old. You’ve been Star Wars obsessed since 1977 when the original film came out. They’ve made a sequel after a long wait (3 years was an eternity at that age), and you are delirious with excitement. Your older brother takes you to to the cinema to see it. After the endless trailers and Pearl & Dean adverts, the lights finally dim, the curtains open, and at last the film begins. Only… hang on, this isn’t the Empire Strikes Back. What the hell is this? Black Angel?!

I turn to my brother and say something akin to “wtf?”, he answers: “Oh no. We’re in the wrong cinema.”

Me: “Then let’s go to the right cinema! The one showing The Empire Strikes Back!”

Him: “We can’t, it’s already started. We’ve missed the beginning.”

Me: “I don’t care. I want to see it!”

Him: “Don’t worry, we’ll go an see it another day. Let’s watch this instead.”

I’m sure this back-and-forth continued, but as it did I started crying, and I continued crying. A lot. Instead of The Empire Strikes Back, I was watching whatever the hell this dark, low budget, ponderous, weird British medieval drama was.

I sat there and watched it all, sobbing away at how unfair this all was, lamenting that next door there was a cinema full of people watching The Empire Strikes Back – THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK! – while I wasn’t.

After Black Angel ended, we didn’t leave the cinema. My brother said let’s wait. So we did. AND THEN, the lights went down again, the curtain opened, and… well, it may have been a dark time for the rebellion, but it was a moment of utter joy for me.

So Black Angel was simply a film (which in memory was a whole feature, but I now discover was only 25 mins) shown before the main feature, something they used to think was a good idea. It was was only shown with The Empire Strikes Back in the UK, and perhaps Australia and New Zealand.

It may have been only 25 mins, but my brother let me cry all the way through Black Angel just to fuck with me.

And I’ve never forgotten it…

(Thanks for taking me though.)

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Vanity Fair Photos

Photos: The Cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Vanity Fair

Star Wars, The Force Awakens, Vanity Fair, Star Wars The Force Awakens Vanity Fair photos,
Next-generation bad guy Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) commands snowtroopers loyal to the evil First Order on the frozen plains of their secret base. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.
A small galaxy’s worth of tracking dots affixed to Lupita Nyong’o’s face allowed artists at Industrial Light & Magic to transform her into the C.G.I. character Maz Kanata. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.
Galactic travelers, smugglers, and other assorted riffraff fill the main hall of pirate Maz Kanata’s castle. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.
Dashing Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) stands alongside his trusty X-wing fighter. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.

J. J. Abrams directs Actress Daisy Ridley for a scene in which her character, the young heroine Rey, pilots her speeder through a bustling marketplace on the planet Jakku. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.
Members of the brain trust behind The Force Awakens: composer John Williams, producer and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, co-writer Lawrence Kasdan, and director and co-writer Abrams, photographed at Bad Robot, Abrams’s production company, in Santa Monica. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.

How to Make a Star Wars Skirt for Girls and Boys

You have more chance of bulls-eyeing a Womp Rat in your T-16 than finding a child’s Star Wars skirt or dress for sale at a major retailer.

While Ashley Eckstein’s innovative fangirl brand Her Universe has a couple of Star Wars dress options, is she your only hope? No, there is another.

It’s you – by embracing Craftivism. If you can’t find the merchandise you want, simply make it yourself. My daughter recently received an awesome skirt from our friend Francesca Cambridge, that she made using officially licensed Star Wars fabric. There’s lots of Star Wars and other official licensed fabric available, which is intended for home sewing use such as this.

In an act of wanton selflessness (her business Sewing Circus proudly creates and sells children’s clothes that don’t conform to gender stereotypes), Francesca has put together this step-by-step guide so non-dressmakers like me can make a children’s skirt ourselves.

Whenever my daughter wears this skirt – which is most days at the moment – everyone asks where I got it from. Follow this guide, and you’ll have a Star Wars skirt that’ll make someone as over the moon (or space station) as my daughter is with hers. 🙂

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This elasticated skirt is one of the easiest items of clothing you can make for your child. It is so simple you don’t need a pattern or special equipment – you could even get away without a sewing machine!

For this skirt I used licensed Star Wars fabric manufactured by Camelot Fabrics, bought from Frumble (who also sell everything from Alice in Wonderland to Batgirl, Supergirl and Wonder Woman fabric).

But you can choose any fabric you want, in any theme, colour or style. That is how I started out, making Dinosaur skirts and Space dresses for my daughters when we couldn’t find anything remotely similar on the high street.

Once you’ve built a bit of confidence you can add pockets, a drawstring, applique – anything! The sky’s the limit for your creativity and inspiring your child to do the same. 

To make a Star Wars skirt for kids, you will need:

  • A waist measurement and preferred length of skirt from your chosen recipient
  • Approx 50 x 110cm of your chosen Star Wars fabric (you may not need as much but fabrics are often sold by the quarter/half/full metre and 110cm in width) Cost approx £7-9
  • 1″ wide elastic measured and cut to your chosen waist size
  • Standard ruler and a pen/chalk
  • Sewing machine if possible or a needle and thread
  • Thread colour to match your chosen fabric
  • Safety pin
  • Iron/Ironing board
  • About 30 mins of spare time!

Step 1 

Cut your elastic and ensure there is ample flex room on the width of your fabric. For ages 12 plus you may need to add an additional panel to create a wider piece of fabric.

Cut your elastic and ensure there is ample flex room on the width of your fabric. For ages 12 plus you may need to add an additional panel to create a wider piece of fabric.

Step 2 – Measure and cut length

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The skirt length is 28cm, but we need to add on a little more to accommodate our waistband and hem, so I’ve added an extra 8cm to the length. If in doubt add more, not less – you can always trim more later. Use a ruler to guide you in cutting, never trust the pattern!

Step 3 – Cut length and trim selvage 

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This white part (that reminds me of bacon rind) is the selvage and needs to come off too. Check for an perforated dots from manufacture as you don’t want them in your final skirt.

Step 4 – Sew the side seam

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All raw edges must be “serged” or enclosed to prevent fraying, so for this skirt we’re going to use an enclosed seam. This means we sew wrong sides together (or right sides outwards as shown), trimming the seam slightly and then turn inside out to sew the seam again on the other side – trapping the raw edge inside. Like this…

Star Wars skirt for girls, Star Wars childrens skirt

Your side seam should now look like this…

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Step 5 – Transfer to the ironing board for pressing

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Create a channel for the elastic at the top of the skirt by folding over a thin raw edge, and then larger fold to fit the width of your elastic. You can use your elastic to guide the size, but leave at least 5mm for a sewing edge. Once this is done you can measure the length again and fold up the hem using the same method at the other end. Again, use the ruler to measure as you will now create the final length of your skirt.

Step 6 – Hem

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Sew down your pressed hem, back stitching or tieing up the ends of your thread to prevent your work coming undone.

Step 7 – Elastic waistband

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Use your elastic to guide you as its essential there is enough room for it to fit through comfortably. If you find the channel is too narrow take it back to the iron board and press larger.

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Sew the channel closed, but leave a 1.5″ gap at the end. This will be the opening to thread through the elastic.

Step 8 – Add the elastic

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Attach a safety pin to the end of your elastic Thread the elastic by pushing the saftey pin through the channel.

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Secure the other end of the elastic as its really easy to end up loosing it as your pull through!

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Once you have pulled the elastic through, use a zig zag stitch to connect the two ends together with a good 1″ overlap. Don’t worry about the waist measurement just yet – you can always adjust in the next step.

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Ping the elastic into the skirt band, and check you’re happy with the waist measurement. If not, pull the elastic back out a little way to cut a section out and restitch together.

Step 9 – Close the waistband

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Once you’re happy, close the waistband “channel” and tie up the threads to finish.

Step 10 – Admire the awesome skirt you have just created all by yourself!

Star Wars skirt for girls, Star Wars girls skirt, girls star wars clothing,
And that’s it!
kids star wars clothing, star wars clothing for kids, star wars kids clothes, star wars kids clothing
My daughter wearing her beloved Star Wars skirt. She would wear it every day if she could.

This is a little bit of Craftivism shared from what I have learnt since starting Sewing Circus, but for more inspiration please check out the many wonderful sewing boards on Pinterest for free patterns and advice! Got stuck on a sewing element? Check out the free tutorials on YouTube – even after years of sewing I find it a fantastic resource with clear instructions on almost everything.

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Thanks so much to Francesca for sharing with us her Craftivist solution to the lack of Star Wars clothes aimed at girls.

To keep up with all the latest from Sewing Circus, please follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Etsy.

A version of this tutorial was originally published on Let Clothes Be Clothes.