Making an Ewok from Scraps
In early 2020, before the lock down (literally days before the lock down), some friends and I were sitting around in a circle discussing whether we were Jedi or Sith. When it came to my turn I really wasn’t sure. I am a passionate person so maybe I’m Sith, but I also have a strong calling for justice so I guess I might lean Jedi. I didn’t get a chance to deliberate for very long, however because one friend looked me right in the eye and said “You’re not a Jedi OR a Sith. You’re an Ewok.” She was 100% correct.
““You’re not a Jedi OR a Sith. You’re an Ewok.””
About 2 weeks later I and my partner unfortunately came down with Covid. (For the record, we know my exposure was not from that gathering of friends)
It took about 2 more weeks before my partner and I were well enough to do anything besides resting and in taking fluids. At this point my partner and I started getting into watching The Mandalorian, which reminded me of my absolute love for Star Wars. After we finished the series I knew I had to do something for May 4th. That something was making an Ewok Cosplay.
I honestly don’t remember much of the process of making this cosplay! I know I started with basing my design off of Jessica Nigri’s Ewok, drawing a quick sketch, and then I began rooting around all my spare fabrics bins to see what felt the most “Ewok” to me.
Ended up with:
A pair of cut out pants I had purchased off of a friend (and danced in at a big performance), a green leather skirt purchased years ago at a thrift store, an old bra I planned to deconstruct for this, green/gold fabric that I think came from a thrift store, faux fur from when I made my partner a stuffed dog toy, lots of beads from the craft thrift store, some beads from my dance instructor’s very first coin belt, an old headband, a big skein of black yarn, and finally beads from a necklace I had purchased in Costa Rica in 11th grade.
I removed the original trim from the pants and added the crochet edging and beaded crochet straps. The green leather skirt I deconstructed and used as the base of my belt and as the straps for my bra. The belt was also given a similar crochet edging and straps as the pants. For the bra I sewed the fur on to the cups (which I found highly hilarious during the process), added a green and gold fabric strip detail, and attached the green leather straps. For the Bra’s closure I reused the original hook and eye closures from that bra. I attempted to make most of the bead-work for the belt look randomly assembled and haphazardly applied to give it drape and to make it not look too “match-y.” However, for the bra I did use a repeating pattern from the same beads as I made the belt.
The hood was probably the most involved part of this cosplay, and took me the longest. I started with a basic hood pattern, but then added more blocks of fabric as necessary to give it that patchwork look that all of the ewoks have. Getting the opening of the hood right, took a lot of trial and error. What was left of that green and gold fabric was turned into a hip-scarf. For the ears, I made ears out of foam and faux fur and attached them to the old headband. I cut holes into the top of the hood for the ears to show and attached the hood to the headband as well. Since it’s all in once piece I don’t have to worry about it falling off when I’m dancing!
I made very simple arm and leg warmers out of the same faux fur as the bra and ears. On each of these I added string of gold painted beads. These beads are all originally from my dance instructor’s first coin belt! They have found their way into a lot of my cosplays. Finally I made the fur hip-scarf, again it took a little trial and error because I didn’t want it to be too big, and I wanted the green hip-scarf to show as well. It is strategically choppy in certain areas to look like a pelt, but also show off my pants and hip-scarf.
I absolutely love how this cosplay turned out! It’s once of my favorites that I have made. So of course I had to dance in it.
May the 4th be with you, and Yub Nub <3
