By way of introduction I'm ID-13405 presently with the Tampa Bay Squad, moving to coastal Mississippi this summer.
I wanted the scout because you can sit down and it's got good visibility to keep an eye on my kiddo while hubby rocks his ANH TK Stunt. I've been following the WIP thread for @jennyruth for inspiration as we're both smaller than your average trooper. Time constraints preclude the completely bespoke approach so I picked up a scout kit second hand. My thread will be about mods to meet the updated CRL and tailoring soft parts for a woman's fit. The hard parts are SC and nicely trimmed overall. I also have a WTF kids kit we bought for my kiddo should I need to borrow a few hard bits for proper sizing.
Today I worked on the flight suit mods. It started as a Rothco youth XL military style flight suit. It came to me with thigh patches, butt flap, elastic leg bands and plenty of velcro already in place from a 63-inch (160 cm) tall college aid lady.
First I removed some lower patches and velcro to make a Mandarin collar. It seems a bit large to me but I tried to match the CRL close up here:
My collar for comparison:
My flight suit doesn't have the flap like some coveralls so appreciate any tips on how to better conceal the zipper pull as the flak vest doesn't cover it and it doesn't really stay up behind the Mandarin collar.
Next I adjusted the elastic around the legs with a bit of seam ripping and new seams. The faux suede was incredibly easy to work with when I made mistakes and this made me more confident. I may upgrade to real suede patches depending on how this washes but my goal is basic approval so it's okay for now.
Then I adjusted the sleeve width. I took in about 5 inches of excess fabric for a much cleaner fit. A bit of curve where the new sleeve met the chest gave me a tidy finish, took up a tiny bit of the excess torso length, and added a bit of room for the girls up front. This dart-like mod is hidden by the flak vest so I wasn't worried about impacts to meeting the CRL. Hopefully the blue tailors chalk line gives a decent idea if anyone finds it helpful.
This last photo better illustrates the dart effect if you look closely at the chest pockets near the armpits.
My next goal is to redo the boots with larger calves and new dogbones. I'm using the tutorial by cheesewhoopy, so appreciate any tips on right sizing the calf shafts near the bottom of the boot.