Women's ROTJ Scout

[TK-Roamer]

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.

[kayelbe]

On the zipper, if it’s magnetic you could see a magnet inside the mandarin flap and then pull the zipper up and stick it behind the collar. I have no idea if that would work, cuz I never considered what zippers are made of. 
 

Alternatively, maybe a bra hook sewn in the flap and hook the zipper in that?

[Chopper]

Question for you @TK-Roamer, specifically looking at zipper concealment strategies -- are you looking to build for basic approval only, or Level 2/Lancer?

[TK-Roamer]

@kayelbe I considered the magnet but worried about how that would wash over time. The bra hook is easy to try, I'll let you know if it works out.

@Chopper Lancer is the long term goal but my short term goal is to get approved before the movers show up in early June and our tools wind up who knows where. Then I can make improvements as time and resources permit.

[Chopper]

Do you have any more flap material left over? I'm thinking you might be able to make a very narrow flap that goes over the zipper/zipper teeth, which is at least long enough to go under the front of your flak vest or chest armor.

[M.J]

Hi ya Jennifer, if you’re handy with a machine and it looks like you are.

unpick the zipper down a few inches down  (when it’s hidden by the chest peace), cut the ends of the zipper seal it, then sew the unpicked top half neatly and add clips or Velcro.

You might find it will also close up the little gap you have at the top.

You can also later on make a two piece under suit for the those events aka troops that tend to go just about all day, trust me it’s great when you don’t need to completely underdress to go to the bathroom, myself and others in my Garrison can stay suited up all day.

[KOtrooper]

Thanks for posting the details of your flight suit dart mod. I'm just about to hit that part of my build and was wondering the best approach. I'm going to give that a shot.

Sent from my Pixel 5a using Tapatalk

[TK-Roamer]

First up thank you all for the support and ideas. For simplicity's sake I'm going to try Chopper's suggestion for the short flap to conceal the zipper. I've got enough fabric leftover and that leaves me the zipper for easier suiting up.

Made good progress on my left boot tonight so it's ready to glue the calf and dogbone tomorrow. After a few snafus sewing the velcro I think the calf came out nicely, though I realized I may need to adjust the velcro that helps hold my knee armor in position.

I'd love to take credit for the smooth toe and 1/2 inch toe strip but that's how they came to me. Just had to remove the old so I can add larger calves and a curved dog bone. I got acrylic paint from Walmart for the soles after it's all glued.

Here's the dog bone for the overall shape. Used hubby's Death Star rug to show the curve on the concave side.

And a close up of the stitching on one end.