Pattern Review: McCall’s M7421 (Misses’ Rey Costume – from Star Wars)

Good morning readers! With Halloween around the corner, I’ll be departing slightly from our usual types of pattern reviews of everyday separates and dresses and am posting a review of a current Big 4 costume pattern: McCall’s 7421, which is their interpretation of Rey’s costume from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

McCall’s M7421

A little background on this project: I haven’t dressed up for Halloween in AGES, even though Halloween has become a huge event for adults in the US in recent years. However, on top of having a daughter who is now old enough to really enjoy Halloween AND having moved a few years ago to a suburban neighborhood where door-to-door trick-or-treating is still a big deal (and where the adults handing out candy are always dressed up), I decided that it was time to dress up again.

Confession time: The huge Star Wars revival of the past year played a big part in me wanting to wear a costume. I was a Star Wars freak as a little kid; my brother and I used to re-enact all of the Original Trilogy movies with our action figures, and when I was playing by myself, I’d veer off into fanfiction territory and stage wedding ceremonies between my Han and Leia figures the way that some girls did with their Barbie dolls. Then, like a lot of people from my generation, I became disillusioned with Star Wars after the poorly executed Prequel Trilogy was released. I wasn’t even looking particularly forward to seeing the franchised revived; however, like many other people, I fell in love with the movie and with the character of Rey, in particular. Because of the character’s popularity, I decided to share my version and review of this pattern on the CSC.

Yeah, I had to bust out the toy lightsaber for this photo shoot.

Pattern Name: M7421 – Misses’ Criss-Cross Tabard, Top, Cropped Pants, Gauntlets, Belt and Cuff. (aka…the Rey costume from Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Size Range: McCall’s (Big 4) sizes Small (8-10) through Extra Large (20-22). Corresponds to a 29.5″ (75cm) – 44″ (112cm) Bust and 31.5″ (80cm) – 46″ (117cm) Hip.

What size did you make?: I used the Extra Large as a starting point, needing to do an FBA and grade up in several places.

My measurements, height, and body type: I’m 5’2″, wear a 44GG bra, and have a figure that recently seems to have exploded from being a top-heavy rectanglish shape to a top-heavy apple-ish shape, even though my weight has been stable. I’m still figuring out how to deal with my rapidly-disappearing waistline when it comes to fitting. My hip measurement is roughly 53″.

My adjustments:

Undershirt (a henley-style shirt): I laid the pattern pieces for my Cashmerette Concord tee over the pattern piece for the “henley” style undershirt and determined that I needed a 1″ broad back adjustment and a 2.5″ FBA. I used a traditional darted method to do the FBA, but left the dart unsewn and instead eased it into the sideseam.

Pants: For the pants, I simply added 1″ at the side seams and did a 1″ full butt adjustment. I also shortened the pant legs by 2″.  I also added 1″ to the circumference of the pant cuffs to account for my large calves. Weirdly enough, I got a really nice fit on these pants, which is ironic given that they’re costume pants, and I’ll often go through multiple muslins on “real” pants. Note that the cuff is still a little snug going over my calf, but it sits nicely once the pants are completely on.

M7421 – With the drape hanging naturally (left) and pulled to the side to show the pants (right).

Belt: I lengthened the belt 8″ in 2″ increments to fit my waist.

Drape/tabard: I SHOULD have lengthened the drape/tabard piece to give it more length to go over my bust. However, I rather stupidly held the pattern piece up to my chest and went “oh, this should be fine”. No, as you can see from the front view pic, my version certainly looks quite a bit more boob-tastic than Rey’s. (Note that I’ll be wearing a bra that reigns in the side-boob a bit better when I actually wear this–I hadn’t realized that was an issue until I saw these pics.)

M7421 – Rey costume

How was the construction process? Did the instructions make sense to you?:

There are a lot of pieces to this costume, but overall, the construction process was very enjoyable. Honestly, I had more fun working on this costume than anything I’ve made in a while.

I thought that the instructions were generally fine. For the most part, they use the quickest/easiest methods of construction, rather than ones that use the most “finished” results, which I think is the correct way to go for a Halloween costume.

The only part of the construction that I had a problem with was connecting the pieces for the drape; they’ve got you flipping over these giant pieces of fabric and folding them this way and that. I tried twice, gave up, and draped and pinned the pieces on my dressform. I’d recommend just doing that if you have a dressform; if you don’t, drape/pin the drape pieces on a partner.

Will you make the pattern again? If so, what fit or design changes will you make?

I don’t exactly have a need for a second Rey costume, but if I were to make it again, the only additional adjustment I’d make would be to lengthen the top part of the drape pieces.

Do you have any advice on this pattern for other curvy sewers? Are there any resources (blog posts, fitting books, tutorials) that helped you sew this piece up?

Fabric used and other miscellaneous details:

• Drape/tabard: Cotton gauze from fabric.com
• Henley/undershirt: Cotton spandex jersey from Girl Charlee
• Pants: Kaufman Brussels Washer linen from fabric.com
• Belt: Faux leather and felt from JoAnn’s
• Wrist cuff: Faux leather and faux suede from JoAnn’s
• Boots: Piper V Brown linen boots by Po-Zu. I bought these on sale (for $120 USD) after reading many positive reviews, knowing that I’d wear them outside of costume-use. The “real” Rey boots, as worn by Daisy Ridley are the Piper V Dark Brown boots, which were on backorder in most sizes until recently.)

Pattern Rating System: We have moved away from a straight rating system, to a multi-part style of rating. Hopefully, this will make it easier for you to evaluate the pattern! Please include your ratings at the bottom of your review. (1 is the lowest score, 5 the highest)

Size Range (1-5): 3
Instructions (1-5): 4.5
Construction Process (1-5): 4.5
Final Fit (1-5): 4
Overall Rating (1-5) : 4