PANTS PATTERN:
For the pants, I drafted my own patterns for it based on how I’ve done my pants in the past. You’re free to use any pants pattern, only adjust it as needed. Remember that Aladdin’s silhouette and pants are free flowing. My pants are also seamless on the sides, so it makes it slightly easier to cut versus having so many pieces.
PATCHES ON PANTS:
Before sewing the panels together, don’t forget to sew on the patch he has on his pants. I chose to give him more than one patch, all different textiles. After sewing on the patches via machine, I also hand-stitched the edges of the patches to tell the story that the character sewn these on himself with no knowledge on how to sew. If you choose to do this as well, you do not have to be perfect with it. Feel free to sew with no rhyme or reason like it’s your first time with a needle.
SASH BELT:
This particular piece has no rules on how you would approach it, I’ve seen it done many ways. I chose to blend a belt and a corset together. First, I cut out the lining to my desired size and shape. Then for the fabric that would be seen, I started playing around by pinning the fabric to drape it as I would like. There is no right or wrong way to do this part.
Heads up: Depends on how thick your folds are, you might have to use the Heavy Duty machine (Janome HD9BE). I was definitely pushing it with my S9 and should have started on the HD9BE to be safe.
VEST:
After drafting out my vest pattern and cutting out the panels as desired, I added trimming to the front edges of the front panels and the bottom edges of all the panels. Then I switched my Janome Skyline S9 from normal sewing mode to embroidery mode. Using the provided embroidery designs that has been previously programmed into the S9 as well as my own designs.
VEST EMBROIDERY:
When the embroidery is done, I lined and sew the panels together. This is where you will switch to the HD9BE - the heavy duty machine. Due trimming, embroidery, and lining layers together, it will be very thick. The HD9BE is made to sew leather together, so this is perfect. If you top-stitch your edges, this is also perfect for that.
Note: I only figured this out after top-stitching one edge and my needle broke (so I have no photos of me using the HD9BE ), so please take my mistake as a lesson.
And there you have your Aladdin costume!
This costume was a gift for a friend and it had nods to his Persian culture, especially on the vest and the sash-belt. Persian textiles tend to feature floral designs, so I referenced that in the fabric choices and the embroidery. I also kept true to the original character design’s silhouette while making a few changes such as adding a collar to make the human body appeared more “structured.” The great thing about this specific look of the character is that you can afford to make mistakes if something is torn or mismatched. The details I are in the textiles and the methods used to get to a simple silhouette.
