As you may recall, last year I set out to dye Magnoli’s 10th Doctor blue fabric closer to the original colors, using a swatch of the screen-used blue fabric (generously provided by Louise Page herself!) as a reference, but despite something like 18 attempts, the results ultimately left something to be desired.
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| My final custom-dyed contenders |
Still determined to somehow reproduce a fabric more authentic to the colors of 10’s suit, and with the original shirting fabric no longer being available, it seemed I had basically two other options: help Magnoli update his blue fabric, and to actually have the fabric rewoven, myself.
Well, I figured that pursuing both courses of action would essentially double the chances for success – a definite “win” for the Doctor Who cosplay community, since people have been longing for authentic blue fabric for over a decade now! Odds are that at least one of us would get it right!
So, after Magnoli expressed interest in updating his blue fabric, I’ve been helping him hone the fabric colors (etc.), using my swatch of the original fabric as a reference.
His fabric update is in the works, and like you, I’m curious to see his final results; it should be a huge improvement!
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As for my own reweave … Never having had fabric rewoven before, I was at something of a loss as to how to begin – past the obvious Googling, I mean – but I asked around for weaver recommendations, and Daniel Pawlik stepped up to the plate for me!
He’d previously had some 11th Doctor shirting rewoven, which turned out fantastic (you can check it out here in his Etsy shop), and he wholeheartedly recommended his weaver.
Well, fast-forward nearly nine months (fraught with numerous difficulties and delays neither of us had anticipated), and I finally – finally – have something we’ve all been wanting!
I’ve had this particular iron in the fire for a long time now, and, well, see for yourself:
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With no photo editing (except cropping, I mean), no filters – the “read” is almost perfect!
Here’s an outdoors photo comparison:
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| Outside comparison |
Here are some indoor comparison photos, with and without flash:
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| Indoors, with flash |
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It’s not quite perfect; unfortunately, the stripes are 1mm too far apart. That was apparently the best the weaver could do, and I’ve been unable to shrink them any further.
However, I showed Louise Page some comparisons, and she offered her compliments on my replica fabric; what higher praise is there, right?!?
So, I have a limited quantity of this fabric available, and unfortunately, it’s unlikely that Daniel’s weaver will ever be willing to do another run of this fabric.
There are other fish in the sea, of course, but for now, this is all there is!
I’ve listed this fabric by-the-yard in my (Bad Wolf Costumes) Etsy shop, which you can check out here:
4 yards should be plenty for an entire suit; I’m 6’ tall, men’s size 42, and 4 yards is plenty for a suit, with quite a bit left over.
For now, I’m limiting individual orders to 5 yards or less, because I want to make sure it’s available to all who want it for as long as possible, but it very well may go fast anyway, so I highly suggest ordering some ASAP if you’re interested!
I’ve also temporarily discontinued my 10th Doctor suit pattern, because I’m in the process of updating it!
The original version is still fine, if you have it already, but I’m improving the fit so it’s more of a Tennant-esque silhouette, and I’m updating the various alignment guides to coincide with this new blue fabric and Magnoli’s updated (2017) brown fabric.
I’ll also be heavily updating my 10th Doctor suit tutorials; I’ve learned a lot the past couple years and do things quite differently now than I did back then.
I’ll post here once the updated pattern’s available (hopefully in a few weeks?), as well as once I’ve posted the updated sewing tutorials, but I suggest subscribing to my “Costume Guide” e-mail newsletter (upper right corner) for updates!
In the meantime, you can go ahead and have your fabric ready to go once the updated pattern + tutorials are available!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/615057014/10th-doctor-blue-suit-fabric-lightweight
https://www.etsy.com/listing/615057014/10th-doctor-blue-suit-fabric-lightweight
