Welcome to

Grand Moff Tarkin's Leather Fashion Page

Many people are under the mistaken impression that evil cannot be well dressed. Nothing could be further from the truth. As they say, "the Devil wears a Savile Row suit." Here we visit with one of the Empire's most lethal men of all time, Grand Moff Tarkin, in a private look at some of his, um, other best wear.

Be it the Empire's basic black, or rough-weather outdoor wear, His Grace is always impeccably stylish

The Grand Moff steps out in his sleek black leather jacket

Late in the Evening, Mama Tarkin's boy Wilhuff slips into something more comfortable... well, at least for him.

The black leather jacket is made in the same pattern as a full sized one. Here a dime is shown to give a sense of scale. Since no one manufactures zippers this small, this jacket buttons with seed beads. The rank insignia was tricky-- I settled on a silver Sculpey base, with seed beads embedded.

Here details of the collar, and the side-straps may be seen.

All buckles are dual-ring type, in the military style. They are made using #14 "Jump Rings", a standard supply item at craft stores.


The black leather jacket was first made out of Tyvek®, i.e. an ordinary "plastic paper" mailing envelope. This material was tough enough to withstand repeated clippings, and sewings, and fittings onto the 12" figure of the Grand Moff, until the dimensions of all the pieces were correct.
The body of the duster was also copied onto Tyvek, and this piece cut for armholes. When the duster body was correct, the armholes were cut into the leather piece. The black leather jacket arm-patterns served just as well for the arms of the duster (with a little extra width allowed). Chamois was used to make the pocket linings. Some of the tiniest stitches in the whole ensemble are to be found in the (fully lined) pockets of the duster.

The other tools used were fairly straightforward... small sharp scissors, thimble, fine thread, and Exacto-knives. The needles used were #12 "quilting betweens", some of the smallest needles obtainable, and came in very handy for sewing sleeves onto jacket-bodies. These were less than an inch long.

Thank you for attending our fashion show.
This fashion show was all the fault of my friend Sara, who handed me her 12" Grand Moff Tarkin figure and a bag of leather scraps, and said, "work your magic." I think she got the idea when watching me darn up a leather dice bag out of pieces of an automotive chamois during one of our early gaming sessions.
Anyway, although ordinarily I do not go near dolls and most certainly do not indulge in the craft of doll clothes, I figured since this was no ordinary doll, I could kind of go nuts. So I did. It's doll clothes, but it's MACHO doll clothes. And hey, we all knew Grand Moff Tarkin was secretly a leather child anyway.

Sorry, this project will NOT be repeated. It's a one-time deal. So don't even waste the effort asking.

--- Crocutaaaaaaa......


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