The Robes

Getting the Tusken Raider robe sewing pattern to look right took a few times of Trial and Error. What we came up with as a solution to the BAGGY look of the Tusken Raider robes is not 100% authentic to the Lucasfilms Tusken Raider robes... but we did save quite a bit of cloth in doing it this way. We used only 4 yards (144 inches) of material.

Finding the right cloth takes a while to find. It took us about 3 weeks to find the decent looking material, so be prepared to do some hunting. What we did find is still not 100% accurate to the stuff used in the movies but it's the closest thing we could find. We used a Yarn-based cloth, it was similar to Monks Cloth, but with thicker threads that make up the weave. We paid $13 a yard for the cloth back in 1999. OUCH!

A couple years after making our first Tuskens , we found that the clothier "Ralph Lauren" made a white cotton blanket that had a texture very similar to that of the Tusken Robes. We've only found this blanket once, but we have noticed over the years that some blankets in the department stores like Walmart and Target looked similar too. They were cheaper than the original Yarn-based cloth that we used for the first tusken robes also.

What ever you do, We highly recommend NOT to use burlap. Burlap just never looks right for tusken robes. It's too stiff of a material to drape over the body properly.

For the arms we measured out two yards of material and cut it. Then we folded the cloth in half with the 2 yards (72 inches) measurement being the length of the fold. This 72 inch length will make up the two arms and chest of the robe.

Now we must sew the bottom of the soon-to-be-arms 24 inches in from each bottom edge. Also lets measure down 20 inches from the top fold and cut away any extra cloth that is extra in the chest and back area. The 20 inch measurement will be the waist line for the robe. Any extra flaps in the arms will be tucked into the girdle sash to help with that baggy look.

To make the bottom part of the robe we will take another 2 yards (72 inches) section of cloth and this time fold the length of the 72 inches into three equal 24 inch sections. The two sections that over lap each other will be the front of the robe.

Now just stitch the bottom of the robe to the chest/arms section of the robe. MAke sure you stitch the arms to the bottom section.. that's crucial to the final look of the Tusken Raider.

With the Robe stitched up all you have to do now is turn it inside out and put it on. A different color sash is wrapped around the midrif of the robe in order to BUNCH up the robe in the arms and midriff area. The sash also acts to hide the seam between the top and bottom pieces of the robe.

We do recommend that you dart and/or stitch the sleeves up to the wrist area. Closing the billowing sleeves will make you look more accurate to the movie tuskens.

The last thing you'll want to do is dirty up the robe. You can do this by using paint, colored charcoal art tools, or just slapping the robe around in the dirt for a few days. Any way you dirty up the robe is fine... it just needs to be dirty.