Stay tuned for today's broadcast: Firefly Costume- Kaylee Style

Warning : The nerd in me is about to show!  My husband and I have the privilege of going to Gen Con this summer.  To those of you who have no idea what that is you should check it out, especially if you love games.  (http://www.gencon.com/)  Any ways I got it into my head that to make myself a costume from Firefly the television series.  I'm going to be the lovable mechanic, Kaylee! 

Picture courtesy of: http://mariuscorner.blogspot.com/2011/08/30-days-of-female-awesomeness-day-2.html

She happens to be my favorite character and the one from Firefly that my friend determined I was the most like.  So here is my chronicle of my costume and some diy thrown in!  

First up was finding the coveralls.  These are fairly easy to locate on Ebay.com, so a I bid on a pair.  The only suggestion I have on these is to make sure that they are the right size, especially if they are in men's size (which they will most likely be).  I had to take mine out a little because they were a little tight at the hips.  Luckily I had extra fabric from the sleeves I removed, as all of her's are sleeveless.  This was a fairly simple process with a little bit of sewing the edges under by hand.  This can be done on the machine as well if you have one.  If you are extremely interested in making your own from scratch there is one pattern I found online: ://images.patternreview.com/sewing/patterns/kwiksew/3389/3389.jpg

Next you will need to embellish your coveralls.  On Kaylee's iconic coveralls have a heart patch above right pocket, a large bear applique on her left knee and an aqua flower on left side of zip above waist band.  She also has Chinese characters written on the pants at varies points.  And of course lots of stains from being what she does best, a mechanic!
 Below are the symbols from her coveralls and the meaning and location.
Left Leg (on pocket):

• 平 ping2: calm, peaceful
• 出 [ upside-down ] chu1: go out, exceed
• 幸 xing4: good luck, good fortune

If that IS 出 chu1, it doesn't make sense here by itself. Perhaps it's from 出入平安 chu1ru4 ping2an1: may you have peacefulness/sound health in your comings and goings.

Left Leg (below pocket and teddy bear):

• 爱 [ Traditional: 愛 ] ai4: love

Right Leg (below heart and pocket):

• 喜 xi3: happiness

above information courtesy of the fantastic website: http://fireflychinese.kevinsullivansite.net/resources.html

Once coveralls were achieved I needed to find an appropriate Kaylee shirt.  She wears a variety of long sleeve tops with a few short sleeves mixed in.The important thing when selecting a shirt is finding something pink or purple, floral, and potentially Asian in style. I found mine at a thrift store, but there are many on ebay.  Also make sure to check your closet.  You may luck out.  

Next I grabbed a blue brocade jacket on Ebay. You may have to search a bit for this one.  If you want a very close reproduction this there is one on http://firefly-cargobay.com/shop-products/accessories/ for $100.  You may be able to make one for less See my Pintrest for ideas for pattern and fabric: http://pinterest.com/ladyjelly5/kaylee-firefly-costume-for-gen-con/

Thank you Garbo Antiques for an awesome transaction!

I picked out some pink flip-flops at Walgreens that seemed to fit the character, though if you want to wear boots she also wears work boots in the show.

In the pilot episode of Firefly Kaylee has a parasol that is white, yellow, green and red swirled. Here is my rendition of this:

I also made a necklace that she has on in one of her cast photos. If interested in having your own Kaylee Frye Necklace I have these in my new Etsy Shop: PhoenixArtFeathers

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I also made made her cigar box with strawberries.  A similar one will be on my Etsy in the future!

Lastly I decided  to make a tool belt with a belt and some suede I formed into pockets.  This is a great place to put her tools and anything I need to carry around.


I hope you enjoyed this! I will post pictures from Gen Con in the future.

For Kaylee-esque costume props check PhoenixArtFeathers via Etsy for more Firefly costume things!