Construction Details:

This costume was relatively easy except for Korra's signature blue top. At first I thought I'd go the leotard route for it, but after months of searching failed to turn up a pre-made leotard or spandex fabric in the proper shade of grey-blue, I decided I was going to have to make an actual shirt and try to fit it tightly enough that it retained the smooth, form-fitting look. Once I admitted defeat with spandex, I found a twill that was very close to the correct shale blue. I thought it was a little too blue as opposed to grey, but it went so well with the other fabrics I had picked out for the pants and waist wrap that I went with it. I used McCall's 3008 Cheongsam pattern and altered it slightly to create a long-wasited shirt top rather than a dress. I retained the side-zipper actual closure, though the top does open along the collarbone and closes using snaps. I took the top in at least three times to try to get as close of a leotard-looking fit as possible, and I kept shortening the arm openings to create more of a athletic top look. Once I was satisfied with the shape, I closed the arm openings with white bias tape and attached the collar.

Once that hurdle was complete the rest was simple; the pants are a simple elastic waist/elastic cuff pattern made from a dark navy fabric found in the bargain bin, while the waist wrap is a dark brown bottom weight fabric I had in my scrap pile. The waist section is fully lined with interfacing, and a strip of fun fur is sandwiched into the bottom hem. The top seam is covered with a dark blue scrap piece and snaps closed at the front. The emblem buckle was made with two layers of worbla and pained with blue acryllic and silver rub n' buff, then sprayed with clear coat and attached with Velcro. The sleeves are just elbow-length navy gloves with the fingers cut off and edges serged. Blue bias tape is secured around the forearms with snaps. Finally, the boots are a pair from Amazon that the creator of Korra posted on Twitter as being the ones he referenced when designing Korra's uniform for Book 4. They are officially the most comfortable pair of shoes I have worn for a costume yet. I love them!

Personal Thoughts:

I started watching The Legend of Korra when it premiered and fell in love with it; Korra is such a fantastic central character, and despite a bumpy second season, the show went in amazing directions with the depiction of the original Avatar, the spirit world, and the exploration of post-traumatic healing. I liked the darker color scheme and shorter hairstyle Korra received during the fourth season, as well as the very personal arc her character took during this part of the story, so I decided Korra's Book Four uniform would be the version I would do.

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