Princess Leia - Ceremonial Dress

All of the metal pieces in this example were fabricated from aluminum, although stainless steel will work too. Generally speaking, aluminum is much easier to work with. You can find aluminum at hardware stores and hobby stores. Both stores should have a display for hobby metals, such as brass and aluminum tubes, rods, squares, strips, and sheets.

If you use aluminum, you can use heavy-duty metal shears to cut the shapes after you draw the pattern on the sheet. If you want really clean cuts with very little bending of the edges, investing in a shop metal shear/bending brake. You will probably want to use a file, very coarse sandpaper or a belt sander to smooth the edges so you don't cut yourself on the edges.

The image below shows both types of detail pieces along with their dimensions.

Once you've cut the shapes, you will need to drill holes to accomodate the blank buttons that you got from the fabric store. Make sure you center the holes on each metal piece. Now position the metal pieces on the belt to determine where they should go. 1/2" in between each metal piece seems to work well.

Start by placing the pentagonal piece in the center V section of the belt and work your way out on both sides with the octagonal pieces. Once you've got them positioned where you want them, mark the belt through the hole that you had drilled in the aluminum using a pencil. Remove the metal pieces and use a rotary leather punch to punch a hole large enough to accomodate the eye loop on the back of the button. The hole in the metal and the hole you just punched should line up.