As Good As New

Normally I like to hold off making Benny's outfit last because Benny tends to wear quite simple outfits.  While Agnetha, Frida, and Bjorn wear lots of sparkly, eye catching costumes, most of the time Benny wears more plain, less attention-grabbing outfits. 

I thought Benny's outfit from the 1978 black costumes would be fairly easy.  It's just a leather jacket, matching leather pants (I think they're leather), and a plain t-shirt underneath.  Turns out Benny's outfit was hard to make!

While the other three have jackets as well, they don't necessarily have any closings in the front, besides a hook and eye at the front of Bjorn's jacket.  Benny's jacket, on the other hand, has a zipper.

The first time I made Benny's outfit back in 2012, I didn't have any zippers, so I used buttons.  Not the worst idea ever.  Of course I glued on a bunch of sequins, this time in a pattern that doesn't even resemble Benny's outfit, lol.  I didn't even bother to make his t-shirt then, mostly because I didn't notice it.

This time around I tried to put more attention to detail.  Benny's jacket has an asymmetrical zipper, and I have never sewn anything like that before.  Thankfully I have an asymmetrical jacket of my own that I was able to study, but it was still a lot of work trying to figure this out.  There are also pockets on each side, and a lot of silver details on the sleeves and around the pockets.  Now the zipper on Benny's outfit is silver, but I don't have any silver zippers, so I left it black and used silver thread to add some details there.  Now, I am terrible at sewing on zippers, especially for doll clothes, so it came out a little messy, but I think I'm happy with the way it came out.
 
Benny's outfit is presumably made out of leather, but I don't have any leather, and no fake leather in that color, so I used satin.  It gives the right appearance, so I don't mind.

A close up of the jacket.  Now this jacket doesn't tuck in nicely like how Benny wears it, but it's the best I have.

The sleeves.

Working pockets.

And his v-neck t-shirt that I always end up making as a u-neck because I am bad at hemming it. xD

So I've finally made all of ABBA's 1978 black outfits after years of attempting to make it and failing at it, and I'm happy with how they all turned out.

Now the question is, will I be making anymore ABBA costumes before the year comes to an end?  We'll have to see about that. :P