Padme Amidala Padme's Naboo Nightgown

!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my god! that robe must weigh a ton! that poor woman who embroidered it must be seeing dots in her sleep lol.

 

LOL! Yeah, it seems that Padmé didn't always go for comfort when choosing her casual lounge wear. (Like having all those pearls to sleep on top of on her ROTS nightgown? Ouch! )

This smocked robe is a beauty though.

 

kay_dee While doing a version for an 11 1/2" doll I can tell you the spacing of the actual gown is most likely 3/4 of an inch apart. I'm doing mine at 1/4" apart after doing 1/2" for a few rows and discovering it was PEOPLE size! I'm pretty sure 3/4" is a safe bet for a nice but not GIGANTIC lattice smocking

[image=http://www.geocities.com/starlamedra5/nightgown3.jpg]

 

Yeah Kay Dee, my dots were definately too far - I think I spaced 3 inches, but I can double check. I was guessing that it is about half of that length, 1.5 inches, since I also used about half as much fabric, but maybe JediMistress is correct on an even smaller size?

Yes, I have to squeeze in a trip to LA.

If possible, could someone take pics of the back decorative jewels, just in case I don't make it?

ecila

 

I think your smocking was just gorgeous ecila!

 

I know that most people focus on the robe, but I still haven't seen a great closeup of the actual nightgown. Can anyone tell me...is that a PRINT on the gown or is it actual embroidery? It really looks like they went to a vintage clothing store and bought a 1930s gown which would suggest that it was a print on silk, but...for accuracy, I'd really like to know. Have you seen any good pics of it yet Maggie? I guess it's at a strange angle on display...they really should have stuck some full-length mirrors in there for the 360 view.

 

Your robe is just amazing Ecila - I think the size of the smocking is a minor detail and I just figured you wanted to know the honest truth about it. But it does't make your gown any less spectacular. The story of the woman giving up smocking made me think of you and what a trooper you are because unlike her, you didn't get paid a dime to do this work on your gown!

I'm still going through photos but since you requested it I dug this up for you. Not 100% sharp focus but good enough to study.

[image=http://kay-dee.net/fidm/pad-night/pad-night-low.jpg]

[image=http://kay-dee.net/fidm/pad-night/pad-night-jewel-low.jpg]

At a later time I'll have a site up with higer res versions as well.

- Kay Dee

 

The angle at which this costume is displayed it's amlmost impossible to see the front of it. I know the book has photos of the front (she and hayden on the balcony overlooking the water). It's not in sharp focus, but it looks like embroidery to me. My guess, knowing all the elaborate hand work done on these gowns, is that it is embroidery. Perhaps ask Bibagirl! She can get a close look at things at the exhibit for you.

- Kay Dee

 

Wow, you can really pick up the gold coloring in your photos. It's beautiful.

 

Thanks Padawan's Guide and Kay Dee! Lol, no offense taken Kay Dee, and honesty is always appreciated!

Woohoo - Great pictures!!!! Thank you!!!


Well, since I am thinking about it, here are the final pictures of my rode and nightgown!

Dragon Con - Rebel Legion

Dragon Con - Rebel Legion Padmes and Handmaidens

Dragon Con

Smocking Close up

Nightgown

Nightgown close up

Embroidery close up

more Embroidery

Back of Robe

Can I just say, I loved pretending to have long brown curly hair?

ecila

 

Wow! Amazing pics Ecila! The embroidery is gorgeous.
My robe had been placed on the back burner for a while since I started school again. Now that I see that there's a gold backing for the velvet, I'm wondering if I should add that. I have some sparkley gold yarn left over from another project I could try using. May bring it to work tomorrow to work on when it gets slow.

wraith13

 

I finally did it! I bought 18 yards of silk velvet, and I'm sure the woman at the tiny store thought I was insane. Turns out I might have gotten about 5 yards too much, but I'm sure I can find something to do with the extra.

The color is more on the purple side, but in the light it goes from dark blue to purple. I think it's gorgeous, so I'm not going to fuss too much about the proper shade. So far, I've got two 9-yard-long strips of fabric (one is still wrapped around the bolt!), stitched together lengthwise for about 4 yards. I handsewed that, and my fingers weren't very happy at the end. Tomorrow I'll hopefully start marking the dots.

I think the dot spacing is about 2 inches. I tried it with just 1 inch, and the folds came together too neatly and tightly together. Too square-like. With a two-inch grid, the criss-crossing is much looser and forms a more V-like shape.

Honestly, it's the nightgown that's giving me trouble, because the side seams are a bit screwy. Oh well. Sometimes I wonder who's going to notice, when there's a robe hiding most of it.

 

She just couldn't wait for my new machine to arrive in the mail today LOL. I'll bring the camera home this weekend and take pics of you going nuts - er smocking, the fabric .

Anu, is renting my spare room, so my poor house is covered in costume projects from her and me LOL

Okay, so its mostly me

 

Has anyone found out the exact shape of the symbol going down the nightgown? It has always bugged me, especially since I'm beading my gown.

Any help would be great!

~Spacelady

 

Maggies's site has GREAT updates on this costume .
http://padawansguide.com/fidm/kd_robe_detail2.jpg
http://padawansguide.com/fidm/kd_robe_detail1.jpg
http://padawansguide.com/fidm/kd105.jpg

Copy and paste the above links

 

Is it just me, or does the V-neck for the back of the robe extend way far down in those pictures?

Well, I've started smocking - figured I'd smock the dots I've marked so far. That way it'll eat up a lot of the fabric, and I don't have to wrangle with as much when I'm marking more dots. I think I've done about two yards - definitely more than one. It looks beautiful! It's also already getting heavy when I drape it over my arm...

The one thing that worries me isn't that the threads will break, but that the fabric on the good side will "pop out" of the lattice pattern, so to speak. That is, not keep its shape in each criss-cross, especially since I'm moving it around a lot. Haven't quite figured out how to take care of that yet.

 

Sorry, I know I'm sitting on a few photos that will probably help people out.

Firstly, if anyone has gotten the Star Wars Poster book you may notice the Italian poster in which Padme's robe is coming off her shoulder to reveal more of the nightgown.

[image=http://kay-dee.net/costumes/padme_misc/night-low.jpg]
High Resolution >

[image=http://kay-dee.net/costumes/padme_misc/night-close.jpg]

I know Maggie has a mountain of photos to sort through so here are a few good shots I got of the embroidery on the nightgown.

[image=http://kay-dee.net/fidm/pad-night/pad-night-emb1-low.jpg]
Embroidery high res >

[image=http://kay-dee.net/fidm/pad-night/pad-night-emb3-low.jpg]
nightgown high res >

[image=http://kay-dee.net/fidm/pad-night/pad-night-emb2-hi.jpg]
nightgown high res >

Hope that helps!

- Kay Dee

 

Wow, KD, those are amazing! I knew you got some good ones with your camera - nice and sharp too! My next camera is going to be one like yours for sure!

I'd seen a tiny image of that poster you posted, but that is a nice big copy of it!! You don't mind if I grab these, right?

Thanks for posting them!

 

Yeah Maggie grab away! You know, my camera is hit and miss. Some photos I took just came out awful. I just took lots of repeats and finally sometimes something would be in focus.

- Kay Dee

 

The details...they're so...clear. Especially that third picture, wow!

Thank you so much for taking them, Kay Dee!

 

Wow - what wonderful photos!!

Thanks Kay Dee!


ecila

 

Just thought I'd share my progress on this gown. I'm working on the embroidery right now. This is version #1 (I'm already planning another version with the embroidery design updated from exhibit pictures).

[image=http://kesfic.homestead.com/files/SWCostumes/NabooNDJan.jpg]

 

I'm pondering doing this over the summer, but I'm wondering, after you smock your fabric, how do you cut out the pieces for the robe without messing it up? Wouldn't it come apart?

~Ryder

 

Nice work, Kasey! Can't wait to see the final product!

Ryder - when I made my robe I calculated the size pre-smock. In the few cases where I did need to cut the fabric, I had to cut each line of smock stitching and hand tie it off.


ecila

 

eclia- so you basically cut out your pattern, estimating how much bigger it needed to be, then smocked it? Thanks again!

Also, is the robe just a classic robe pattern, or something like a poncho?

~Ryder