Padme Amidala Handmaiden Costumes

Okay...on the topic of an Episode I Padme battle outfit, what kind of velvet is appropriate? If I get a velvet that's even remotely stretchy, am I going to be kicking myself later? Any help is much much appreciated.

 

Having never made the TPM battle outfit (at least at this point), I don't know. My guess is that it would be a pain to sew, because of the stretchy factor, if it's very stretchy. A small amount shouldn't be too bad, though.

 

Yeah, I had to sew stretchy velvet for a show last January, and it was one heck of a pain in the butt. But I'm having difficulty finding non-stretch velvet in the proper color...grrrrr.

Oh well. I have several costumes to finish before I even get to *think* about starting the battle outfit, so I have some time.

 

I used a strechy/panne material, and I actually found it to be easier, IMO. You can be a little less careful with the fit, esp. in the pants, if you go with a slightly strechy material. The downside, of course, is that it's more shimmery.

BTW, anyone else see Jamilla's HM gowns and think, "hmmm...leftover orange velvet, leftover maroon velvet" from Ep I costumes?

 

Jamilla's HM gowns and think, "hmmm...leftover orange velvet, leftover maroon velvet" from Ep I costumes

LOL! I'll agree greatly with the Dark Maroon Cloak they wear cause it looks to me like they "used" all the leftover strips to make it, thus giving that layered look to the cloak. And maybe they even gave it another dye job cause it look like dark brown in some pictures.

 

Good thought, Darth Eagle!

:~)

I'm working on the maroon cloak. I need to get the shoulders to sit right, and finish attaching the hood. (It's tacked on right now.) Then, I'll do a trial run on the fleur de lis stamp I bought for embossing, and work on the sash thingy.

Here's a REALLY bad pic of it (poor lighting, surprised look on face, sweating because of heat, bags under eyes from being tired, etc.)
GB's Costume in progress

Also, I hope this isn't spamming, but if you like the RHS site (see sig), please go here and vote for it!
Royalty Awards

Thanks!

 

It doesn't look so bad, GentleBant!

Mine kinda screwed up cause I miscalculated on the lining (used Acetate Lining) so it's peeping out from behind the velvet when worn. And the chest part is just nice for my chest (not baggy enough for me). And I shouldn't had added that interfacing to the top part of the hood.

I'll try to fix the problem by sewing a hem along the sides of the cloaks to prevent the lining from peeping out soon. Haahaa, luckily I used cheap Taffeta Velvet.


For the Jamilla's Handmaidens' Headdress, I thought I saw no seamlines on it. ? Any idea how the whole headdress can be done?

For the cloak itself, I don't remember seeing what the back looks like so I really wonder how the layers there looks like and wherether the back is "1" panel or 2 panels (or more) and the pattern of layering.

And the way how each layers must be sew to the previous one kinda rule out the use of Taffeta Velvet whose coat is too short to hide the sewings so I guess something along the lines of like Valentino Velvet's Coat but cheaper (Valentino cost SGD28/USD18 per metre here. Way too exp. for me cause I'm still in school).

In term of patterns, I'm very tempted with McCall's 2810-Cape again to achieve that wide opening in front but this will give the least 2 panels on the back and need a very wide width velvet, while having to modify the pattern to make it less baggy. The other alternative is of course the same pattern I used for the Maroon Cloak (2 back panels behind and can use "normal" width fabrics), Burda Easy ??? and the front panels must be modified to make the opening wider (eliminate the part where the fabric curl down to form the bottom front part of the hood?).

And I might cut the panels as 1 whole piece each but about 1.5 times my height before cutting it down to get the panels to sew on top of each other.

The blouse, I'll prefer Cotton Lycra as want to make use of Vogue 7470 but I think can still use Panne Velvet but for the inner hood part, cotton or nylon lycra. Skirt has to be velvet still for me.

Okay, okay; must keep all this in mind cause I'm not in any way gonna do it so soon as got a many major SW costumes/armor to settle first. Unless I find a floor length velvet skirt or the correct color like I saw (but was grey & bulgary) at the usual rejected items sale at the market.

 

I saw this posted at the official site forum:

. . . . At the end, during the celebration/parade, the Handmaidens (and a little girl wearing a peachy-orange dress) have the symbol (I believe it's the Queen Amidala symbol) upside down while Amidala's costumes have it right side up. The Handmaiden standing behind Anakin is at the right angle for the camera to clearly show the symbols on her tabard. And when Amidala turns to give Boss Nass the sphere, the sun flashes across her dress and the embroidery can be seen on her tabard.

The symbol I'm referring to can be found at http://www.royalhandmaidensociety.org/ on the header.

Anyways, I had never seen it posted anywhere (not that I've had time to go through each and every post) that the handmaidens all the symbols upside down. Just thought I'd share in case anyone was making one of their costumes.

Huh? ?

 

D_E, I believe they are referring to the Naboo Royal Crest. You can see it here:
[image=http://www.royalhandmaidensociety.org/images/RHS_crest_03.png]

here:

[image=http://www.royalhandmaidensociety.org/images/galleries/episode1_by_scene/disco_ball_parade/parade_05.jpg]

or by clicking
here

I'm not sure why the person who posted that thinks it's upside down, except for the fact that the Rebellion insignia is similar, but almost vertically mirrored, shape-wise.

 

Err, to my eyes, I think the Crest does look upside down/inverted on that gown alone.

On the rest of the Handmaidens' Costume, they look normal.

 

Okay, while not exactly a costume...

I just got my copy of the Star Wars Party Book, and one of the activities for a "Palace Pajama Party" is dying "Handmaiden Pajamas" -- basically, oversize white shirts with hoods -- to look like the handmanidens' flame gowns from Ep. I.

While they don't look particularly accurate or anything, I thought it was cute...


-sg

 

Hey, D_E, I think you're right! Look here:
[image=http://www.royalhandmaidensociety.org/images/galleries/episode1_by_scene/disco_ball_parade/parade_21.jpg]

surlygirlie, thanks for the heads up! So, they have to even sleep in hoods, huh? :~D

 

Anyone else working on Dormé costumes?

 

Hmmm...it got so quiet around here. :~D

I still am toying with how to do Dormé's purple-gathery dress, with or without the hood. I'm hoping that the IMAX or DVD release will help!

Anyone making any headway on any of the AOTC HM outfits?

 

And, while I'm talking to myself...:~D

Any opinions on this? I believe that the following pics all show the same costume:
[image=http://royalhandmaidensociety.org/galleries/episode2/dorme/images/dorme_15.jpg]

[image=http://royalhandmaidensociety.org/galleries/episode2/dorme/images/dorme_20.jpg]

[image=http://royalhandmaidensociety.org/galleries/episode2/dorme/images/dorme_21.jpg]

Reasoning:
1. Shape and size of the hood
2. The "gathered" parts up top.
3. The mock neck undertop
4. Color
5. The outline of the Naboo crest on the robe
6. The broomstick-skirt looking part at the bottom.

Thoughts?

 

thought I'd awaken this post. I need some help on Dorme's gown...I intend to make 2 of them, along with Amidala's dress. I remember 2 people exiting the scene with Padme after she meets ani/obi wan again in ep2, but can't rem. for the life of me who they were...one was Dorme...was the other another handmaiden? Anyway...has anyone made progress or found better pictures of either? My eamil is epiph0ny@aol.com if you'd rather send your helpful advise there Thanks so much!

 

I have some screenshots from the trailers of that exit--I'll look. To the best of my knowledge, the only Coruscant based HM is Dormé, and both Cordé and Versé are deceased, so the other person must have been an advisor? I'll look for you.

 

I don't, unfortunately, have those pics. I'm not sure who it was you were seeing, but there are not any other handmaidens known to be with Ami on Coruscant.

 

Now for my own question:

I'm planning on doing the Dormé costume pictured above: any ideas?

I'm going to use a broomstick/rayon skirt to act as the bottom layer, and make the robe/hood piece together. Does it look like the tabard/scrunchy piece goes over or under?

 

Just keeping this from fading into oblivion.

:~)

 

Ok- I've decided to be authentic and not cheat on my handmaidens in the pre-senate e1 scene (where Amidala is in kimono). I know some of you ladies have already conquered this dress and cloak and I was hoping for some advise on materials and/or patterns for the under dress. Also, what kind of velvet did y'all use for the cloak and what color? Last question- anyone have any ideas about how to make one of their pistols? Thanks so much!

 

Underdress for maroon cloak:

Blue long sleeved dress: looks like linen or sort of raw silk to me, but I'd say a cotton fabric would be fine or even something with some stretch to make it easier

Tunic/tabard and hood: I'd use a panne velvet.



For the cloak itself, I used drapery velvet. In fact, I used actually drapery panels that were on clearance at Tuesday Morning. The ends were already bound, and it was far cheaper than buying that heavy of a velvet by the yard.

Best wishes!

 

Met GentleBant this past weekend at Disneyland!! YAY!!! RHSers UNITE!

Anyhoo, wanted to bump this thread because I'm embarking on an interesting project for ComicCon. One of my friends has asked me to be her maid-of-honor at her ComicCon WEDDING. EEP!! The wedding is full-out Star Wars, and whoever/whatever else wants to come that's at the convention is welcome!

Thing is, since I sew, I'm doing the bridesmaid dresses AND her wedding gown (a slightly modified version of Amidala's white parade gown). The bridesmaid dresses are the yellow throne-room Handmaiden gowns, but in different colors.

I just spent $200+ dollars at Dharma Trading on fabric and dye for the mock-up (and my personal) version of the bridesmaid dress. **dies**

ANY tips from any of the RHSers or fellow handmaiden fans will be IMMENSELY APPRECIATED!!

 

That is going to be so cool! You have to post pictures of it for all of us who can't go to ComicCon. The mustard yellow gown is one I'd like to attempt sometime.





Question: Does Padme's peasant garb on Tatooine fall under this thread? I'm slowly gathering fabric for it, and will probably have specific questions later on.

 

For the Handmaid Throne Room Gown, there might be a shop selling the already pleated fabric. The fabric is the kind used for 12" Darth Maul Posable Figure (aka the doll) and the Darth Maul Buddies Robe. Seen at least a shop here selling it but not in the mustard color wanted (they got red, green, blue etc).

Can't wait to see it!

Ps: For Padme's TPM Tatooine Garb, I recommand that a new thread be created for it. Ya, I'm still looking for the perfect shoes for it.