Princess Leia Leia's Ceremonial gown from ANH

I had a hard time using the pressing tool that came with the buttons so I used super glue.
http://public.fotki.com/AmmersV/sw_costuming/amybelt2.html
I'm still working on getting a better fit on the dress.

 

Thanks for the advise. I'm going to go to the fabric store this weekend and hopefully get what I need. I already have the metal pallets cut out and I made a pattern for my belt. I also purchased the fabric. I got a polyester interlock, which I hope works. It was pretty expensive (well for me) at $10 a yard, but I had a 40% off coupon so I got the fabric for $25.

I actually attempted to make a mock up this weekend but it didn't work. the pattern was too big for me. At least I cut it on fabric that can be thrown away.

 

Okay, here's my dilemma- I am currently living in the middle of a cornfield. This is not really exaggerating all that much. I have the supplies for pretty much everything but for the hair and the belt. I have the means to get neither before I need to wear this costume, which is May 28. The hair I'm not so worried about- this isn't for a convention, it's for my graduation, and I have a really nice hairband/scarf thing that will look nice (especially if I decide to whack my hair before then, which is possible). The problem is the belt. Not only do I not have access to most of the supplies, but even if I did, I'm barely going to have time to make the costume. Yes, getting all your crap done to graduate is fun!

The question is: does anyone know either a) where I can have someone make me a belt of reasonable quality (I am working on a college budget still), or b) someone who has an old version of their belt they'd like to sell off?

Thanks much!

 

I finished the dress and belt last night and wanted to share.
[image=http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y155/blueleeper/Ceremonial%20Leia/cer1small.jpg]
[image=http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y155/blueleeper/Ceremonial%20Leia/cer2small.jpg]

Thanks to everyone here for all the suggestions and to LeiaYT1300 for the help.

 

Congrats! Job well done.

 

Yaaaayyyy!

 

*sigh* I love that dress.
You did a nice job on it.

 

Oh that is beautiful! You did a fantastic job.

 

Thanks for all the wonderful comments.

 

Yes, lovely job bluesaber.

Thought I'd mention that J.W. Rinzler's new book, The Making of Star Wars, has at least two pictures of Carrie in this dress that I have never seen before, both being promo pics. The first one is on page 170 of the book and is from the same photo shoot when her hair is down. The interesting thing about it is that she has her arms lifted up with her hands behind her head. You can see one of her underarms and it gives a new view of the wing/sleeve thingy. (At least new to me. ) And the second picture is when she is posed with Chewie, Luke and Han. But in this photo Chewie is holding her in his arms and one of her bare shoulders is visible. Kinda cool.

 

We just got that book today, and the photo where she has her arms up has made me all excited to remake the upper portion of mine! I'd scan it, but my scanner is on the fritz...

 

I just got my book today too! I love the photo of her arms up and I want to scan it before I return the book. Yes, I have to return it because Amazon packaged it so poorly - the corner of the cover is dog eared! (Usually they are better about packaging things).

You can make out where the train starts too... notice how the skirt hem touches the ground at the sides.

I'm not spotting anything new about the sleeve construction, other than what seems to be a confirmation of what I thought I saw through the fabric all along! That it is folded at the bottom before being sewn into the side seam of the dress. It's also interesting to see how far the sleeve slips forward when Chewie is holding her.

 

I've been trying to work on my necklace and today I bought a silver leafing pen. I tried it out on the back of one of my peices and it keeps rubbing off. I used sculpy to make the peices. Do I need to coat the sculpy in something?

 

It takes a few minutes to dry, in which you want to be very careful not to let anything touch it. I paint the pieces with the pen and carefully set them a couple inches apart from each other on the tray that I'm going to spray the acrylic sealer onto them on.

Seal with the acrylic spray, then another layer of the pen, again being careful to let the paint dry (usually at least 20 minutes to be sure, before it's touchable). But always good to let that final coat sit overnight before putting the necklace together.

Edit: sp

Edit2: the Sculpey pieces are already baked right? Just checking. You wouldn't want to bake them with the silver leaf paint on them, it might release noxious fumes and kill you.

 

lol yep they're baked already, but thanks for the warning. Can I get that acrylic spray at Michaels? Thanks for the help.

 

Michael's should have a few choices of acrylic sealer. I believe I saw it with the silver and gold leaf stuff, which should also be near the paint section.

When you spray the sealer on, it will dull the silver and make it grey. Not to worry, that's why you do another layer of silver leaf pen.

 

Done!

http://images103.fotki.com/v411/free/25274/7/708936/4924200/P1000586-vi.jpg?1178939964

 

http://public.fotki.com/AmmersV/sw_costuming/p1000586.html
(fixed above link)

 

That looks great AmmersVI!

 

I premiered this today at a library event. Special thanks to Sister Sola for the dress and necklace. I just finished the belt and it is sitting a little awkward in these photo but it looks better than this in person.

[image=http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/princessleia911/Leia%20Costumes/DSC_0016.jpg]
[image=http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/princessleia911/Leia%20Costumes/DSC_0017.jpg]
[image=http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/princessleia911/Leia%20Costumes/DSC_0024.jpg]
[image=http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/princessleia911/Leia%20Costumes/DSC_0022.jpg]

 

You're welcome - you look great!

 

AmmersVI & princessleia911, you both look great in your costumes!

 

Congrats to both of you for getting your costumes done! Yay! You should meet up with us for the C4 ANH Leia Photo shoot (both dresses from ANH are welcome). AmmersVI - I've been wanting one of those ceremony metals. Lucky you! Maybe one day I'll make one, since I can't find the MR one for a reasonable price.

 

Kay_Dee, you can borrow one of my medals to base one off of if you like (I have two). Now to make a Luke Ceremonial costume....