Padme Amidala Padmé's Packing Dress in AOTC

The petticoat on the real costume isn't tulle. It's actually a really heavy synthetic sort of taffeta. So it's really stiff and because the petticoats are such a full pattern, they just provide a lot of volume on their own with no need for cording or hoop wires. The petticoat is two layers. The outer layer petticoat is just a very full pleated skirt - probably a mirror of the pattern used on the light weight outer skirt. It kind of serves as a lining I think since the outer fabric really is kind of transparent on it's own. The 2nd petticoat is several tiers of gathered sections (I think 3 tiers total) like a boho skirt. This kind of idea, but fuller.

Oh yeah, the iridescent chiffon at Thai silks was not the right color at all. I did see some irredescent gray chiffon (non crinkled) in LA that would be a possibility if I wanted to go without crinkles. It might be what ladyamaryllis had used.

I dunno, I still half hope that the creponne satin chiffon I got at Thai silks with the slight satin sheen is the right stuff. When I look at photos of the real costume that were taken up close it looks so darn similar to that! And maybe that's what they meant by 'iridescent' in Dressing a Galaxy? Not iridescent as in two tones of thread to make it 'shot', but iridescent in that is has a slight sheen to it.

 

Oh no, the upgrade list is already starting! But the undergarments are interchangeable later, so long as I?m able to take up or down the hem based on the petticoat fullness.

Ok Kathy, you talked me into it. The Creponne Satin Chiffon is ordered. I'll dye it (probably with RIT Pearl Gray) and compare it with the other 3 possibilities and we'll vote on it!

 

Ah! I was going to try to find my fabric and upload a better photo than what they show on Thai Silks web site. I keep going back and forth with wondering if it's *the* right stuff.

Here is a close up of the real sleeve fabric

[image=http://kay-dee.net/costumes/padme_packing/sleeve-close.jpg]

And two photos of the creponne satin chiffon I got at Thai Silks:

[image=http://kay-dee.net/costumes/padme_packing/crepon-2.jpg]
[image=http://kay-dee.net/costumes/padme_packing/crepon-1.jpg]

 

Wow- that picture of the real fabric looks "pearl" like and is that sparkles or camera dust?

The Thai Silks fabric has raised crinkles right? it's hard to tell from the picture.

I'm off to a more high-end fabric store in Nashville today. We'll see what I can find.

 

Yes, the thai silks is raised crinkles. Similar to picnic crinkled chiffon.

No, the real shirt silk doesn't have sparkles. I'd say that's just a compression artifact because I cropped down a photo just to show a portion of the sleeve. But it does have a subtle sheen.

By the way - a portion of that is the cuff, and you can see the cuff is made from the same crinkled fabric as the puffy part of the sleeve

 

I couldn't wait till all my fabric arrives to dye and I was so curious about how iridescent crinkle silk would looked dyed, So I went to the fabric store and purchased a little bit of a crinkle silk with high sheen. The way the light hits this stuff is very similar to the real fabric on some of the pictures of Kelsey?s try-on session, even if the color is off.

The only kind they had in crinkle had a blue/pink/purple tint when light reflected it. But here are the pics. The purple piece on the top is un-dyed and the gray is just some poly I planed to used underneath it.
[image=http://cressie.com/Images/purpledyed.JPG]
Here is another, I kinda think the un-dyed purple over the gray is closer than the gray-on-gray:
[image=http://cressie.com/Images/purpledyed2.JPG]

I used RIT Pearly Gray. Clearly you can dye this stuff and still keep the ?pearly? look. So good news, Kathy! You might be on to something. Now to wait till the other samples arrive and experiment more!

 

Wait, so you dyed the pink/green shot crinkled stuff gray? Or did you dye something else gray?

I think the reason the gray on gray doesn't look right is that they gray should be lighter. I know it was a quick test though

 

Wow Kathy, the sleeve fabric you found is gorgeous! I can't wait to see what you do with this costume!

 

Well, I won't know for sure if I'll like it until until I dye it. Seriously, I want to work on this costume but I don't have time this year Too many other projects I'm committed to and I don't know when they will be finished. *sigh*

 

Yup, I just dyed a little pearly crinkle silk to make sure it will keep the sheen when dyed, but I got it a little dark. Some of the cross-fibers are purple, so this sample fabric won?t work for real sleeve.

Is the sleeve one layer of crinkle silk with a dark gray fabric behind it? I say this because of this picture at Padawan's Guide. You can see a dark gray fabric at the bottom of the cuff. Possibly the lining? Or is this fabric simply a trim?

 

That darker fabric is a lining, but just for the cuffs. The sleeves are lined in a slightly heavier gray fabric.

 

The dark edge you see on the cuff is like a tiny piping/edge trim. It looks like charcoal charmeuse.

But Caitlin is correct - the cuff is lined on the very inner most layer with like a black interfacing. That fabric is not the same as what is used on that edge piping trim though. I think this is just to add stiffness and structure to the sleeve. I really honestly think that there is a gray fabric (the same fabric used to line the entire sleeve) in between the outer chiffon layer and the innermost black interfacing layer of the cuff if that makes sense. Otherwise that black structural lining would show through the chiffon.

The fabric used just underneath the layer of chiffon on the entire sleeve is the same exact color as the chiffon. So it doesn't change the color when it shows through and acts as an invisible lining.

 

Thanks Caitlin and Kathy! You come to the rescue once again. I promise my annoying questions won't be in vain. I hope to compile a "Here is what we know about this dress" like what we have on page 1 of the Picnic Dress 4.0 on this forum (giving credit to everyone of course). Cause everyone knows "packing" is the new "picnic"!

In my packing update: While i'm waiting on my sleeve fabric, I am building the undercorset from boning and blue Kona cotton. I am making my own pattern for it, but I am straying from cannon by making it lace up corset-style in the back instead of hook and eye tape like on the back of the real dress. I think I need to be a little flat chested to get the shape of the vest correct, so lacing is the best option for me and my needed support.

 

*gasp* No way! Nothing will ever dethrone the almighty picnic!

 

The underbodice does lace up the back, Cressie, so you're still canon-compliant. No worries.

 

Thank you for the correction. I don't know why I thought it was hooks and eyes- i must have gotten that confused with the front of the dress? I'm going crazy!

 

I piped the edges of the cuff in a colour to match the vest. The sleeves took a while to get the right drape but I am really happy with it! I haven't made my vest yet, But I have made the underbodice/corset. I just used a basic bodice pattern and added bones to the seams as you would on a corset!

 

Thanks! I still can't find a good skirt fabric. I have a poly/cotton blend that could work (not happy with the horizontal fibers-need to be more pronounced) till I find something else. I think I might dye some rayon/cotton linen-like such as this from Joanns. It's lightweight, not see-through but thin and I like the size of the horizontal and vertical lines. Since it's rayon and cotton, I think the cotton fibers will dye darker faster than the rayon which will give me more a pronounced weave. We shall see!

 

Hello ladies! I hadn't been on the forums for awhile so I missed some of the action, I'm sorry! Yes, Kathy, I'm pretty sure we encountered the same fabric in LA. It was just labeled "silk" at Michael Levine. I am fairly happy with it. It has too much sheen; with flash, it looks spotty and white and yucky. It's also extremely delicate - it "melts" in water and snares and frays really easily. I also wished the lines running through it were more pronounced. They are obvious in real life but rarely show up in photos.

[image=http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c245/LadyAmaryllis/me-lance.jpg]
Looking ugly with flash (so is my vest and my hair, though)

[image=http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c245/LadyAmaryllis/me-hotelcrazy.jpg]
Looking proper.

I triple-layered mine; two layers of the grey silk fabric, and one layer of a cranberry habotai to give it a little color.

Someone asked about the Making Memories scrapbooking trim, too. That's what I used. I had "baroque", which is the kind that looks exactly like Padme's, but I ruined it. ;____; I had to buy another kind (I don't remember which) and eventually used that. I got extremely lucky and found it on Ebay. I've looked since then and never been able to find it. The company no longer makes it, and hasn't for a few years now.

For those of you making this costume, I would advise to be really careful about the shine of your fabrics. I adore the way mine looks, but it suddenly looks terrible with flash, as you can see. Almost all of it. Try to find something with very little sheen, because even a little bit can be really blinding with the camera flash. Since this costume, I've started taking pictures of fabrics with flash before I buy them. xD

 

I agree Amaryllis - I take photos of my fabric with and without flash now before I commit to it. I know you suggest staying away from a sheen with the sleeves, and that's why I won't make my final decision until I dye the fabric I got. I think a slight sheen is screen accurate But I want to see how it looks once it is dyed and the flash hits it.

 

Amaryllis, I have to say it again - you did such a great job on everything. I'm especially amazed with your hair.

 

This fabric search is intense. I don't know how many skirt fabrics i've tried since I started gathering materials 2006 and I'm still not set on any one of them. Thank goodness I got the Baroque-Style Making Memories metal bands before they stopped making them, but my early start has still left me empty as far as accurate fabrics go.

Ok the vest: Is it cotton or silk velvet? Does anyone have a preference or any insight? I'm doing my mock-up in cotton velvet simply because it was cheap.

Also, I've never made a waist cinch belt before nor do I know how to make one. Would something like this possibly work?

 

Cressie, you might PM Caitlin (JainaMSolo) about the velvet. I think it looks like silk velvet, but she may have gotten her hands on the costume since she helped people get dressed for the rose parade

I thought I made a post here at one time... I found some silk for the skirt that seems like it's just about dead on. Again, the jury is out until I actually dye the full yardage. It's the light and bright tussah (undyed - their charcoal isn't correct at all) I only test dyed a scrap and the dye I used was not the correct color. And it's hard to get a sense of the texture in a small scrap. It must have a matching gray petticoat underneath in order to get the effect you see in the real costume skirt.

This was my dye test of the itty bitty sample scrap I was sent. It's like only 2" so hard to see the line texture. And the gray I used was not correct, just a test to see if it would take the dye well.

[image=http://kay-dee.net/costumes/tussah.jpg]

I also know that Amaryllis used Tussah for her skirt. She used the lightest tussah they sell at silk connection. I had originally gotten some of that, but I think it's a bit more dull/matte and lacks the irregular lines in the weave.

 

When you say matching, you mean a petticoat made of Tussah also? Made like the 3 tiered boho skirt? Just trying to figure out how much to order If I go this route.

 

No, just matching in color. The petticoat is two layers of a very stiff taffeta-like fabric, likely synthetic.