Padme Amidala Padmé's Packing Dress in AOTC

The person at this website said the sheer sleeves are made of Chiffon. I thought Chiffon are quite see-through (like Amidala's TPM Purple Travel Gown Headress). ? How about thick Georgia(sp?)

Hmm, from how much my seamstress used for one of my Cosplay Gowns, think about 2++ metres of fabric is needed to create the skirt and give that much "pleats".

put rows of stiff net or crinoline about 12" up to kind of kick out the bottom without all the fullness towards the waistline.

I agree! It's not as full as those "kinkin" used for wedding gowns, yet is pretty full near the bottom.

 

Well, I found some wonderful fabric for the skirt of this dress. I'm anxious to start.
I also bought a very nice stretch fabric for the bodice which the sleeves will be attached to (under the velvet vest). Still haven't found a sleeve fabric in the right color yet.

 

What sort of fabric are you looking for?

It looks like it drapes like this silk blouse my aunt had...

 

Ooook.. so i am definetely going to make this dress. I went to Joanns today just to get an idea of some differnet types of fabric and prices....So without further delay i will tell you which fabrics i am going to be using, and then we can all compare notes

Skirt: Silk Essence 3.99 yd. They are going to special order the grey for me.

Shirt: A dark purple type of fabric havnt decided yet but about 5.99 yd

Sleeves: Baroque Satin 4.99 yd

Corset: Black Velvet 24.99yd

To make the skirt pooffy: Netting/Tuelle? 0.99-1.99 yd

Then of course, i need all the beads. I am going to hand embrioder them on. Then of course i need to make the head peice and get some shoes. So this isnt exactly a cheap project. Probably gonna run about...$200.00-$250.00. The velvet is the killer...If anyone can find some cheap black velvet to order online, lemme know please!

What has everyone else used fabric wise? Anyone have any pattern ideas?

 

The Fabric Club has black velvet at the low low price of $8.95 a yard. It's fairly good stuff -- I just received a large velvet order from them and am quite pleased with it.





-sg

 

Here's my thoughts on the fabric--take it for what it's worth. Baroque satin is inexpensive and costumey, but because it is acetate is wrinkles terribly and will water spot. You will need to dry clean it, or if you wash it might never look the same. I feel the sleeves look to be made of a slightly sheer fabric. How I would make them would be to use a black warp chiffon or georgette (kinda like a cloudy grayish with a hint of black) I would line them with something like a poly cotton batiste or broadcloth and I would sandwhich a layer of soft net in between to give the sleeves slight body to pouf slightly. If I were going to go with a satin, I would use a poly blend, I believe you would have more costume longevity, and a better end result. For the velvet, you can always use a coupon and get 50% off (Joann's, Hancock) Or velveteen is slightly less $$ just with a shorter nap. I am quite familiar with silk essesnce, and it is a very light weight fabric. It would be cool enough, and would stand out nicely with a crinoline, but I think a nice shantung or even taffeta would be more accurate. Silk essesnce is a less expensive fabric, and I think feel that going with a slighlty higer quality materil would add more authenticity to the garment, and you would be happier in the long run.
Sorry to be so lengthy, but I just wanted to address everything. I feel if you are going to put that much time and effort into something, you want it to look nice, wear well and last. All of the materials I mentioned are just slightly higher in cost, but will perform much better. And shop around, and buy on sale.
Good Luck!
Ferd

 

Sg Can i make you my offical bargin hunter? lol this is the second time you've gotten me a good deal... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

 

What can I say? I live to ferret out good deals...




-sg

 

I'd like to second the Joann 50% coupon. Get on their mailing list! Those coupons are wonderful I used mine to buy velvet. I only bought a yard, so it was just $10 or so.

This dress is currently on hold, a very superficial look turned up nothing for the vest and I was bitten by the historical sewing bug again (like it ever really left ), but I'm planning on using taffeta for the skirt and georgette for the sleeves, so I'm glad to see Ferdalump's recommendation for those! I'm thinking about ordering the fabrics in white and dyeing them grey. I think it'll work. I hope so at least. If not, I'll use the fabric for something else, that's never a problem!

Katherine

 

Hmm... I'm thinking about making this dress myself, and this discussion has been quite helpful.

Am I the only person who thought the sleeves were crepe?

Mel

 

I am not making this costume but I just found a ultra big high-res pic that might help in the details

 

I just baked the first triange piece of my headpiece for this outfit. I've uploaded it to:

http://rvqavalon.bravepages.com/hedpctriangle1.jpg

Unfortunately, Bravepages doesn't allow hotlinking, so you'll have to copy+paste, sorry!

It isn't painted yet and I had to scan it because I don't have a digital camera or anything quick like that. It needs to be sanded and painted, but I sort of like how it turned out, for my first try.

Kate

 

That looks good so far.

 

Any updates/progress from anyone?

 

Packing dress

Im getting there!

 

Anyone from here? The picture's of the second place winner of a costume contest at Dallas Comicon.

http://www.padawansguide.com/gifs/padme_packing1.jpg

 

I got this postcard at the MoM exhibition and it shows Padme's head..thing really well! The colours look great. Sorry about the dottiness - my scanner always does that to anything that's not a photo.

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0NQB0cNoSyfVCR2bYo4lt*YMYa!ZcDZek0RiWabemzfl6*tLlqldfzHb2BFcxbZFcI5WbPQMEJgTTB5ZPuWKpsA/PadmePacking.jpg

(Sorry, couldn't get the link or image code to work for me)

 

Just wanted to give a heads up about a possible McCall's costume pattern for the sleeves of this dress.
McCall's Costumes 3797 view B (sorry, couldn't find a pic of it online) looks like it took a nod from this dress. The sleeves aren't quite full enough, IMHO, but I think they could serve as a good starting point.

The vest thing, view D, looks like they were going for the packing dress idea, but it would need a whole lot of modifying.

I'm about to get started on the skirt for this costume. I've yet to find a suitable fabric for the sleeves.

 

Actually, StormtrooperPrincess, that picture from the Dallas ComiCon is of one of my members in the Tulsa FanForce. She surprised her husband, after he "dragged" her to a couple of our meetings, by deciding she wanted to make the costume.

 

Has anyone seen this before?

[image=http://www.tolkasworld.com/images/myth_03.jpg]

 

Yes; I have the book. I really recommend you get it (just have this little bitty problem when people scan whole pages from things and post them on the 'net). Lots of good pictures, and comments about various costumes used. I bought it just to have two pages in it, but everything in it makes owning the book worth it.

 

Fabrics used in the actual dress from what I can tell:

Bodice/vest ~ dark charcoal gray velvet, probably velveteen - the nap looks very short.

Sleeves ~ not sure, maybe a chiffon.. Hard to guess! lol Look for something with a bit of a sheen, with more drape than satin and less drape than peach skin. A lighter gray than the skirt.

Skirt ~ Defenently silk duponi!!!! I've used that stuff alot and that is exactly what it looks like. If you pre wash it by hand, you can wash it (again by hand, this is silk here) or dry clean it as you like. A little bit darker than the sleeves

A few BTW things I noticed:
The skirt has a very deep invisible hem - about 6 or 8 inches up.

It doesn't have a straight mandarin collar, it sort of follows the edge of the embroidered piece.

The embroidered piece looks like its a piece of beaded brocade. The brocade might have some embroidery added to accentuate the pattern on the brocade.

The princess seams on the bodice/vest go up the shoulder.

There's a piece of elastic underneath the first and the last silver band on the sleeves.

 

I agree with the look of Silk Dupioni being right for this skirt. The slugs in the silk and the nice stiff body would hold the pleats well and "puff" nicely with the crinoline. **My contradition would come in washing it. I have worked with silk dupinoi a lot and LOVE it! I have hand washed it before to make it washable after construction and find it totally changes the feel and "body" of the fabric. Silk Dupioni is treated with a starch to give it the stiff body and "rustle". Washing with detergants break down that and soften the fabric. You can spray starch it when ironing it after washing, but it will never be quite the same as before. I would recommend Dry-el or dry cleaning.
Silk Dupioni sells for around $15.00 a yard and is worth every penny. it's a great fabric FERD

 

First of all I want to congradulate all of the ladies whom make this thread possible, it helps. Second, does any one know what patterns can be used in this costume?
Thanks

Tahiri

 

I'm not sure if this has already been said (I don't think it has) but there is another layer under her skirt. The visual dictionary points to the skirt and says "fabric hides uncomfortable blast-dampening underskirt." It also says that the vest part has built-in armor. I think that's why they made the costume look so stiff.