Padme Amidala Padme light blue Tatooine dress/cape

Heather - how do you figure 148 beads? When I counted the closeup picture I only count 94... Am I missing a bit? I want to make sure that I bought enough for Caitlin, or go back and get another strand!

--Kimmerie

 

Good! That's how I made mine : oD I knew all that "wing" business couldn't be correct, the cape must meet in the back behind the arms.

 

Thanks so much! I just cropped one of the designs on a photo program, upped the contrast so it looked black, printed it out and cut the design out on some foam for a stamp. While I was doing it though I realized that the design actually changes direction! Like it flip flops, they're not all the same way. But I wasn't about to make two stamps, lol.

Yours is looking very beautiful! You don't have to worry about getting the same shape since yours is dark blue anyway. It's very striking. I can't believe you're beading them! That's so much work, wow... I'm sure it'll be gorgeous though : o)

 

Hmm, you realize there are the same beads on the hood of the costume, right? That adds to the bead count. For the number I gave I just counted how many I have on my costume which is accurate. I forgot to write the total down in my notes. But there's a new tutorial of this costume with a beading template, let me find it. http://www.eastofthewoods.com/medievalcourt/c-lightbluetutorial2.html The templates are down at the bottom : o) If you add the 54 on the hood it comes out to 148.

 

Kaydee, have you translated your pantone guide colors to paint chips yet? I'm dying to know! : oD lol

 

ah-hah!!

No, I didn't know that. I will have to go get some more.

thanks!

 

Hi Heather,

Sorry, going to the Home Depot and OSH to match up all the pantone notes I made just hasn't been a priority for me with the holidays.

I did pick up some paint samples a while back, but none of them are an exact match so I need to go back with my pantone guide in hand to see if they have anything closer. At the moment the closest match I found was Behr Paint 490C-2 Adriatic Mist. But it's still too blue, this dress is a pale greenish blue. In my Pantone for fashion and home guide the two closest colors were Opal Blue and Dusty Aqua.

- Kay Dee

 

OK, Scratch the Behr 490c-2 paint swatch.

I went to Home Depot yesterday and the absolute closest paint sample I can find to match the Tatooine Gown is:

Aqua Smoke 470E-3. It is ever so slightly darker than the fabric, but it really gives you a feel for the soft muted blue-green color of the fabric.

I found a few pastel blue knits downtown and took them in to compare inside FIDM. Every time they were WAY too blue. So it's not just the lighting inside FIDM.

- Kay Dee

 

Fascinating, I'll have to go over to Home Depot and check it out. Thank you so much!

Hey, glad to see they finally fixed the title of the thread ;o)

Has anyone gotten that Dressing the Galaxy book? I got a copy (the one with fabric swatches...) for Christmas (I burst into tears because I was absolutely certain I wouldn't get it, and that's when I thought my parents could have gotten it for the pre order price... My dad ended up paying the full price, I don't know why he did! I'm just the most undeservedly lucky girl I guess...) Anyway, enough blather. I was disappointed that the pictures for this outfit were small and nothing we hadn't already seen. But there were a couple interesting tidbits. The fabric is evidently a jersey crepe, which would account for the texture. I've never heard of that before! And also, this fabric was not the original fabric intended! The fabric they wanted didn't come in time so she used a fairly inexpensive man made fiber. They said it's one of the only man made fibers used in any of the costumes. Makes you really wonder what the original fabric was, doesn't it? I'd love to see it.

 

Padme has 2 "aqua" homestead dresses. I thought they were referring to the "Poncho" outfit. The skirt could be thrown in the wash. I doubt the skirt of this outfit with the antique glass beads could be thrown in the washer.

I did wish they had been more specific about which "aqua" homestead dress was synthetic fiber though.

Yup, when I read the description of crepe jersey I was like 'Aha, that is the perfect description!' Sorry I never shared the info here after I read it. Thanks for keeping on top of things Heather!

- Kay Dee

 

Hello. I'm getting into costuming, and this is going to be my first project to tackle. I was wondering if there was a way to alter the top so it wouldn't show tummy, but would still be close enough to the costume. I figured that if you did the wrap normal but the shirt full length, it would look like you just tacked a piece of fabric on the bottom. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

~Ryder

 

I've seen people wear those nude colored body suits under the Slave Leia costume, I'm sure it would work for this one as well.

 

If you follow a pattern for a regular wrap around shirt they usually cover the stomach and go all the way down to the waist. You can also make your skirt so the waist line is not a hip hugger, but at the true waist. It's just up to you if you think that altering the costume not to show the stomach (a noticable part of the design) is acceptable to you.

Good luck with everything. This has always seemed like a very tricky costume because a lot of the elements (skirt, unique layers of the wrap around shirt) are not things you can just buy a pattern for and use as is. But if you have sewn clothing before and looked over the tips here and tutorials posted at Padawan's Guide the costume is doable


- kay dee

 

Thanks, Benae_Quee and Kay-dee. I think I'll find a way to do it

Also, the symbols on the back... Are they silver? I can't quite tell from the pictures or movie.

Thanks,

~Ryder

 

The symbols looked gray to me in person. Not metallic - the paint had a matt finish. The color is close to "Slate Gray" in my pantone guide. I still need to match up a paint chip color for others to reference. It's a medium gray with a slight hint of green to it. I think the greenish cast compliments the blue-green pale aqua tone of the dress fabric quite well.

By the way, I'm mad at myself. I had meant to get a pantone color on the gray/silver piping charmeuse fabric and totally forgot

- Kay Dee

 

I have some notes on the skirt and top I don't think I posted.

1) There is no overlay over the hips. This is just the fabric of the skirt bunched up a little bit.

2) The front panel is not a free hanging overlay. It is actually a panel or gore of the skirt. I guess it just gets gathered at the center front and is longer than the other panels of the skirt so it wraps over the edge of the waist. I highlighted the seams with a dashed line.

[image=http://kay-dee.net/fidm/pad_tatmid/skirt_seamfront.jpg]

The seam gets a little hidden under the folds of the center front panel as you get closer to the hem of the skirt.

3) The skirt appears to be made of a total of 5 panels. A center front panel that is gathered at the top (as discussed above). 2 Panels on either side of the center front, and 2 panels in the back with a center back seam where the skirt seems to either unzip or use hook & eye tape to fasten. The side seams appear to run up the hip and end at the side-back rather than the true sides of the skirt (perhaps a few inches behind the true side? I couldn't see the side seam at the waist).

[image=http://kay-dee.net/fidm/pad_tatmid/skirt_seamside.jpg]

4) There is a bit of lining at the waist of the skirt - it seems like cotton. This lining does not extend down the entire length of the skirt though (I'm not sure how far it goes). I'd imagine it provides support and gives the waist a finished edge.

5) After talking with biba-fett I learned that the front of the top uses hooks and eyes so it can open up. I don't know any details on how this works though.

- Kay Dee

 

Would the top completely open in front then? The construction of this costume fascinates me. Yet another one I spend hours looking at the pictures trying to figure things out. It looks difficult to make, but I don't think it's probably as hard as I'm thinking it is. (if that made any sense) Just a matter of reasoning it out logically, I suppose.

 

I'm still not sure exactly how it's done. I believe I asked biba-fett 'so it opens in front and does not pull over the head' and she said 'yes - there are some complicated hooks and eyes'. She said she'd try to get back to me on it, because at the time we were talking she was taking Darth-Manos' daughter on a tour of the exhibit. If I get any more info from her I'll post insights here (I'd imagine she's been busy with the holidays).

So far I think I have 2 photos which show hints of these hooks and eyes she referred to. It might even be hook and eye tape! This photo of the bottom edge shows that the bottom most layer of the shirt actually ends at the center front. You can even make out a white metal eye loop.

[image=http://kay-dee.net/fidm/pad_tatmid/hooks_bottom.jpg]

The upper part of the shirt I'm not so sure about. I did look through my binoculars and noticed there was some kind of extra layer sewn to the inside of the blouse and wondered 'what is that for?' Perhaps that is where more of the hidden hooks and eyes are attached?

[image=http://kay-dee.net/fidm/pad_tatmid/hooks_top.jpg]


At the moment, this is my theory on the top. I think there is some 'faux' wrap action going on.

I tried to highlight the layers of the top.

[image=http://kay-dee.net/fidm/pad_tatmid/wrap_layers.jpg]

PINK LAYERS - The Hood

RED LAYER - This is the proper left side of the front of the blouse. It appears to have a split in it to allow the 'purple' piece to weave through. This is something I really wish I had looked at more carefully at the exhibit, because my camera didn't capture the details of how this was done (Is there a seam that opens up? Is it split like a keyhole opening?).

I think this red layer actually goes all the way up to the neck and shoulders with the hood laying over it - it would have been too confusing to highlight it this way. When the red layer wraps around right side of the body to the back of the blouse, it is hooked in place with large hook and eye bars near the center back at the bottom of the blouse.

PURPLE LAYER - I think this is a faux wrap effect. It looks like a continuation of the hood layer on the proper right, but if you are to open the blouse in the front this would be impossible. So, I think it's a piece sewn in to make it appear as if it's a continuation. This flap of fabric does wrap around the back and ends at the center back where the blouse actually has a center back seam. It is permanently sewn down at the center back, near the bottom edge of the blouse.

YELLOW LAYER - This is the bottom most layer and the proper right side of the blouse. It seems to end at the center front and uses hook and eyes to connect to the 'red' layer that wraps over it. Like the red layer, it extends all the way up to the neck and shoulder line where the hood attaches to it and lays over it.

Here's the photo without highlights:

[image=http://kay-dee.net/fidm/pad_tatmid/wrap.jpg]

OK, I honestly believe this will be the most complicated pattern to draft of anything I've done. I know it will drive me insane!

- Kay Dee

 

Here's one more diagram I made as a follow up to my last post.

The pink layer shows what actually unwraps as one unit when the large hooks in the back are undone. The yellow layer what is underneath it and ends in the front, fastening with hooks and eyes (looks like hook and eye tape to me).

[image=http://kay-dee.net/fidm/pad_tatmid/wrap_open.jpg]

This is all speculation since I never got 100% clarification on the way the front hooks work.

- Kay Dee

 

Thank you Kay_dee. The pictures highlighted like that really helped. Using them as a guide I sat down again and drew out the layers using very lightweight paper and laying them one on top of the other to see if I had it right. I think I've got something workable now.

Thanks!

 

No Problem Kasey. The only part that still confuses me is the proper left (or right as we face it). I don't see any seam on bodice, so I can't quite figure out how the 'purple' layer gets sandwhiched in there. My current and untested theory is that if you pulled back the folds, the "purple" layer is just sewn on top of that 'red' bodice layer, and the part where it is sewn on is hidden by the folds of fabric. Don't know if that made and sense at all!

Right now I'm at a stand still with this costume. I thought I found some wonderful jersey knit silk at Thai Silks, but after playing with the 1/2 yard I bought I can tell it's too thin (all the seam allowances and piping would show through) I'm a little hesitant to work on the muslin if I can't find fabric (The muslin will be the most time consuming part of making this costume). I did find a really nice rayon matte jersey in LA. It had the right weight, drape, and texture to it, plus rayon is dyeable! But the price was a whopping 98 dollars a yard! I thought it had to be a mistake (silk and wool I'd expect, but rayon?) and went back the next day to double check other bolts in different colors. Sure enough, that was the price. I don't know if the price was high because it was vintage or something. I can't begin to afford that since this costume probably uses about 15 or more yards (the hood is lined, and the cape is lined). As it was I thought 30 dollars a yard was going to be a real stretch for my check book.

Grrr... maybe this costume isn't meant to be for me. I'm hardly in shape for it right now anyway.

- Kay Dee

 

It made sense to me.

Me and my partner have decided to make the top as is, instead of modifying the top, and we'll be working on it these next few weekends.

 

Looking at several pictures of the cloak, especially the ones from the trailer, I've noticed another layer that is the same color as the tight hood under the large hood of the cloak. I'm going to assume that it is attached inside the cloak.

Anyone else notice this?

~Ryder

 

I've been working on a Holly Hobby doll (she's 21" head to toe) version of this costume, mainly because I don't quite have the tummy for it, and I've got the top part sewn and on my doll. I created a pattern using Kay_dee's analysis of the layers of the top. Would it be okay to post a picture of it here to show progress or should it go in the doll thread? I don't want to put something in the wrong thread.

 

I know I'm not a moderator, but seeing that the pattern is for this costume I think it's acceptable to put it in this thread

- Kay Dee