Padme Amidala Padme's Gold flower outfit

Mirax I'm so glad the tablecloth worked out for you! Are you planning to add more flowers to it, etc. or just leave it as-is? I love the table cloth...I've been trying to justify buying a second one just for my dining room table! It's so gorgeous that it kills me to use it just for a rarely-worn costume...

 

Mrs. M - I tried a sample adding the ribbon roses I used originally, but I think it will mar the look of the cloth and change the way it hangs too much. So, I've got hundreds of roses that I need to send back to JoAnn's! Anyway, my new plan is to use the roses from left over fabric on my remade corset and headband when I get that far. Or, if I get really daring, I'll try to embroider them to look the same.

Regards,
M.

PS - Good thought about buying a second one to actually use! Maybe the blue one!

 

Just an fyi....the Golden Ochre jaquard acid dye from Dharma is a bit too yellow on its own, not enough of a gold undertone. I'm just going to roll with it, but for future reference look for something a bit more maize.

 

Cape Dying Results-

OK, I finally dyed my cape fabric today and it turned out OK. It turned out a bit darker/browner than my dress fabric - but it will do. I think once it's all layered together it will look fine. (I'm trying to let go of my perfectionist side)

If you want to see a scan of the dyed fabric go to: http://www.angelfire.com/art/kathys/dyed_cape.jpg

One frustrating thing about dyeing is that each fabric takes dye very differently. So, for some of you the Gold Ochre may look yellow, but for me it had a definite orange tone to it. Just when I thought I had the right mix with my test fabric (a white nylon stretch netting similar to what I bought for my cape) it turned out my actual cape fabric took the dye VERY differently! Luckily I knew to test small swatches of my cape fabric with the mix.

If any of you end up using the Jaquard Acid dyes I highly recommend that you make a concentrated stock solution of each of your colors and store them in plastic squeeze bottles. I used 1/2 tsp of dye per 100 ml of water to make the stock solution. I then added about a 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon at a time of my various stock solutions to 14 quarts of water and 150 ml of vinegar in a pot over the stove. I kept dipping in test swatches of fabric each time I added a bit more of one color or another to the mix.

I probably ended up using about 1 1/2 tsp of Aztec Gold (for me this had a very yellow cast when used alone) and 1 tsp of Olive (the more olive I added, the more brownish my gold became). However, I wish I had used just a little less olive.

After reading "hands on dyeing" I wish I had also purchased a brown dye. I think if I had that I would have gotten better results (they suggest that you use brown to tone down your dye)

Well, I hope that all makes sense! If something I've explained isn't clear feel free to ask me questions.

-kay dee

 

Mrs. Mayim Naar - Just a quick question, I've seen your site that's on your signature - it's really great - do you have a site where you showcase the gowns that you've made? It sounds like you've made quite a few and I bet that they are all of great quality.

So where can I go to view them?

 

Well, actually I have only fully completed one of Padme's dresses so far. I have studied the other ones pretty in-depth(hoping to one day have Padme's whole closet in my own!) just like lots of other people in here. So my thoughts right now are not tested or proven, they're just ideas! As far as putting the pics up, I am working on loading them up onto my website, but unfortunatly I'm real short on free space, and not quite ready to start paying for more! So I don't currently have any pics up online yet.

But thanks for the compliments for the site! I really appreciate them! As soon as I have more space available I'll be updating it a lot more frequently and adding more tutorials, so keep checking back!

 

Call me old fashioned-but I use tea to dye things all the time-and I used it to dye my wrap fabric. You have to experiment and test, different brands and different strengths produce different results--some yellow, some brown, some peach. I have always had great luck. You can even use vegetables and fruits and even coffee to make dyes. Heck, that's how those beautiful vintage dresses of days gone by got dyed, and look how beautiful they were, and still are.
Ferd

 

thanks kay_dee for the thread information. I found a store that carried it and picked it up today. It looks perfect.

 

Kay_dee, don't worry, your cape fabric looks beautiful!!! It does look very close to the original

I just finished my cape. I didn't like the satin stitch on my machine, actually, I didn't have the right kind of satin stitch, so I ended up doing a narrow hem by hand, which I'm actually quite happy with

Katherine

 

Ferd, I actually experimented with a few tea dyes before I bought the acid dye. The tea dyes looked nice, but I think I had better control over the acid dyes. The problem I had was trying to match the fabric I had already purchased for the gown. As much as I tried, my cape does not match my dress This has me a bit bummed out and I just hope that once I put it all together the difference won't be too distracting. *sigh*

On to another subject, I think I figured out what I'm going to do about the little white flowers on the skirt and the blouse. I'm going to use white embroidery thread that's pretty shiny (a silk or rayon) and I'll embroider the flowers on by hand. At first I thought Colonial knots would work, but as I looked through my embroidery book and tried a few stitches I noticed that you can use the chain stitch to make little flowers! It's called a detached chain stitch.

As for all of the geen vines on the skirt, I will experiment with my mom's sewing machine over the holiday and see if I can get all of that done by machine!

-kay dee

 

Kay-Dee, I wouldn't worry about it too much The cape in the actual costume is not the exact same color as the dress, so if it's not a perfect match you're actually more accurate!

 

Thanks Mrs_M and Koshka for the positive words. Right now I'm trying to soak my cape fabric to get it to lighten up a bit. I was also looking at the photos of the costume trying to convince myself that the cape didn't really have to match

-Kay Dee

 

kay_dee, I hope your cape turns out the way you want it.
Thanks to you and Ren_Woman for all the info about the acid dyes. It's much appreciated to hear what you both think of them and how they worked for you.

I started on my new headband yesterday. There are pics here: headband
if anyone is interested. Sorry, the pics are blurry. My digital camera doesn't do close-ups very well.
*must get new camera...*

 

Looks good as always Obi-Dawn

 

Obi Dawn- you just keep raising the bar for all of us perfectionists!!

Looks great! And matches the fabric soooo well
FERD

 

Obi-Dawn: where do you get such wonderful supplies?? (Please say online somewhere) That headband looks gorgeous, and dead-on.

 

Dawn - Your headband looks fantastic! Was this the ribbon found at Britex or is it accessible to the rest of us? Also, did you hand embroider the roses or use some from the tablecloth? That's going to be my plan.

Ferd - I think it was your idea to punch out the flowers? I found a four leaf clover punch that will be really close, but I don't know what medium to use. Fabric would be too hard to punch and would likely fray. Haven't found big enough sequins to try yet. Any other ideas?

Everyone - Does anyone have a good guess on how many layers there are in the skirt? I was looking at a new pattern for the skirt, McCalls 9672. It's a basic skirt with three layers of tulle over a more substantial layer. Easily adapted for our purposes, but I just don't know how many layers Padme's skirt really is.

Still testing paints before I do anything else on my cape.

Regards,
M.

 

I'm glad you guys like the headband.
The ribbon is from Britex Fabrics in San Francisco. You might be able to mail order it from them. The info for it is somewhere back in this thread in one of kay_dee's posts.

Mirax, yes, I used the roses off the tablecloth. They are actually a bit smaller than the ones on Natalie's headband. BAH! But, only people like us would notice this slight imperfection. I was able to replicate the rose colors and pattern extremely closely. But, be careful when cutting them out of the cloth. They can unravel very easily. I was plannnig on using them for the corset bodice as well, but I honestly think they are too small. So, I'm going to attempt teaching myself how to embroider them. Wish me luck.
Btw, can you tell me where you found the four leaf clover punch out thing? My quest for anything like that, or for sequins in the right shape, has been a complete bust so far.

-Dawn

edit: Regarding the skirt, I noticed this picture a long time ago from the Making of... video. It shows the waistline of the skirt in the background (I think). Does anyone else see that the waist band looks like a rather wide band of fabric that has no embroidery on it? Of course, this part doesn't show while wearing it, but for construction purposes does anyone think it is relevant?
pic
As far as how many layers it is...a lot!

 

MIRAX- wish I could take credit for the "punch out" idea--but it wasn't me I used flower shaped sequins that I found in 2 sizes. HOWEVER, I can offer a suggestion on what to use to punch them out of. If you go to a craft store and look in the "creative memories" scrapbooking supplies you can find sheets of mylar. It is a little thinner than poster board but thicker than mylar balloons, and will definatly give a clean cut and would be durable (relatively speaking ) You can ususally find this stuff in irredescent shades and all colors. A specialty paper store would probably have it too.
OBI-DAWN-- you could probably find the puncher at one of those stationary shoppes as well.

HaPpY 4th Of JuLy!!!!!
Be SAFE and Have Fun!!!
--FERD

 

First, I just had to voice my wholehearted agreement with everybody else -- Obi-Dawn, your headband looks perfect!

Second, I had 2 thoughts to add to the pile re: punch-out flowers --
1)you could treat a fabric with a fabric stiffener (you can usually find this near the craft glues in a fabric or hobby store), let it dry, press it (it helps set the stiffener) and then punch away! The stiffener should keep the edges from fraying.
2) You can use StitchWitchery for a quick and dirty method -- just iron the StitchWitch to the back of the fabric you'd like to use, punch your flowers (I'd do this with the paper backing still on to make it easier) then peel away the paper backing and you can just iron them onto your skirt.
Again, this is for a quick and dirty approach, and would by no means be accurate.

Just some thoughts.


-sg

 

Wow! Dawn your headband is gorgeous! Good idea on sewing two pieces of ribbon together!

LOL -- there goes my idea for just buying a similar decorator trim to use. Now that I've seen someone actually create an authentic headband, I must make mine just as accurate!

EDIT: A quick survey... The asian chick who's selling the Padme picnic dress on ebay (as well as the black corset one) isn't one of you ladies, by any chance, is it? Does anyone know who she is?

 

Great ideas surly and FERD! Thanks
I'm far off from working on the skirt/sleeve fabric. It's all about the corset right now.

 

Dawn - I found the punch at my local Scrapbook store. It's a "Punch It" brand, number 4521000045, Shamrock. It's a bit countrified, off center, but it's the closest thing I've seen to the four petal flowers. (I don't know why I'm so obssessed with that particular detail. ) Also, what do you think about just adding a little more embroidery to the tablecloth flowers to sort of build them up, rather than do them from scratch? I was thinking about trying this first since I'm not that thrilled with my embroidery.

Everyone - Thank you for the ideas on medium! I'll check into mylar and some fabrics to stiffen. Good ideas all!

Whoever's idea it was to punch out the flowers in the first place, I'm sorry for crediting the wrong person! I'm terrible at remembering those kind of details and I didn't have time to go back and look. Thanks for the great idea, though!

Regards,
M.

 

It's not perfect.....

....but if you're in a pinch for a cape with roses there's a similar embroidered curtain at Bed, Bath, & Beyond that could work. The roses are the same as on Meijer's tablecloth (as far as I can tell not having Meijers here in Maine), but the vine pattern and flower groupings are different. But if you're at a loss and in a pinch it will do after a little yellow dye-work.

BTW, it was me with the punched out flower idea, and let me tell you it's tiring work to punch out tiny flowers in already tiny sequins. Be sure you're up for a challenge that day.

 

R-W - Oh good, thanks to you for that idea! I will keep the challenge of it in mind!

Another fabric question for you all. I got my Dharma fabric samples today and I've been perusing them all afternoon. What fun! Anyway, I think I'd like to use the cotton voile for my skirt and blouse. What I'm wondering is if anyone knows how to get the wrinkly look to stay in the fabric? I crunched up my sample and it looks just right, but I don't know if it will stay that way. I suppose starch would work, but I was just thinking someone might have another, more permanent idea.

Regards,
M.