Padme Amidala Padme's green velvet robe from Episode 3

This fabric is a leeeeettle bit closer than the ones you linked there; we were planning on using the greek key one you posted until we found this!

 

Well, the fabric wasn't as easy to dye as I thought it would be. Most of the fabric took the dye but the diamond d outlines didn't. SO I think I need an acid dye?

I used dylon olive green first; I will try and get some pictures this week for what it looks like now but if anyone has any ideas on what I should try next I would very much appreciate it!

 

Hi, everyone.

I'm kind of a newbie to making this dress, but I had a question:
What type(s) of fabric could be used for the sash?

I considered dupioni silk in purple...

http://www.distinctivefabric.com/fabric.php?product=SILKDP1

But if anyone has any other suggestions, it would be much appreciated.

 

CrimsonVision: You might want to try a "burn" test to see if that fabric is in fact 2 different fibers. If any part is really "shiny", it is probably not cotton but a synthetic. When synthetic's burn, they generally melt into a bead form.

As for dye: acid dye(which uses vinegar) is for animal protein based fibers (silk, wool, feathers, ratan) and procion dye (which uses soda ash) is for plant protein based fibers (cotton, rayon, linen). Dylon and Rit fall somewhere in between but I find that Rit will also dye polyester if you either use more dye than required and/or a darker shade or over-dying (dying something twice).

Regarding the hoop, the correct shape is that of an Elizabethan farthingale which is a cone. Plus seeing shots of the underpinnings of this dress, it looks like the hoop starts just under her bust and is held up by an attached no sleeve top. And it looks to be covered by a quilted cover to hide the hoops.

 

You all have amazing costumes. Are any of you going to c4

 

Yep, I tried a burn test and it didn't bead up; just turned to ash so thats why I thought it was natural. Admittedly I'm not too experienced with burn testing.

I'll try the Rit; just used the dylon as I though the olive color would be perfect!

 

You all have amazing costumes. Are any of you going to c4 if so we should all do a photo op with anakins and padmes.

 

I'm sure quite a few of our forum members will be attending. If you haven't already, you could check out this thread:CIV in the City of Angels for more info on who is planning to attend.
We were able to get a wonderful group picture of our Padmés and Leias at CIII: here

Orliaan, the sash on this costume does not appear to be made from dupioni. It is a silk but it doesn't have the slubs you would find in a dupioni. The book Dressing a Galaxy refers to the sash as a bilberry-colored silk. There is a fantastic close up picture of it in the book as well.

 

I've found Dylon to be pretty near useless, on synthetic and natural fibres. Rit's a bit better, but use more/double (testing first of course).

 

Obi-Dawn, thank you very much. I'll try finding the color, but it probably won't be easy.

 

Hey,
I have a strange question. I'm getting this dress from someone without the symbols etched in it. I know that once they are etched, they reveal the back of the material to be purple ( http://www.padawansguide.com/padme3/mustard/symbol.jpg ).

However, the dress I'm getting is made from a velvet that is all green, no purple backing. So, how should I dye the symbols that color once I etch them into the dress? Myabe something simple like sharpy? hehe

Thanx,
~Tally

 

Using Fabric Paint?

 

Possible Fabric Source.

Maggie (Padawan's Guide) found an ebay seller who has an olive silk velvet that is pretty much a dead on match to the silk velvet used for this green gown. It even has black silk backing like the real swatch! Here is a photo of her swatch next to the swatch from the Dressing A Galaxy book:

http://padawansguide.com/padme3/mustard/green_swatch.jpg (you must copy and paste the link to make it work)

The problem is, the seller only has 6 yards left (or 11 half yard increments as shown in the auction) and that is not enough to make this costume by our estimation. I contacted the seller to see if they would get more, and right now they only have plans to get a darker olive. They are telling me speicial orders are for 100 yards. However, I wonder if more of us who are interested in this fabric contact the seller that they might be persueded to get another bolt or two in stock?

 

Hi all, I posted the call for interest in order the green velvet on my site. I wanted to add this:

As kay_dee said, this particular velvet is backed with black silk chiffon. And I checked the real swatch (from the Dressing the Galaxy book), and it is also backed with black silk chiffon! And that's when it dawned on me how the purple coloring in the devore Naboo symbols as done. We know from BibaFett that the robe itself is actually flat lined in a bright purple fabric. I always wondered why, but never thought much about it. However, it makes sense now! If you use something like Fiber Etch on the velvet to remove the pile, it will leave the silk backing. Which in this case is a sheer black fabric. If the robe is lined in bright purple, it's going to show through the sheer
cut outs, making them look purple! So I don't believe they are painted or dyed - but that the lining is just showing through the cut outs!

 

I do believe you have hit the nail on the head!! Having just finished using Fiber Etch on some silk/rayon velvet to make dice bags (etched with the Republic emblem on Luke's helmet)and having lined those bags with a different color silk noil, I can attest to the fact that the color comes through. And the brighter, more intense the color, the more the lining color shows through the black silk chiffon.

I have thought about making this costume but with a twist (I personally don't want a costume in this green). I intend to use white silk velvet and dye it with Alter Ego dyes so the rayon nap is blue and the silk back is red and etch the dress with the Republic emblem. May have to see if I can get this done for CIV as I now know how much Fiber Etch to use for clean etching.

 

SWcostumer - you may want to do a test with the alter ego dyes. When I tried to overdye my ivory velvet to make the silk backing blue, the blue did have an effect on the overall color of the velvet because it kind of glowed through (I can't think of a better term). Green pile may be dark enough not to cause a problem, but I sure was shocked at how much I could see through to the backing through my dense pile.

 

I wrote that seller and said I was interested in about 12 yards solid of that velvet, the more people who show interest, the more willing they might be to order more

 

Here's the response I just got...
Hi, Kristin,
This color sells very quickly, about 5.5 yards available now. If you need this 5.5 yards, please ask us to send you the invoice, or you can enter the quantity of 11 at the bottom of this listing website.
If 5.5 yards is not enough for you, please come back in 10 days.
If you have any problem in getting there, please let us know.
Thanks.
velvetsilk7
Does this mean they are ordering more? Sounds like it

 

Kris, that is the same response they gave me. But they added that in 10 days that the olive they will get back in stock is DARKER. I told them I dont' want darker, I want the color they have now. That is when they said for a special order I'd need to order 100 yards (which sounded really odd to me, considering they have the color now. Can't they just get another bolt of it rather than 100 yards?) I will try contacting them one more time.

 

I contacted the ebay seller again, explaining there may be other people who are interested in the fabric. That it is rare we find exact matches and his help would be greatly appreciated. This is his response:

"Hi,
Please tell us how many yards you and your friend are in need in total. We will try to get some for you."

So, if anyone else is interested in really getting this fabric perhaps post your interest here and how many yards you'd like. Once we get a level of serious buying confirmed (I don't want this guy to be stuck with velvet nobody is going to buy) I'll give him my response. I'm hoping we can arrange for each person to contact the seller through ebay to confirm their interest because I really don't want to have to pay for a huge lot of this myself.

 

Hi there Kaydee

I don't post here much, I spend all my time at Rebel Legion, however, I'd definitely be interested in 20 yards of the green velvet.

I can paypal $$ as soon as you have a confirmed order.

I use the same logons at Rebel Legion if you need to get any information to me.

Lesley F.

 

Lesely,

I'm still waiting to hear from the seller to see if they can get more of the fabric. I waited a week or two and only had one other person here interested. If the seller gets back to me I'll let them know you are also interested in 20 yards. But I'm not planning on fronting one big order. If the seller can get more fabric I'd leave it up to each person to contact them and place an order through ebay. I think they just wanted to know how much of it to order from the manufacturer if it was still available.

Let's cross our fingers and hope they can get more of what Maggie ordered in!

 

Good find Maggie!
shoot, it makes all sence now doesn't it? (about the lining and etching).
I'm not planning in remaking the costume (though it is tempting seeing what I could do better and all), but kudos for the one making it and Kay_dee thanks again for doing such time consuming research.

 

Well, the ebay seller says they can not get any more of the olive color Maggie purchased. I they will do custom orders for 100 yards if by chance we get enough people who want it. Right now it seems we have about 55 yards desired by a total of 3 people.

In the mean time I've asked him to send me swatches of his newer olive colors, but I have a feeling they will not be a match.

 

Thanks for the update kay_dee. Maybe as C4 approaches we might be able to find a few more ladies interested in this fabric and get up to a 100 yard order. *shrug*