Padme Amidala Padme's Naboo Nightgown

Your dolls look absolutely beautiful Spitsweet! Great job on the costumes!

Wow!

 

Boy, that costume really did turn out well, Anthony! Very nice!

Maggie

 

There's a new Simplicity Pattern out that would work wonderfully for this dress. Simplicity 5187 is supposed to be an evening dress, but I think it looks almost exactly like the nightgown. ((Sorry, no pic online yet)) My first impression is to use view C and cut all the pieces on the bias instead of on the grain like the pattern calls for. I bought this pattern, so I'm gonna play around with it a bit and I'll let you know how well it works.

 

For the hair would you just pull back some hair and pin it at the back?

 

Alright I'm finally making the dress, I was looking at on eof the pics and I noticed another layer over the dress. I can't tell if I'm right or not, but is there two layers to the dress? Thanx!

 

I always thought the dress looked like it had a printed Charmeuse base and an overlayer of heavy chiffon. Was it put out that it was only one layer?

 

If you watch the movie again, you can see something like another layer when she walks out of her room. I'm guessing that if there is another layer, than the top one is to be sheer and the bottom layer solid.

 

Bumping after unlock request.

 

hey, after seeing what someone said about there being another layer to the dress i went over to padawans guide to see if there was a picture (thank you maggie for your wonderful site yet again!) and found this picture:
http://www.padawansguide.com/padme/nightdress/padme_nightdress_new4.jpg
look at her feet!

 

Thank you surlygirlie!
I found a knit stitch called woven cables in relief that looks really close to lattice smocking. Couldn't find a pic of it online but I'm starting on a swatch so I'll post it once its done. I've also started to look for yarn with the right shade of blue. Chenille would give it a similar texture to velvet but it is notoriously hard to work with and rather expensive. So it'll probably be knitted in wool with a shiny yarn together to give it a slight sheen.
There are several reasons I've decided to knit it instead of smocking velvet:
1. I'm actually going to use the garment for everyday so I didn't want to have to worry about crushing the velvet while wearing and storing.
2. I don't have to worry about how much smocking would shrink the velvet pieces because I would be creating the fabric as I go along.
3. The work would be portable so I can take it with me everywhere to work on.

I do need some help on figuring out what the pattern pieces should look like so the amount of yarn needed can be calculated. Also, how would I go about making the tassel? I've done beaded necklaces before but that looks a lot more complicated. In the hi-res images, you could just barely see part of it for color reference and Maggie has a pic of the back of the robe on her site.

 

I definately think you are right Joelle! I am making this costume for CIII, and I will have the night dress layered with a chiffon and light satin.

Wraith - definately post pics of your progress! I am intrigued.





ecila

 

Will do, ecila!
I'm about halfway done with the swatch. When the bro gets home, I'll ask if he could take a pic. I have to amend my previous post, though. The cables do shrink the fabric because it creates twists.
Has anyone else made any progress on this costume? From the images I've seen, it looks like the robe tapers toward the bottom. Is it from the way the robe drapes or is it really how its shaped?

wraith13

 

Pics of the test swatch is up here.

wraith13

 

Wraith Very creative approach to use knitting to make the lattice stitch Your robe will look very nice, and be more wearable than pesky velvet.

That stitch looks very similar to the original one. Can't wait to see your finished project.

Here's my test scrap of Lattice smocking on a stiff taffeta with a square grid interfacing to help mark the points (BIG time saver on this project--Of course you can't fuse it to velvet ) There's also a picture of the back of the project so you can see how many stitches are used to give this effect. My hand is in the picture to show scale--and keep in mind this one piece was about 3/4 of a yard--You can see how much it shrunk down, and how this robe could EASILY require 25 yards of velvet--Eeeek!!!

[image=http://www.ferdalump.com/latticesmocking.jpg]

[image=http://www.ferdalump.com/latticesmockingb.jpg]

~Ferd

 

Wow - Great pictures, Wraith and Ferd! thank you both for posting! I read the lattic smocking instructions on the Padawan's Guide, and I found them extremely helpful. Since I can not knit and I am a glutton for punishment, I think I am going to try the smocking method on velvet.
ecila

 

Wow, Ferd! Amazing work! How long did it take you to do all that? Also, how is the scale on your test scrap compared to mine? I got three rows in a 4.5X4.5" swatch.
Can't wait to see your progress pics Ecila .

wraith13

 

Ferd, that smocking is beautiful

 

Beautiful work, both Ferd and wraith!
I think I might not have the patience for smocking, and my knitting attention span seems to only be long enough for scarves.

I can't imagine the sheer WEIGHT of a fully smocked garment, especially something full length and roomy like a robe.

 

Surlygirl - that is exactly what I was wondering! The weight!?!

Does anyone have any suggestions for a light weight velvet? I have a sample of silk velvet from Dharma that seems very light, but the task of dye-ing that much velvet is pretty daunting.


ecila

 

Silk velvet is very light and flowy. I would think it'd be hard to get that color of blue by dyeing it yourself. I did some tests with navy dye (and black) and got a very purply color. Anyhow - syfabrics has a navy silk velvet for ~$10 a yard that looks like it'd be the perfect color for this..


http://www.syfabrics.com/mojocart/dispproduct.cfm?prod_id=515

 

Oh - also - someone just emailed me a link to their site which has step by step lattice/Canadian smocking directions:


http://www.savvyseams.com/techniques/canadian.html

 

Beautiful smocking Ferd!

 

Thank you for the links, Maggie! Now I understand what I was doing wrong with the smocking. Yay!

ecila

 

Woohoo - I did a smocking trial run on a piece of velvet, and it looks so gorgeous! I know this is going to be tedious, but I just love how luxurious the velvet looks gathered. I ordered some swatches from Sy Fabrics, so hopefully I will have the fabric picked out and ordered soon. I am going to do another trial run next on a larger piece, and I will post pictures and dimension changes then.


ecila