Padme Amidala Episode 1 Kimono Pre-Senate Dress

Does anyone have any tips/links/pics for me to use while I attempt to make this dress? I am also doing the 2 handmaidens she had behins her, so if you have anything on them, that would help a lot too. I am particuarly stuck on the headress.





sg edit -- just unlocking!

 

Hi!

Try this thread on Amidala Pre-Senate Kimono:
Amidala's Gowns (part 2)

Surlygirlie had the tutorial on making her headdress somewhere on her website . . . . ?


For Handmaid (assuming your want the Maroon Cloak), check this thread:
Handmaiden Costumes

If the thread is too long for you, just use the FIND function that comes under your "Edit/Find (on This page)" broser of your Internet Explorer, on every page.

 

Eeeek -- Darth Eagle's befuddlement is well founded -- I took the headdress tutorial down when I updated and moved my site a couple of months back...

But, feel free to ask me any questions you may have, SenatorChristina. I'm sure queenseamstress would also be happy to answer questions as well.

-sg

 

I am just starting this dress, so I need all the help I can get. I was more or less hoping for a step-by-step kind of thing. I really am stumped on the hair. Is it like a broom where the ends of the hair are at the top (that's what it looks like from the pictures I've seen)? Also, the actual headdress...how do I even begin? Is it a cap that fits onto the head with everything else fit onto that? Or is it more like a hat, where I am going to have to find some way to get it to stay on my head?
How do I start the bead strands? What are the materials involved in that?
(sorry...I know, I am helpless. I just want to get the most accurate replica that I can, and you guys seem to be the masters from what I've seen)
What did you make those gold things out of? And what about the design on them?
Ok...I'll shut up now...
::feels like a little kid asking "why" every 2 seconds::

 

Give me a little while, and I'll see if I can't reconstruct my little how-to on the hair for the brush portion of the headdress...

As for the structure of it, I started with the silver arcs, and everything else grew off of that. (I made other pieces first chronologically, but as far as the actual "how am I gonna get this thing to sit on my head?" aspect, the arcs were the primary element.) I made the front cap-like piece by layering a piece of tulle over a piece of stiffer, wider weave netting, and then stitching all of the beading design to that. I made the bead fringe separately, and then attached it when complete.

To make the bead strands, I started with a double thickness of lace hem tape as a base. Then, with a needle and a looooong piece of monofilament thread, I made several small anchor stiches on the lace, then threaded my beads on in a more or less random order. At the end of the strand, I ran the thread back up through the entirety of the bead strand, and once again did several anchor stitches on the lace. Then I repeated this process with each strand, until I had enough of this fringe to run along the entire edge of the front cap.

The gold earpieces for mine are just jumbo easter eggs, cut into the right shape and painted gold. I just overlaid some silver mesh on mine, but queenseamstress did the more accurate thing, and cut a hole in hers and inlaid her silver screening (if I remember correctly).

I know this is a bit long winded... sorry about that.

I also happened to find a very elderly how-to write up I did way back when I first made this costume. If you PM me your email address, I'll be glad to send it to you.

Hope this helps!
If you think of any other questions, ask away!


-sg

 

Ok, my very silly little illustrative headdress pics are once again up, with brief captioning. They may or may not be of help.

Click on the costume-o-rama link in my sig, then click on "Headdress Help" in the header menu.

-sg

 

Thank you, surlygirlie! I have seen your costume before in pics..I think on onther people's pages from dragoncon...very beautiful job. My email is epiph0ny@aol.com (the "0" is the number 0). I'd love any step by steps you could give for the headdress or the actual gown. And thank you for putting that back on your website...that really does clear things up.

 

SenatorChristina, email is en route.
Let me know if for some bizarro reason you don't get it.


-sg

 

Thanks Surlygirlie for the help.
On the kimono for the swirly pattern...are those little silver beads or is it just thread? Also--what fabrics did you use for all of it? or, so ...are you going to use for your remake?

 

The beads on mine are actually 5mm ivory colored pearls -- I strung them on 1/8" ivory ribbon, and then stitched that to the sleeve.
The fabric for my original was a dull faced satin, which was ok, but the color bugs me like crazy. It's too lavender. The redo is mostly together except for the trim on the sleeves, and for that one I'm using a grey crepe chiffon layered over a fuscia and blue two-toned poplin. I know it sounds ludicrous, but the effect of the layering yields a greyish lavender that looks much closer to the original.

Glad to be of help, SenatorChristina!



-sg

 

Surlygirlie- I read your help on the headdress, and I am starting it now. One question: what is an anchor stitch?
queenseamstress- I mailed off for the pattern you suggested, but it won't be here for another 3 weeks or so. Good thing I'm starting so early. Did you make the cloaks that the handmaidens wore to accompany this dress? If so- what was used to make the symbols? I want it to look as accurate as possible. And what color velvet are they made of?

 

As for the handmaidens, you'd probably be best off looking through the handmaidens thread, and the Royal Handmaiden Society (http://www.royalhandmaidensociety.org/).

 

SenatorChristina, the anchor stitch I referred to is really just several small stitches taken on the base fabric to "anchor" the thread for the fringe before starting the beading, so there's less likelihood of the long beaded fringe slipping or coming undone. I don't really use a special stitch or anything; I just try to create as strong a base for the beading as possible. Make sense?

Keep us posted on your progress!

-sg

 

*finally* I got the patterns reccomended to me by queenseamstress for the handmaiden cloaks. I also bought a kimono pattern from them. So, it's time to get started. Surlie- I am looking at these heavy cardboard boxes (computer boxes)...where do I start? I know your site said to make these box things to glue? the hair to...do I just cut and tape everything to the right shape? And then, what are those things you slide the box into (the 2 pieces that will edventually be silver)? How were those made? Was that cardboard too?

 

I made my interior box out of cardboard (I taped it together, then reinforced with hot glue), with black posterboard laid over it, so if any gaps opened up in the hair, it wouldn't show too much. I actually didn't glue the hair to the box at all -- I just slid the whole thing together and then pushed the hair around a bit to get the placement I wanted, and once I affixed the whole thing together with sequin pins and gave the hair a good spraying, it stayed in place pretty well.
Also, the silver arcs for mine were made of a very heavyweight cardboard (like the kind from boxes used to ship encyclopedias) that I covered with several layers of linen and then a final layer of metallic mesh. Then it all got sprayed with chrome paint.


-sg

 

are the pearl beads white or ivory? sg-which did you use for your?

 

Some of each. I also used some very pretty slightly pearlescent glass beads in the mix.


-sg

 

Hmmmm... re-reading over this thread... I'm wondering if I didn't give you the wrong answer on this last post --
if you were asking about the pearls I used for the kimono, they were all ivory.

I had been thinking you were asking about the beads I used for the headdress fringe.

Sorry for any confusion (and that it took me so long to notice the possible discrepancy!).


-sg

 

FYI - I have photos of the real costume here:

http://www.padawansguide.com/amidala/celebration_gown/index.htm

If they will be of any help, feel free to print them out or whatever..

Cheers,
Maggie

 

ooooh! Maggie, would you mind e-mailing me the super-high-res pics?

My e-mail address is in my user profile.

 

For the Pre Senate Dress, how would you make the beads?(if they are beads)

 

All of my beads were purchased at fabric and craft stores.



-sg

 

When I made mine...I made the kimono out of iridescent grey taffeta...it had a touch of a lavender tone to it...I had to order a zillion fabric swatches off the internet...nothing was close in the fabric stores.
My embroidery on the sleeves was with gold thread and ivory pearls...My belt was white fabric, with a sheer see-through gold fabric overlay with a diamond shaped pattern...I did the crinkly blue-grey layer with two layers of fabric, similar to what SurlyGirlie did...the headpiece is a killer...I made a plaster cast of my head to use as a model while I was making it-to be sure of a good fit without having to put it on my head every 5 minutes. When it was all together-due to using so much hair, all of the gazillion beads-(in some pictures it looks like the only beads are those that are hanging from the strands, but I had a pic that showed that the entire "skullcap" was beaded entirely, so I did that as well)-the headpiece is extremely heavy and cumbersome. After wearing it all day and for the contest at CII, I had a major pressure headache from the weight of it all-so be prepared for that.
It pretty much stays on your head because of it being close fitting and because of the weight...the long hair in back and beads in front pull the weight down all around your head-it kind of balances it.
SG is right-I did cut holes in my "ear eggs" and make the mesh pieces with the symbols and inlay them underneath it for depth...
At CII, I studied the display and got pics of the real thing...so one day when my project list gets a little smaller, I'd like to do a redo of this gown and get it as movie accurate as I possibly can...it is still my all time favorite. It just doens't get any better than that.
Be prepared to spend some coin as well...it seemed like every time I would search and search for a certain element-like the diamond gold/white fabric-not finding the perfect fabric...I would end up buying something "decently close" and then a few days later the Force would guide me and I would find the "perfect" fabric in some odd place. I still have tons of fabric that I bought that never made it into my gown due to this.
QS

 

This is a gown I'm seriously wanting to tackle. That fabric is something else.

Grey taffita? Odd it didn't look shiney on film. Did they do something to it?

Also headress queston. Is that HAIR or Feathers? It seemed to move a little in the breeeze but I can't tell.

 

Sorry it has taken me EONS to officially post on this thread-I have been costuming/sewing out the wazoo and haven't been online all that much.

It is definitely HAIR-not feathers-after I made my version of it for CII-I saw it and took pictures of the real gown AT CII. Definitely hair-and medium-dark brown-about a half a shade darker than Padme's real hair.

The real gown is not actually made of taffeta-I would imagine the real one is made out of some rare fabric Trisha found that noone will ever have the chance to get their hands on. ha ha ha The reason I chose the iridescent taffeta-is because I wanted the color effect that the iridescent taffeta had-where it looks greyish in some lighting, and a hue of lavendar in other lighting. Plus-it is stiff enough to help hold the shaping in the very heavy sleeves. The fabric I purchased (I can't even remember where I got it now-it has been so long) is not like the "common" iridescent taffetas with a HUGE color change in the light-like green/black or red/purple-it was very subtle.

The kimon is completely lined-so that the bottom of the gown which is tacked open-does not show any hem/seam on the inside. Make sure the kimono is at the estimated "correct length" before you sew the pieces together.

I would have to say that "The Force" helped me create mine-because I couldn't find the exact fabrics I used to save my life now. ha ha The undersleeves and top layer underskirt were made from two fabrics layered on top of one another and sewn as one to get the texture and color effect right.

The mauve underskirt I did much trial and error dying and crinkling different fabrics until I got the effect I wanted.

The sleeves I embellished with ivory pearl beads and gold metallic embroidery thread-and it took a LONG time. Definitely practice with a basic embroidery book on some cheap muslin before the real fabric to get your technique right.

The hair I used was high quality hair extension hair-not cheap Halloween stuff-too stiff, tangly, and poor quality to do anything with.

Makeup...her makeup was slightly different-a little "softer" with this gown than with the red and black ones. I didn't use "white" face makeup-but a Geisha off white that was sort of white with a light pink-beige hue. Her eye makeup is a little softer with some greys and light silvery blues as well-not just the black liner/mascara. With Amidala makeup-be sure to use eyebrow makeup-clear mascara, brown eyebrow pencil-and pluck any strays-because with the white makeup they will stand out and look very messy or undefined if not "done up" as well.