Padme Episode II travel/refugee gown

gunslingerpadme ()

I'm just about ready to start the headdress on this gown. This is the mustard colored, heavily embroidered gown worn to suggest that Padme is in disguise. Instead of frustrating my mind with finding antique lace for the easier of the two headgear possibilities for this gown, I chose the "metal" one. It will be entirely plastic based, using Sintra as a base and then once happy with the overall shape, I will go in with smaller plastic bits to get the triangle pattern along with the basket weaving that is the main background.

While I'm fairly confident in the headgear (I figure start with what you know how to do, then move down) the actual fabric of the gown is giving me issues. My plan at the moment is to have the design screen printed on, then go in by hand and add dimension to it. There's just no way that I would find anything that I would be happy with already made. My question is, what would be a suitable base fabric? I'd like something that has a rougher weave, so even when printed it's not completely smooth. Any ideas?

More will come, like pictures, and more in depth construction detail as I sit and stare at exhibit pictures on my laptop Amadalia

Also, any comments from people who have seen the original would be loved and well cared for!

Obi Anne (Johanna Nybelius) · Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 5:34 am Post subject:

Good luck with this one. At CV there were a couple of us who commented that this is probably the last of Padmé's dresses that still haven't been done really well. (Feel free to prove me wrong, I probably haven't seen all recreations of it though, so I hope nobody who reads this and have made a good version of it takes offense) The most common problem seems to be to get the proportions with the head ornament right. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.

gunslingerpadme () · Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 6:10 am Post subject:

I've searched all of the major photo sites, and some of the cosplay sites, and I think there have been two who have done this gown, and you are right, the trickest thing is the proportion. I've been working on it, keeping in mind that I have a bigger head than Natalie Portman. Luckily my Dad is a retired art teacher, and we ended up using a bicycle helmet to help with proportions. I'm happy with my test size, but I might make a second to make sure it's not too small.

I think the thing that holds a lot of people back on this gown is either the finding on the lace headgear, and the fabric. There's no way around it- the fabric is one of a kind.

Thanks for the encouragement! It's kinda scary doing a costume that not a lot of people have done.

Leia (Vera Campbell) · Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 4:56 pm Post subject:

Wow, ambitious! Good luck, it'll be interesting to see one of these done!
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GentleBant () · Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 5:08 pm Post subject:

Wow, for the base fabric...to get that weave, almost some sort of drapery or upholstery fabric, perhaps?
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gunslingerpadme () · Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 7:37 pm Post subject:

GentleBant, that's what I was leaning towards. We use to have this perfect fabric store nearby that had an entire floor dedicated to what I want to look at, but they went out of business. There's another fabric store that I personally have never been to that might have something- those are my weekend plans, to see what they have over there, and hoping it won't cost me an arm and a leg

GentleBant () · Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 7:40 pm Post subject:

Have you checked some of the online stores? I Googled: gold embroidered paisley burgundy
and came up with quite a few results.
Of course, none of them are perfect, but maybe for the shoulders...
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JedHead (Matt Tolosa) · Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 7:50 pm Post subject:

I think this is the one costume we DON'T have yet for the "Padme Project" I thought of a while back. Now that it seems that we have more time to do so, maybe it can get submitted.

http://www.rebellegion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21245

http://www.rebellegion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21246&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Originally, I wanted to see it completed by CV, but, due to various circumstances, it never happened. I'd rather see it done well, than done by a "deadline".
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Mieal Deneb (Rachel Orange) · Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 8:37 pm Post subject:

I'm anxious to see the progress on this. I've contemplated making this one because it is lacking in the Rebel Legion, but I've got so many in progress, I better not! I'm glad to see someone taking it on! Smile

I've searched a few places and found a few fabrics I thought might work. But, they're not exact:

http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/Item--i-WAVERLY-400761

http://warehousefabricsinc.com/CHNMAE.html
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gunslingerpadme () · Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 1:04 am Post subject:

Mieal Deneb, nice finds! I like the feel of the first one.... I think I've seen that in store. The second one is just pretty Smile

. I'm actually more worried about the trim on the bottom of the gown than fabric issues. I'm still leaning towards the screen printing idea, but I still need to mock-up the entire dress to see the minimum amount of "embroidered" fabric would be needed.

Progress is good! Got the sintra, and I am re-sizing my posterboard shapes one last time to make sure that it will a) fit my head, and b)check one last time that the proportions are right.

Miana (Rachel Williams) · Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:34 am Post subject:

Good luck with this, hun! I'm excited to see you do it!
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Mieal Deneb (Rachel Orange) · Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:29 pm Post subject:

I can't help looking at costumes, Padme in particular, without trying to figure out in my mind how I could re-create them. (I'm obsessed, I know! Razz

) So, I've given this one thought too. I wondered if you could get a paisley type fabric and then a second one with larger motifs that you could cut out, put fray check on and then attach to the first fabric to recreate the look of embroidery. It would take some careful crafting not to look cheaply done, but if done right, I think it could look good. Just a thought I had had.

Good luck with the head piece. I'd love to see progress pictures!
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gunslingerpadme () · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:56 am Post subject:

Thanks to a friend over on livejournal, I've discovered the site:

http://www.spoonflower.com/spoonflower_fabrics

which holds the possibility of creating a lot of the fabric for this gown, when willing to put in the hard work of designing it. I consider myself one of the lucky ones: I have a very limiting artistic ability, but I have a dad who has tons, and comes from a family who has tons.

From what we know about the main design, it's a repeating 30cm by 30cm pattern. Pick that out out of the many reference pictures, painstakingly draw it out and color in, and see what fabric weight it would go with on this site.

I think it's the best idea so far than screen printing and getting it machine embroidered, and it opens it up to being repeated by others who want to do the gown. Now, nothing has been done to this point- I just found this sight tonight and got so excited about the possibilities! A second design could be made for the cuffs, center and back designs and such, but the thing is it could be done, and possibilities always lead to more people making more efforts to thinking outside the box more!

~Laura

Miana (Rachel Williams) · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 6:54 am Post subject:

That website looks genius! It's pricey, but hey, to get accurate fabric...
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gunslingerpadme () · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 8:58 am Post subject:

In the end, to get accurate fabric, you've just got to settle on paying more for it. It's a completely unique thing, like the italian lace for the wedding dress (I've been looking for enough Maltese lace for years!) or the metallic feather patter for the Episode Three Queen. There are just fabrics out there, no matter how many people we have look, we aren't going to find. So making them ourselves it the option. Pricey? Yes. And I am going to be soooo scared cutting into this fabric when the time comes, but I want it to look right, and as close as possible. And it's the cheapest option I've found. Actual having the entire thing machine embroidered by a company would be in the thousands, and screen printong wouldn't give the desired effected, or all of the colors.

Don't get me wrong, drawing out the entire design is going to be a huge task, but in the end, other people will be able to buy the fabric, and that is what makes me happy the most. Access to accurate fabric for others!

And yes, this has turned into a very long term project, sadly. But I will post updates, observations, and any information I have as I work on the hardest costume I have ever attempted. And I thought the Green Atonement Dress was hard..... Amadalia

~Laura

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