May 25, 2005... Here follow photos of my LOTR-Inspired Mantle I've constructed to go with Arwen's Arch Dress... I am very excited with how this is coming together...
I am loading progress photos today!
I did not draft a pattern for the mantle, but just draped it over my dress form, and pinned the hemline... I will take layout photos of the mantle after I have attached the invisible sash that keeps it on my shoulders...
First, photos taken inside...
You can click on each photo
for a larger, higher resolution
image...
Here are some close-up indoor shots...
With and without flash...
Arwen's Arch Mantle...
Here are a few photos taken outdoors...
What I'll do next is add that invisible sash tie, to secure the mantle so that it won't slide off the shoulders... and add a delicate chain stitch embroidery at the point where the two fabrics meet along the edge... to add a hint of gold there...
Then, I'll add photos of the mantle laid out, to show the shape of it laid flat, as I have no pattern to share, but draped it directly...
I will keep this updated with photos!:)
Fabric and Trim Sources....
The outer layer is a non-stretch rayon velvet I bought from Hobby Lobby shortly after the release of The Return of the King... I bought the last of it, about three yards... at the time wishing there had been enough for a Requiem Cloak, although it would not have worked well for that... as it has a 45 inch selvage... So then, I waited for the right project to come along... And it did!
The lining layer is a very nice crinkle satin, periwinkle and gold... very shimmery and antiqued looking, that I bought at Cy Rudnicks at Crown Center almost two years ago, when I just started sewing, about the time I made my Blue Gown (My first project on a sewing machine...) My Blue Gown has a similar material for the lining of the outer tunic, and for the underdress... I bought both satins at the same time, hanging on to the gold until the right project came along... (I nearly forgot about it! )
The trim, as I mentioned above, is hand beaded and embroidered by some very talented embroiderers in India... I bought it from Heritage Trading Co, a very fine ebay auction store, highly recommended!
In the photo- stills of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, we have seen Arwen in her Arch Dress... without any cloak or mantle...
But, I wanted to make one for my Arch Dress, just in case it gets cool!
I had set aside some velvet I had on hand to make the mantle, (I even put up photos of this velvet on my Arch Construction 2 page...) thinking I would get to it sometime, when I found and purchased this fabulous hand beaded and embroidered trim from Heritage Trading Co, an ebay store... (linked under Fabrics and Trim sources at the bottom of the page...) Then, I rediscovered another periwinkle/gold satin I had set aside two years ago, bought along with the fabrics I used on my Blue Gown... So, with the materials all gathered, I was ready to begin constructing my version of Arwen's Arch Mantle... to go with her Arch Dress!
May 27, 2005... Construction Notes, and Flat Photos of the Mantle
As this was something I thought would go together with relative ease, I did not draft a pattern.... I started with the two layers of fabric, shaped like rectangles, and sewed them together, right sides together... Then, I flipped them right side out and draped this over the shoulders of the dress form...
I used pins to mark where the hemline would be, and I wanted it to be just above floor level...
Then I cut the hemlines, and finished them with a tight zig-zag stitch and my rolling foot... Then, I sewed the trim onto the velvet layer, keeping a velvet edge of about 3/4 inch... Next I rolled about 1 inch of the lining fabric out, encasing the seam on the inside, and stitched it down. At this point, I took the photos shown above..., and made this page...
Then, I added a tight honeycomb stitch as a decorative gold topstitch, doubling the gold top threads, along the border of the trim and at the point where the two fabrics meet, to give it a gold accent hint...
I cut out two strips of the lining layer about five inches wide, the length between the selvage, or 55 inches...
Then, I made the sashes by sewing the long ends together, gold against gold, because I wanted the periwinkle shade to show for the sashes. After, I turned the outer gold layer inside, so the periwinkle showed. I ironed the sashes, and sewed them into the mantle about 13 inches from the midpoint of the mantle, where lays directly at the back of the neck, at a bias angle...
Here I have some photos of the mantle laid out flat...
Here the mantle is folded at the mid-neck point... I added a strip of the lining fabric at the bottom, reversed, so it would fall just above the floor...
Here, the sashes are not yet sewn in...
Here, the sashes are sewn in, at a bias angle,each about 13 inches from the center, neck point of the mantle...
I turned the lining side out, so you can see how it is sewn into the lining... at the bias angle, and so that the edge faces inside the mantle, so to speak...
Here is the mantle laid out full...
Here is a close-up of how the sashes are sewn into the lining...
I believe this is how the sashes are sewn into the Starry Mantle worn by Eowyn in The Return of the King...
Here follow photos of the finished mantle... First with the sashes exposed, so you can see where they drape on the dress form, and how they fall..
And now, photos with the sash tied in back, underneath the arms and behind the mantle. I think Eowyn's Starry Mantle is secured in the same manner in The Return of the King... We see a glimpse of that sash in one of the photos of the Starry Mantle, on the Extended Edition of the Return of the King, On disc 5 of the Appendices, in Eowyn's Costume Gallery...
The Mantle is reversible! Here's how it looks worn reversed... In this case, the sashes go on the outside, but you don't see the stitches where the sashes are attached, because the trim is flipped and rolled out to the outside. The velvet may help it stay on the shoulders when worn this way... I'll have to check that out...
So, the mantle is completed, and now all that's left to do on this project is the alternate belt from this trim, and to find some gold flats, and get some photos of me in the dress!!
June 17, 2005: I've completed an Alternative Elven Drop Belt, made with the Mantle Trim... Here are Inside and Outside Shots, and Shots with the Mantle... And Close Ups... The pattern is at the bottom of the page...
The Drop-Belt Pattern:
Here are some photos of how I drafted the belt... Best illustrated by looking at the belt laid out flat:
Finally, all that's left to be done is to get photographed wearing the dress!
Peter Jackson's visualization of The Lord of the Rings woke my latent passion for costuming and inspired me to learn to sew.
This page and its links reflect my best efforts in Lord of the Rings costuming.
Projects linking to their own pages are featured here. Click the links in the navigation bar to visit the individual pages, or scroll further below to the image links and see a quick overview of the costumes.
y
Arwen's Arch Dress
Inspired Mantle
Construction
Welcome to Yvette's
Nearly ten years ago I set out to teach myself to sew, so that I could create inspired costumes such as those featured on my site.
I created this site to share what I've done. It launched August 18, 2004, and has been growing ever-since.
In addition to costume construction pages, there are pages featuring portraits of the costumes being worn.
Costuming is a hobby I love documenting, but I do not do commissions, nor do I sell patterns.
Please visit where your interests lead you, and enjoy.
y
The navigation on my site is under construction. I'll be getting the links set up page by page. In the meantime, please bear with me.
