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The Fabric...
Drafting The Muslin Mock-up for the Lavender Beaded Gown...
The muslin mock-up I've drafted on my own, based upon research at www.alleycatscratch.com, specifically under Arwen's Lavender Bead Gown, where there is a description and photo links of the original gown, and most particularly, Cat's detailed description of the pattern, following all the pages on Galadriel's Prologue Gown... Thank you Cat!  



The first step was to draft the bodice... I started with the side seemed bodice pattern of my Shieldmaiden Dress Vest.  And made some changes.... I deepened the plunge of the Neckline, widened the arm hole opening by taking out two inches at the bottom (armpit...)  of the armscye pattern front and back... from the side this looks like I've cut out a V down there...  I drafted a v point drop waist for the front of the bodice... At the sides, it starts at my hips, and then gradually goes lower to a point... This is the same curve I have in the neckline... The back waist seamline is more rounded, and fits just at the waist point...  Below is the bodice pattern...  You can click the photos for a larger image...



The lavender beaded fabric I found courtesy of Jen... who posted a picture of it at Yahoo LOTR Costume, sometime around Mid August, 2004...  Thanks Jen!
I will also be drafting the caplet... This fabric is pictured here to the left... It  is white, but this is hard to tell from the pictures...
The fabric on the far left is a lavender silk dupioni I've had on hand for a while... waiting for me to find this beautiful beaded fabric...  I will use it to line the gown... and to make my own bias tape...
This page was last updated: March 11, 2013
You can click on photos for larger, higher resolution images...
Making Silk Bias Tape...
But first, I had to make the bias strips... Heres how:
I cut the fabric into one inch strips on the bias... I found a great tool to do this when I was shopping for the Metal Bias Tape Maker in the quilting section at JoAnn's... It is a grid ruler, called the June Tailor Shape Cutter, which helped me cut the strips  very accurately.   Then I sewed the strips together, so that the strips formed right angles...    On the right is a photo of the strips after they were cut and sewn together...
Then I ran the strips through the metal Bias Tape Maker, following the instructions that came with it...I pulled the strip through the metal tool, and pinned the strip to the ironing board.  Keeping the metal tool close to the iron, I pulled the strip through, and ironed the folds down.  My cat Susy helped with the process... loving to sit in the strips of fabric...  Here are photos illustrating what we did.  Funny thing is, this was REALLY fun!


Starting the Dress Contruction...
I first cut out the fabric, something that offered the new experience of cutting out beaded fabric... not too fun, considering cutting is not my favorite task, and the beads added to the "fun" so to speak... cutting out the dupioni lining was easy compared to this...

Then, I flat-lined the bodice pieces together... or, as described above, I sewed each lining piece to the corresponding outer pattern piece, along the outer edges of the fabric, to make it as though it were one piece of fabric to work with.
Then I began putting together the bodice, attaching the lining with the bias tape at the neckline, and sewing in the shoulder seams.  I left the side seams for later, but pinned it together to see how it was looking...
Then I added blue beads to the neckline...
Next, I added the bias tape to the beaded fabric at the side seams of the bodice... 

Then, I sewed the two front skirt panels together, both the lining layer and the outer layer skirt panels... I did NOT flat-line the skirt panels together.  .  I  attached  the outer, beaded skirt  panels to the  skirt lining panels at the seams attaching to the bodice, but not  at the side seams and center seams... I want the beaded fabric of the skirt to just drape over the lining skirt, but not to be attached...  Then I attached the outer beaded skirt panels and the lining  panels to the front of the bodice...  I did the same in the back, leaving space down the center for the zipper...And then I attached the zipper...  You can scroll above to the assembly of the mock-up to see photos that show how these pattern peices are eased and sewn together.
The next step was to stitch the lining to the outer Beaded Fabric at the Bodice, using the bias tape to fold over the lining.   (There is quite a bit of hand stiching in this gown, simply because of the beads... ) and pin together the bodice sides, to see how it is fitting... I started pinning the sides by turning it inside out and pinning this way, then reversing it and seeing how it fits...
These photos below show a further tightening at the side seams... After trying the gown on, I noticed it needed to come in a little more... So I turned it inside out again, and basted the side seams closer to the body... Here below the side seams are now sewn together at the bodice...  The shot with the ribbon shows the bodice-to-skirt  seam line, where the belt will go...
Here below is the first pinned-in side seams... Right side out...
I had some trouble with the flash and getting the color to show up as it is in life... I'll try to get better color shots as I go along... I may take it outside for pictures...
Belt Detail...
Sleeve Detail...
As I haven't found any clear photos of how this belt looks, I decided to go my own way here... I used the bias tape I made earlier... deciding to join four strips... two over two, for structure detail... Then I started beading the belt, with a flower pattern, using crystal beads I bought over a year ago... I like sewing jewelry onto my gowns! 
Well... Now they've been cut out and sewn in... and here's how the dress is looking so far...
I have completed this far as of December 10, 2004...  Still to do... Is the purse... which will be a very simple draw string construction made from leftover fabric... And wearing the finished gown often!  :)  You can click here to see photos of me in the gown! Thanks for visiting!
Here is my reconstruction (in progress) of Arwen's Lavender Beaded Gown from The Lord of the Rings. Arwen never appears in the films in the Lavender Beaded Gown, but we have seen her in it in pictures.
Arwen's Lavender Beaded Gown...
Beginning Construction
Early September, 2004:
For the hem, same as for the edging on the sleeves, I used a rolling hem foot... I did not roll the edge completely , but only  slightly turned the edges, to prevent fuzz... I set the stitch for a tightened zig-zag, and the wavey edges resulted...  You can kind of see how I used this foot and made the wavey finish in the close-up photos where I was finishing the lining hem... below right...
Here I have full shots of the dress as it is so far... various angles... outside... without the caplet, first...
The Dress so far...
The color on the right above and below is more true to life... On the left I was using the flash... to show off the sparkle! :)
And now with the Caplet...
Indoors and outdoors... various angles...
So far, I haven't seen photos that show how long the caplet is from LOTR...So I decided to use the full potential of my 58 inch beaded chiffon... and this caplet goes to the floor... ever so slightly training...

I did not do a mock-up of the caplet... I used a draping method on the dress form, pinning the fabric at the shoulders, and using pins to mark where I thought the edges should gently fall.  Then, I cut out the fabric, and hemmed the caplet, making the wavey edge with the rolling foot and a tight zig-zag stitch.  I have photos of the caplet layed out flat, and folded in half, and a close up of the secret ties coming soon...
Below you can see an unfinished aspect of the caplet... In the photo there is white bias tape pinned to the under side of the caplet... I wear it by pulling the ties under my arms and tying them at the back, under the caplet fabric... The white bias has since been replaced with grainline ribbon I made from the lining fabric... making it nearly invisible...
In the photo here on the right, on the back of the couch, you can see the fabrics for my Arch Dress!
Finishing Touches...
The Slippers...
I took Sasha Ballet slippers, and drafted a two piece  pattern based on them, and cut some left over fabric and glued this on... I sewed bias tape around the edges, and over the straps... and attached beads to the edges, to match the belt...
I used a jewelry toggle to make the belt hook together...so that it does not have to be tied...  and I attached a silver leaf to this, because I think it looks Elvish...
And a  way to carry the train...
I again used jewelry toggles here... matching  the one I used on the belt... I attached the  rings of two toggles, one each  at the side waist seam lines, and one toggle bar at a lower point on the back seam line... So, I pull the dress from the back to one side, and hook it up... The toggles are sewn into both layers of fabric... The other toggle bar will be attached to a purse I will be making out of leftover fabric... so I can hook this on the other toggle ring... if I should want to...
On the Belt...
Lavender Beaded Gown Indoor Portraits Page:
After making the LBG mock-up, I realized that with a little variation, I also have Arwen's Arch Dress Pattern... And this became my next project... You can see the progress on my Arch Dress by clicking the links to the right. The work on this gown has grown into two pages...
LBG Front Bodice
LBG Back Bodice
I cut the LBG front piece on the fold Parallel to the selvage... and then cut two LBG back bodice pieces, a left and a right...  To check the fit, I basted the pieces together on my dress form, with the seams facing out... so that I could pull them in to get the perfect fit...Then I tried this on, also, to check the fit...

On cutting the fashion fabric... I cut the pattern of the bodice out twice... Once on the beaded chiffon... and once on the lining dupioni...

See the diagram and notes a little below for a way to draft a bodice...


The second step was to draft the skirt panels... This I did by laying the muslin out, with the bodice pattern pieces on top,and with the center fold of the front bodice  lined up with the selvage, I traced out the waist line, and then added about one and one half inches to this for seam allowances... With the center cut of the back bodice draft lined up on the selvage, I did the same for the back skirt panels...   The center seam of the two front panels is directly on the selvage... The side seams flair about about 45 degrees...  Or, as wide as the selvages would allow...The back is the same, with the center seam of the two back panels on the selvage, and the side seams flairing out about 45 degrees... Below is the skirt pattern...
LBG Front Skirt panel... one right, and (Flipped over), one left...
LBG Back Skirt Panel, one right, and (flipped over), one left...
When I constructed the mock up, I sewed the front panels together at the front center seam...  and the back panels together at the back center seam, leaving the top 12 inches open for the zipper... Then, I sewed the front skirt panels to the front bodice, right sides together... and the back skirt panels to the back bodice pieces, right side together... and then I inserted the zipper, and hung the mock on the dress form wrong side out.  At this point, I based the side seams of the bodice together, and tried it on to check the fit. 

On cutting the fashion fabric... I cut out one Right and one Left  front and back skirt panels in both the beaded chiffon and the lining dupioni...
My first mock up (the one photographed above), needed some adjustment, as I had the back waist line too high... so I did a second mock up.  This one fit well... so I was on to the next step...
The next step was to draft the sleeves, and here is where I used the most muslin, because it was really hard to figure out how to make them very full... After many attempts, this is what I came up with...

On Cutting the fashion fabric... I cut only the beaded silk chiffon for the sleeves... They are not lined in dupioni...

Each sleeve is a half circle, not exactly round... but graded so that the outer arm part of the sleeve falls a few (three) inches lower than the inner arm part of the sleeve... I used a tape measure and a pencil on my muslin to plot this out... I plotted the curve with the muslin folded in half, with the top of the fold being the shoulder tip...(sleeve cap).  There is NO curved sleeve cap to these sleeves.  The sleeve cap is simply straight on the selvage,  I sewed this into the armscye...(very easy, as there is no curved sleeve cap to ease into the armscye...) 

Then, after I had sewn the sleeve onto the bodice,   I reached inside at the inner arm point... about three inches out from the side of the body, and three inches into the sleeve, and tacked this down... inward... to add some shape.  If you look at the photos below where you see I tacked this spot of the sleeve in, you can see here it looks like there "is" a rounded sleeve cap... This adds a pleat into the inner arm part of the sleeve, which meshes really well with the inverted pleats in the skirts...   Below are some photos and pictures of the pattern to illustrate what I did...
Bodice....
Skirt...
I sewed the beads into the neckline after I flatlined the lining and outer layers together, and after I attached the bias tape to the outer layer... I attached the bias and the bodice parts right sides together, stitching close to the upper edge... Then I ironed it, with the bias flipped over to the inside of the gown.  This is when I sewed the beads in... I sewed the beads to both layers. bot not through the bias.  After the beads were in, I secured the bias to the inside of the neckline by stitching it down (by hand) to the lining layer, making sure the threads did not go through the outer layer... The bias now covers the threads I used to attach the beads... So there is a clean finish...
Sleeves...
Sleeve Cap
Fold
Selvage
The point I pinned toward the inside...
Point where it is pinned on the inside
25 inches
24 inches
27 inches
Fold (parallel to selvage.)
Front center seam on the Selvage

Back center seam on the selvage... I started sewing this together at about 12 inches down... to allow for the zipper...
Assembling the Mock-Up...
After I had all the pieces... it was time to put it together... starting with the bodice...  I first sewed together the shoulder seams... (see the first photo below...) Then I sewed together the two front skirt panels, and pinned them to the front bodice, easing in the fit... (see the second and third photo below...)  Then I sewed together the back skirt panels, starting about 12 inches from the top to allow for the zipper... 























Next,  I eased in the back skirt panels to the back bodice pieces... (see the fourth photo just above, to the left...)  At this point it was time to add in the zipper... After the zipper was in, I put the bodice/skirt panels up on the dress form, inside out, and pinned and then basted the side-seams together... at first just the bodice, and then the skirts, too.  I then tried it on to check the fit, and things were going very well with the fit, so far...  Then I sewed the sleeves into the armscye of the bodice... and sewed the rest of the sleeve seam together... Finally, I  tacked in the inner sleeve, for shape... I've shown where I gathered the fabric for the tacking in the fifth and sixth photos above on the right...)


Cut on Selvage
Sew in Shoulder seams
Sew together front seam panels and ease into front bodice...
Opened up...
Sew together back seam panels starting here.
After sleeve is sewn in, pull inside and tack here.
Tack
LBG Sleeve Pattern
The Wavey Finish to the Edges.... Using a rolled hem foot with a zig-zag stitch...
A Way to Size the Bodice for a Self-Draft
1.  Place a Dot on a large sheet of pattern paper to indicate the Center Waist Point.  Measure the Waistline.  Add two inches for seam allowance.  Divide in half.  Using the Dot as the center point, draw the Waistline. 

2  Determine where the V point in the neckline should be,  measure this distance up from the Center Waistline, adding a quarter inch or maybe less, for the neckline hem, and place a dot there.

3.    Measure up from the Waistline to the collar bone, and measure this distance up on the draft paper, and place a dot on the draft paper at this point.  .Measure distance from Shoulder Tip to Shoulder Tip... Add one inch seam allowance.  Divide in half and draw this line on the draft paper.

4.   Determine how wide you would like the Shoulder Seam to be, and plot this inward and upward at about a 30 degree angle... Add one inch seam allowance.  Divide in half and plot this on your draft paper.

5.   Measure the Bustline.  Add two inch seam allowance.   Divide in half. Plot center on paper and draw the line on the draft paper.

6.   Measure the distance from the Waistline to the Hipline, and plot the Center Hipline on the paper.  Measure the Hipline.    Add two inch seam allowance.  Divide in half .  Draw the line out on the draft paper.

7.   Determine where drop-waist V point should be.   Add one inch seam allowance.  Plot onto paper.

8   Draw in the lines or curves between the points, to get the pattern shape.  Do this for both the Front Bodice and the Back Bodice Pattern.

9.  Distance between 1. and 5. = measurement from bustline to waistline.

10. Distance between 1. and 7. = measurement from waistline to where the drop waist point is desired.
2.
4.
3.
1.
6.
7.
Getting Started on the Fashion Fabric...
My planning was complete, and I couldn't wait to get cutting into the fabric...
5.
Note:  Before cutting, I washed all the fabric by hand in cold water... so that I will be able to wash the gown myself in the future...without worrying about shrinkage!
Bias tape is a long and narrow strip of fabric, cut at a 45 degree angle to the selvage, sewn together at right angles with other strips of bias fabrics, folded and ironed down at the edges in back.  Bias tape can be found ready made at any store that sells sewing essentials.  This ready-made tape is mostly polyester, and comes in many different colors.  Often, quilters will make their own, and so, you can find bias tape folding tools in the quilters section of sewing stores.  I decided to make my own, because I wanted bias tape made out of the same fabric I used for the lining to finish the edges, particulary around the neckline and side seams of the bodice... and I wanted to use silk bias to construct the belt... (details below...)

Bias tape is very flexible and can be sewn into curves and lay flat, or sewn onto fabric and tuned over, and still lay flat.  This does not work very well with a grainline cut, or a cut parallel to the selvage... Grainline strips would not bend well, and if sewn into a curve, the curve would not lay flat, but lay rather lumpy and bulging, and perhaps even crooked. 

I wanted to use the bias tape to finish the lining... I used a flat-lining method on this gown, and the bias tape would be necessary to finish the flat-lined edges.  Flat lining is when you sew each piece of lining to the corresponding outer layer pattern piece along the outer edge of the pattern pieces, so that working with them becomes like working with a single layer.  What I did was stitch each pattern piece together with it's corresponding lining piece along the outer edges...(except for the skirt panels...)  to make them as if they were one piece. Then, I stitched the bias right side together with the outer layer, (right side), and flipped it over to the inside, (lining layer), of the gown, and stitched it down by hand to the lining layer... This makes a very clean and pretty finish to the inside of the gown, and the bias helps it lay will against the body.  

The beaded lavender chiffon I bought from The Sewing Studio, near Orlando in Florida... www.sewing.net
The beaded white chiffon I bought from Kaplan's on the Plaza in Kansas City...
The beads and jewelry findings I bought brom Zuma Beach Bead Company in St. Louis... www.zuma-beads.com 
Sasha Ballet slippers, from a local dance shop.

Fabrics and Jewelry Sources:
Research:
Alleycatscratch.com particularly, The Lavender Beaded Gown page, (Description of the gown and photo links of the original), and most particularly, The Prologue Gown page, (Cat's detailed description of Galadriel's  gown and it's prototype,(Like the Lavender Bead),  with a breakdown of the pattern).
See also Maggie's research of the gown here...
Arch Dress Construction...
Arch Dress Construcion 2
Some tips on using the rolled hem foot...
As I sew, I'm holding the fabric rolled over as it feeds into the root's roll groove, about an inch and a half below that groove.  My speed will depend on the fabric I'm sewing and how much it wants to flip back.  All fabrics want to flip back, just some more than others!  And, depending on how the fabric is cut... If there is a curve in the cut, it can unflip quickly, or want to actually flip more, depending on the angle of any curve in the cut... So, it will flip unless the roll is held... Holding this roll also helps make sure that the roll stays neat and doesn't kind of bunch up...

Also, the fabric needs to stay aligned on top, where the hem comes out of the foot.  If it slips away from a good alignment, and this can happen quickly if the cut is curved, the hem will get way too narrow, into almost no hem.  So, I'm holding from both ends, and where it comes out at the top, I pull just a little... especially if I want a curlier wave.  I don't tug too hard, because that could force things too much and brake a needle.  Knits can need a little more tugging, as they don't seem to want to go through the groove... The effect of the pulling is a much more curly wave... (See my Mirkwood Cloak Here, for the curlier wave... I pulled more...)

The wavey effect is best when the cut is bias or curved... Grainline cuts will tend not to wave much, unless there is a bit of stretch or spring  in the fabric, like the fabric of my Mirkwood Cloak...

The first three inches are the hardest part...Sometimes, I will flip this part over after I've finished, and re-go those first three inches the other way...

I would suggest practicing on scraps before doing this the first time on the actual project...   This hem has become my favorite! 
Lavender Beaded Gown Outdoor Portraits Page:
Photos of Arwen at Alep II in 2011:
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.
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Arwen's Lavender Beaded Gown 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.
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Photos of Arwen at Alep II in 2011: