Fall 2004: I drafted my pattern for this gown in the Fall of 2004, but had to let it sit until now...This is another project with beaded fabric... but I could only get five yards of it...Because of this limit in yards, I found the Bridge Dress Pattern to be a good choice as inspiration for this gown, as the Bridge Dress is thought to consist of just two panel widths, with no gores or flairs in the skirt... I based my mock up on the construction notes on Arwen's Bridge Dress over at ACS...
Well... I liked the beads so much in the Lavender Beaded Gown, I decided to do it again! Now, I have the outer and inner layers of this gown... I have now aquired a very pretty silvery green celadon dupioni that I will use for the lining layer...
The sash in back is attached at the side seams, and very wide there... tapering off at the center... there is no picture of a back shot of the Bridge Dress that I have found, so I went my own way here... I like the way it tailors the gown... There is one hidden zipper built into one of the side seams...
June 17, 2005: I have begun working on my Mirkwood Elf Gown, inspired by the gowns seen in The Lord of the Rings... On this page I'll be logging my progress... So far, I have cut the fabric, and just started assembly... This gown resembles and is patterned after The Bridge Dress, worn by Arwen, and the Prologue Gown, worn by Galadriel. To go with it, I am also making a cloak, and have opened a separate Mirkwood Elf Cloak Construction Page to log my progress with this cloak... I will also be using my pattern for this gown to recreate The Bridge Dress,worn by Arwen in The Fellowship of the Ring...
June 17, 2005:
I took a few more photos of the mock, some with the Elven Drop Belt I made for my Arch Dress, (More photos of this belt are at the bottom of my Arch Mantle Construction page...) and others without it... At this point, I have cut out the fabric, and have it on my dress form, and am thinking I may not need to use the sashes, but rather a belt like this one... I am as yet undecided...
Beginning Construction...
June 20, 2005: After cutting out the fabric, I pinned the front and back panels together without the sash, and checked how it would look with a belt...
I decided I wanted the sashes, and went ahead and sewed them in, although I liked the way the gown looks in the front with the belt... The gown is made without a waist seam, and I wanted to take advantage of that fact... Then, Rhiannon from The LOTR Cos List suggested using toggles... So, I may still find a way to use the gray/silver sash in front... Thanks Rhiannon!
Here follow photos of the dress so far... The side seams and sashes are sewn in, and the neckline is finished... I have shots with and without flash, and some close-up detail shots...
Now, I am working on the sleeves. I think I may need to alter my plan, and sew them completely in, as the weight of the fabric may be too much for the Bridge-type sleeves. If I sew them completely in, the gown tends to resemble more of a Galadriel-styled shape... I will experiment with this... Then, the only thing I have here resembling the Bridge gown would be the fact that I have only used two panels... After I have the sleeves sewn in, I'll do the hemline, and the belt toggles for the optional forward belt... and then there is the coordinating shawl...
June 22, 2005: When I had the sleeves pinned in, I came to the conclusion that the fabric was too heavy for the Bridge-type sleeves, and decided to sew them completely in... This makes the gown even more reminiscent of Galadriel's Prologue Gown... IMHO...:) Here are photos of the sleeves sewn in, taken inside and outside, and with some close-ups... In some of the photos I've included the belt I would use... My husband likes the gown best without the belt, but my daughter and one of my sewing buddies like it best with the belt... (I tend to like it better with the belt, too...)
The Sleeves:
The Hem:
This dress has taken all of a week from cutting to finishing the hem... Here are some shots of the nearly-finished gown, again, inside and out, and with some close-ups...
The gown is nearly complete... I am trying to figure out a good toggle hitch for the train... A challenge due to the narrow width... I may just toggle it to the sashes in back somehow... (Time to experiment...) And, of course, I need to get photos wearing the gown...
I also dug through my fabric stash and found what I think is a perfect fabric for a Mirkwood Cloak that would go with this gown... Here are two photos of the gown with the fabric... Construction of the Mirkwood Cloak will continue on my Mirkwood Elf Cloak Construction page...
Fabric Source: The green beaded silk lace and silvery green celadon silk dupioni were purchased through www.emmaonesock.com sometime in the Fall of 2004. The belt was purchased at Wet Seal during Christmas 2004.
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
Mirkwood Elf Gown
Construction
An Inspired Project
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.
