The Dress
I used McCall's 2-hour dress pattern #9456 (shown here). This is NOT a plain-front dress - it has princess seams starting at the armhole that come in toward the chest, then taper out into a flare at the bottom. I justified this with the fact that most of the dress is covered by the petal-cape. That, and the pattern has the right neck design I was looking for, as well as the shape of the whole dress.
The fabric I used is that shiny-on-one-side, dull-on-the-other polyester satin-sheen bridal fabric in white. This is hard stuff to work with (since it's slippery), but if you're careful, it turns out great! I found it at several places, including Wal-Mart where it was cheapest (and purchased there - 6 yards for $18!). This material DOES fray - very easily actually - and I was worried about the dress staying together despite the zig-zag basting stitches. This was solved by using a great little discovery called "Aleene's Stop Fraying." It's a fabric glue that soaks into the edges and stiffens them to an almost rubbery texture. When you trim off the frayed portions, the individual strands are too stiff and stuck together to fray anymore. The bottle recommends using the glue before sewing; however, I didn't find it until after the dress was done. The results are just as satisfying, though. This is very inexpensive, and you can find it at almost any craft store in the glue section (with all the Tacky Glue).
Anyway, pre-wash and dry the fabric according to the directions (found on the bolt before you purchase it - and follow these precisely unless you really want to screw up your fabric). Cut out the pattern (carefully), and sew the dress together. I did actually use the long sleeves, modified slightly to be longer (the pattern allows for this). Why? Because if you look closely (pause the VCR if you need to), you'll notice that, yes indeed, Amidala's dress DOES have long sleeves, like all the others. The whole process of sewing took me about a week, due to time constraints, and my experience level. And the dress turned out exceptionally well, I think. ^.^
NOTE: I have now learned the benefits of applying the "Stop Fraying" AFTER sewing. This year (a year after this costume was done), I've been working with some sheer slippery fabric for a genie costume. I applied the Stop Fraying before sewing - and it's made the project a lot more work than it should be. The treated ends stick together, making it *very* hard to press the seam allowances apart, and the glue clumps up and sticks to my machine needle. Not good! It also managed to dull one needle very quickly. While the benefits of the Stop Fraying are wonderful, I *highly* recommend applying it once your through, and before you trim down your seam allowances for the final time.
What I Would Do Differently I would use "Peachskin" fabric in an off-white color. As I've studied the different parade gown pictures, I've realized that Amidala's dress is not, in fact, truly white. It's more of an off-white or light cream color. It's also appears to be constructed from a soft lightweight fabric that's not cotton. During the last year, I've compared and looked at different fabrics wondering what would work best, and I've decided it would be Peachskin. This is a fabric weave that's come into popularity during the last year or so, and it's very soft and smooth to the touch. I believe it's all polyester, although it may also be a poly/rayon blend. And, yes, I *have* found Peachskin at Walmart. ^.~
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 The Panel
For the front panel piece, I used two pieces of white poster-board (yes, plain ol' 25¢ poster board), cut that to the shape of the panel, and glued the remaining dress fabric to it. DO NOT double up the poster board - this will make the panel too thick. The reason I ended up using two pieces was because the panel ended up being longer than one board; thus, the very bottom is taped (edge-to-edge - not overlapping) to the main piece, making it a grand total of 40 inches long.
To get Amidala's symbol on the panel, I found the symbol at The Queen Amidala Web Page (no longer in existence - click here for the image). I enlarged it to the desired size, printed, stretched it a little more, and printed again. Why twice? Because, again look closely, you'll notice that the double symbol at the bottom of the panel is stretched slightly toward the very bottom - making it longer. After that, I taped the printed symbol (one-at-a-time) to my front-room window (at the bottom), taped the panel over it (so that the symbol lined up where it was supposed to), and traced the pattern, using a dark soft pencil, onto the poster board. Do this during the day (obviously) so you can actually see the symbol behind the poster board.
Glue the fabric to the poster board, keeping it as tight and smooth as possible. The fabric should be sheer enough - and the pencil dark enough - that you can easily see the symbols through the fabric.
Paint the symbols. I used acrylic paints - light yellow, light orange mixed with white (and yellow for blending), and light lavender mixed with white (and the mixed orange for blending). Use very thin layers - opaque but not thick. Allow to dry. Although acrylic paints tend to dry very quickly on fabric, I still gave mine a good 2 hours. Next, you'll want to somehow outline the symbols. All the pics I've seen of the actual costume just show a dark gray outline around them (easy to do with a gray fabric marker), but I decided to fancy it up a little, and outlined them with gold-hologram glitter. I really really really like the result, too. If you do glitter, let it set and dry overnight (or for at least 8 hours), then vacuum off the loose glitter with the long, thin, piece that attaches to the vacuum hose. After that long, the glitter that's on there permanently will not come off. If you use glitter-glue, (that stuff with the glitter already mixed in) then you're smarter than me, and probably won't have to do this. ^.^
Attach the panel to the dress. Okay, you can do this two ways - permanently, or temporarily. I decided to go the temporary route, since this dress will probably be used again in another costume. To do this, I bought overall clips(again at Wal-Mart). Y'know, those clips that can be used on overalls instead of the button-and-hook. I put on the dress and held the panel up to the front of the dress to position where I wanted it. Then I clipped the... clip onto the center of the neckline, and held the panel up again. I drew a small line at the top of the clip (on the back of the panel) with a pencil, and glued it on. Let it dry for a few hours and, wah-lah - temporary panel.
If you want it on there permanently, then pick a few key spots, and sew it on. Do this by hand, and try to go all the way through the poster board so the stitches don't pull the fabric off of the poster-board. Ouch. See why I went with temporary?
What I Would Do Differently Use the Peachskin fabric that I mentioned in the dress section, and be a bit more careful in keeping my fabric smooth on the front of the poster board. This could probably be done by weighing down the fabric and poster board with something heavier than jar-candles (dig through the tool box or pull out some of those enormous old text books). Other than that, I'm *very* happy with the panel.
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 The Tiara
There are two ways to do the tiara that Amidala wears with this outfit. The first (and easiest) - find a necklace that looks similar (very likely an antique design), purchase, and wear it on your forehead. Done.
The second (the way I ended up doing it since I couldn't find a necklace I liked, or that would really work) - bead your own. This was a little harder to do than I hoped, although easier than I anticipated. I used silver-plated bugle (or tube) beads, clear Czech-glass crystals (since I couldn't find rhinestones that would actually string onto a necklace), semi-precious stone bangles (for the dangling jewels and "royal diadem"), large silver-plated clasps with three loops on either side for the chains, and about 40 inches of silver chain. In all, I spent about $18 on the whole thing.
How did I do it? Ummm... well, I'll try to explain, but I'm not a "beader," so my experience with making something like this is very very limited.
First, I gathered all the beads and chain at local bead shops. Open your phonebook and look under "beads." This is how I found these places, and you'll be surprised at how many there are.
Next, all pieces gathered, I went to the internet to figure out how to do this. I didn't find *exactly* what I was looking for, but I found some great beading tutorials. I ended up using a loop "netting" stitch (found at Ciara's Beading Page under "Project 1") that I modified to suit my needs. (If you can't access her page, this page also has the same technique.) Now, honestly, I don't know if how I did it is an actual beading technique, or if I was just being an amateur, but whatever I did, it worked. My suggestion to you, if you're as new to this as I am, is patience. It took me three attempts before I finally got the first and second rows to work, and even then, it still doesn't look exactly like Amidala's tiara. But it's close enough for me.
Third, I attached the chain to the large silver clasps using "jump rings" - small rings that are cut in one place, so you can open them with needle-nose pliers. And, yes, they're really called that. Looking at Amidala's pictures, it looks like the three chains on either side are all different lengths. So, I tried that first. Didn't work. I ended up cutting the chains to be all the same length, and that DID work. I attached the chains to the clasp using more jump rings. The length of chain I ended up using was 6 ¼ inches for each strand. However, you may need more or less depending on your own head, so go long the first time. You can always modify it to be shorter, if needed.
Total time spent on the tiara (excluding shopping) - about 4 hours.
What I Would Do Differently Try to get the tiara to look a little more accurate, although I think I did a pretty good job as it is. :)
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The Petal Cape
The main body of the cape (without petals) was probably the easiest part of this whole project. I used McCall's pattern #8936. This is a fantastic pattern for cloaks, and I highly recommend it for any costume (except prequel-style Jedi cloaks - you're on your own for these). The material I used is a white lightweight cotton/poly broadcloth ($1 per yard at WalMart - YAY!). Anyway, I did need to make a few adjustments to the pattern for it to come out right for this costume, and I ended up wasting time after sewing. So, here's what I did:
Adjust the pattern according to your height. I ended up cutting out the material at it's longest, and this pattern is a one-size-fits-all deal. So, the full-length would look great on someone who is 5' 10" or taller. I'm 5' 2". Yeah, it was very very long. So, I took the pattern, measured down 2 inches from the "shorter view B" line (to make it longer than ankle-length), and cut there. I had to re-pin the pattern to the cloak and re-trim the material to this length. To avoid doing this, shorten the pattern (if you need to) BEFORE you cut any material!! It's perfect floor-length now for me.
Next, I adjusted the two front panels so they could hang open (like the actual petal cape) instead of meeting at the neck. In other words, I shortened the width. To do this, I took the pattern piece, folded it not-quite-in-half length-wise, re-pinned, and cut. Perfect. This is very unscientific of me, I know, but I'm not a "pro" at sewing or patterns. To avoid re-cutting already sewn pieces, fold the pattern to the right width BEFORE you cut your material!!! Keep the pattern piece folded until you've cut out both pieces, so that they're uniform.
Next, the pattern allows for either a collar or a hood on the cape - since the petal-cape doesn't have either of these, I created my own interfacing pattern (using the back neck shape), cut a piece of interfacing AND fabric using this, attached the two together, and sewed them onto the neck, creating a fold-under piece that keeps the neckline smooth.
Hem the bottom, and you're done.
The petals were by far the most stressful part of this project (for me, anyway). Following the sage advice of several fans who've done this costume, I invested in a rotary blade for cutting them. I then made three different sized U-shaped templates for the petals (large, medium, small) using dinner plates and bowls (and chopping one side of the circle), and used these to cut 100 petals of each size. Yes, 300 petals (actually, my end-count ended up being different, but I haven't done a final count - I *do* know it's more than 300, although I don't think by much). Since I had 4 colors of organza (not chiffon!) fabric to work with (white, pink, light copper, and silver), I layered all of these together and actually only made 25 cuts of each size. This saved lots of time, but also took a lot of time too. Once these were all cut, I pinned the petals onto bias tape. They were pinned so that they overlapped each other, and I also folded a single pleat into the middle of each one to give them body. I zigzag stitched the petals to the bias tape to form rows. The rows were tricky because I really had no accurate way of measuring how long each one should be, so I "eyeballed" it. The first bottom row ended up using 24 large petals, and almost all 4 yards of bias tape. Each row gradually got smaller after that, but I highly recommend buying bias tape in bulk - I went through all 4 original packs of mine with the bottom four rows. Others have used stretch lace binding for this too - it just depends on your preference. If you do use bias tape, flip the rows over so that the tape itself is against the cape when you sew on the row. This will make the tape much less noticeable. I spaced all of my rows about 3 to 4 inches apart for the large and medium petals, and 2 inches apart for the small.
Please note that sewing on the petals takes time - a LOT of time. This is not something that can be done quickly, and I really did make myself sick trying to finish them all in one day. Yes, it was *that* stressful. Of course, I was on a time restriction for this too - something I don't recommend getting yourself into. So be sure to plan carefully when doing this part of the project.
NOTE: One of the best things to do for the petals is make them fray-resistant. KvanB (a link is posted to her discussion board at the bottom of this page) had a great idea of how to do this. She used Acrylic matte-medium (available at art-supply stores), mixed it half-and-half with water, and dipped the petals into the solution (before she sewed them onto the bias tape and cape body, of course). This takes the shine off the fabric if you use organza, but that's okay. Amidala's petal cape isn't shiny. Mine is. Again, time constraints prevented me from doing this (although I did purchase the matte-medium). So, in my pics, my cape looks *very* shiny - but it's not so bad when you see it in person. :)
What I Would Do Differently Make the petals fray-resistant (as mentioned above), omit the gray/silver organza (it's a bit darker than I thought it would be), use stretch-lace binding instead of bias tape (for the sheer-ness), and GIVE MYSELF A LOT MORE TIME!!! :D
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The "Parasol"
This piece is still under construction. Of the three attempts I've made so far, none of them have worked. Once I have a working version, I will post how it was done here. ^.^ Until then, drool over the beautiful professionally done version made for the movie.
What I Would Do Differently Don't know yet. Get it to work? ^.~
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The Makeup
Okay, from the full size makeup picture, it's going to be *really* obvious that I'm a Mary Kay Consultant. BUT, you can do Amidala's makeup with any brand you want - it's just a matter of finding the right red for you (one that doesn't turn orange or pink from your natural skin chemistry). So, I'm going to be very generic in my descriptions, except for the white stuff. ^.^
For the white makeup, I went to a costume shop and found the Ben Nye MagiCake Aqua Paint in Cloud White (pictured, although the pic makes it look gray - sorry) or Ivory (which was the color actually used in the movie). This can be found at any serious costuming shop (not the seasonal things that pop up at the mall around Halloween), and is very high quality stuff. This is a popular one among the goth community (as I hear), as is the brand Manic Panic. Either one of these will work. For this costume, apply it sparingly. If you look closely at the pics here, you'll notice that there's not too much difference between the color of Natalie's face, neck and chest, so try to blend and fade it into your natural skin color. You'll also want to "white-out" your bottom lip. I recommend a heavy liquid concealer - in the lightest color you can find - to cover your natural lip color, then applying the Ben Nye on top of that.
For the eyes - gray or dark brown liner for the bottom, white for the top (I don't have a white liner shown in my pic, but you can get it for dirt cheap just about anywhere). I don't recommend black liner for this costume since it has a lighter, more festive feel to it. Also, go easy on the liner since all you want to do is emphasize your eyes. The white liner will highlight the eyelids nicely up top too. For the lashes - black mascara that won't rub off, smudge or flake. If you like waterproof, that will work well. If not, other good non-waterproof brands I like are L'Oreal High Definition Mascara, Lancôme Definicils, Estee Lauder, and of course, Mary Kay's Endless Performance Mascara. Be SURE to get a good mascara, though, unless you really want black smudges and/or flakes around your eyes (yuck - especially on white makeup).
For the lips and cheeks, find a good "true red" lipstick. My natural skin chemistry turns most lipsticks orange, and other people have a problem with the color turning too pink (or blue-ish). Experiment a bit if you don't already know which brand and shade will work for you. Rite-Aid pharmacies/drug stores have that great return policy for makeup, too, so you won't be in trouble that way. Once you have that, line your top lip with red liner, and fill in with lipstick. Then use the lip-liner to draw the "V" shaped "scar of remembrance" on your bottom lip, and fill that in with lipstick. DO NOT PRESS YOUR LIPS (without tissue in between)!!! You'll have to start all over if you do - it's not pretty. On your cheeks, draw the dots on with the red liner (do your best to put the dots in the same place on either side), and then fill those in with lipstick too.
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My White Parade Gown Pictures
Front view.
My face is blurred because I had some awful expression on it. It was midnight when these pics were taken. |
Back view.
I wish my husband had told me the neck was slipping... |
Side view.
Finally! A decent picture! ^.^ |
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Other Queen Amidala Costuming Resources
During the last 6 weeks, I've discovered some excellent sites providing advice and tips about this and other Amidala costumes. These links will be for the white parade costume discussed here. Most of these sites actually go over more than just this one costume, but these will be the sections that I found most helpful for this particular project. If you decide to do one of your own, let me know how it turns out! Good luck!
KvanB's Universe - The Queen Amidala Costumes thread on KvanB's message board is where this goes. Great advice, and her daughter looks so cute!
The Queen Amidala Tribute Page - Costume Tips - You'll need to scroll down about 2/3s of the way, but there sits great advice from Kay, who also made the costume for her daughter (and I think I'll be using her parasol advice). Check out the fan costumes pic page to see it.
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