AOTC Cut Scene Padme Senate Gown

This will probably be my last update for a while, since now I've gotten back to my commissions and am working on other people's projects at the moment.

I was able to finish the sleeves (I still need to attach the 20 buttons) and I got most of the skirt attached to the bodice.

Here is the collar progress:

Sleeve progress:

The sleeves, back & sides of the skirt attached to the bodice:

All that remains for the velvet outer dress is to finish attaching the skirt to the bodice, work on the lapels, attach them to the collar, pipe & attach them to the bodice & skirt, embellesh them with the "Naboo symbol" and attach 10 buttons to each lower sleeve. Then I need to finish my beading so I can finish the under bodice/skirt.

I'm unsure when I'll be able to pick this back up because I have a mile long list of commissions! :)

AOTC Senator Amidala Cut Scene Gown

At long last, I've picked up work on this gown again! I started it over two years ago, but set it aside to work on Halloween costumes and that turned into working on Episode 3 [pregnant] Padmé costumes to go with my pregnant belly. Now that I'm back to "normal" I decided I should pick it back up. I've made some great progress.

I am still working with Simplicity 4156 but I've also picked up Simplicity 3782 which is an Elizabethan costume pattern. I'm using 4156 for the collar, under bodice, sleeves and parts of the outer bodice. I'm using 3782 for the skirt and underskirt. Obviously, everything gets some sort of alteration to make it work for the Padmé gown.

To read (or re-read) my original posts:
First Post
Second Post
Third Post

Here are some of my fabrics. Top left is the drape fabric, then the outer bodice/skirt/upper sleeve velvet, and then the lower sleeve/piping fabric.

My rough sketch of the drape "clasp" beading. I can't really determine what the rest of the design is based on the pictures I have, but here is what I could make out:

Sketch of the hair and head jewelry:

My original sketch of the bodice beading. I later came across the "touch wall" picture thanks to Kathy's FIDM pictures. The picture shows similar beading appliques without all the extra stuff, so it makes it much easier to see what's going on.

My sketches of the collar beading and the navette rhinestone "flower" details:

(Ignore the strange fabric) This is my mock-up for the bodice, sleeve, collar, and [shortened for mock-up purposes] lapel:

My silk velvet before cutting into it:

Lower sleeve construction. I made the lower sleeves two pieces, one longer than it needed to be to create the folds that the original has. I gathered the edges of the longer portion and sewed it to the other portion. Then I lightly pressed the folds to get them to lay the way I wanted them to:

Bodice progress. I basted the velvet to a blue broadcloth to give it strength and stability:

Bodice pieces after being sewn together:

Pinning some of the piping:

Sewing some of the piping:

Upper sleeve progress:

Upper sleeve after having all the sections piped and attached:

Here is my velvet "skirt" laying on the couch. It is a LOT of fabric, and pretty weighty too! (This picture shows the front and fronts of the sides, the back and backs of the sides are underneath...there's that much fabric!) It will look gorgeous once I have it pleated and sewn onto the bodice. But first, I need to pipe the edge of the bodice, because the waist seam gets piping too:

Now, I need to sew some more piping. I roughly calculated I will need about 16 yards of piping for this gown!

AOTC Senator Amidala gown progress

July 3rd, I got to a "stopping" point on the beading for my Senator Amidala gown. I wanted to get to a certain point before setting it aside to work on another gown that I will use for Halloween. Here is my progress up to this point:
When I finish with the other gown, I will return to this one. I still need to add the collar beading and "flower" jewels. The "butterfly" beading also gets a layer of flower jewels and beading similar to the collar beading. I haven't yet figured out what I will attach the beads to, since the original was probably taken from a vintage/antique garment and was already sewn onto fabric (or possibly interfacing) before being sewn onto the Padme gown.

Progress on Senator Amidala Gown

Here is an update on the progress of my Senator Amidala gown. (You can see my original post here.)


I started beading the bodice insert for this gown on Mother's day, May 11th. Here is my progress so far:This represents one tube of my beads. The beads come in an 18 gram tube, so this gives you an idea how many beads/tubes it will take. Of course, there were a few duds, some cracked/broken beads, and I think I probably lost a couple.

Addition: Here is the fabric I picked up for the lower portion of the sleeves and the piping on the velvet outer gown. This will also be used for the beaded "tie" that holds the shawl in place in the back of the gown.


I got it from JoAnn Fabrics in their "silky solids" collection. It is charmeuse in "grape".