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 "Senate Address" Gown

My husband decided he wanted a Senate Guard costume (see my post on that costume) so I decided it would be good for me to have a costume that would look right along side of him at events. The Senate Guard version that my husband wants can be seen in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace and also in Star Wars Episode 2: Attack Of The Clones. That meant I should choose a senator costume from either Episode 1: TPM or Episode 2: AOTC. Since Amidala has such lovely gowns, I decided to choose an Amidala gown.

I have been longing to create the Senate Address gown that Queen Amidala wears in TPM, however that one would be VERY expensive (I do plan on making it...someday, just not now!).

I ruled out any other TPM Queen Amidala gown as being too intricate and expensive as well, not to mention a bit uncomfortable especially since she wears white face paint (I don't even wear regular make-up, it drives my skin crazy).

So, I turned to AOTC for possible choices. I decided it really should be a gown where Padme Amidala appears "on duty" as a Senator. That left two choices, a purple devoré velvet heavily beaded gown with an African inspired headdress


or an Elizabethan inspired gown from a scene that was cut.

I really didn't like the idea of choosing a gown from a cut scene, however the scene has been included in the special features of the DVD release, so pretty much any Star Wars fan will have watched the scene even though it no longer exists in the actual film. To help me decide to go with the cut scene gown, I realized that a lot of women have already done the purple gown and I wanted to do one that not a lot of people have done. So, I chose the "Senate Address" gown (which would have been the 2nd Padme outfit seen in the movie had the scene not been cut).


(As always, my first source for excellent information on anything Padme is The Padawan's Guide. Thanks so much, Maggie!!)

As I researched this gown, I realized it too has a LOT of intricate beading at the neck and chest areas of the undergown bodice. However, from looking at the excellent high res images on Padawan's Guide, I have mapped out the designs and they are relatively simple once you realize what is involved. I noticed that the chest beading is actually two layers. One has a stylized "butterfly" motif and the other matches the neck beading.


For anyone wanting to re-create this gown, I found a possible source for beads here. I really like to see what I'm purchasing so I went to Hobby Lobby and found a bead that I think will work very well. It is called "Bead Treasures" they are Czech glass beads. Size 11/0 in Amethyst Iris. It comes in 18 gram tubes. I have no idea how many tubes it will take to bead this gown, but I plan to get them a little at a time so the price will be spread out over several weeks/months/etc...since our budget is pretty small at this point.



I also picked up some acrylic "Fashion Jewels" in a multi colored pack from Hobby Lobby that will work well for the "flower" beading.



It has been suggested that Simplicity 4156 would be an excellent base pattern to start from when creating this gown. I looked it up on Simplicity.com and they stated that 4156 is currently out of print though they had a few still left in stock. I checked on eBay and found one cheaper (with shipping) than what Simplicity themselves were asking. So, I bought mine from eBay.

The under dress is made of gold moire fabric. I was not able to find this at JoAnn's until one day I was combing over their Red Tag clearance section when they were having a 50% off sale on top of the red tag markdown. I found a drab yellow moire with an almost perfect pattern to the Senate gown! At the price they were asking, I just couldn't pass it by. I will try my hand at dying it as it is a cotton/acetate blend. But, it only cost about $4, so I couldn't let it go! (I have a picture of it, but my computer won't accept the card reader for my digital camera and I can't keep making my poor brother email all my digital pictures to me! I'll post the picture as soon as I get something figured out.)

I decided to make the front of the undergown out of moire and the rest of the undergown out of a cheaper cotton fabric as only the front is seen and I only have a remnant of the moire. I have started to alter the Simplicity pattern (which wasn't quite in my size, so I need to alter the size too, but the price was right!) and am almost ready to make a muslin mock-up of the undergown inset. Once I get the pattern for the inset figured out, I will cut it out of my moire, sew it together and then dye it. Once I get it dyed I can start working on beading it...which will take me quite a while!

I'll post my beading patterns once I get them scanned, but my computer doesn't accept the scanner we have either! (Time for a different computer...??)

Update: 5-2-08

I finished the muslin mock-up for the front inset of the bodice and skirt 5-1-08 and got my moire cut out and sewn together today. I then dyed it with my Dylon "sunflower" dye. The dye took well, but the process of prewashing the fabric (a cotton/acetate blend) somehow washed out most of the moire pattern!! So, I'm back to square one and need to find a new moire taffeta that will work better. 1 step forward and 2 back...but I'm not giving up!

Update: 5-13-08

I was able to find a place online that had a Bengaline moire taffeta, in Goldenrod that was the perfect color for this gown. I purchased 1½ yards and it came on Saturday May 10th. I cut out several swatches from extra fabric and tested washing it before I cut out my pattern pieces. Every test I did: machine wash/machine dry; hand wash/line dry; iron first then hand wash/line dry seemed to wash away at least part of the moire pattern. Apparently, this fabric can be washed, but at the cost of the "watermark" moire pattern. So, I am making sure to handle this fabric carefully and keep it out of my children's reach so that I won't have to wash it!

On Sunday May 11th, my mother's day treat to myself was to work on this instead of dishes! So, I got the pattern pieces laid out and cut. I cut out pre-washed and dyed muslin to use as interfacing (I thought it would hold up better with the beading) and got everything sewn together to the point I need it to be so I can start beading. Then, I got the first set of beads sewn to the bottom edge of the bodice inset! It will take me a long time to bead, but I'm not in a hurry so it works out perfectly.

Update: 5-15-08

I was able to take some pictures of my bodice insert with my beading progress. I started with the "V" shaped lines of beads and am working my way up from the bottom edge of the bodice insert to the chest and neck. I've already blocked out where the basic shapes of the chest beading and the Vs will be using yellow thread and large basting stitches (you can just make them out in the photos). I am using blue thread and a thin beading needle to bead with, making sure to double stitch every other set of beads to reinforce.


In this picture, you can see the collar. I haven't sewn the second layer onto the collar yet, to make beading it easier. When I am finished beading it, I will sew the second layer on, to encase the stitches on the inside, so they won't scratch my neck. If you look closely, you can see the hand-basted stitches to block out the basic shape of the bead design.


Here's a closer view of my beading. So far, I have made it to the 2nd "V", there are 3 on the bodice.

After this, I plan to put my updates in a new post, as this post is getting rather long. I'll be sure to put links to my updates here.

Update 6-2-08: Here