As always, this
dress wasn't even planned but was a completely spontaneous thing.
There was this seller on eBay, offering this really beautiful
blue beaded silk chiffon...the rest is history :sighs: I
looked at this chiffon for more than a year and always dreamed
of a dress made from it. Then it was sold out. Some six months
later, I happened to order some other fabric from the very same
seller, and since I had some money left (:coughs:) I
asked whether there was still some of the blue one available.
And it was...so I bought the last 7 yards that were in stock
:does happy dance:
The inspiration
for this dress was the yellow beaded elf dress that I discovered
in the extras of TTT I think...
And I also needed
a dress for our elven procession at RingCon this year, which
will be styled after the one Frodo and Sam see in FotR Extended,
all in blue and silver and white. I wanted something very simple,
yet elven looking...and thinking of Galadriel and her beaded
stuff, I thought this feels quite right...
I really can't remember
what pattern I used. I made my own for the sleeves, which is
basically the pattern from Galadriel's Mirror Gown sleeves (I'm
going to re-use it when I make the Mirror Gown). The dress itself
is princess seamed. I'm really not sure anymore which pattern
I used...it might have been McCalls 4490 or 4491. Yeah, I think
it was.
The dress is lined
in two layers of 10' habotai silk dyed in a mixture of Robin's
Egg Blue and Ice Blue (Color brand: Procion MX Dyes).
What was difficult...the lining is _not_ sewn into the seams
of the outer chiffon layer. It's connected with the outer layer
only at the armholes and the neckline. The rest of the lining
hangs loose...so you can pull up the chiffon layer without lifting
the lining as well (although I really don't know why somebody
would want to do this, but yeah...^^ I thought it was nicer
that way with a 'floating' lining).
The sleeves are unlined just as in Galadriel's dresses.
The neck edge is finished with a pearl edged piping. I looked
for one in blue, but couldn't find one so far, so I used the
white one that was intended for my Mirror Gown. Whenever I find
a blue pearl piping, I will replace it.
The gown closes
in the back with a short zipper and has an *extensive* train...
I can't wait to
wear it for our procession. It sparkles like mad when light
shines on it ^_<
Here's a photo of me in the gown at the LotR Symphony in Cologne:
