Leia’s Ceremonial Gown – Star Wars: A New Hope (version 3)

Made for: The Great Drought of 2020

Background: Old one didn’t fit, time to update.

Journal Entries: Read more at my Ceremonial Leia tag

Patterns Used: Jen Eyre’s pattern

In May 2020, I made a video of all my Star Wars costumes – and while I was able to squeeze into my 2007 ceremonial dress for a quick half second video, it definitely does not fit great anymore. It never really did; the bustline never sat quite right and has only gotten worse with… age.

And while my 2007 version was definitely an improvement over my very quick, last minute 2005 version, it still had some problems. The sleeve shape wasn’t right, and on top of that some of the chiffon was beginning to fray and come apart at the seams. And since we’re stuck in coronavirus hell, why not tackle a new one? 2020 is quickly becoming the year of fixing up and remaking old random stuff because I don’t have anything else to do LOL.

Dress:
I bought an 8yd bolt of Joann Fabrics’ white jetset knit – same as what I (and many other Leias) use for the senatorial dress. I was hoping the 8yds plus another 3 I had on hand would be enough (spoiler alert – it was not).

So initially, I started out drafting a pattern myself. I started using the same pattern I’d used in 2007 (this one), and started working up the shapes in some scrap lining material. I got the bodice piece done – adding in darts so it would fit better than the last version. I got the skirt portion worked out, and then came around to the sleeves. I started out by just cutting a big rectangle, pinning it onto my form and cutting it.

After a few minutes of doing that, and it not even getting close to looking right, I decided I’d stop and regroup – I wanted to go back over some notes the next day and look at some reference photos. Well, while I was doing that the next day, I remembered Jen Eyre had shared her ceremonial dress pattern on her site. I decided why re-invent the wheel? I downloaded it, printed it out tiled, and got my sleeve pieces cut.

Then I thought, are these going to fit on my own self-drafted bodice pieces correctly? I’d only cut one layer of the bodice pattern out of my knit, so it was easy enough to scrap without wasting to much material. I went back to Jen’s pattern and this time used the entire thing – her bodice and skirt pieces as well as the sleeves! So none of the costume would exist without her! (She is an amazing costumer and does a lot of really really great fundraising work. Please give her a visit and a like!)

I made a few small tweaks, mostly for fit. The only non-fit tweaks I made were that I decided to fully line the bodice to help it not be see-through, as well as cutting the skirts longer – I ended up cutting a LOT off both layers of the skirts because I did cut them too long – I probably didn’t need to do that.

And that 8 yard bolt was enough to get my 4 layers of the bodice (2 front, 2 back), and the sleeves. I think maybe one of the skirt panels. I knew I was going to need more than the 3 yards I had socked away, so I went ahead and ordered another 8 yard bolt. I think I ended up using about 15 yards, maybe 14.5.

I got the bodice assembled, the the skirts attached. I hemmed both layers of the skirts by hand – I put it on the form, pinned it up, and then just sat on the floor for hours one saturday hemming.

And then I let it sit for a few months before I FINALLY hemmed the sleeves by hand, and then in 2021, I got a new necklace from Lapinkrouge on etsy and new shoes! And in 2023 I finally 3d printed a bracelet. So it took me a few years to officially “finish” this!

I’m still using my 2007 belt, it still works great.

                       

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