Padme – Star Wars (Funeral Gown)

Made for: Adventurecon 2007

Background: My favourite costume from Episode III….

Journal Entries: Read more at my Funeral Padme tag

Related Costumes: Liberty Dies Padme, Mustafar Padme, Veranda Nightgown Padme

Patterns Used:
None – used a cape I had as a basis

Dress:

I picked up the fabric for the dress back in 2006 – I found it at fabric store in Nashville and went ahead and bought it “just in case.” It’s a little too shiny for this but I loved the texture and colour. I made the dress with no pattern – it’s just a long, wide tube of fabric, and I did a gathering stitch, sort of a faux-smocking on the upper section until it fit. I added straps to the top to keep it in place under the cape. The jewel and beads on the neckline of the dress I found in my stash of beads and sewed on. I left it extra long since I liked the drama. The back closes with velcro. Not the prettiest closure option but it’s not seen, so (shrug emoji)

Cape:

My mom got me the velvet for the cape for Christmas in 2006. I used a cape I already had as a basic pattern, but cut the pieces wider and longer. Then sewed them together and dyed it. And dyed it and dyed it and dyed it LOL. I just couldn’t get it any darker with the tools I had at my disposal. But the dye provided a decent base for then painting it. I ran out of time before Adventurecon to get it the colour I wanted – I went ahead and wore it as it was, and then continued working on it before Dragoncon.

I did end up dying it once more, then went in for hand-painting again, along with attaching the rest of the sequins. I also went back and made a facing for it out of my leftover dress fabric later on. The great part — I used up all those dozens of packets of sequins I’ve had hanging around the house with no use for ages!
The collar is made of satin, and layered in sequins. The long streamers of sequins hanging down the front I found locally. I just glued all the sequins and flowers on.

Accessories:

The wig I bought online and added the flowers and things, and my husband made the jappor snippet for me. 🙂

History:

It’s not 100% accurate but I really love it. It’s so pretty and dramatic.

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