Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Pirates of the Caribbean: Gold Dress Progress



Here is the update on my progress on Elizabeth Swann's gold dress. The bodice is now nearly complete. Here are two pictures--one of the stomacher with its machine embroidery and hand beading (done while watching The Bachelor: Rome last night--why do I get sucked into stupid reality dating shows?) and the back of the bodice with the installed grommets. I'm using Simplicity's pattern 4092, and have made few changes to it. I changed the sleeves, and will be putting lace around the entire neck edge and around the bottom of the sleeves. I also installed grommets down the back for lacing, rather than a zipper. So if you're working on making this dress from this pattern and have any questions, don't hesitate to ask--I'm happy to share what I've done to modify it to be closer to the original.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I found your blog while lurking on the Yahoo PotC Costume Group, and I'm very impressed by your gold dress! It looks really good. Please, will you elaborate on how you modified the sleeve? I've been trying to draft my own to get closer to the original, but I'm an amateur so it isn't working out. I'd really appreciate any advice you have to offer. Thanks!

Dintarmawen Design said...

I'm happy to tell you what I did (if I can remember!) =) I made the sleeve one piece, using the top shoulder and underarm curve from the original pattern, but instead of cutting the sleeve straight, I flared the bottom of the sleeve out. Turns out I flared it a bit too much, so I ended up cutting much of it off. I also made the shoulder slightly wider, so I could gather it on.

Here's a link to a photo of the sleeve as it looked when I cut it out, which will probably make this make more sense! =) If I remember correctly, I took approximately an inch and a half off of each side after cutting it out to this pattern (it turned out much too full at the bottom). I did a try-on to mark where the front of the sleeve would be, and attached the lace (I cheated--it's not a separate undersleeve), did the hem, and ran the gathers before putting the sleeves on the dress. (I pleated that extra fullness in the shoulder in the back of the sleeve, to make it somewhat match hers.)

Good luck--hope this helped! If you need any other info, just let me know. =)

Sign in Now! said...

Hi. Found your blog, and I really love the POTC gold dress! I am interested in having a friend make it for me to wear to a dance. Unfortunately, I am having a hard time finding an accurate stomacher. Yours is great! So, I don't know if you were planning to finish the gold dress (or did you already, because you posted this a long time ago?). I was wondering if I could purchase the bodice. I know this seems really straight forward and I hope this is not insulting in some way... It's ok if the bodice is not finished. I was just thinking that if you had lost hope in finishing the dress, there is someone out there that was interested in how far you gotten. This is actually the piece I need badly! There is not a certain time I need it by, I am just looking for a bodice! :) Thank you VERY MUCH and I LOVE your work!

Dintarmawen Design said...

Thanks so much for your kind comments! I actually did end up finishing this dress--if you click on my post from January of 2007 you can find a picture of the completed dress. (And look through my older posts for more step-by-step instructions that may help your friend.) Sounds like a fun project!