Welcome Guest 

Register

Forum Home » Tolkien Related Discussion » Creations Forum » Costumes - Sewing
123
Author Topic:
rohan_girl
Council Member
Posts: 8
Send Message
Avatar
Post Costumes - Sewing
on: October 20, 2003 03:54
Okay now, don't kill me because I don't know where to post this question.
I'm trying to make a dress using the Simplicity pattern #9891. Now, after I cut out the pattern, all of the dress pieces are totally different lengths. What did I do wrong? I used the same size all along and it seemed to be right. Will the pattern work out on the fabric or something? Please help. Help badly needed asap.

Thanx a lot,

(Mod Note ... changed thread title only )

[Edited on 5/18/2004 by Goldsand]
Arwen1858
Council Member
Posts: 195
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: October 20, 2003 06:15
Also, I have a question about the sizing for this pattern. I saw somewhere that it runs large. Please tell me it doesn't!! (Well, tell me the truth, I just hope it doesn't) I want to make it, but would like to know a little more first. Hannon le!
Arwen
rohan_girl
Council Member
Posts: 8
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: October 21, 2003 02:22
I don't really know cuz I only cut out the pattern pieces, I didn't cut out the fabric or anything...

Please help...
Arwen1858
Council Member
Posts: 195
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: October 21, 2003 08:12
The best thing I can tell you to do is to use an old sheet or old material and make a test one if you aren't sure. You don't have to completely sew it up. Just cut out the pieces, and see how they pin together. That should tell you a lot. I will be glad to give you any advice I can, as I've been learning a lot about sewing the last several months.
Hope this helps a little!
Arwen
rohan_girl
Council Member
Posts: 8
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: October 22, 2003 10:52
Oh ok thanx I'll try to do that...
Council Member
Posts: 4948
Send Message
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: October 22, 2003 10:54
Hi There!! Happy Hobbit has asked me to offer some help to those of you having sewing issues... so let's see what we've got here...
rohan_girl... I know which pattern you're talking about... I think I have it somewhere in my archives, but they got scattered about yesterday when I was doing alterations for a client... So I pulled it up on the simplicity website http://www.simplicity.com... and it looks like dress B may be slightly shorter, but I doubt enough to really make a difference... You're lucky in that it doesn't appear to have separate pieces for bodice and skirt... it's all just one long dress piece... Now... as for the different lengths, take into account that the back pieces may have a train, making them a little longer... all in all, if it's only an inch difference between pieces, don't worry about it, as that can be accomodated in the hem... And Arwen1858 has a very good point about using an old sheet or cheap material to make a test version... That way, once you actually go to make the real dress, you've got a little better idea of the difficulties, and can brainstorm more easily to overcome them...
Arwen1858... the best way to do sizing is to go by the measurements... I normally wear an 18 in street clothes, but a lot of the patterns out tend to run large or small, so I can wear anything from a 14 to a 24 depending on the pattern... So take your measurements (bust, waist, hips)... and if you're a combination of sizes... many patterns allow you to accomodate to that as well by showing you where you might cut in or out at the waist, bust, or hips... If this pattern doesn't have that option, let me know, I'll look it up on one of my patterns... scan the instructions and all for you...

Anyway, I hope this offers some help to you two, and anyone else who might be endeavoring to make their own elf costume... if you have any questions or such, feel free to PM me... I check in at CoE a lot, and I'll also check back here for any questions!!

P.S. If my language is a little confusing, just ask me to clarify... I've been sewing like mad lately, and am starting to get a wee bit loopy from lack of sleep...
Taethowen
Council Member
Posts: 16
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: October 24, 2003 04:55
Rohan_girl - I wouldn't worry about it too much if it's the bottom hem of the skirt. I've noticed that almost every time I sew a dress or skirt (be it long or short), that the back hem is almost always a couple inches longer than the front when I put it on. You can always fix it when you go to hem it.

Arwen1858 - I've never had trouble with any of Simplicity's patterns running large. They always seem to fit me perfectly, you just have to make sure you get your correct measurements. The only company I have sizing trouble with is McCalls. Oh, and like Elenisiliel said, sewing patterns sizes are different from store clothing sizes. I usually wear a small to a medium in clothing from stores (anywhere from a 4 - 10 depending on the store), and I wear a size 12 misses on the Simplicity patterns.
Arwen1858
Council Member
Posts: 195
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: October 24, 2003 01:37
Thanks for the help, Taethowen and Elenisiliel. Oh, and Taethowen, I like your sig!
Arwen
rohan_girl
Council Member
Posts: 8
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: October 29, 2003 02:05
Yeah, thanx for all that help...
Arwen1858
Council Member
Posts: 195
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: October 29, 2003 09:51
rohan_girl, how did your dress turn out??
Arwen
rohan_girl
Council Member
Posts: 8
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: November 01, 2003 08:34
Well, I'm not really done yet; blame my teacher for that... We got like so much homework...I still have to put on the sleeves and stuff...
How's your dress going?
Arwen1858
Council Member
Posts: 195
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: November 03, 2003 12:32
Well, I haven't started yet. I have a lot of sewing to do as my family is going to this historical event thing where we're all wearing cotumes, so I have to make those first. The cool thing is that I'm going as someone from the working class, so I'm making my costume to look a lot like a female hobbit costume. I'll just go as a hobbit posing as an 18th century peasant person So I have to make that first. But I really want to start soon!!!
Arwen
rohan_girl
Council Member
Posts: 8
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: November 03, 2003 05:36
Oo cool, I wish you luck on that one It's a good idea, actually ^.^ Hope it comes out all right... When you have updates, postthem here ok?
Legolas_My_Love
Council Member
Posts: 6
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: November 05, 2003 11:02
If any of you are good at sewing please give me instructions on how to make this dress. I really love this dress. I'm a beginner at sewing and want to do this. So please help I would really appretiate it! Thanx!
Taethowen
Council Member
Posts: 16
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: November 08, 2003 07:30
What dress are you trying to make, Legolas_My_Love? I should be able to help.
RiverWoman
Council Member
Posts: 120
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: November 12, 2003 05:36
A hint about the bottom hems of the pattern pieces being different lengths - a lot of the time, I find things are way longer than they need to be anyways. Compare the length of the patter pieces to the length of something that you know fits BEFORE you cut anything, and you can often save a good bit of fabric. I am average 5'6", if you are tall naturally you will want to add length BEFORE you cut, and if you are shorter than average you can save even more fabric.
rohan_girl
Council Member
Posts: 8
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: December 05, 2003 08:32
Oh ok... I'm working on the dress again! ^.^ It actually starts to look like a dress...

Legolas_My_Love, I would love to help, but the problem is that I need some help myself...
So, can someone tell me what the facings are used for? Thankies...

Arwen1858, I hope your dress turns out better than mine... But it actually isn't that bad... So yeah, hope you get it right...
Lostwethion
Council Member
Posts: 24
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: December 06, 2003 11:21
Suilad mellyn nin!
I found this website, and thought the cloak looked extremely cool, so I shall be making it! *yay*
Just thought I'd share it with anyone else who "needs" one.


Navaer
Sarnandhun/Lostwethion
Lostwethion
Council Member
Posts: 24
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: December 06, 2003 11:22
Neep! Forgot to post the URL... :blush:

http://www.alleycatscratch.com/lotr/Things/FCloak/FCloak_pattern.htm
Charis
Council Member
Posts: 56
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: December 06, 2003 11:22
I've got experience in this area! I made the Fellowship cloack from the alleycatscratch pattern in October. Check out my website to see full details on how I made it (also some good pics of it!). Also, if anyone needs help with the pattern or has any questions regarding how to go about making one, just PM me!
eowynshue
CoE Volunteer
Posts: 182
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: December 06, 2003 11:23
wow Charis that costume's awesome! i didn't even realise the picture on the right of the main page wasn't frodo! had to do a double take lol
monasua
Council Member
Posts: 35
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: December 06, 2003 11:24
The costumes are really beautiful
Charis
Council Member
Posts: 56
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: December 06, 2003 11:26
Thanks for the compliments! It took me a long time to get the costume all together and it is nice to know it actually looks like Frodo, or at least a Hobbit. I'm dressing up for ROTK as well, as Frodo of course! I plan on making an Eowyn type costume in January. Alley cat scratch is an awesome site for finding info on costumes. Just go to www.alleycatscratch.com/lotr. They have ideas on ALL the characters. Happy hunting!
monasua
Council Member
Posts: 35
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: December 06, 2003 11:26
:heart: :love: Are there any stores that have Fellowship cloaks?
Lostwethion
Council Member
Posts: 24
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: December 06, 2003 11:27
Yay! I just went out and bought my fabric (It _is_ more green than grey, but oh well.) It doesn't have spirals on it, but I still like the way it looks.
I'm hoping it's long enough
Charis
Council Member
Posts: 56
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: December 06, 2003 11:28
Lostwethion, I would love to see your fabric!!! Do you have a pic of it? Pm me if you do. I love fabric and when I got mine for my cloak I just kept looking at it over and over because I liked it so much. Oh, the joys of costuming!

Monasua, I know there were some cloaks being sold online, but not anymore. I would encourage you to make one. The pattern is easy to follow and you will have the added satisfaction of using your own Elvish hands to make a Lothlorien cloak
Scothia
CoE Elder Sister
Posts: 800
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: December 06, 2003 11:28
We'd really love to have a description and pic of your cloak for The Last Homely House, Lostwethion. Care to submit it?
kaylin
CoE Volunteer
Posts: 6
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: February 03, 2004 09:51
I recently made myself an elf costume for the LARP game I play in. Alot of my inspiration came from watching the movies, more specifically, the parts with the elves.

My dress is a two part dress, made with Deep blue Flocked Taffeta for the over-dress and an Ice Blue silk crepe for the under dress, using Simplicity pattern 9891. Yes, the dress tends to run a little long in the back, but I think that's because of the Princess seams. The part that was a little long on mine when I sewed it togehter was the back pannel, but all I did was fold that under and sew it in place, to that the edge of the fold was flush with the rest of my dress.

It didn't take me enarly as long as I thought it would either, the only real trouble I had was with the buttons.

As soon as I get more pictures taken of me actually -in- the dress, I'll be submitting to The Last Homely House. I also might do a submission on how to make elven-style hair peices with synthetic hair, as I currently don't have long, wavy hair. Maybe I'll submit that too, but not sure yet.

~Kaylin

[Edited on 3/2/2004 by kaylin]
kaylin
CoE Volunteer
Posts: 6
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: February 03, 2004 11:42
Not sure if this has been posted before here, but here's a go anyways.

Anyone else interested in Costuming done for LotR? Just curious, as I've also found a few places off CoE that are costuming nuts!

~Kaylin
~Estel~
Council Member
Posts: 21
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: February 03, 2004 11:43
I'm interested...see my "scene recreations" post on this forum.
Lathronethiel
Council Member
Posts: 15
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: May 18, 2004 02:59
i just started a site, as I am an avid fan of the world of costuming, bbut these are my first tries [well, soon to e my first tries]

take a look! the link is o my profile or here:

www.geocities.com/lathronethiel
Goldsand
Mystic of Ithilien
Posts: 357
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: May 26, 2004 12:26
Nice site you have there Lathronethiel . I love your sketches ... my favorite is the Greek chiton type gown in the Valinor section. Looking forward to seeing more!
Faerfaen
Council Member
Posts: 35
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: May 27, 2004 03:13
Lathronethiel, I love that butterfly crown design of yours -- very elegant! Will you make one someday?
Lathronethiel
Council Member
Posts: 15
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: May 29, 2004 03:52
aww, thanks guys

yeah i really hope i can get the stuff to make that soon-ish.

my summer is going to be filled with lots of stuff like that, check back for more later!
Lathronethiel
Council Member
Posts: 15
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Costumes - Sewing
on: June 24, 2004 03:35
hey, so does anybody else design their own costumes or have any pics of their reporductions or anything?
123
Members Online
Print Friendly, PDF & Email