Hayley - Texas, USA
Arwen's Blood Red Gown
I made a copy of the Blood Red dress from LOTR. I have attached
some pictures. I made this out of a navy blue stretch velvet, a calico
for the shirt, and a red velvet for the sleeves. I purchased almost
all of these materials in factory outlets in Dallas at very reasonable
prices. The trim is a gold brocade band.
A good tip that I learned
from this is that before you try to sew the trim onto the shirt you
should sew some darts into it-- the size of which will depend on the
cut of the shirt pattern you are using. This will let the trim take on
a curved shape rather than lay flat and wrinkle. I sewed it onto the
shirt all the way around at the top, but on the bottom it is basted on
to the front and back and left loose around the sleeves. This again is
to ensure a flat attachment and to prevent restriction of movement.
Though you can see the trim popping up in the pictures, since the
garment is on a dress form, when it is worn by a person this problem
is eliminated.
I used a bias strip of the shirt fabric to form the
straps for the dress. It is a good idea to sew a piece of twill tape
or ribbon inside these straps so the weight of the dress will not
stretch them out of shape. I did not hem the bottom of the dress-- I
serged the edge while stretching it, giving it a 'lettuce leaf'
effect. If you don't have a serger you can to the same thing by
setting a sewing machine to the zig-zag setting. I wore this dress to
Scarborough Faire and it was well received!
