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Jana's Examples - Slovakia

Anorwen's dresses

 The Silver Dress

This dress is a combination of the yellow elf extra costume and the dress in the scene when the Fellowship leaves Rivendell.

 The fabric is silver-grey crush velour and grey chiffon. The pattern is similar to the variation on the Blood Red, but seams are only on the sides and on the back.

The inner sleeves (grey chiffon) are slightly extended from elbow down. The outer sleeves are tight from the shoulder to the elbow (note – the outer sleeve is from elastic fabric, so it can be tight; the chiffon is not elastic – better to make the inner sleeves wider (I had to remove the previous completely tight inner sleeves, because I couldn’t bend my arms!)). The lower part of the outer sleeves is not seamed and they have a leaf-like shape. They are bordered with a silver ribbon.

The way in which the neckline of the front part is made, is in slovak called “voda” (it means water). [In English, cowl.]  I didn’t know how to make it, so I had to improvise. It worked, but I don’t recommend it, because it is a risk. It’s better to find a pattern if possible.

The belt is of the same fabric as the embroidered dress, but it is not braced, because I wanted it to fall. At the ends of it are silver tassels. The brooch on the belt has the form of a plane-tree leaf. It is made of aluminum foil and tin wire (was quite complicated – draw the leaf with the nerves on a carton, glue a thin wire or a thread as the nerves, cut the leaf shape and cover it with aluminum foil).

The crown is made from four strands. It is quite complicated, so I had to work very carefully.

Variation on the Blood Red Dress 

I didn’t want any of my dresses to be exactly the film costumes, because I don’t look like any of the actors. I rather wanted to become one of the elves. That is why this dress looks only similar to Arwen’s Blood Red.

The dress is made of black velvet and purple and salmon pink crush velour. The pattern is the same as the embroidered dress, only the sleeves are different. They are quite tight from the shoulders to the elbows. The lower part is cut as a circle, but it is longer in one place. Imagine a clock. The distance from the middle of it to the numbers 9, 12 and 3 is 30 centimeter. But the distance from the middle to the number 6 is 60 cm.  But now I would do it different – 30 cm to the 12, 45 cm to the 9 and the 3, 60 cm to the 6. The longest part of the sleeve is on the back side (not there, where the seam is! (the seam is on the inner side of the sleeve))

The whole dress is in one part, but I wanted it to look similar to Arwen’s, therefore I’ve bordered the black upper part with the salmon pink fabric.

The dress is decorated with a silver ribbon (I’ve found it in a small shop and I am very happy about it, because it looks quite elvish).

The circlet is braided from three strands. The material is described by the embroidered dress.

The ring is inspired by the Three. It’s a ruby in silver (not my work – I let it make in a jeweler). I gave it the name Nargil (flaming star).

The Embroidered Dress

This is the first elven dress I´ve made. It is inspired by Galadriel’s dress. The fabric is a 100% polyester sarcenet (lining), but it looks very similar to satin. The pattern is my own, but it’s inspired by your drawings of Galadriel’s dress.

I wanted the upper part of the dress to look like brocade. Therefore I’ve embroided it. I’ve used a silver thread. The pattern of the embroidery comes from Slovak national costumes, but I think it looks quite elvish. I’ve put little beads on the embroidery. (It took almost one month to embroid it!)

The belt is made of the same fabric and it is also embroided with a silver thread and decorated with beads. It is braced with a band to hold the shape.

The circlet is made of the same braid as the line in the middle of the belt. The braid is flat, but it is hollow. I’ve put a thin tin (stannum) wire into it to reinforce it. The circlet is braided from four strands and it is glued together to hold better. In the front is a glass imitation of a brilliant. I think the color of the circlet is very similar to silver and it’s easier to make than from a metal wire. (I know, it is not that authentic, but it looks good.)

Special thanks to my friend Krajco  who took the pictures and helped me edit them so they were the right size.