Naira
Arwen's Blood Red Gown
I started with four yards of dark red cotton velvet and one yard of
gold and red paisley. I went through many trail runs of dying
different cotton paisleys before I came back and dyed my original
paisley with scarlet rit dye. Since the original paisley was an
acetate blend, it turned it from a bright, overpowering gold and red
to a soft rose and red, not effecting the parts of the pattern that
were already red. For the lower sleeves, I stared with four yards of red cotton velvet and
cut a large circle sleeve. I had to go back to the store and buy four
more yards of the red velvet because the original four yards turned out to
be enough for only one sleeve! I cut the second sleeve and attached it to
the upper sleeve.
The trim was ordered from an ebay store called Heritage Trading. It was
an Indian sari trim in red and metallic gold, that was nearly 4 inches
wide. I bought both of the yards that were offered in the auction, which
turned out to be just enough. I only had 6 inches left when I was
finished!
The final bit was to order the velvet for the jumper. I ordered Midnight
silk velvet from Thai Silks, which turned out to be the absolute perfect
colour. Using Simplicity 9103, I cut out the jumper from the velvet and
put it on the dress dummy over the undershirt. I then trimmed the
neckline and adjusted the strap width. I used a rolled hem on the
neckline, shoulder straps, and bottom hem.
More pictures on her website:
http://www.geocities.com/blueswordclothing/br_finished.html
