[UNDERDRESS] 09/06/06 - Here is a guide I drew to how the pattern pieces for the underdress should lay. Please note that I haven't actually draped the dress yet. I will be doing this soon. I have found sand-washed silk satin, also called sueded silk, at both Thai Silks and Dharma Trading, but both only carry it in 45" wide. Since all you see of this dress is the hem, and a bit of the back, I drew my dress as having a separate bodice. I did this for a few reasons. For one, silk is very flowy and clingy, and not a good thing to wear single-layered when you don't have a bra on. The top is meant to be single layered, and the side front pieces are not only princess-seamed, they are also the back piece so you see no seams. Also, these are cut on the bias like the rest of the dress, but since most of these pieces are angles, the whole back opening and neckline are technically on the straight of grain. With the least amount of stretch there, there is more structure and less chance of "gap-age" in the sides, because flashing people at the con isn't always a good thing. Also, by having the skirt and top separate, and being on the bias, this dress should actually be able to fit on the 45" wide fabric. At least for us short people. You 6" Amazonian woman might be out of luck there. I did make a muslin of this dress 3 years ago before I had any schooling on draping and yes, had gap-age issues so I gave up. But recently, I tried wrapping a piece of twill tape around my neck, down the front sides, and pinned to my waistband just past the waistline, in the general shape of the dress neckline, and found that with the non-stretch tape, it is possible to have these lines and move without anything gaping open. After a talk with my draping teacher, he confirmed that a piece of non-stretch twill tape would be essential to keep the structure of the dress. I am going to try also adding a piece of tape under the bust for a little structure also. I might play around with inserting some home-made bra-cups inside if the top is still too thin. I would recommend adding the twill-tape AFTER dying as, not only will this dye differently than the silk, it might cause a more concentrated area of dye, causing a dark line where it lies, so I would suggest serging or finishing all edges on this before dyeing, but leave the bodice open enough to insert the tape after you dye. I am also thinking, but not sure yet, that if the bodice layer is double, than the skirt should be double layered too because with light colored fabrics that thin, you can tell easily which parts are double or single layered and you don't want that contrast. Then again, It's personal preference since you see so little of the dress under the drape.

[NECKLACE AND ARMBANDS] The necklace Padme wears is Abalone edged in some kind of metal. I'm not sure if it's backed by the metal or if it's just edged in it. One of my aunts said if it's organic material it should be backed by organic, and since this necklace looks thinnner than I'd think, that either something else is on the back, or it's just edged by metal. The top part of the necklace is made up of one pentagon of shell in the center, with 4 squarish pieces, two on each side. The pieces are probably carved to slope in slightly so they curve when put together. There are 4 cascading layers underneath the main one, and I can't tell if they are one piece of shell each, or several pieces put together so I'm going to keep researching. I don't think I can get shell that big so if I can't figure it out, I'll have to wing it. I should be able to also take the dremmel too and sand the top of the shell of the overlapping layers down a bit so they'll fit into each other so there won't be a lot ot bulk where it's layered. The shells can be glued to each other with a jewelry glue. When I put in the metal, I can fuse in two chains on each side of the necklace. The arm band is mostly metal, so it will have to be made with a great deal of art clay. Both the necklace metal and the arm bands are not quite a gold color, little duller. With the silver art clay (you can get the supplies at [DHARMA TRADING]) you can dip it in a Liver of Sulfer solution, and the more you dip it, the more different the colors you get, and if the color isn't right, you just fire it and try again. The first color you get is a duller, not-quite gold color that should work perfectly for this. I have a couple little shell disks and the kit, and I'm going to practice til I learn how to use it, firing time and such, and see if the shell itself will stand up to firing, and if the shell reacts to the sulfur solution.

-edit- I bought a Dremel tool and my first test was very successful! You can take a Dremel tool with a cutting wheel and slice the shell without it cracking. On my sample piece I cut it, and also used a sanding piece to round an edge. If you use this method, you should wear a painters mask because of the dust and also work in a ventilated area, possibly burn some scented candles; as this is a natural product, it will smell like burning hair while it is being sanded and cut. The book says Padmè's necklace is made from Abalone, but the problem I'm found looking for Abalone shell online is that most of it has that rainbowish, oil-on-water look to it. Some of it online has the whitish look, but ordering online has no color guarantee so I only recommend using Abalone if you buy it from a bead store or somewhere where you can see the actual product color. I found a gorgeous shell called Golden-Lip Shell that has just the right look to it, so I will be purchasing that. I have made a template for the shape I think the necklace is. The top is obviously 5 shaped pieces, but the 4 cascading layers are one whole piece each. The biggest piece, being the bottom layer, is about 5.5 inches across, and the biggest piece of shell I have found on Fire Mountain is 85 mm, which I THINK is about 3 inches. I probably can't fit them together seamlessly enough where a seam won't be noticed, so I am going to try a couple more bead stores, and think about how I can piece it together so it looks nicely.

-edit [06/15/06] -My dad is the MAN! He was able to find me a site online that sells different shells and they have some large ones on a site called [USSHELL.com]. I got the stuff called Pearlized Nautilus, which you can find on [THIS PAGE]. I bought 2 of the 6-7" nautilus shells. When I cut it, it looks like it should be good, mostly in a somewhat flat shap but slightly curved, which should be good. My only worry is if I can get the 4 pieces to layer on top of each other nice. The shell is a nice size, is a nice whitish-gold color which should go well with the golden-lip shell I'm getting from FireMountainGems.com, and it's thin so it shouldn't be too much bulk when I layer it. The 4 cascading layers need to be thin, and when I get the shell for the 5 pieces that make up the main necklace part need to be thick enough to be able to be glued side by side. I'll report back when I've ordered the other shell. Here's some pics of the shell I bought, one next to a quarter for reference size, the other I'm holding the template to it so you get an idea of size.

In some close-up pictures taken by Benae Quee that are posted on Padawan's Guide [HERE], you can see the details of the clips that gather the fabric at the back and the front. The front has at least 3 flowers with a pearl in the center of each, on an elastic band, with shell circles sewn onto the band. The flowers I bought at my local bead store (which can also be found under a search for Shell Poppy or Shell Pansy on FireMountainBeads.com. Unfortunatley not center-drilled.) aren't quite an exact match, but they work very well, and after rummaging through the sales basket, I was able to find 6 white ones that were drilled in the center. Most were not drilled at all. I already have some leftover pearls from my Yule Gown, which I will be threading through the center of these flowers. The seed beads I bought were a white, but by looking at the picture, they might actually be clear. They are the length of the gather in the front. The back is something similar, possibly 2 flowers side by side, with beaded tassels.

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