The Lord of the Rings

 
 

I've actually completed several costumes for The Lord of the Rings.  In fact, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring has the distinction of being the very first movie I attended in costume.

Both dresses that I made are based on Simplicity pattern 9891.  (I really love the high, turned-out collar, but it takes a lot of work to get it to stand up correctly.)  The red one is a fantastic decorator fabric that I found as a remnant; it is a heavy red fabric with a black scroll pattern woven into it.  The gold dress is a panne velvet with gold and red glitter.  (Warning: I do NOT recommend making this dress out of a stretch fabric.  Getting the collar right in the panne velvet was an absolute nightmare!  As it is, I have some unsightly bunching that I plan to cover with trim.  The problem is that the collar pieces need to be stiffened with heavy interfacing if you want the finished collar to stand up, but, if you use an interfacing heavy enough to accomplish this, the fashion fabric no longer has any give to it, causing serious problems when you attempt to fit it into the neckline.  If you are determined to use a knit fabric, I recommend sizing down the neckline AND staystitching to prevent too much stretch.  You might also try adding a bit of interfacing to the neckline as well.)  I modified the sleeves of both dresses to be a close-fitting goblet style sleeve.  (The pattern that I used for this is no longer in print, but the same effect can be achieved by taking a regular sleeve pattern and narrowing it down to fit your arm closely and extending it to cover part of your hand.  The sleeve should narrow down to the wrist and then open up a bit to fit around your hand.  If you are working with a woven fabric you need to either leave enough room for your hand to fit through the narrowest part of the sleeve or add a button/lace up closure.)

The coat/overdress was made using a pattern for a ladies' sports coat.  I shortened the front pieces so that the front of the coat slopes upward toward the waist and extended the back pieces to reach my knees.  Again I used decorator fabrics; the outer fabric is red with a gold leaf pattern woven in and the lining fabric is a gold brocade.  Because of the way I constructed the coat, it is fully reversible.  (It was the first time I had done this, and my mother guided me through the process, but here it is in a nutshell.  You put the two layers together just as if you were making two separate coats.  Once you have them both constructed, including the sleeves, you sew them to each other, right sides together, all along the neck, front and bottom.  DO NOT sew them together at any other point or you will not be able to turn the finished product right side out.  You can then turn the two layers through the sleeve opening.  Then finish the sleeves by hemming them separately or, like I did, slip stitching them to each other.)  I also changed the sleeves on the pattern (obviously) using Simplicity 9929; this made it a little tricky when lining up the armscye, so if you try it, you may want to pin and check before you stitch.

I knew that even all these layers would not keep me warm waiting in a theater line in December, so I also brought along my Kinsale cloak.  I used a pattern from Alter Years (available online) and used a green decorator brocade, lined with a light green satin.  (Please learn from my mistake--satin is not at all suitable for the lining of a hood if you want it to stay on your head!)  Although this cloak may look simple, its construction is fairly complicated and I would not recommend it for novice or impatient sewers.  The body of the cloak is cartridge pleated to the collar, which may take a couple of tries before you can get it attached evenly enough for the collar to lie flat.  Even after three stabs at it, my collar still wouldn't lie flat so I ended up adding a running stitch a half inch from the collar's edge and then tacking the front of the collar down.  I ignored the patterns directions for adding a pull-tie to the hood (which in hind-sight might of helped to keep it on my head).  In any event, the finished cloak looks gorgeous, even if I don't wear the hood up.  (Folkwear patterns also carries a Kinsale cloak pattern.  I have not tried it so I cannot vouch for it, but it might be worthwhile alternative to the Alter Years pattern.)

I finally got around to trimming my troubled neckline and took some pictures.  The filigree pieces are painted plastic that I found at Michael's.  The leaf bead were my special find; I had been searching for leaf shaped beads for about a month, when I finally found these at a bead shop in Carmel.  (Most I found in other places were both too small and not very realistic in shape.)  These ones are antique, handmade glass beads from Germany; now what are the chances that I would come across these in Central California?  I attached an O ring to each bead and then safty pinned them to the dress so that I can remove them when I launder the dress.  There are still some visible puckers in the fabric around the neckline, but the added trim distracts from it considerably.

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