Dana (cleopatramwi) - Wisconsin, USA

Eowyn's Coronation Gown

Pattern: I made my own pattern and worked from a muslin mock-up. I essentially pinned myself into the bodice, fitted the side seams and had my husband cut me out of the muslin.

Fabric: I used a silk/rayon brocade in a mum pattern for the overdress, 8mm habotai silk for the underdress and lining. The oversleeves are lined with charmeuse at the cuffs and the undersleeves are made of a crinkle silk metallic tissue. All the fabric was originally white. I dyed the fabric myself by mixing Tan, Golden Yellow, and Yellow RIT dyes.

Notes about building: This gown took me about 7 months to complete. I was relatively experienced at sewing, but this was definitely the biggest project I had undertaken to date. The bodice is constructed of 3 layers of silk and 1 layer of stabilizer and fitted over a corset. I had to make the overskirt in 4 panels because of the narrowness of the brocade (22” wide).

I hand embroidered all the details on the front and back neckline, belt and skirt panels. I did the embroidery pattern on the belt by eye, which was a mistake. For the embroidery on the collar and skirt I used the wonderful patterns on the ACS site. The belt alone took two months to embroider. The two skirt panels took approximately 3 months to embroider. I embroidered 1 inch per night at 2hrs per inch.


Completed neckline	Detail of center front

I used mother-of-pearl beads on the belt and collar for the beaded trim. They were a gift that I had in my closet for the longest time. I hand plaited gold DMC floss to make the ties for the upper sleeve.

I decided immediately that I would not make the mantle. The amount of embroidery on it was truly intimidating! I also opted not to add the gold flowers as I am inept at metalworking.

Link to my Livejournal: www.livejournal.com/users/cleopatramwi


details shots of dress while still in progress	more detail, in progress

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This page was last updated 11/21/09