I say 'raiment' because not only am I doing the gown but also the mantle and head covering. This costume has become my 'baby' and I hope that all of the time and effort I have put into it will eventually pay off with a beautiful recreation. ;)

This costume has evolved over time. Though I am currently stalled on the main dress, I continue to upgrade/change pieces of this ensemble. To see my previous attempts of the mantle and belt, among others, click [here].

Skip to on-hiatus costume.

More from pictures of the garment at exhibits than in the actual film, you can see a light print on the velvet used to make the dress. Described on the ACS site as light taupe, I will recreate this on my velvet with a stamp and metallic gold fabric paint. I used Metalic Gold Lumiere paint by Jacquard Products - it's a more expensive fabric paint, but will give a better finish and hand in the long run. For the stamp, I hunted for something retail but unsuccessful, I bought a kit and created one.
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To see what I did for the first version of my stamp, click [here]. No transfer paper was included in my second kit, so I printed out the design on my computer and used this to rub the design onto the rubber stamp (the ink was just enough to give a faint impression). Again, I traced over the design with an ink pen to make it more definite. Then, I cut the design out with an exact-o knife and glued the individual pieces onto my stamp back with super glue. This got rid of the negative space completely, and now I don't have to worry about unnecessary paint transfering onto the velvet where I don't want it to. I tried a test velvet piece and absolutely *LOVE* how it turned out - I stuck my shoe into the picture so you can have an idea of scale. Next: making a muslin and stamping my 8 yds. of fabric.

The final template should be printable to scale. It's 5"H x 4"W, set more to fit on the stamp back I purchased rather than by the size of the pattern on the actual dress.

           

Left to Right: final template, final stamp, velvet test scale, closeup
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Yoke: As seen in the picutres from the extended DVD gallery, the yoke is covered with a fine gold overlay and trimmed with both gold lace and cording (on both the lower neckline and the mandarin-like collar). I've been unsuccessful finding a brocade like the one used on the original, so I'm going to try to mimic this with gray lace overtop gray satin. I'll paint the lace here and there with gold textile paint in an attempt to recreated the shot-through gold/gray brocade. I was able to find some awesome trim at Joanns for the lace. This will be sewn in at the yoke seam, then the cording stitched in the 'ditch' created there. I will also hand sew cording along the mandarin collar, as the original. Split Front: The front of the original dress 'splits' showing an underskirt in the same gray-gold brocade. I will line the tabbard and the side velvet pieces of the main dress, then attach these pieces at the waist seam, which is then hidden by the medallion belt. Sleeves: The Funeral Gown also features a double sleeve. The outer sleeves are trumpet shaped and lined in the same gray-gold brocade of the yoke and underskirt. There is also a tighter inner-sleeve of the same material that laces up, much as the fitted sleeves of Eowyn's White Wool dress and Green Gown. However, the fuller outersleeve is not turned back like the Green Gown, nor does the Funeral Gown have arm ties like the White Wool.

ON HIATUS

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To see version 1.0 of my Funeral Mantle, click [here]. For the mantle and head-covering, I will follow the ACS pattern, which will reduce fabric waste and allow me to use less yardage than my previous attempt. Also, I will use a lovely wool fabric I found online in place of the crepe suiting fabric of v.1.0. For the trim, I have absolutely no illusions of finding something like the original retail. So, I've decided to print the design much like I am with the velvet for the main body of the dress. I've purchased two smaller stamp backs for this, but still need to get white textile paint (again, from Jacquard Textiles) and create the stamps themselves. For a study on the trim for Eowyn's Funeral Mantle, click [here]. The mantle is held on with two medallions - I will recreate these using two extra pieces from my belt. Or, using different gauges of gold wire, I could bend wire into the appropriate shape. This will depend on the scale of my extra belt pieces against the finished mantle.

ON HIATUS

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To see v.1.0 of my belt, click [here]. For Christmas 2005, I opened up a small package from my mom and found two gorgeous gold metal belts. She looked at me and said, "I thought you could use these for one of your costumes." They're perfect for Eowyn! There were only a few medallions on each belt, so with my trusty jewelry pliers, I cannibalized the two belts into one. Luckily, to fit my hips, there were two medallions extra that I did not need. Now, I can use these extra pieces (possibly) for the medallions on Eowyn's Funeral Mantle. Yay! :)

   

Left to Right: front, pieces
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I found gold chain at Joanns and I will tack this to my yoke to simulate the necklace. However, I had a length of gold chain leftover from belt v.2.0, and now I can use this so that the tone will match on all of the gold metal pieces. For the center medallion, I'll twist craft wire in different gauges to form the correct shape and secure them with Super Glue. This will also be tacked onto the final garment. The circlet will be also made from craft wire. I might possibly add some beads to it but that will have to wait until I get it together to see what it looks like. I'll attach the circlet in the back with elastic cording in order to wear it. This cording will then be covered with my hair when I twist it into an updo.

ON HIATUS

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For pictures of this costume on me and on a dressform, click [here].

ON HIATUS

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To see the reference images used to make this costume,
check out my Eowyn Funeral Raiment Research.