I don't really know why I decided to make this costume first from Lord of the Rings. It wasn't really my absolute favorite but I found some brown suede on sale and thought, "Hey I can make that armor thing that Eowyn wears." Of course this was before I did hardly any research on the costume (it was some time until I figured out that the top is actually two pieces!) but I had a little extra money lying around so why not spend it on some gorgeous fabric? :)

Status of Costume: complete

Started: Jan. 2004
Finished: Mar. 25, 2004

Materials Used:
Corset & Vest - brown moleskin from Joann's
Chemise - white crepe for the main body and white satin for lining, also from Joann's
Embroidery - used an high end sewing machine with pre-programmed stitching, using gold thread from Joann's

Patterns Used:
Corset - self drafted with help from Katherine's site
Vest - old pattern I already had
Chemise & Upper sleeve - Simplicity 5843
Lower sleeve - self drafted with help from Maggie's site

What I like:
I really like how the embroidery on the corset and cap sleeves turned out. I also like the look of the machine quilting on the vest. The moleskin material for the vest and corset worked well, and the arm ties are spot on.

What I would change:
I don't like the final look of the chemise. I want to completely redo it in silk and create two pieces (a chemise and overskirt) like the original costume. Now that I have more experience with pintucking I think I can do a better job a second time around. I also want to reshape the neckline - I kinda fudged on mine. The corset needs to be redone with proper boning and coutil, and the vest needs to be refitted desperately - it tends to shift upwards without any encouragement.

LJ "Diary": shieldmaiden

To see the reference images used to make this costume,
check out my Shieldmaiden research.