| The Chase Dress |
Images are thumbnails, click to enlarge.
The companies that produce ready-made costumes for sale are not producing this costume, most likely
it is due to the complicated nature of the costume. It would be too expensive to make wholesale wise,
and too expensive for the average consumer to buy, therefore a no-win situation for them.
So, at this point when I am writing this, if you want to wear this costume for an event, a premiere, or
Halloween..your only option is making it for yourself, or having it made for you. I know of one woman
who is in Germany that makes a nice re-creation of it, however I believe she is quite busy non-stop (or
so I read when ever I see her site) so you may not be able to book a costume with her. The most
complicated areas of this costume are the collar, sleeves, and design on sleeves in my opinion.
The most popular costume pattern used to create this costume is Simplicity 9891, BUT this costume
pattern only comes up to a size 20 (US). If you are a fellow Pre-Raphaelite like me, this will not work for
you unless you are into altering the pattern for more room, and from what I have read, you can only
alter a pattern to a max addition of 2 inches. Anything past that would distort the pattern too much
and this is not usually recommended. So if you need to size up the pattern pieces more than 2 inches
(compare your measurements with the size measurements on the back of the pattern envelope), you
might want to look at altering one of the other patterns recommended below that come in larger sizes
to begin with. Alternatively, you might want to create your own patterns with muslin fabric and design
your own.
The companies that produce ready-made costumes for sale are not producing this costume, most likely
it is due to the complicated nature of the costume. It would be too expensive to make wholesale wise,
and too expensive for the average consumer to buy, therefore a no-win situation for them.
So, at this point when I am writing this, if you want to wear this costume for an event, a premiere, or
Halloween..your only option is making it for yourself, or having it made for you. I know of one woman
who is in Germany that makes a nice re-creation of it, however I believe she is quite busy non-stop (or
so I read when ever I see her site) so you may not be able to book a costume with her. The most
complicated areas of this costume are the collar, sleeves, and design on sleeves in my opinion.
The most popular costume pattern used to create this costume is Simplicity 9891, BUT this costume
pattern only comes up to a size 20 (US). If you are a fellow Pre-Raphaelite like me, this will not work for
you unless you are into altering the pattern for more room, and from what I have read, you can only
alter a pattern to a max addition of 2 inches. Anything past that would distort the pattern too much
and this is not usually recommended. So if you need to size up the pattern pieces more than 2 inches
(compare your measurements with the size measurements on the back of the pattern envelope), you
might want to look at altering one of the other patterns recommended below that come in larger sizes
to begin with. Alternatively, you might want to create your own patterns with muslin fabric and design
your own.
Patterns & Fabrics Used :
When I decided to make this costume, I knew about the most popular costume pattern to modify, and
I knew I would not be able to use it without altering it. Therefore, my thoughts were elsewhere from
the start. I also feel that the pattern does not come close enough to the original (for me) so I wanted
to find some alternatives that might be closer to it.
There is a new pattern out from McCall's this year. Check out McCall's 3797. This only comes up to size
20, but it has what looks like an attempt at three of Arwen's costumes. The one on the left could be
made into the "Arch Dress"; the one in the middle could be made into the "Chase Dress" just by using
my technique on the sleeves..and the one on the right could be made into the "Angel Dress". Totally
possible, ANYTHING is possible if you can imagine it and work at it. =0)
I went to the fabric store and started digging in the newest catalogs for the closest style I could find in
my size. I found Butterick 5635, Vogue 1290, McCall's 3254, and McCall's 3795(see pic above). These
were a good base start. Any one of them can be altered into the chase dress I believe, especially if you
look to the LOTR costume research pages for help on making the collar and sleeves.
When I was looking through the costume section of Simplicity I stopped when I saw Simplicity 9699. I
instantly saw what I needed in that pattern. I know it might not jump out at everyone, so I put some
red arrows pointing to the style I was looking at. Simplicity 9699 has the collar easily. That's what
jumped out at me right away. Yeah! =0) Then once I got it home I tried to figure out what I could do
to it, to make it work for me. This pattern only comes made up to size 20 (US) also. For me, it is not
the top half or the bodice that is a problem, most of the time it is the hip area. Therefore, I knew at
least I could use the bodice and collar here. If you take a look at the bottom half of the skirt, you will
see it even has that "petal" shape as well! Although, the waist area is a little bulky because there are
gathers and I knew after trying to make a mock-up with muslin that this skirt would not work as is for
the costume. If you take away the bow and over skirt, essentially there is the costume. There are the
bones.
I bought about 7 yards of bleached white muslin and decided to use this as a mock up and really play
with ideas without ruining my good fabric. I recommend this wholeheartedly whenever you are unsure
of yourself or where you want to go with a pattern or idea. The muslin is only about $0.99-$1.99 USD
per yard so you really feel free to mess around, and MESS UP! =0)
I needed to alter the bodice pattern by adding a little more room on the sides. The bodice does not
have the "v" shaped front or back like the original, so I needed to add pieces of the brown tissue paper
to the front and back panels to make up the "v" points. There are no princess seams. I had decided to
just cut the front and back bodice pattern pieces starting at the top snip mark area to the bottom in a
nice curve. I just free handed it, but you can measure if you feel it would be better for you. It came out
really well (probably couldn't have done that again if I tried).
Here's a helpful hint for you, after you cut apart the bodice pieces, mark them (because if your sewing
area gets crazy like mine does stuff gets buried) like this: "front 1 of 2", "front 2 of 2" or something like
that so that you can go back to them and it will all make sense after you have hacked them to your
hearts delight.
When I decided to make this costume, I knew about the most popular costume pattern to modify, and
I knew I would not be able to use it without altering it. Therefore, my thoughts were elsewhere from
the start. I also feel that the pattern does not come close enough to the original (for me) so I wanted
to find some alternatives that might be closer to it.
There is a new pattern out from McCall's this year. Check out McCall's 3797. This only comes up to size
20, but it has what looks like an attempt at three of Arwen's costumes. The one on the left could be
made into the "Arch Dress"; the one in the middle could be made into the "Chase Dress" just by using
my technique on the sleeves..and the one on the right could be made into the "Angel Dress". Totally
possible, ANYTHING is possible if you can imagine it and work at it. =0)
I went to the fabric store and started digging in the newest catalogs for the closest style I could find in
my size. I found Butterick 5635, Vogue 1290, McCall's 3254, and McCall's 3795(see pic above). These
were a good base start. Any one of them can be altered into the chase dress I believe, especially if you
look to the LOTR costume research pages for help on making the collar and sleeves.
When I was looking through the costume section of Simplicity I stopped when I saw Simplicity 9699. I
instantly saw what I needed in that pattern. I know it might not jump out at everyone, so I put some
red arrows pointing to the style I was looking at. Simplicity 9699 has the collar easily. That's what
jumped out at me right away. Yeah! =0) Then once I got it home I tried to figure out what I could do
to it, to make it work for me. This pattern only comes made up to size 20 (US) also. For me, it is not
the top half or the bodice that is a problem, most of the time it is the hip area. Therefore, I knew at
least I could use the bodice and collar here. If you take a look at the bottom half of the skirt, you will
see it even has that "petal" shape as well! Although, the waist area is a little bulky because there are
gathers and I knew after trying to make a mock-up with muslin that this skirt would not work as is for
the costume. If you take away the bow and over skirt, essentially there is the costume. There are the
bones.
I bought about 7 yards of bleached white muslin and decided to use this as a mock up and really play
with ideas without ruining my good fabric. I recommend this wholeheartedly whenever you are unsure
of yourself or where you want to go with a pattern or idea. The muslin is only about $0.99-$1.99 USD
per yard so you really feel free to mess around, and MESS UP! =0)
I needed to alter the bodice pattern by adding a little more room on the sides. The bodice does not
have the "v" shaped front or back like the original, so I needed to add pieces of the brown tissue paper
to the front and back panels to make up the "v" points. There are no princess seams. I had decided to
just cut the front and back bodice pattern pieces starting at the top snip mark area to the bottom in a
nice curve. I just free handed it, but you can measure if you feel it would be better for you. It came out
really well (probably couldn't have done that again if I tried).
Here's a helpful hint for you, after you cut apart the bodice pieces, mark them (because if your sewing
area gets crazy like mine does stuff gets buried) like this: "front 1 of 2", "front 2 of 2" or something like
that so that you can go back to them and it will all make sense after you have hacked them to your
hearts delight.
After I altered the bodice, I began making a mock-up with the muslin fabric (pics 1-3). I made the
bodice, and the collar, and most of the sleeves. I began making the skirts, but soon realized it was not
going to work. I concentrated on one thing at a time. I cannot emphasize this enough here (when
making anything really) but especially this costume be patient. It takes allot of effort to make this one. It
is aggravating if you are inexperienced, and perhaps even if you are experienced. Do as I did: work from
the top to the bottom trying to figure it out. I concentrated one area at a time, and messed around
freely with the muslin until I felt confident enough to move to the real fabric (pics 7-9).
This brings me to fabric choices. I went looking for some faux suede material at first. Obviously, not
many people can afford to re-create this one with real suede..and if you can, finding it in the right color
would be hard. I found alternatives to suede in the materials called "Butter Suede", "Ultra Suede", or
"Doe Suede". All of these materials would work for this. They range from moderate to high price range.
You can really go with any fabric you like, just get something with a mild texture to it (the feel of it) to
give it some richness resembling suede leather. Some people have even made this coat in a blue material
not gray and it turns out fine.
Here is what I did. I was really lucky (for once). Do yourself a huge favor and dig through the remnant
piles and the bargain piles. While looking through the sale bins, I found a bolt of gray material (pic 4)
that was on sale for $2.49 (USD) per yard, with just 6 1/2 yards left on the bolt. It was the perfect
color, that's what caught my eye- and it has a texture to it that makes it feel richer than it is. It is only a
woven Rayon material. However, from afar it looks awesome. It did not have a name on the bolt, so I
cannot tell you what it is. I scored, big time. The same day, I scored some left over gray vinyl that I will
be using for the boot tops, for only $5.00. So please dig, look, and score!
As for the under sleeve and underskirt materials..that's another story. The closest I could find in my
area would be a white crinkly Voile fabric (pic 5) that was huge! It is about 100 inches across. It is
expensive at $14.99 (USD) a yard, but I had a 40% off coupon for signing up on the JoAnn fabric
newsletter..so I got a discount.
The original is a silk fabric I believe and it has a defined vertical rib to it. If you wanted to use crinkly
Viole, you could make it more crinkly by washing it and twisting it up before it'hs dry. Let it dry twisted
up and then uncoil it to see how ribbed it is. Do not iron it after this otherwise you would loose the ribs
you created. I bought 3 yards of this fabric and dyed it a light gray color; I just wanted it to "dinge" a
bit. It was so white, it was jolting. I used Rit Dye in the color Pearl Grey. I used the tub and soaked the
material for about 10 minutes only, just until it got that nice dinge to it. Softened it right up!
I decided for the sashes to use the same crinkly Voile material, so I cut off some streamers after it was
dyed (pic 6). The original sashes are of a silk material, but I could not see myself buying silk just to
make streamers from them, since I was not using it anywhere else. I made three to be exact. Two for
the back, and one long one for the lacing in the front. I first bought a bolt of 2 inch wide sheer organdy
ribbon (in pics 1-3) for this, thinking I would dye it, you'll see why this won't work. It is too stiff. I dyed
the streamers with Rit Dye in the colors Purple, and Denim Blue.
They were already "dinged" in the grey..then I soaked them in Purple for 5 minutes. Rinsed them and
then soaked them in Denim Blue for 10 minutes, and they are the most amazing gray purple blue, like
the color of dusk. They are perfect! =0) To finish the edges of the streamers to keep the fabric from
fraying I just folded over the edges on both sides, and then used a decorative stitch on my machine (pic
6).
I have a bunch of decorative stitches available to me on my new sewing machine; one of them resembles
a "baseball" type stitch, (pic 9) which is perfect for the princess seam details. On the original, the
stitching is visible on the bodice. If you do not have a stitch like this on your machine, you can hand
stitch the details, or you could even paint them on like the details on the sleeves and collar.
The bodice was put together in stages, for me it was easier to do it this way. First I cut the pieces out,
then I basted the princess seams together, then I stitched the decorative stitch, leaving the areas open
where I would need to attach the sashes. I left about a 2-inch gap on left and right in the back for this,
and about a 4-inch gap in the front for this. I decided to attach Hem Tape in the color Pewter (see in pic
7) to the front in small 1-inch loops, to act as the lacing holders, rather than try to stitch the streamers
in..risking that they might come out too tight, or wrong. This way it is just like lacing up a shoe, and
since the color is matching the fabric, they are not too noticeable when laced. After the loops were
attached then I finished the princess seams and then the decorative stitching. You see, it's all about
patience, and stages.
I added a 7 inch dark gray zipper in the back, I know the original must have a hidden zipper in front, but
I didn't feel confident enough to take that on- I have a hard enough time with sewing a regular zipper!
=0) I put hook and eye fasteners at the top of the collar in back to hold it together, since it is not all
one piece. Makes it easy to get in and out of this costume too.
Once the sleeve designs (see pages Sleeve Design-Collar) were cured and heat-sealed, I went to work
figuring out how to make the bottom sleeves, as well as the small "sleeve cap" on the top of the
shoulder, how to go about making all sections of the sleeves, inner sleeves, outer sleeves, upper
sleeves..oh my....
Sleeve Cap Pattern & Construction.
After MUCH deliberation, I finally came up with a pattern on my own that works for the small sleeve cap
on the shoulder area. It's funny how such a small detail can be such an enigma when you have no idea
what you are doing. See Pic 10. I have this image as a .jpg, and if anyone wants it, email me and I can
send it out to you. You will need to adjust the size to fit with your size pattern, but the jest of the idea
is there. Cut 4 pieces of your fabric, and 2 pieces of stiff interfacing (what is left over from making the
collar-see pattern instructions). The pattern piece is made to be cut on the fold. Attach interfacing
(Sew-in, or Fusible) to one of the fabric pieces in each shoulder set, and stitch them together, right
sides together. Turn them right side out, and then press. Stitch them together on the raw edges.
Attach sleeve cap to the armhole with pins leaving about 1/2 inch out for the detail to show, making
sure facing side is UP for lift. Once you get the piece in the arm hole and fidget with it a bit you'll find the
right direction and place for it that looks right on your costume. Took me FOREVER to do this. See Pics
11-12.
bodice, and the collar, and most of the sleeves. I began making the skirts, but soon realized it was not
going to work. I concentrated on one thing at a time. I cannot emphasize this enough here (when
making anything really) but especially this costume be patient. It takes allot of effort to make this one. It
is aggravating if you are inexperienced, and perhaps even if you are experienced. Do as I did: work from
the top to the bottom trying to figure it out. I concentrated one area at a time, and messed around
freely with the muslin until I felt confident enough to move to the real fabric (pics 7-9).
This brings me to fabric choices. I went looking for some faux suede material at first. Obviously, not
many people can afford to re-create this one with real suede..and if you can, finding it in the right color
would be hard. I found alternatives to suede in the materials called "Butter Suede", "Ultra Suede", or
"Doe Suede". All of these materials would work for this. They range from moderate to high price range.
You can really go with any fabric you like, just get something with a mild texture to it (the feel of it) to
give it some richness resembling suede leather. Some people have even made this coat in a blue material
not gray and it turns out fine.
Here is what I did. I was really lucky (for once). Do yourself a huge favor and dig through the remnant
piles and the bargain piles. While looking through the sale bins, I found a bolt of gray material (pic 4)
that was on sale for $2.49 (USD) per yard, with just 6 1/2 yards left on the bolt. It was the perfect
color, that's what caught my eye- and it has a texture to it that makes it feel richer than it is. It is only a
woven Rayon material. However, from afar it looks awesome. It did not have a name on the bolt, so I
cannot tell you what it is. I scored, big time. The same day, I scored some left over gray vinyl that I will
be using for the boot tops, for only $5.00. So please dig, look, and score!
As for the under sleeve and underskirt materials..that's another story. The closest I could find in my
area would be a white crinkly Voile fabric (pic 5) that was huge! It is about 100 inches across. It is
expensive at $14.99 (USD) a yard, but I had a 40% off coupon for signing up on the JoAnn fabric
newsletter..so I got a discount.
The original is a silk fabric I believe and it has a defined vertical rib to it. If you wanted to use crinkly
Viole, you could make it more crinkly by washing it and twisting it up before it'hs dry. Let it dry twisted
up and then uncoil it to see how ribbed it is. Do not iron it after this otherwise you would loose the ribs
you created. I bought 3 yards of this fabric and dyed it a light gray color; I just wanted it to "dinge" a
bit. It was so white, it was jolting. I used Rit Dye in the color Pearl Grey. I used the tub and soaked the
material for about 10 minutes only, just until it got that nice dinge to it. Softened it right up!
I decided for the sashes to use the same crinkly Voile material, so I cut off some streamers after it was
dyed (pic 6). The original sashes are of a silk material, but I could not see myself buying silk just to
make streamers from them, since I was not using it anywhere else. I made three to be exact. Two for
the back, and one long one for the lacing in the front. I first bought a bolt of 2 inch wide sheer organdy
ribbon (in pics 1-3) for this, thinking I would dye it, you'll see why this won't work. It is too stiff. I dyed
the streamers with Rit Dye in the colors Purple, and Denim Blue.
They were already "dinged" in the grey..then I soaked them in Purple for 5 minutes. Rinsed them and
then soaked them in Denim Blue for 10 minutes, and they are the most amazing gray purple blue, like
the color of dusk. They are perfect! =0) To finish the edges of the streamers to keep the fabric from
fraying I just folded over the edges on both sides, and then used a decorative stitch on my machine (pic
6).
I have a bunch of decorative stitches available to me on my new sewing machine; one of them resembles
a "baseball" type stitch, (pic 9) which is perfect for the princess seam details. On the original, the
stitching is visible on the bodice. If you do not have a stitch like this on your machine, you can hand
stitch the details, or you could even paint them on like the details on the sleeves and collar.
The bodice was put together in stages, for me it was easier to do it this way. First I cut the pieces out,
then I basted the princess seams together, then I stitched the decorative stitch, leaving the areas open
where I would need to attach the sashes. I left about a 2-inch gap on left and right in the back for this,
and about a 4-inch gap in the front for this. I decided to attach Hem Tape in the color Pewter (see in pic
7) to the front in small 1-inch loops, to act as the lacing holders, rather than try to stitch the streamers
in..risking that they might come out too tight, or wrong. This way it is just like lacing up a shoe, and
since the color is matching the fabric, they are not too noticeable when laced. After the loops were
attached then I finished the princess seams and then the decorative stitching. You see, it's all about
patience, and stages.
I added a 7 inch dark gray zipper in the back, I know the original must have a hidden zipper in front, but
I didn't feel confident enough to take that on- I have a hard enough time with sewing a regular zipper!
=0) I put hook and eye fasteners at the top of the collar in back to hold it together, since it is not all
one piece. Makes it easy to get in and out of this costume too.
Once the sleeve designs (see pages Sleeve Design-Collar) were cured and heat-sealed, I went to work
figuring out how to make the bottom sleeves, as well as the small "sleeve cap" on the top of the
shoulder, how to go about making all sections of the sleeves, inner sleeves, outer sleeves, upper
sleeves..oh my....
Sleeve Cap Pattern & Construction.
After MUCH deliberation, I finally came up with a pattern on my own that works for the small sleeve cap
on the shoulder area. It's funny how such a small detail can be such an enigma when you have no idea
what you are doing. See Pic 10. I have this image as a .jpg, and if anyone wants it, email me and I can
send it out to you. You will need to adjust the size to fit with your size pattern, but the jest of the idea
is there. Cut 4 pieces of your fabric, and 2 pieces of stiff interfacing (what is left over from making the
collar-see pattern instructions). The pattern piece is made to be cut on the fold. Attach interfacing
(Sew-in, or Fusible) to one of the fabric pieces in each shoulder set, and stitch them together, right
sides together. Turn them right side out, and then press. Stitch them together on the raw edges.
Attach sleeve cap to the armhole with pins leaving about 1/2 inch out for the detail to show, making
sure facing side is UP for lift. Once you get the piece in the arm hole and fidget with it a bit you'll find the
right direction and place for it that looks right on your costume. Took me FOREVER to do this. See Pics
11-12.