Comment on Elanor Gamgee - full shot by Verdaera
Hello, I am looking to make a hobbit costume for myself. I was hoping you might have some advice for me on patterns and such as your costume is so beautiful!
I am planning to make a six piece outfit consisting of a short sleeved chemise, petticoat, skirt, overskirt for fancy occasions, bodice, and an apron. I am planning to use cotton for just about everything except for the bodice which I will use a brocade for. All of my fabric is coming from JoAnns.
I have decided on green for the skirt and creme for the apron, but beyond that my color scheme is still up in the air. I know I want to sew buttons into the skirt and button holes into the petticoat so I can gather the skirt. I may make the chemise in a dress form to eleminate the need for the petticoat. I am planning for the petticoat to come about three inches above my ankle, the skirt to come two inches above the petticoat and the overskirt to come one-two inches above the skirt. I am leaving the overskirt long in case I ever feel like using it as a skirt. I have already made a reversable cloak from dark green cotton velour and grey velvet.
I am an intermediate sewer who has never worked with bodices before, but am competent enough to make everything else.
Any advice?
I am planning to make a six piece outfit consisting of a short sleeved chemise, petticoat, skirt, overskirt for fancy occasions, bodice, and an apron. I am planning to use cotton for just about everything except for the bodice which I will use a brocade for. All of my fabric is coming from JoAnns.
I have decided on green for the skirt and creme for the apron, but beyond that my color scheme is still up in the air. I know I want to sew buttons into the skirt and button holes into the petticoat so I can gather the skirt. I may make the chemise in a dress form to eleminate the need for the petticoat. I am planning for the petticoat to come about three inches above my ankle, the skirt to come two inches above the petticoat and the overskirt to come one-two inches above the skirt. I am leaving the overskirt long in case I ever feel like using it as a skirt. I have already made a reversable cloak from dark green cotton velour and grey velvet.
I am an intermediate sewer who has never worked with bodices before, but am competent enough to make everything else.
Any advice?
Thank you, I'm glad you like it!
I do have some advice for you
The best thing to do is to take your design and compare it with all known hobbit clothes to see if all the design elements will fit. There is a difference between LOTR era and Hobbit era Hobbits. Here's a link to my gallery of screen caps for both. [link]
For colors, LOTR era stuck pretty much to any color you can make with natural, plant-based dyes, so they were somewhat subdued, but things like saffron yellow were seen in Merry's vest. They had lots of texture and used natural fibers. The Hobbit era ones did break the initial rules, and there were a few more things like purple colors and a couple fancier brocades. I tried to stick to tone-on-tone, and I used a matelasse fabric (like Merry's vest) from the JoAnn's home dec department. You can find lots of great bodice fabric in the home dec section. I would just advise against having many visible, layered skirts as I haven't seen any evidence of that. You can use petticoats for volume, certainly, but I haven't seen any skirts that have been gathered over other skirts. I have seen lots of decorative aprons, some that go almost all the way around.
As for bodices, there's plenty of patterns in the historical costume sections of the pattern books at the fabric store that will work. In LOTR, they had back-laced bodices, some also had buttons on the front as well as back lace (which I just find easier to get into), and the hemline on the bodices were straight. The Hobbit hobbits differed from this, with more 18th century styled bodices that had pointy fronts and peplum skirts attached. I prefer them straight because it gives the illusion of being shorter whereas pointy bodice hems elongate the body. They put some boning in the bodices, and you do want it a bit of a heavier weight (so if you use a thin fabric, back it with something heavier). The Hobbit hobbit women also had the option of tie-on sleeves.
I hope this helps!
I do have some advice for you
The best thing to do is to take your design and compare it with all known hobbit clothes to see if all the design elements will fit. There is a difference between LOTR era and Hobbit era Hobbits. Here's a link to my gallery of screen caps for both. [link]For colors, LOTR era stuck pretty much to any color you can make with natural, plant-based dyes, so they were somewhat subdued, but things like saffron yellow were seen in Merry's vest. They had lots of texture and used natural fibers. The Hobbit era ones did break the initial rules, and there were a few more things like purple colors and a couple fancier brocades. I tried to stick to tone-on-tone, and I used a matelasse fabric (like Merry's vest) from the JoAnn's home dec department. You can find lots of great bodice fabric in the home dec section. I would just advise against having many visible, layered skirts as I haven't seen any evidence of that. You can use petticoats for volume, certainly, but I haven't seen any skirts that have been gathered over other skirts. I have seen lots of decorative aprons, some that go almost all the way around.
As for bodices, there's plenty of patterns in the historical costume sections of the pattern books at the fabric store that will work. In LOTR, they had back-laced bodices, some also had buttons on the front as well as back lace (which I just find easier to get into), and the hemline on the bodices were straight. The Hobbit hobbits differed from this, with more 18th century styled bodices that had pointy fronts and peplum skirts attached. I prefer them straight because it gives the illusion of being shorter whereas pointy bodice hems elongate the body. They put some boning in the bodices, and you do want it a bit of a heavier weight (so if you use a thin fabric, back it with something heavier). The Hobbit hobbit women also had the option of tie-on sleeves.
I hope this helps!