Time for an Elizabeth Swann WIP post
It has been way too long since I made a post like this! Granted though, in the entire year of 2017 I only made this costume, so there was little to write, This year was crazy, so many things of life happened, I just had no energy to make anything. Anyways, I had been a sleeping member of the Dutch Pirate Crew for a year, and with no pirate dresses to fit the group, I really needed that to change. And so project number five was born!
What a wild ride this pattern was. Maggie’s write-up from thecostumersguide.com (here) was the best help I could have found. I did not go with the suggested Butterick pattern, I grabbed a historically accurate pattern for a Robe á l’Anglaise by J.P. Ryan. This dress is zipperless, and closes in the front with hooks and eyes. The actual dress has an additional diagonal seam in the front panel, and the back seams are princess seams instead of the back seams the pattern came with, but other than that, it’s a really close match! I went with 6,5 metres of this gorgeous burgundy silk that appears red in artifical light and reddish purple in natural light. (as you can see, I use Instagram a lot these days, pictured here is my lining)
My skirt is essentially a rectangle of three times the fabric width. I realised too late I wanted a short train on the dress so the middle panel is a bit bumpy. I would recommend a more gradual curve. The straight line was attached to the bodice lining by hand. First attach the burgundy layer, as this is the outer layer. Just pleat the hell out of it until the entire width fits your bodice waist.
Do note that historically, this dress should be worn with a bum roll, bum pad or panniers. Adjust the waist seam according to your undergarments. For the cosplay, I don’t wear a bum pad, but for a historical costuming event I will definitely wear the dress with both stays and a bum pad.
But I’m drifting off topic. The bodice and the skirt shape are the easiest parts of this dress. The sleeves are an absolute pain and the literal definition of hell. The pair of sleeves that ended up in my dress are the third pair. First, I went with a pleated rectangle. Didn’t work out, because the rectangle doesn’t fit in the dress. Eventually I went with a massively stretched bishop sleeve, which seemed to do the trick. I still think I could have stretched it even more, with more fabric the sleeves become even more lush and piratey.
After assembling the sleeve, there are three pleats in the sleeve under the golden trim. I don’t know if it actually serves a purpose, but my pleats fell out after my first event and I haven’t gotten around to fix them.
Another pleat / gathering is to be done in the skirt. I had no access to my mannequin when making this gather, so I roughly measured where my skirt was at kneeslength and pulled that up to mid-thigh, where the side seam would have been if you had one. I would have measured it if I would have done this carefully. Check the undergarments photo for a clear side view of the overskirt.
Next, the overdress has a black underlayer. I used cotton and a swirly lace overlay, the original has a texture that looks like many ribbons are applied to the fabric, but honestly I think every black fabric is fine as long as it isn’t shiny.
I took two fabric widths for the underlayer of the skirt, with the lace overlay only on the front side of the skirt. The black skirt also attaches to the lining of the bodice, however, this skirt ends at the opening of the bodice (in the middle), whereas the burgundy skirt opens at the hips, where your princess seam would have been if you had one.
As you can see, the black part of the dress also extends to the top of the bodice. I did not make an entire second bodice, but made a rectangular inlay of the layered fabrics, finished with fine black lace. I also inserted a bone in the seam allowance of the closure to add strength to the hooks and eyes that would be added on in the middle and to prevent the wrinkling that is already happening in this photo. You can also choose to make a full black dress, with a burgundy overlay. It’s unclear in the film how this dress is shaped, so I went with a heat-friendly version of a silk lined bodice with a cotton inlay.
The inside of the burgundy panel was both lined with silk lining and with fine black lace. This is also the moment where you cry about the amount of trims that need to go on this dress: the major part goes around the neckline, the front closure and the bottom of the bodice, a part around the armpits, a part on the bottom of the sleeves and two short pieces on the back seams. Then the burgundy skirt is finished with black lace with another, broader golden trim on top. I also added a trim on the black skirt for a rich finish.
Then there are a total of ten decorative frogs, involving seven golden buttons (I handpainted them). I was unable to find a picture of my finished frogs, because I hurried them the night before the con (I have zero planning skills). The gold button is in the middle. Extending from there is a piece of black elastic, ending in a point. the flat side is decorated with a chinese frog (that’s what I got, you can also make your own, but it takes an endless amount of time for ten pieces). The pointy side of the elastic is then decorated with two black mini buttons. I placed the four on my bodice over my shoulder seams, two more at the top of my hooks and eyes, and there should go two per sleeve right under the horizontal pleating. The sleeve is then finished with some beige lace. (mine was done too hastily, I need to get it redone, because my lace is super tiny).
If you thought you were done, you are wrong! You do have an overdress, but what’s the use if you have no rum shift?
You can obviously dirty it all the much you want if you are wearing it without the plum dress.
I made the mistake of making this monster without a pattern, so the fit is horrible and my skirt is nowhere near as wide as I would like it to be. I just did two panels with two godets (because Keira has that too and I didn’t want to overspend on my shift, unfortunately I am not a little stick like Keira is, so I would definitely recommend using a pattern. I would have gone with magic pattern Simplicity 1551). The sleeves have an obvious seam on top, so you could either make a two piece sleeve, or a one piece sleeve with the seam on top instead of out of sight, which is what I did for mine.
I still think my first rope was a little bit too thick, so I got some other cotton thread. The one in this picture is 3mm, whereas my newer one is just 1mm. I think 2mm is the perfect width of the thread needed. Mine was thin enough not to sew any eyelets, but the wider the thread, the more you actually need eyelets. For the front, I just made a cut and closed it with the thread. Basic shift, horrible fit (I need to shimmy in and out if I wear it)
I wear the shift and I use the plum overdress as a coat (that’s how I put it on anyways). Don’t forget to dirty the shift, as this was the one piece of clothing people almost never took off, and also the Caribbean were warm as hell, so you generally sweated a lot in the shift. Plus off-white looks better in photos anyways. So I threw mine in a tea bath! It needs a new bath, because it can be dirtier. If you make a pirate attire, you are never dirty enough!
For the longest time I thought I was going to use my own hair for Elizabeth, but eventually it occurred to me my own hair is too brown in comparison to Keira, so I went wig hunting. After a month, I came across a girl who resold a Royal Enchantments wig, styled like Elizabeth’s English gowns. It was half priced, so I bought it.
I then did what I now think of as the stupidest cosplay move ever: I took out all the pins to create Elizabeth’s nightgown and dinner-with-Barbossa look. This ended up like this:
Which I obviously found more fitting than the English hair at the pirate ship. The next con, I decided the wig was too curly, so I straightened all the curls out in hopes to create the messy beach look (I have never seen that in wigs). I am now considering a new wig, since this one also turned out to be too blonde for Elizabeth anyways. New adventure: actually curling a wig to get it back to the English style it was when I bought it.
The bottom picture shows my ‘beach’ wig. There are so many things I would like to change about this cosplay, but I am so happy I managed to complete this project!
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