FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Cusp of Hope
(click images to to enlarge)
Outline the story …
I was inspired by Eowyn from J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings". In particular, there is one section in "The Return of the King" where Eowyn and Faramir look out to the land of Mordor, where all hope for the world has gone, and the world seems to hold its breath unsure if good or evil will win. I took inspiration from the cloak Eowyn was wearing during this scene, which was described as: "the colour of deep summer-night and it was set with silver stars about the hem and throat". Because there are 'stars' already on the fabric I chose to make a mantle out of, there are none embroidered around the edge. I made the 'ouches' into stars to come back to this theme and included vines with leaves to echo the tree of Gondor.
The rest of the outfit was based off of fifteenth century clothing and done all in white, as that was the colour Eowyn was said to wear most often. I used a grand assiette sleeve instead of a traditional sleeve because Eowyn was a fighter and this type of sleeve was used for greater mobility.
Outline the construction…
The garments are hand-sewn using running-stitches and back-stitches, in either waxed linen thread or silk thread. In the mantle’s case, cotton thread was used. It consists of a kirtle made of cotton, a side-less surcoat made of cotton flannel (the sides trimmed in polyester ribbon), and a mantle made from fabric of unknown fibre content, but most likely synthetic of some type, as could be determined from a burn test where the lining contains less synthetic material than the outer layer.
The kirtle was made by following a tutorial made by Morgan Donner with adjustments for the sleeves. The pattern for the grand assiette sleeve was obtained from Tasha D. Kelly. The buttons are self-stuffed using the method presented by Rosalie Gilbert on her website. The surcoat was made by re-tracing the kirtle pattern and cutting away part of the sides in the front. There was no specific pattern used for the mantle. Instead, a neckline was cut from the corner of a piece of fabric with the desired length. The ‘ouches’ are clay pins with beads and the chain was from a craft store. The hem and neckline of the mantle are trimmed with imitation-velvet polyester ribbon.
*heart eyes*
Beautiful!
Oh, your little cloth buttons are so nice! I also love how crisp and clean the white dress looks!
The kirtle looks amazing and fits you perfectly. I am inspired to make one, too and wear it as often as i can.
I just love the ornament with the gem!
That cape is *chefs kiss*
Beautiful construction and I love that cape! Very nicely done, thank you!