HSM 15: Challenge 3 - stashbusting, or the handmaiden cloche

When I started planning this year's projects I said that I didn't know what I was going to do for this challenge, but that something would probably come up. Then after the blue challenge I was so happy with my muff that I decided that I wanted to use the remaining piece of fabric to make a matching cape. I didn't feel like I had the time to try and make a pattern and I also didn't really think that any of my fabrics in the stash would be suitable for a lining. My heart simply wasn't in it, instead I'm spending all my time on my gold handmaiden.

Then came my disappointments with the dye results of the velvet. I now had a lot of velvet that is going to go into my stash, and especially had a lot of fairly small pieces. Now pieces that are less than a meter, but too big to just throw away have been the bane of my stash, and I decided to see what I could make from just small scraps of fabrics. To be honest I don't know how I came up with the idea of making a 1920's cloche hat, but then I realised that I could make a handmaiden cloche. Cloche hats with their fitted shape brim are actually not too far off from the hood with a tight underhood and brim that make up the handmaiden flame gown, and since the velvet that I had would be perfect for the flame gown in colour I felt that it would be fun to do a take on a 1920's version of a handmaiden.

For reference, for those of you reading this that might not be familiar with the flame gown, this is Natalie Portman wearing the costume in Star Wars Episode 1.

I found a pattern online, avaiable here and dived into my stash to find what other small pieces I could use for it. Below you can see the material laid out. Two pieces of my velvet scrap pieces, three pieces of linen, I think that might have been the lining for the 1787's redingote or vest, and a small piece of poly organza, that I had used for my dressing up as The Lady of the Mine.

The organza was used as interlining for the velvet and the linen was used to fully line the cloche, I didn't want to have velvet against my hair.

The pattern went together fairly easy, I don't think the pieces are perfectly matched up, but it might also have been that I was a bit too sloppy when cutting the velvet. The linen lining was a lot easier to sew than the velvet. I used a 1 cm seam allowance, and that made it fit really snug but comfortably on me. The yellow velvet was used for the underside of the brim, I was thinking about using a piece of red satin for it to make it more closer to the flame gown, but I have a very pinkish face and bright red would clash with my face.

To decorate the clash I went looking in my stash and only found a ribbon wide enough in a wine colour. I added the ribbon around the cloche and simply folded it in several layers to create a bow/flower on the side. It was finished by a sparkling bead that was probably the oldest thing that I used. It's from a party top that I bought a very long time ago and never used, but when I threw it out I unpicked all the big beads and put them in my stash, and that must have been 7 or 8 years ago, while I was still a student.

I might switch out the ribbon in the future, since I'm planning on using this for everyday wear together with a coat that goes more in yellow/brown/red, the wine colour is clashing a bit with it, which I noticed today when I wore them together. This was a stashbusting challenge though, so I kept to only using things I had at home.

What the item is: 1920's cloche hat

The Challenge: 3 stashbusting

Fabric: 0,5 m silk orange silk velvet, 0,1 m yellow silk velvet, 0,5 m linen

Stashed for how long?: The velvet was just relegated to stash when I failed dying it correctly, the linen 1 year.

Pattern: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Sew-a-Cute-Cloche-Hat/

Year: 1920's

Notions: Satin ribbon (unpicked from a 18th century hat and stashed for 2 year) Sparkly bead (stashed for at least 8 years), regular sewing thread.

How historically accurate is it? Even if the pattern isn't a vintage pattern there are original 1920's cloches with very similar seamlines

Hours to complete: 3 hours

First worn: Today when going shopping

Total cost: It was all from small leftover pieces in the stash.

And finally a bad selfie o me in the cloche.

TPM battlemaiden outfit

The costume that I finished in 2004 was the Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace Handmaiden battle outfit, also known as the battlemaiden. I've been a fan of the handmaidens since they started, they are in the background but they are cool, have nice costumes and can fight. To quote one of them "We are brave, your highness". This costume was the most I had spent when it came to fabrics, I probably bought fabric for around $120. Still I was happy to buy fabric that was "as close as I could find" rather then totally accurate. This was a velvet fabric that I found in a local store, and I was so happy to have found red velvet. I also chose simple gold trim, instead of the embroidered gold trim that was on the original. I never made a lining for the coat, I had planned to, but never got to it, and I never made the proper under shirt, or hairpiece. Still this is probably the first project where I felt that I spent a lot of money on the fabric, and I spent a lot of time researching possible patterns, and then mashing them up to get one good pattern. It was definitely a step forward compared to the previous costumes.

original costume

October 2004

At least I got the fullness of the coat and sleeve right

Status: Existing but inactive

I still have the coat and the pants, but I'm never going to finish it. I can use it for something else, but it's not accurate enough to call it a Star Wars costume.