Elizabeth Swann Costume Studies Part 2 - Nightgown and Robe

The first time we meet the grown up Elizabeth Swann (played by Keira Knightley) she wakes up from dreaming about her childhood. She is wearing this lovely nightgown which she also wears when she gets kidnapped by Barbossa's crew.

You can see some of the back seams in this picture:

 Gorgeous sleeve detail:

The front looks as though it is full and then gathered together into an empire waist perhaps with some smocking? The fabric appears to be a lightweight linen (or cotton, but I doubt it) with a floral embroidered or woven in pattern.

Here in the back view we can see there are several seams, there are princess seams and also a seam at the waist on the side panels. The Nightgown buttons down the back.

Over her nightgown, Elizabeth wears an embroidered robe, known as a bedgown:

I couldn't find a good view of the back but here you can see how it is full in the back, possibly pleated.

You can see the bedgown is trimmed with green and cream trim around the neckline and runs all the way down the front of the robe on either side. Also notice the sleeves are gathered up almost to the elbow.

A little closer view:

Here is a picture of the shoes worn with this costume:

I'm not sure where to find a pattern that would work for the nightgown, it might be easiest to draft your own. The trickiest part would be the back with all those seams. You could try using a regency gown pattern for the back and just reshaping the back seams to look more like hers, or use parts of a medieval gown pattern as it does almost have princess seams in the back.
There are notes here on how to make a bedgown.

Elizabeth Swann Costume Study Part 1 - Young Elizabeth

Elizabeth Swann is the first character we meet in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. She is a young girl who is fascinated by pirates and the sea and also the daughter of the Governor. She is well dressed in what appears could be a dress made of silk with a floral pattern on it.

Here in the front you can see the front seamlines curving down into a "V" at the waist. Her sleeves are trimmed with wide lace which was very fashionable in this period.

Back view: you can see how the seams fall on the back of the bodice and also notice the pleating of the skirt and the fit of the sleeves.

Here you can see the neckline of her dress it trimmed with fine lace and it looks like a blue ribbon.

In this photo you can see how the back overlaps, it looks like it may fasten with hooks and eyes, though I'm not positive. You can also see where the sleeve seam is, not underneath as most seams are now days.

After the ship crew rescues Will Turner, Elizabeth finds the pirate medallion which is just the beginning of the story.

Here you can see the details of the medallion:

Pattern ideas for this dress are J.P. Ryan's Robe a l'Anglaise pattern for adult size, also
McCall's 6139 which would need some adjusting on the seam placements and the neckline shape. This would not be a historically accurate pattern but it does come in children and adult sizes so that's nice if you are simply looking for a quick easy costume! There is also a pattern from Mill Farm for a girl's 18th century gown that can be found here. Sense and Sensibility Patterns has a Portrait Dress Pattern that comes in both adult and children's sizes that could be altered to work as well. You can also purchase a replica of the pirate medallion here.

The Three Musketeers

I'm really excited about the new Three Musketeers movie, I haven't seen it yet but I love a good swashbuckling film packed full of action and costumes. And, this movie stars Mathew McFadyen and Orlando Bloom. All the pictures make me want to do some costuming AND see the movie.

Have any of you seen it?

Off to unpack my sewing room...

The day has come...

Can you believe it? After two years of aching wrists, Pirates of the Caribbean marathons, late nights and hot cups of strong tea, the infamous corset is DONE.

In-fa-mous: having a reputation of the worst kind : notoriously evil

A grand total of 79 hand sewn eyelets...40 pieces of boning...
Okay...so I do still need to find lacing...and have some proper pictures taken.
Keep a weather eye on the horizon...

Challenge

I've decided I'm going to try to focus on one costume for awhile and see if I can't complete it. I seem to get too many projects going and I rarely finish them in short time because I get distracted with something new.
This plan is exciting to me except for one thing....I'm already in the middle of a big project...making Elizabeth Swann's costume from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. I am looking forward to finishing this...I'm just a bit tired of the thing that's been hanging over my head for...how long has it been? Don't answer that.
Yes....the blasted corset....
This is about how I feel about it:

BUT...I am nearly done so I'm going to dig it out and give it a go and see if I can't finish it up in the next few weeks. I'm past the worst of it which is nice.
I could stop there but I already bought the fabric for the dress....so I think while I'm on a role I should keep going and make it too.

The other project that has been tempting me is Will Turner's costume from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. I bought a leather coat from a thrift store ages ago that I'm planning on somehow transforming into his pirate coat.

I also have fabric that will work great for his waistcoat....

And then I can buy fabric for the shirt (or just use muslin) and breeches when I get done with those.

So tempting.....but ONE project at a time. That's my new motto. It's hard. But very much less stressful.

I'm going to try to keep updates and posts on my progress so I will be challenged to actually make progress. ;) Who knows....maybe with focusing on one thing I will actually finish something!

Elizabeth Swann Fabric

Once I finish my Elizabeth Swann stays and also make some panniers I wanted to one day make this dress. I always thought it would have to be way into the future when I had $100 or more to spend on fabric.

Well, this weekend I found some fabric! It's not a perfect match, not as gold as hers...it's more cream and buttery. But it's close enough for me and I got all of it for just $22.50!

So...now I just have to keep my eyes open for fabric for the underskirt.
Don't you just love it when you find things like that? :)

Elizabeth Swann Corset Progress

Alright...I've finally taken pictures of the progress of my corset...I'm almost there!
Here is the first half pinned on my dress form. The front:

Side and back:

For awhile I was joking that I should just tie the one half corset on myself and say it's for a Mad Hatter party. haha But I have prevailed and I'm almost done with the second half!

I finished the boning in the second half yesterday while watching Little Dorrit. Yay! But that sad part is I'm out of binding...so I'll have to wait to finish it until I can get to the fabric store.

I'm so excited to be so close to done!

Elizabeth Swann Underpinnings: Still in Progress

I just wanted to let you know I haven't given up on my Elizabeth Swann corset! I am about 2/3 of the way done with boning the second half and then just have to do binding and eyelets and then find the perfect lacing! I'll update with pictures soon, for now...you can just drool over a picture of her corset:

Once I finish that I'm hoping to tackle panniers. Which should be fun! Has anyone made some before?

Here is a picture of Elizabeth Swann's:

After that I think I'll start my Duchess gown. I need the underpinnings first anyway to give it the proper look. Then someday I'll make one of Elizabeth's dresses. There's just so much on my list of things to do. ;)