Sew-Isolation: The Elizabeth Swann Plum Gown
Hello again, Tumblr mateys! Well, as working from home stretches on here for the foreseeable in my corner of the globe, I stand a good chance of actually finishing the Elizabeth Swann Costume Project, something I never thought I’d say! Just one more gown after this one is finished and then I’m done!
This particular gown is a favourite of mine, though. Otherwise known as the “red/plum gown” in costuming circles (or the “purple-y piratey gown” if you’re me...) it’s the silk gown Barbossa gives Elizabeth to wear before the whole Curse backstory is revealed. This is because its colour is really hard to pin down - in some lights it looks purple, and has a vaguely Goth pirate chic feel to it, but in others, it looks burgundy/deep red (and ALSO vaguely Goth pirate chic)
This is both a blessing and a curse for costumers - because on one hand, WHAT THE HECK IS THE REAL COLOUR? How can anyone possibly be screen accurate?
On the other hand, it does give you a choice. you can pick either purple or red fabric to make the gown, depending on which you think is nicer/suits you and neither option is strictly incorrect. I’ve seen gorgeous cosplay recreations in both colours, and they’re always stunning.
As you can see above, I went with burgundy.
Because this is a lovely piece of finery, no matter the colour. Silk! Gold trim! Frogging and buttons and lacings, oh my!
You can tell the designer Penny Rose had a lot of fun contrasting Keira’s slim figure with the big sleeves and bustled skirts - and I’m not going to lie, making my own version has been a lot of fun, too - if way more labour intensive than the gold gown, as it’s taken up way more trimming.
First off, we have the shift:
I had real trouble finding a nice embroidered cream linen - and in the end, after fruitless combing of online fabric shops for something similar, I had to settle on beige. I’m planning to try bleaching it at some point in the future, but for now? the colour’s reasonably close, and I’m pretty happy with it! (This has since had hand sewn eyelets added to it rather than pins - I’m just lazy about photographing until I’m done on a project)
I made this using a medieval shift pattern, because the A-line construction of Elizabeth’s shift is definitely closer to that than any extant 18th Century shift I’ve seen! It’s been designed to look figure hugging and flattering, rather than the angular sack look of actual period examples. I used the now out-of-print Mc-Calls 4490, simply shortening the sleeves of View C and moving the back-lacing to the front.
It’s a great pattern if you’re looking to recreate the rum shift, but it eats up about 7 metres of fabric with the flared hem something fierce!
The red gown itself is a Frankenstein. I’ve been planning this particular cosplay since about 2006, and back then I slavishly followed the Movie Costumers Guide. The lady who ran it actually recreated this costume and offered a step by step hack on how she did hers - so I took advantage of that and followed her advice on how to alter the Butterick 3640 pattern and make it look more like the movie costume!
The full puffed sleeves were another frankenstein I pulled from my good old friend the out-of-print Simplicity 3677 ‘pirate wench’ pattern. I used it to make the full sleeves for my Elizabeth Swann nightgown, and I knew they’d stand out beautifully with the stiff taffeta fabric I had in mind...
PUFF SLEEVES -so crisp and pretty!
You can’t really see, but there’s about three different types of black lace trim on the under bodice, to give it the rich look you can see so well in the movie...
Add to that all the gold trim and frogging decoration and gilt buttons and this is a pretty trim-heavy piece!
Here we have a look at the in-progress black underskirt - I opted to use an embroidered black broderie anglaise. I think the original is silk of some kind, but I’d spent most of my budget on the faux burgundy silk by that point. I still need to finish this before the gown’s anywhere near done!
Thought I’d share my current progress point though, as a mini-apology for the lack of fic/ posts in general. The acres of burgundy faux silk have been attached to the bodice, along with some gorgeous point lace ruffles I’ve been saving for just this project! Just the black underskirt to finish and a little trim on the overskirt, and then I’m ready to pull back my skirts and be menaced by undead pirates!!
