Current as of 24 June 2012. www.ilovexena.com
Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com Current as of 24 June 2012. NOTES: This Xena: Warrior Princess corset dress pattern is free for anyone to download. This was constructed by a Xena fan for other Xena fans to enjoy! No copyright infringement is intended; nor should this document ever be reproduced by anyone and sold for profit. I apologise for the instruction drawings, I only have MS paint on my computer but if you have any problems please email me. If you are successful in making a dress please send any progress or photos finished photos to kelly@ilovexena.com I would love to see your final product! Battle on! Table of Contents Materials Required ................................................................................................................................. 1 Measurements required for the bodice ................................................................................................. 2 Measurements for the cups .................................................................................................................... 4 How to make the bodice pattern ............................................................................................................ 6 How to make the bra cup pattern .......................................................................................................... 8 How to make the strap pattern ............................................................................................................ 10 How to make the skirt petals and flaps ................................................................................................ 12 How to trace the bodice pattern .......................................................................................................... 13 How to trace the bra cup pattern ......................................................................................................... 15 How to trace the strap pattern ............................................................................................................. 15 How to trace the skirt petals and flaps ................................................................................................. 16 How to sew the bodice together .......................................................................................................... 16 Joining the skirt petals and joining them to the skirt flap piece ........................................................... 23 Adding the edging ................................................................................................................................. 25 Attaching the modesty panel ................................................................................................................ 26 Attaching the Skirt to the Bodice .......................................................................................................... 26 Attaching the eyelets ............................................................................................................................ 26 Attaching the straps .............................................................................................................................. 28 Congratulations! ................................................................................................................................... 31 Materials Required To make the “Warrior Princess” dress you will need the following items: 2 meters ( yards) of leather or faux leather 2 meters ( yards) of cotton drill fabric or whatever you wish for the lining material (note: choosing a thin fabric such as cotton will make the dress a lot easier to sew and put less pressure on your machine and needles) 1 – 2 spools of brown thread (sew-all or upholstery variety, thread that is thicker than normal) Size 14-16 leatherworking/ jean needle for your sewing machine Same as above in embroidery needles for parts which you hand sew Spray Adhesive in a can (this will stick the lining to the back of the leather material so you don’t itch when you wear it, also saves a lot of time not having to sew it to every piece). 4x “D” or “O” shape rings (antique brass colour is preferred. If you cannot find them in this colour you can also buy a different colour and paint them this colour).* 1 packet of eyelets (around 30 are needed. antique brass gold preferred but again can be painted to colour) * 1 Packet of antique brass gold rivets (around 150 are needed). * A long brown shoe lace or cord (around 120cm) Hammer Scissors Pencil and eraser Measuring Tape Chalk Large poster piece of cardboard or piece of paper to trace the pattern onto Protractor A pair of bra underwires in your size (you can salvage these from an old bra or buy them from a fabric store) Note: Items marked with an * can also be purchased together in a hardware kit available from www.toddscostumes.com Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 1|Page Measurements required for the bodice You will need to take and note down the following measurements of yourself (all in inches): Bust (also ensure you are wearing a comfortable bra while doing this to give the best fit) Waist Hips Centre of in between your bust to desired pant line Underarm to waist Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 2|Page To help with making the bodice you will need to do some small calculations with your measurements first. To figure which calculation goes where on the pattern, you will associate the following calculations below with the letter next to it on the left hand side. All answers are automatically in inches so you do not need to convert these any further. Spaces have been provided to write the answers. A = (Bust / 2) / 2.6 = _________ inches B = (Bust / 2) / 9 = _________ inches @ = (A + B) /10 =________ inches C = Centre of in between your bust to desired pant line = __________ inches D = Underarm to waist =________ inches E = Centre of in between your bust to desired pant line = __________ inches F = B + @ = ________ inches G = A - @ = ________ inches H = D / 2 = ________ inches I = D + @ = ________ inches J = H =_______ inches $ = Desired gap at the back / 2 =________ inches (note: recommended desired gap is 4 inches or smaller) K = D – ( H+ $) =________ inches L = K =________ inches M = I= ________ inches Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 3|Page Measurements for the cups You need two measurements to make the cups for the dress: A quarter of the underwire circumference A quarter of the breast circumference. (If the sizes of your breasts are different then take a separate measurement for each and label them right and left. To get the quarter underwire circumference: Grab a ruler and measure the distance between the two sides of the underwire. Multiply this number by pi (3.14) to get the circumference, then divide in four to get the quartercircumference. Eg: For example, my wire diameter is 16cm. Circumference=16 x 3.14 =50.24 Quarter-circumference= 50.24 / 4=12.56cm Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 4|Page To get the quarter breast circumference of the breast You then need to get the circumference of your breast by holding the underwire against your chest and going across the breast at the fullest point. You then need to again multiply this by pi (3.14) and divide by 4 to get the quarter circumference. Eg: Circumference = 27cm x 3.14 = 84.78 Quarter Circumference= 84.78 / 4 = 21.195cm Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 5|Page How to make the bodice pattern The basic bodice pattern for the “Warrior Princess Dress” looks like this: As you can see it is made of 4 pieces labelled R1, R2, R3 and R4 (R stands for right – including a modesty panel at the back is optional). As the bodice is a mirrored image, to make the left side pieces of the bodice pattern you just need to flip and trace the corresponding right hand piece. (E.g = R1 flipped and traced = L1). In total there are 8 pieces as seen below for the bodice (9 if you choose to make include a modesty panel): It is a good idea when plotting the measurements down to do draw it all as one piece and then cut them into their separate pieces afterward. Here are the patterns for each piece (R1-R4 and modesty panel if desired). The letters correspond with each of the measurements you took earlier in section 2. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 6|Page To make L1 – L4 (and other modesty panel) simply cut out each of the pieces from R1-R4 (and modesty panel) and trace them onto cardboard or paper (whatever you are choosing to use) and then flip them over to create the mirror image pattern for your left side. You can then label these L1L4 (and modesty panel). Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 7|Page How to make the bra cup pattern To make the longer sides of the triangle you need to first divide the quarter breast circumference by 4. Eg: Then on your paper you need to start by drawing two lines the length of the new breast circumference measurement at right angles to one another. You then need to grab your protractor and draw another line with the same measurement at 10 degrees inward to where the last line finished. Repeat this so there are 4 lines on each side. To make the bottom line of the cup you draw the line in the same method as above (drawing the first the adding 10 degrees, the draw the second) only this time you divide the quarter underwire circumference by 4 and use that measurement instead (sorry my third line is a bit long looking but the lines should all be the same length). Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 8|Page You should now end up with a basic looking triangle that has curved sides. This will help create the hemisphere shape of the cup. You then need to trace and cut 4 of these curved triangles out to make one bra cup. Stick two of the cut out triangles side by side and cut off the top 2/3 following the curve of the lower edge. This will make the top of the bra cup pattern. The two remaining triangles shall then be placed underneath the cut piece to ensure that the ends of the new cut piece line up with the ends of the triangles. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 9|Page If you have two different cup sizes make sure to repeat all the steps above for each cup and write down which cup is which. How to make the strap pattern You may need a friend to help you do this or you can follow the line if your bra strap as a guide. You need to place the measurement tape over your shoulder to where you wish for the strap to end and lay it flat across the front of your chest where you wish for the strap to start. Write down this measurement in inches. You then need to measure how wide you would like the strap to be and write down this measurement in inches. Usually around 1.5” is good but can be more if desired. You then need to draw a rectangle shape using these two measurements. If you wish for the bra strap to have a more angled shaped the you need to mark the half-way point down the length and add .25” to each side to made the shape wider at this point as shown below. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 10 | P a g e Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 11 | P a g e How to make the skirt petals and flaps How to make skirt petals The skirt petals should each be shaped like a “U”. They can be as big or as small as you like to cater for your costume. As a rule of thumb, the petals I make are cm across and cm down. To make the pattern for the petal you draw the desired width line across. You then find the middle of the width line and draw the depth line down from this which creates a “T”. All you then need to do is draw one wide curved line on each side joining the bottom with the top. Now you have your petal pattern. How to make the skirt flaps. The skirt flaps are wider than the petals. They also vary in length. In order to make the best fit possible we are going to trace all of the skirt flaps to the same shape. NOTE: The skirt flaps are not to be cut out individually; they are traced side by side and cut out as one whole piece. When it comes to stitching the flaps to the corset, you can then decide how they best sit to your body and make the size adjustments from there. The width of the flap should be 2x the width measurement you chose for the petal. The depth of the flap is decided by how long or short you wish them to be (a few inches above the knee is recommended but it is up to you what you are most comfortable with). The best way to find them out is to see where your measurement “E” from section 1 finishes at your pant line and measure down from that. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 12 | P a g e You then repeat the same as before with the skirt petals, joining the top of the “T” shape to the bottom with curved lines. How to trace the bodice pattern To prepare the fabric to be sewn you need to first spray the back of the leather/pleather material with the spray adhesive and then lay the lining fabric on top. Let this then sit for a minute or so that fabrics have a chance to stick to one another. Once this is done you need to then grab your chalk and begin tracing each of the pieces. For the bodice you will need to first trace the piece then add 1.5” to both the left and right sides to create a seam allowance as shown below. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 13 | P a g e On pieces R1 and L1 you will also need to trace where the cups shall be sewn in by placing the underwire where desired on the top of each piece. Ideally you will want the cups to be 10 cm apart, unless you have a longer chest. You can check what distance would suit you best by measuring the centre joining band of your bra. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 14 | P a g e How to trace the bra cup pattern To trace the bra cup pattern you will need to place your pieces together as shown below and add 1” to each of the sides to again create a seam allowance. How to trace the strap pattern To trace the strap pattern you need to place it on the material and then add 1” to each of the sides create a seam allowance as shown below. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 15 | P a g e How to trace the skirt petals and flaps You can directly trace the skirt petals onto the fabric as no seam allowance is needed. The average dress needs 150 petals (give or take depending on the size and 12 flaps –WARNING: this is probably the most time consuming part of the dress but the detail is worth it in the end I promise!) Once you have traced the required amount of skirt flaps, you then need to add a 3cm allowance to the top of each flap. This ensures that when you cut out the skirt flaps the tops are still joined together. How to sew the cups together. Sewing the cups together can be a little tricky. You may need to have a few copies of the shapes handy if this is your first time sewing. First you need to grab the two triangles and place them face together so that the lining is showing outward on both sides. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 16 | P a g e You then need to sew a line across where the allowance starts on one side only. When you open the cup it should look something like this: You then need to lay the cup face down again and sew the edges of the inside allowance sides flat. When you flip this over you should see it has created a nice sewing line on the outside. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 17 | P a g e You now need to attach the top piece to the bottom piece. This will require you to sew on a curve so you may want to hand stitch this then go over it with a machine. Following the same method for joining the two triangles together, you need to have the bottom of the long piece’s allowance meeting with the side allowances of the triangle. You then need to sew along the inside allowance line. This line should then make the cup start to curve and take shape. You then need to sew along the outer edge of the allowance edges to create like before to create the nice “sewn” look. You should end up with something like this: Repeat the same process for the other cup. How to sew the bodice together You will need to sew the bodice together from the centre pieces outward. However before this you first need to sew the cups into place. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 18 | P a g e Be warned: sewing the cups into place can be a little bit tricky and may take a couple of attempts. (It took me 3 attempts the first time! So don’t worry!) To do this you need to get piece R1 as well as one of the cut out bra cups (choose the right side bra cup if you made different ones). Flip the two triangles of the cut out bra so that the lining is facing upward. You then need to sew along the inside line of the centre seam. Once this is completed you need to sew the left hand excess from the centre down, followed by the right hand side. If you flip the bra cup over you can see that it creates a nice stitch effect on the outside of the fabric and will also help reinforce the cup. You then need to sew the top piece of the bra pattern to the two triangles. You do this following the same steps as the triangles, sew along the seam and then sew and the left and right sides down. You should end up with something looking like this. You then need to grab and flip R1 over so that the lining is on the top and place the bra cup inside. Make sure that the seam allowance runs past the cut area on the bodice. This is the tricky bit! You then need to pinch the edge of the cup edge of the bodice and pin the seam allowance from the cup to the bodice. You then need to sew as close as possible following the curve of where these two pieces join. If you are not an expert sewer you may then want to hand sew this step. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 19 | P a g e Once the cup is in place you then sew along the cup allowance making sure to leave enough space to be able to slide the underwire in. It should look something like this. You then need to grab piece L1 and repeat the steps to attach the second cup. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 20 | P a g e If you have finished this step give yourself a pat on the back!!! That is the hardest part of the dress to sew! The rest is downhill from here! You now take pieces R1 and L1 with the leather facing inward and the lining facing outward and sew along the inside line on the straight side of the two pieces as shown below. You then need to lay the now sewn together piece down flat (lining side up) and fold the left excess flap of where you just stitched to the side and sew it down. Make sure to sew it across enough so that the boning will be able to slide in the gap. Repeat the same step for the other flap. Once you have stitched both the flaps down the outside should look like this: As you can see it leaves a very nice stitch look on the dress while also being support for the boning which shall be added later. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 21 | P a g e Now you will need to grab piece R2. This time you will place the angled side of R1 in line with the angled side of R2 and as before you will sew along the inside line and then along the side of the allowance giving enough room to insert boning. Follow the same process with joining R1 to R2 andR3 to R3. Fold the end of the side of R3 over and sew straight down to give the end of the bodice a nice finish. Make sure not to sew it a little inward so there is room for the eyelets. You then need to then repeat the same steps as above, this time joining L1 to L2, L2 to L3 and L3 to L4. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 22 | P a g e Now you need to grab the boning and cut it so that each piece will slide down the pre-stitched gaps you made earlier on the lining side of the corset. Make sure to cut each length of boning so that there is a small gap on each end (you will need this gap for the next step to sew the edging). You do not need to put boning on the ends of the bodice as this is where we shall attach the eyelets. Joining the skirt petals and joining them to the skirt flap piece Your line of skirt petals need to be the same length as your skirt flaps. To do this you need to cut a rectangular piece of fabric (whatever the petal is made from) which is the same depth measurement as the skirt flap but is only half (or less if desired) of the width measurement of the skirt petal. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 23 | P a g e Once you have cut this out you will attach the petals one by one to the fabric strip (starting from the bottom). Whether you choose to sew these on or attach them by hammering rivets is up to you. Make sure to take breaks when doing this as your hand may start to cramp and get a little sore. Once you have each of the petal strips completed they need to be attached to the skirt flaps. To do this you need to sew them onto the skirt flaps first (you can choose to sew them over or tack them into place first before sewing over them. You need to sew petal strap in between each of the skirt flaps. You may choose to sew a strap on each of the ends as well but it is not necessary. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 24 | P a g e Adding the edging You will now need to add the edging of the bodice to give it a nice finished look. Measure your bodice (top first, bottom second) against the fabric and cut to length making sure it is 1” wide. Place the top edging piece along the top of the bodice so that half the piece is hanging (the hanging part is coloured light blue in the picture below). Sew and attach this piece on the bodice. You can now fold the top hanging piece over the edge and stitch in place creating a nice rounded edge. You should have no problems sewing the edging on. If you find you are sewing over boning then you may not have left enough of a gap and will need to trim the boning shorter (also the stitching between the hanging and folded steps wouldn’t normally be so far apart, its just because of MS paint I couldn’t draw the stitches closer together, they should really only be 1 or 2mm apart and not a few cms as it looks like in the drawing.><). Hanging Hanging Part Folded and sewn into place. Do the same hanging and folding steps as above with the bottom edging piece. You should end up with something looking like the picture below. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 25 | P a g e Attaching the modesty panel If you are choosing to have a modesty panel then you simply grab the panel piece and sew it to one of the sides of the end pieces. Ensure that the stitch close to the stitch on the inward side. Attaching the Skirt to the Bodice Now you need to grab you skirt piece and lay it under the bodice. You will sew in the same way as you did before, sewing the skirt to the bodice just above where you just sewed the edging following the bottom edge. You should ensure to sew along the gap piece you left on your skirt (although you may have to sew over a petal in the mid as sewing through the top petal may break your needle. Attaching the eyelets The bodice is now ready for the eyelets to be attached at the back. To do this you will need to grab your eyelets and hammer follow the instructions that came with the eyelets. You will hammer an even number of eyelets on each side. It may be helpful to mark our where you wish to place your eyelets before hammering them into place. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 26 | P a g e Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 27 | P a g e Attaching the straps To attach the straps you need to grab a “O” or “D” ring (whichever you chose) and cut out a piece of fabric that is long enough to fold over the end of the ring and have a little allowance edge remaining. You then need to grab your bodice and place once edge of the piece on the front, the other on the back and sew the piece to the bodice along the allowance edge. You then need to attach rings to the other front piece and back 2 pieces following the same method. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 28 | P a g e Following the same process you then sew the back of the straps to the back hooks. Your dress should now look almost complete! Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 29 | P a g e All that’s left to do is attatch the chakram hook! The best way to do this is find a piece of bendable metal and glue the material over it. The all you need to do is bend it into shape or you can attach it with a screw (I am unsure how to do this however) or if you don’t want to put a hole in the dress you can buy some strong magnets and stick one magnet to the hook and then place the other magnet on the inside of the dress. Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 30 | P a g e Congratulations! Your Xena: Warrior Princess dress should now be assembled! You should be proud of your work as making this dress is no easy feat! All you need to do now is place the cording in the back, pull to fit and you’re done! If you complete the dress please send me photos as I would love to see how it turns out! Also if you can recommend any changes to this pattern for future revision please let me know References: Anatomy sketch used from: http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs27/f/2008/072/6/9/female_anatomy_study_by_Joshimaru.jpg Guide to making custom cups used from: http://abigailscraftshowto.com/2010/08/how-to-make-a-bra-part-1-drafting-the-pattern/ Written by Kelly from www.ilovexena.com 31 | P a g e
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