In the Costume Closet: Queen Amidala's Handmaiden

I made this costume for San Diego Comic-Con several years back. My friend Bethany wanted to enter her Queen Amidala gown in the Masquerade,  so my other friend Julie and I both made matching Handmaiden costumes to be her escorts.

Our trio of Queen Amidala and Her Handmaidens won the "Most Beautiful" trophy in the competition, against 51 other entrants. We were number 50 out of 52 and had to follow a giant robot act - Optimus Prime. Needless to say, Queen Amidala took home the trophy. She spent HOURS and HOURS just on creating the beaded panels in her gown. This costume was relatively quick and simple to make.

The robe is velvet, with the pattern stamped into the velvet. Bethany's husband carved the block stamps (in three sizes) which Julie and I both used to make identical cloaks. I lined up and pressed the stamps onto the velvet (prior to sewing the velvet to the lining).

Velvet Burnout Process:
1. Carve out a block for a stamp - wood or linoleum(?), a material that does will not melt
2. Lay the stamp on an ironing board or table with the stamp facing up.
3. Lay your velvet on top of the stamp with the velvet side against the stamp pattern (wrong side up), lined up where you want it placed. Secure your fabric (if necessary) so it will not slide around.
4. With your iron on the Silk setting, press the iron for 10 seconds against the wrong side of your velvet so the velvet fuzz is pressed into your stamp.*
*Do not slide the iron around because you do not want the fabric to slip. If you need to move the iron to cover the entire stamp, gently lift the iron straight up, then move it and press straight down.
*Be careful not to press the corners of your stamp block - you do not want to leave corner imprints in your velvet.

This is what the costume looks like under the cloak. The dark blue sleeves are actually half circles attached at the shoulder seam - looks pretty cool from the sides. I covered the slipper shoes (house shoes found in Chinatown) with the same dark blue fabric. It stretches so I just hand-sewed it over the shoes. The underdress is cheap polyester flag material - has a nice sheen but I wish we used a light cotton or linen instead. The hood/scarf is silk.

This is by far the hottest costume I have ever worn. By hot, I mean IT DOESN'T BREATHE! Dupioni silk headscarfs and polyester velvet cloaks are sweatering. Needless to say, this costume doesn't come out of the closet much. I think the only time I wore it besides Comic-Con was for the Sci Fi Museum Hall of Fame inaugeration of George Lucas, Neil Gaiman and Anne McCaffrey.

Photos taken by JediKai of Alpha Base, Rebel Legion, at the Omni Hotel - San Diego Convention Center

Using the Yudu without the Yudu

So I bought the Yudu Screenprinting machine cause wouldn't it be amazing to make silk screen prints at home?  Well I bought at a crazy sale, but returned the thing because it was MASSIVE.  I didn't feel like taking up a quarter of my closet just to store the thing. 

I little while later I was tasked to make some family vacation shirts, which means I've got a screen printing project on my hands.  Is there way I could still make some Yudu silk screens without having to buy that giant devices.  I have done a few tries and figured out how to make these without owning the device.  Please read tutorials before attempting this, my comments are purely supplimentary suggestions to provide extra insight.

Yudu instruction:  wet the screens and put on the emultion scrapping out the "spider webs" with the yudu squeegie:

SmallRiniLady's tip:  instead of scrapping the emultion to get rid of the spiderwebs, wet the underside of the screen with a wet paper towel.  Getting it wet will be it to stick to the screen

Yudu instruction:  let it dry in the drying tray, dries in pitch black to avoid the UV lights, and with Fans.

SmallRiniLady's tip:  Who needs a specially blacked out tray?  I just stuffed it under the bed and let it dry over night.

Yudu instruction:  Burn the emultion screens in the UV tray which is timed to 8 minutes.

SmallRiniLady's tip:  In the brightest sun, lay the tray out for 8 minutes. 

There are some glithes I still had trouble with, because the sun came down from an angle, some of my lines came out slightly blurry.  Remember I'm being cheap by not owning the device, hopefully the real deal comes out with better results. 




Yudu instruction:  wash the unburned emultion off

SmallRiniLady's tip:  um pretty much no difference but don't scrap with your fingernails, it will tear the emusion.


Yudu instruction:  pour the paint on the screen and scrap with the yudu squeegie

SmallRiniLady's tip:  screw the squeegie, a plastic card (maybe an old credit card) works just as good and saves the pocket book $15.  Also use the paint on the non emultion facing side of the silk screen (which means the photo should be burned negative, explainations why below)


Now for additional review comments.

The Yudu screens make great silk screen prints . . . the first 5 times if you follow the the Yudu instructions and scrap on the emultion.  This is because the emultion although solid, is still soft and will break down as it is scrapped.  I did notice that if you scrap on the silk side with the emultion side facing your cloth/paper than less scrapping action leads to the deteroation of the emution print to be slowed down.

Bottom left:  First run through the silk screen

Top:  After 20 runs, the lines are getting blurry or jagged

Bottom right: After the 23rd run, I flipped the screen to try, looks like it worked much better, unfortunatly since I didn't plan for it, my image is mirrored (which doesn't work well with things like text)