Construction Details:

I started with a McCall bridal pattern. I had to do a few alterations with it: the skirt on the pattern was a pin-tucked skirt, and there was no tier. I drafted the pattern for the tier myself. I used casa satin for the dress, and it's lined in a generic lining fabric. Everything is serged and the bodice is boned. Underneath the dress I have a giant hoopskirt. Even though Garnet's dress is a lot less poofy, I wanted the exaggerated look.

I did all of the embroidery by hand, including the fleur di lis on the skirt. It took somewhere around eighty hours for the skirt, and fourteen for the bodice.

The crown is made from Model Magic. I took a bit from the tutorial by Divine Euphoria on DeviantArt, and finagled some of it by trial and error. Original I wanted the crown to have a wire base to shape it to my head, but that didn't work out. Instead, I glued craft foam in the shape of the crown to a headband, and glued the Model Magic shapes onto the craft foam. This way, the crown stayed on and was comfortable!

The necklace is also made from Model Magic, wire, craft foam, and painted with Rub n' Buff. I used a 50mm Swarovski suncatcher for the crystal.

The belt I did very last minute, so it's not perfect. It's a chain held together with jewelry findings (split rings) with a charm I found at a local store. The beads were attached with wire.

Personal Thoughts:

This has been my dream costume for a very long time. I'm so pleased with how it came out, and I hope to wear it for quite some time.

Styling Notes

I completely straightened the wig, trimmed it a few inches, and cut/styled the bangs.

Wig Review

I'm a total Arda convert now. The wig looked natural, and didn't have that plastic shine that most wigs have. It straightened very well, and although it tangled I found it very easy to comb straight. When combing, it did not shed fibers.

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