Arwen and Aragorn Couples CostumeThese Lord of the Rings costumes can be adapted for kids or adult sizesIn the slide show above, you're viewing pictures of Arwen and Aragorn Lord of the Rings costumes made by Teleca Carlson of Washington state. These two LOTR characters would make an elegant pairs or couples costume for Halloween or other masquerade occasions. In fact, these Lord of the Rings costumes are so lavishly upscale that they'd be very much in place at a celebrity costume ball! On this page, Teleca will give you the details on how she created this terrific Aragorn and Arwen costumes for her son and daughter. Homemade Arwen and Aragorn Couples Costumeby Teleca CarlsonLord of the Rings fans would certainly enjoy dressing in these lavish and luxurious versions of Arwen's and Aragorn's costumes. To make these costumes requires both sewing and beading/jewelry making skills. You should choose the Renaissance Maiden and/or Medieval Knight sewing patterns of your choice, then adapt them to create this upscale, deluxe look as I describe below.Arwen's lovely, flowing dressMaterials needed for Arwen's dress, cape and headpieceHere are the materials you'll need to create Arwen's costume with the luxurious look seen in the pictures above:1.) Dress consists of 8 yards of brown crushed velvet. Finish the insides of your dress with serged seams which will prevent raveling and allow the dress to be worn for years to come. 2.) Shoulder straps: Use Delicate silver chain for arm bands and shoulder straps 3.) Arwen's Cape: Cape consists of 4 yards of green (drapery quality) poly/satin, lined with the same fabric in white/linen tones. A metal butterfly is used for the cape's front clasp and a metal dangle attaches to the cape hood for weighting down the hood. 4.) Crown/headpiece: The crown is the most ornate part of the costume as it is virtually all hand made. For my Arwen costume, I hand cut an aluminum butterfly for the back of crown and then decorated it with ink and oil paints. There are 70+ Swarovski crystals and 100+ faux pearls adorning the crown. Silver chains and pearl strands lay on the hair beautifully! I also included a Lord of the rings Arwen necklace designed after the movie costume. Making Arwens Dress and CapeArwen's beautiful floor-length dress:I chose a McCall’s Princess Costume pattern for Arwen's gown, but you'll want to choose the pattern you like best. Once all the pieces of the pattern were cut and attached at notches, I surged all pieces individually for a no-fray effect and stream line feel inside. I modified sleeves to make them more wide & dramatic. I also altered the pattern's neckline so the finished gown would fall off the shoulders. Then, I attached a light gauge silver chain as straps to hold up dress while the shoulders dip with the weight of sleeves. The back of the bodice has a large metal button that pulls the bodice together for a tighter fit. How I made Arwen's Cape: I chose a cape style from Simplicity patterns. Once all the pieces were cut for the cape pattern, I doubled that for the liner. I attached them at the notches and surged all the seams. I altered the size of the cape's hood for a larger, more dramatic feel. Before finishing the project, I top-stitched the whole cape so that its light weight drapery feel would be weighted down. I added a metal tassel that weighs 1 pound to the tip of the hood to weigh it down and to add some texture to the cape. I also made a butterfly brooch for the cape by attaching a butterfly medallion to store-bought pins with hot glue. I rubbed on light artist's oil paints for an aged effect. Arwen's jewelry: Crown and Evenstar necklaceArwen's Necklace:Arwen's “Official Evenstar Necklace” is sold to LOTR fans...but only in adult sizes. So, to make a little girl's size, I had to cut the chain and add a new link for the closure. (Arwen eventually gives Aragorn this necklace and gives up her immortality to be with him--signified in the picture above of Aragorn kissing Arwen's hand.) Arwen's Crown: The aluminum high sheen crown was purchased on Ebay; you may see the following listing for the original look of the crown when it was purchased: Arwen's Crown before embellishment. I made many alterations to Arwen's crown. Just as with the Official Arwen Evenstar Necklace, the crown's size is meant for an adult. I had to cut the chain off and shorten the crown at both ends, by bending the metal into ornate loops. I purchased over 200 colored pearls and Swarovski crystals to embellish this crown. I used fishing wire to thread the beads and crystals into long strands. Then I used necklace clamp ends to seal the end for attachment to crown. (Some necklace-making tools are needed to do this.) I also used a real sterling silver light-gauge chain to drape over the pearl strands. I cut the chain in 4 places on each strand to add more crystals with metal rings, and then clamped the chain together again. The front of the crown also has an ornate stone sewn onto the center front (using metallic thread) and has three silver chains/crystals hanging from it. The back of Arwen's Crown is a separate piece altogether and can be detached with clasps. It is in a Butterfly design. To make the ornate butterfly jewelry piece, I took an image of a simple black butterfly and printed it onto t-shirt transfer paper. Then I cut the image out and ironed it onto a metal sheet thin enough to cut with scissors. Once the butterfly was cut out, I then used a metal hole puncher and made many holes all over...some to attach the chains that holds it to the crown, and others strictly for ornate decorative use. Into other holes I put small scrapbook rivets for an aged effect. I then used artist oil paints and rubbed it onto the butterfly with various colors and used some artist quality glitter to finish it off. Then I used Mod Podge sealer to seal the whole Butterfly and the edges for a smooth protective finish. I used the matching stone from the front of the crown to create a center for the butterfly, that has been sewn on. Arwen's Hair Style and Elven EarsIn addition to her crown, Arwen is also wearing clip-in extensions made from real human hair. Arwen's extensions match her hair perfectly as they were specifically dyed to her exact hair color. They clip in under her hair around the ear line for a thickening and lengthening effect, just like you'll see in the movie version of Arwen's hairstyle.My daughter's elven ears where purchased at a Halloween store but are made for an adult, so I had to cut them in half. (Only half of the ear is ever seen anyhow.) I striped the paint from the ears with acetone and used artist oils to paint and blush them to her true skin tone. I attached them to her ears with eyelash grip glue. (It's easily washed off after use, but stays on for many hours.) Now Arwen is ready! How long did it take to make Arwen's costume? Time spent on Arwens costume: 30+ hours. (Half of the time was on the tedious crown work.) How much did this luxury version of Arwen's costume cost? Materials total cost: $150+ (Since I do many crafts projects, I already had supplies such as paints and tools around the house.) Aragorn's Knight CostumeMaking Aragorn's Knight costume is also a daunting task... but, of course, brings plenty of satisfaction to a crafts-enthusiast like myself. Here are the materials used in making the project:Aragorn's Armor and Helmet: The armor set I made consists of a high quality vinyl/leather helmet, boot covers and chest armor. The armor closes in back of boot covers and chest armor with eyelets and leather ties. Tons of rivets adorn all the armor with metallic silver stitching and roman coin head fringe on helmet and boots. The belt and sword holder & handle are all hand made, customized to fit a purchased sword. The hand made aluminum-and-ink “Tree of Gondor” chest plate is attached with rivets. A heavy cross medallion is attached to the front of the helmet. Under Armor: Under Aragorn's armor is a high quality red velvet, lined with same fabric for extra warmth and quality. I included a matching tassel fringe on the bottom and around the shoulders. Long sleevePolyester metallic shimmer, long sleeve shirt with chain design fabric over for mail chain look. Cape: Aragorn's outfit is finished off with a black velvet removable cape. Making Aragorn's Armor, Helmet and Boot CoversFor Aragorn's costume, I used a McCall’s Viking Costume pattern and altered its design, particularly on the Armor's shoulders and Boot covers, and on the helmet, as well.I cut all the pieces of the pattern out of the Vinyl then doubled it for the cotton liner. I used Organic cotton quilt batting for the thickening effect on all pieces. The Armor was very hard to work with as vinyl does not feed well through a sewing machine unless you have the proper foot. I did not have a specialized foot, so I used tissue paper on top of the vinyl to feed it through the machine. I then did the same procedure when creating the quilted effect on the front of the Armor/Boots/Helmet. I then tore off all the tissue and removed it from the seams. Once quilted, I sewed the vinyl together first, then the liner pieces together, then attached them all at the corresponding notches. I top-stitched all pieces at completion. The thread I used was hard to work with as it was silver metallic and does not thread well as cotton does. However, it really sets off the armor feel. The Armor's shoulders/sides/waist are all attached by separate vinyl pieces cut in strips and notched at the corners. I made holes all over the Armor, Helmet and boots with a rivet tool, then I used Jean Rivets and hammered them in all over. The front of the Armor has two layers of vinyl strips/notched corners at the bottom to lengthen the armor; they are attached with rivets. The Armor synchronizes in the back with eyelets and leather laces. These are all custom effects as the original pattern did not have eyelets, rivets, quilting etc. It was a lot of fun designing this dramatic look for what was once a far more ordinary costume. All the same procedures as above were used for the boots except that I also added Roman coins to the knee guards and around the edges of the boot covers. The bottom of the boot covers has black elastic to hold them onto the shoe. The back of the boots are attached with eyelets and synchronized with leather strands, for an old world look. (You need special tools for this) The Helmet also has Ancient Roman-style aluminum coins around the edge and a decorative stitch with jean rivets all over. The front of the helmet has a 1.5 pound medallion cross. This is not original to Aragorn's costume; however my son wanted to be a Christian Aragorn. So that the helmet would fit more easily and comfortably, I made several additions to make it adjustable. I added a 3” strip of vinyl to the inside of the helmet with a rivet. On the other side of the helmet, I added a denim button, then I cut 2 small openings in the strip to slip the button through (so the strap would hold the helmet on better.) Aragorn's Lord of the Rings Costume: Other DetailsTree of Gondor Symbol:On the front of the armor is a separate piece, designed after the well known “tree of Gondor.” Gondor is Aragorn’s rightful throne and the symbol that he wears in the movie. I found the image online and printed it onto t-shirt transfer paper, and then I cut the image out and ironed it onto a metal sheet thin enough to cut with scissors. Once the tree was cut out, I then used artist's white & black oil paints and rubbed them on. Then I used Mod Podge sealer to seal the whole plate and the edges for a smooth protective finish. I then attached it to the armor with rivets. Aragorn's Belt/Sword: Aragorn's belt was made out of vinyl, cut and sewn together at the edges. I used a decorative stitch all over then capped the tip with rivets. I found an old silver belt buckle and attached it. The sword was purchased at a Halloween store. For Aragorn's sword cover, I made a pattern by tracing around the sheath. From this pattern, I made a vinyl cover with leather lacing around it. I also added vinyl around the handle of the sword for a comfortable grip. Both have rivets all over. Aragorn's Red Velvet Tunic: I made Aragorn's tunic from the same store-bought pattern and altered as well. I cut the pieces then serged the ends, doubling the pattern to create a soft velvet garment inside and out with a heavy feel and look. Then I added red tassel fringe to the bottom and shoulders, plus a decorative stitch. The back attaches together with a large metal “S” Clasp for old world look. Aragorn's chain mail shirt: This piece was sewn from a standard long sleeve shirt pattern. I cut all the pieces and serged them. The long sleeve shirt is made out of a high-shimmer polyester costume fabric. This shirt slips over the head with no button or zipper needed. I also attached a light weight faux chain mail fabric (only to the arms and bottom of the shirt) to give the piece a realistic armor effect. The leggings are store-bought tights. There it is Aragorn is Complete! How long did it take to make Aragorn's costume? Time Spent: 40+ hours How much did this deluxe Aragorn Lord of the Rings costume cost? Materials cost: $120+. Some items, such as paints and tools, I already had available in my home crafts workshop. This luxurious, upscale Arwen and Aragorn Couple's Costume isn't inexpensive, and the time you'll spend on labor is significant. But, to own and wear such elegant, movie-quality costumes that you'll remember forever, there isn't any quick-and-cheap substitute!
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