Make the Ardeth-Bay-Costume yourself !!

I made this costume (left) in 2006 myself, very closely oriented on the original. I took the measurements of the original Ardeth-Bay-costume worn by Oded Fehr and made a pattern. Now, here is an instruction, but it is not so easy to make like the one I drafted myself (please look at the instruction of the easy one, if you choose to sew that one!). If you click on the picture of me (left), you will see a gallery of some pics of me in that costume.

Oded Fehr is taller than me!! I marked the original measures in the pattern (except for the A-parts), but I didn't consider the borders. They have ca. 1 centimeter, so please add this to all parts/all borders. My A-parts have 2,80 meter, this is not as long as the original, even though it was a little bit too long for me, and I seamed another 12 centimeters. I am 1,60 m tall. So the measures below are for a person who is perhaps 1,70 m tall. If you are taller, please make the A-parts longer. - It would be advisable if you make with my pattern a small modell. I have made a modell (see picture below in the middle and right) and it worked well. You will understand how they sewing will be done and how the parts will fixed together.

Alltogether you need:
- a lot of black cotton wool cloth, preferably not too thin. The original coat of the costume is very heavy and lightly furrowed. You need this cloth for the parts A, B, C, and D (which is the coat). Please make your own calculation, remember that the amount of the cloth you buy also depends on how broad the cloth will be.
- grey cloth for the application on the chest (see extra drawing and instruction below) and for the sash. The original has the same cloth for these both. The sash of Oded's costume will be fastened unter the belt and dangle down to the ground. It is 3,50 m long and has also 30 cm long fringes at one end. It is 75 centimeter broad and will be extremely folded when wearing it. One side is light grey dotted, the other side is dark grey dotted. There is a picture of this sash in the gallery of the original costume. For the kind of cloth you need for it just see on the picture to the right for the diffrent clothes. (I do not wear the sash on my foto on the left, in fact it makes a little bit fat...)
- black ribbons as attachments for the sleeves and the neckline (1 or 1,2 cm broad and furrowed). For the neckline you need the same ribbons, 120 cm (long), for the sleeves alltogether 600 cm (that is 300 per sleeves: 5 x 60 cm). Neckline- plus sleeves-ribbons: 720 cm.
- black gleamy ribbons, 7 millimeter broad, for bordering the grey cloth on the chest. You need 102 cm per chest part, so alltogether 204 cm.
- silver-black braid with pattern/design in it for the neckline. The original has 4 cm in broadth. If your costume is a little bit smaller, 3 or 3,5 cm will be enough. It should be 55 cm long.
- light black cloth for some inner parts - as counter piece for the grey chest parts (will be applied on the inner side of A 2, where on the outside the grey application is positioned). Under the silver-black-braid there is the same kind of this light black cloth, serving as collar with 5 cm inside and also 5 cm outside, and on the outside cloth the silver-black braid will be sewed.
- the x-shaped shawls are also black, they are strongly folded and perhaps fixed with hairspray. I didn't make these shawls myself, because I obtained an extra pair of some original Medjai costume which I use. At the upper back side they come together in a rhomb and hang down (parallel). You can find fotos of these shawls under the warrior- and the original costume-galleries.
- some kind of round cord, blue tasseled, serving for holding the weapons. It hangs over both shoulders and is fixed at the back. See original costume for details!

INSTRUCTION (see under the three following pictures which can be enlarged)

Pattern (information in cm)

Modell (front view)

Modell (back view)

1) Sew the parts A, B, C, and D together - like on the picture of the small modell. In doing so please notice the following:
Don't cut A 1 and A 2, they form a large cloth (you will have two of them: A 1 and A 2 for the left, A 1 and A 2 for the right part of your body), in which A 1 covers the back and A 2 covers the front of the body. At the back there must be a cut ( a "fly") between the two A 2 parts, from down upside ca. 57 cm, like on the modell (back view): "57 cm offen" there on the picture means "57 cm open".
The B-parts will be cut open in the middle (therefore the scissor-symbols in the pattern. But they will be sewn together again, just like the original (the cloth will fall better), but not wholly: At the top end (where it is smaller) between these B 1- and B 2-parts leave a 10 - 15 cm cut open. Together with D 1 and D 2 (which will be sewn on the inner side parallel to B) there will be automatically a deep pocket. B is outside, D is inside. The B- and D-parts will be sewn togehter at the 10-cm-border, then down on the outside borders. D is just for the pocket, so it isn't as long as B. The D-parts mustn't be cut in the middle.
The C-parts are the sleeves. Please sew them to the B- and A-parts as shown on the modells.
If you have sewn all parts as shown in the modells, then you have got the blank black cotton coat.

2) The sleeves: They will be decorated with the 1 or 1,2 cm broad black ribbons, take five ribbons for each sleeve. Each ribbon should be 60 cm long. I have drawn the ribbons on the picture/pattern to the left in black. The last two ribbons, lying next to the opening of the sleeve, hang loosely down at the ends - like fringes. So each sleeve must have four such fringes. The numbers on the picture are the interspaces between these ribbons. So the first one is 1,5 cm in distance form the opening of the sleeve, then there is a 3 cm distance to the next ribbon, than 9 cm - and then come the next three ribbons - lying 3 cm from each other.

3) Collar/neckline: You have to experimentalize a little bit on your own with the colllar and consider your individual measures. I cannot exactly see on the original costume how the collar was made (of course I will not destroy it for having a more close look...). I have sewn cardboard under the silver-black braid for it is more firm. (But with cardboard you cannot put the costume into the washing machine!) - First I have sewn the light black cloth (that will be for the inner parts too, just see the list above) on the cardboard, inside and outside (5 cm on each side). On the outside I have sewn the silver-black braid. On the picture (right) you can see the braid at the collar. On the silver-black braid there will be sewn a ribbon like the ribbons on the sleeves. It should be 120 cm long, the ends will fall down losely. You can bind these ribbons together for closing the costume over the chest. Just follow this link for viewing the silver-black braid I used in comparison to the original.

4) The grey chest application is shown on the picture right (under the collar pic). Fix it on A 2. It borders at the top (where the 10,5 cm are) the collar and will be sewn downward. The 48 cm are the border of A 2 to the right (to the middle of the body). The small pattern on the picture is the left side of the chest part of the costume if you look on the costume. Mirror-inverted it will be sewn on the other side. These grey clothes will be seamed with the black gleamy ribbons, 7 millimeter broad. You can see the upper part of this chest application on the picture of the collar too. - On the inside of the A 2 parts there will be the light black cloth - quasi parallel to the application, so it has the same measures as the application on the small pattern. The 15,5 cm indication is just for orientation, do not cut it!! This is the broadest distention of the chest application.

TIP: Prepare a paper modell! In doing so you will understand what you have to sew together and how. Therefore you can take my pattern above, cut the parts and stick them together. Paint the ribbons, the collar, and the chest application on it!
Plan to make the costume longer, you can shorten it anyway at the end.
Expenditure of time: It took me 10 days for making it (including measuring the original, buying cloth).
You can ask me per eMail for further details and information: Bianca@Mompracem.de
For more costume parts like the belt, turban, boots, necklace, wrist bands please follow this link: "costume-accessoirs"!