How to bring Queen Elizabeth I to Life

What you will need:

a printer to print templates, paper, pens or pencils, tape, a toilet-roll tube, a camera or smart phone and scissors.

Queen Elizabeth I wore very elaborate garments and dressed to impress.

As a follower of fashion her wardrobe was full of gowns made from rich fabrics adorned with jewels and elaborate surface detail communicating her wealth, luxury, and status.

Elizabeth would have worn a petticoat as underwear, a stiffened corset, stockings, a farthingale (a hooped skirt), a bodice and skirt or gown. Her shoes would have been made of the finest velvet and eventually leather. Her bodice would come to a point below the waist and she would have been able to alter her garments with different sleeves, bodices, skirts, ruffs and cuffs to update her look. Her ruffs were exceptionally elaborate, made in a variety of colours and decorated with lace, jewels and embroidery.

Download BringElizabethtoLife.pdf

pdf, 732.47 KB

Step 1

Print the templates provided. The templates consist of Elizabeth's base dress, additional dresses so you can update her outfit and a version for you to experiment and find other fabrics and patterns.

Cut out the Elizabeth base template, including the box that surround her feet.

Step 2

Fix the base template to a toilet-roll tube to help her stand up.

Step 3

She should look like this and be able to stand up.

Step 4

Cut out the remaining dress templates and remember to carefully cut around the tabs.

Step 5

Fold the tabs so you are ready to dress Elizabeth in different outfits.

Step 6

Use the tabs to fold and attach each dress to Elizabeth's base dress to update her wardrobe.

Step 7

You can add extra colour to the dresses to enhance her garments. Her clothes were hugely symbolic and amplified her power.

Step 8

The final dress allows you to cut up the centre areas and find your own inspiration for fabrics. Cut the grey criss-cross areas. To cut sections in the middle of a piece of paper, make a small fold in the area you want to cut and snip to make a small hole.

Step 9

The final dress allows you to cut up the centre areas and find your own inspiration for fabrics from images in magazines or nature and then you can take photographs.

Well done on bringing Elizabeth to life!

If you are up for another challenge, you could design what she might wear when meeting her friends, her subjects, her court or the great and good of the Elizabethan era. Take Elizabeth on an adventure and create a story about what takes place, who she meets and what they say.

Share your pictures with us on social media @RMGreenwich

Why not come and see the Armada Portrait at the Queen's House with your family?