potato sack

Girl child was cast as a potato sack for this session's go around with her youth theatre. So far, my only costume assignment has been to a potato sack costume. We're both trying not to take it personally.

Obviously I left it until the last day before the deadline because I was thinking, phhhst, how hard could sewing a potato sack be?

Y'all know how this one works, right?

The sack design was all good.  Where it went sideways was, unsurprisingly, the cussin' technology.  Upper loopers make me want to put my head through the wall.

I use my serger maybe twice a year now and the general rule for sewing machines is that every week they aren't pressed into service, they require two minutes in general maintenance and tweaking to get them going again.  My hour of necessary pre-work went into threading and re-threading that upper looper.  It's a good thing that I spent an entire year working my way through every possible serger problem the first year I had my machine (including having the factory settings being completely off at first, an unsolvable issue that had me needing to re-hydrate from my lost tears nightly with a bottle of wine).  All those problems learning opportunities left me with nearly instinctual ability to re-thread the machine and, I don't mean to brag, but an almost superhuman ability to stay calm under extreme serger provocation.  My serger zen does me proud.  I list it on my CV.

Once the serger was finally subdued, the potato sack was a fairly fast job.  Of course.  Because it's a sack.

Girl child is a better person than I.  Though she was initially disappointed, she has since embraced the sack. She works it.  I'm pretty sure that I couldn't pull of potato sack as well.  Her potato sackish-ness does me proud.  Obviously she'll have to list potato sack on her CV.

Victorian tea party hat

Just in case you ever need an absurdly tall hat to wear to a Victorian demented mime tea party.

I made the animal head but I can see an upcycled version with a pre-existing stuffie.  Paint clings quite nicely to fabric and fake fur.  Use glue adhesive to secure to a painted cardboard base and decorate with frippery. Paste on a ribbon tie.

Alice meets Tom Sawyer

Girl child is performing in a youth theatre production of Tom Sawyer this fall.  I am helping out with costumes again, although, I find myself lacking my usual enthusiasm.  For this show, the costumes are probably the most cohesive I've ever done, aesthetically, but there has not been as many opportunities for knocking together some queenly steampunk, glamorous witch wear or sparkly, yet sturdy, fairy wings as with previous shows (Alice in Wonderland, Rapunzel and Grimm, in order in you are interested).  In short, no bustles. 

For Tom I have sewn some dozen pairs of pantaloons and a few aprons, all in beautiful muted coloured, with lots of pin tucks and ruffles, as worn during the steaming hot summer heat in the mid nineteenth century southern USA. It's going to be a lovely show.

Girl child generously agreed to model her costume for me.  The dress is one of many, a mass gift of pastel coloured 'wedding cake' dresses (as girl child calls them) to the theatre from a dance troupe.  The dresses have cycled through a few shows now (and who knows how many dance performances), being pinned up, let down, and having all sorts of wackiness applied to them to make them fit children of all sizes.  I think, originally, this dress would of fit someone quite a bit older and wider than my girl but has been taken down so many sizes now that there is almost as many gathers on the inside of the dress as out.  Every show we end up fitting and altering nearly every outfit on each cast member, at least those we do not make from scratch.  The excess material along the neck gathered up in the fitting does make them look a little like they have puffy, ruffled wings coming over their back shoulder blades.  The striped wrist cuff is entirely girl child's and will most definitely not be worn on stage. 

Now, each little wedding cake gets a pinafore type apron and pantaloons.  Pillowcases and sheets were generously employed as raw material for these.

I think that she looks adorable.  For the record, ten year olds do not appreciate being called adorable.

Although not at all intended, girl child and I thought this little blue ruffled dealie would also make a great Alice costume.  As it so happens, the play opens on Halloween night and girl child must forgo Halloween activities this year (yes, she is devastated, but rallying marvelously for the sake of the show).  So we indulged in a little dress up play.

The white rabbit stuffie I made girl child last year. 

As you may guess, the dress is quite twirly.

For the record, ten year olds are so not over twirling.

We are moving into probably the most intense time for cast and costumes, rehearsal week before the opening night.  During the show's run, the costumers will be kept busy with the inevitable repairs and a few three alarm costume emergencies (yes, we run with scissors.  And needles, pins and, sometimes, glue guns.)  And then I can return to my regularly scheduled sewing.

jabots, corselets, bustle and the flu

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post about writing more on our homeschooling adventures. I think I shall share more about that as we go. On a side note, girl child, we've discovered, loves to make book recommendations so if anyone wants to know what my nine year old like to read, just ask.

But enough about that, I have some sewing to share!

This past weekend I had, ay, a costume assignment for Sweeney Todd and, bee, the flu. Oh, the flu was a wicked old thing. Both girl child and I were down for most of the time. I am only now starting to feel a bit better. When I wasn't laying in bed, weeping from the pain of my swollen glands (no, really, it was horrible), I lurched myself out to the kitchen table to sew. I would like to say it was a welcome distraction but, honestly, it was only my fear of disappointing people that forced me to finish the projects. I really couldn't let the kids go on stage without jabots, could I?

What, you now want to know, is a jabot? Unless you already know, in which case you are a clever one and can skip the rest of this informational text and go straight to the pictures. For the rest of us, a jabot, pronounced ja-bow (as near as I can make out), is that ruffly collar thingee that judges wear. They have been popular, in various forms, on and off throughout the last few centuries and even, perhaps, briefly for a time in the eighties with secretaries. For the costumes here, it serves as a period piece for the Victorian era setting.

It was exciting to design a jabot pattern because I got to do math for the curves (that was sarcasm, actually - my flu fevered brain short circuited once or twice).

Here is girl child wearing my tester jabot, now a part of her dress up wardrobe.  (See her smile through her fevered pain?  She's a trooper, she is.)

Worked fairly well, at least for the play's purposes.  (Don't talk to me about the direction of the stripes - it's a tester, ok?)

And the jabots for the play.  In case you are wondering, the serged edges are a part of the deconstructed look of the costumes. 

A larger jabot for another character.

I made a couple of corselets also. 

Both corselets are the same except one was about seven inches smaller than the other. I was given a pattern for the larger one but, to resize for the smaller, I wanted to make sure my pattern adjustments were going to work so I made a tester corselet for girl child.  I figured she could to add to her (extensive) dress up collection as well as the pink jabot.  But then I just went ahead and made the full bustle piece for girl child.  Out of brocade.  Because sewing for the theatre has made me lose almost all touch with reality.

I don't know why my nine year old would need a brocade bustle, but I think that it's cute as hell on her anyway. 

Even in the smaller size, I had to cinch in the waist even more to fit girl child.  I made a secondary tie in the back to take in the extra fabric.  With a bit of luck, this one should fit her for a few years.

Although, maybe not.  Look at how small her sequined princess dress is on her - I made that just last summer.  I feed them coffee and everything and they still keep growing!  

I would like to maybe make a dress that properly works with the bustle.  Something with big puffy sleeves, a high collar and lots of lace.  Girl child has been asking for a crinoline (that's normal, right?) so it may be a good excuse to get that particular accessory. 

This youth theatre production of Sweeney Todd is going to be amazing.  I can't wait to see it in a week and a half.  If you are in my area, you should definitely get some tickets.  Below is a picture of some linen that I have been told is a hundred years old.  Today I turned it into some barber shop props.  It gives you an idea of the sort of detail that is being taken care with for this production.   

I also have a story to share about how I fought my serger and won, but it'll have to wait until my heads clears a bit more and I finally shake off this flu.  Also, girl child has finally convinced me to cut into the red velvet we've been keeping for something special.  You will not be surprised at what she wants me to make.  Until next time, take your vitamins and make sure you wash your hands often!

strapless fairy wings: a tutorial of sorts

Perhaps this comes naturally to some people but I had to seriously think my way through making five sets of fairy wings for girl child's Grimm play. Actually, it was even worse; I needed The Man to help me figure out how to attach the darn things.

The problem was two fold. First there was the wings, which couldn't be any old wings, given that this is for the theatre and not Halloween dress up (the difference I'm still a bit hazy on but have been assured that they are not the same). The five fairy girls, who are to float around the fairy godmother, are all wearing identical, beautiful, dance dresses.

That is girl child in her costume, looking very much like a urchin who has just stepped out of a rain shower. Seeing her all week in full make up and hair and now in this picture looking like a damp dishrag is creating a little cognitive dissonance in me but since the girl wakes up looking like this in last night's hair:

I think we can all agree she could use some freshening.

And, here are the wings:

You can see by the style of dress that we could not use straps to secure the wings to the fairies.  In fact, given that the fairies do cartwheels, dance and even lay down, having secure, durable yet flexible wings were the only thing that would work for eleven shows.  Also, the wings had to be quickly removable during the second act when the fairies would have to be in close proximity with other cast members without taking out some one's eye.

First, was to make the wings.  These wings are a cut out of a non-fraying polyester weave, secured to wire only along the top edge.  The material has just a bit of weight and it holds the shape well while allowing floaty, ethereal movement.  They look incredibly twinkly under theatre lights.

The base of the wing, as you can see, is a coat hanger.  To make a fairy wing base,

Duct tape worked well to tape the sharp end of the the bent hook end of the hanger and add a bit of strength to that post, which is important for securing the wings into position. 

To attach the wing, cut your desired shape of wing out times two and then either sew down a fold on the top portion of the wing to create a tube to slip over the wire frame or use a glue gun to secure the material.  I did both.

For rigging the wings to the dresses, I used a double ring looped around the base of the straps in the back.  The straps are attached in the middle of the back.  If you have your own dress or top where straps are not attached in the middle, you can sew on your double ring or, even better, a D-ring in the center.  The post of the wings are inserted down through the ring between the dress and the back.  A tight dress is best.

The wings are prevented from twisting or shifting by a couple of small lanyard hooks that hook directly to the wire arms of the wings. 

And there you have it, fairy wings, attached without straps.  Times five.

A frog prince and a couple of ugly step sister costumes

Ah-ha, finally!  Some costumes done for the musical production of Grimm.  Which opens in just over a week.  Having a minor panic attack right now.

For this production I was assigned, among other things, a jacket for the Frog Prince and dresses for the ugly step sisters.

For the frog prince, fairy tale sleeves and a bit of swingy flash was needed.  It's hard to tell in the picture but I've got gold trim around much of the edges.  It'll be pretty bling under the lights.  The jacket is a beyond recognition modification of a pirate's costume jacket from Simplicity.  You can't see, but there are two godets on the side seams and one in the back, giving it a nice fluid look when worn. From the pattern I've completely changed the neck, sleeves, length and closures.

Oh, and hey, my very first attempt at a frog closure.  Another one is probably needed but I'll have to tackle that later as there is much left to do for the production.

You may notice that the prince jacket isn't much of a prince shape, per se.  But that's what happens when you put a man's jacket on a woman's dress form.  You'll have to take my word for it, it's not quite as girly looking as it seems.

The cape is a heavy drapery material and I was worried that the jacket won't support it well but I ended up sewing it on anyway and lays well on the actor.

Here is the cape and the sleeves with the fluffy supports underneath.

Some detail.  I do love this jacket. 

For the step sisters, I picked up a couple of prom/bridesmaid type dresses from our costume vault.  Both were long, form fitting and sleeveless. 

To uglify the dresses, I decided to add huge sleeves and fussy, big bottomed bustles in not quite complimentary colours.  The idea was to make them want to be beautiful dresses but miss the mark.  Whaddya think?

The bustle on the above is not quite finished, just the clasps to add.  I decided to go with a simple finish instead corset lacing.  The bustle is a modification (and resizing) from this pattern here.  You may recognize it from the steampunk costumes I did for Alice in Wonderland.  Instead of a split back, however, like in the pattern, the ugly step sisters have fully bustles.

If you are curious, I can probably create a little tutorial for this style of bustle.

The other step sister dress is, of course, a not so lovely lavender and magenta combination.  The dress and bustle are just a bit too small for the dress form, so you'll have to forgive the gaps.

The sleeves were upcycled from the bodice of another garment that was probably created during the early '80s.  The sleeves were simply too frightening not to use.  Luckily I managed to find just the perfect fabric to coordinate for the bustle on the shelf at in the costume vault.

And, just for fun, a quick peek at the bustle support underneath.  To look at the bustles on the form, they don't seem too outrageous, but once you put a real person underneath, the bustle support rises into the air and gives the actress that decidedly, and appropriately, ugly step sister waddle to their walk. 

scissors?

Can I show you something funny about the way I work?

I do not have a dedicated sewing space so I work off of a combination of kitchen table and sometimes a desk I drag into my living room when I have a lot of sewing to do.  My tools like straight pins, scissors, measuring tape are schlepped back and forth between the two surfaces, as I need them.

The desk and the table are separated by a pony wall. Which means that when I'm sitting at the sewing machine, I can not see the table or anything on it.

I can't tell you how many times I've sat at my sewing machine making cutting motions with my fingers (the international symbol for 'where the heck is my scissors") while confusedly grasping around for something, anything!, to cut a thread.  Meanwhile, two feet away yet completely hidden from my view are no less than four pairs of scissors.

It's enough to make me want to throttle myself somedays.

For your viewing pleasure, a visual. Indeed, a messy one.  Such is the chaos that I work in. 

See that odd crescent moon shaped blob on the pony wall (the pony wall is the thing in the middle all covered with stuff)?  That's a bum prop for an ugly step sister.  Her bustle is on the table, half constructed. 

If you're wondering about the large tool box you can just see in the upper left, that is actually girl child's craft caddy.  It's taller than girl child.  That tells you pretty much all you need to know about her.

Updates on the ugly step sisters and frog prince costumes for the musical production of Grimm coming soon.  I can almost see the finish line.  Which is good because they open in less than two weeks!

don't look at my messy shelves!

I have a living room full of half done costumes, one feverish boy child, one overscheduled girl child and a sewing machine with a loose wire.  We are riding the edge of chaos right now.  Despite the boy and the machine, the hardest part is actually keeping girl child's little fingers off my sewing materials and supplies.  She has a tendency to grab material and whatnots from my working surface and skulk off to make doll clothes and accessories.  I admire her creativity but it drives me nuts when I can't find the fabric or notions I just put down for a second. 

Above are the dresses I'm using as the bases for the ugly stepsisters costumes.  They don't look too bad now, but wait until I'm through with them.  Just off to the left is the frog prince, in pieces. 

Have I introduced you to my absolute favorite pattern for costumes?  Even though I have never had a Size 16 misses, I have been able to alter, resize, and modify this 1050s Butterick pattern into so many garments.  I have made so many corselets from this and the puff sleeve piece is going to come in handy for the ugly stepsisters dresses.

But, working at a brisk pace is not in the stars for the next few days or until boy child gets over this crazy fever he has and I get my loose wire sorted out.  Ah, it's all such a familiar frenzy, of managing children, sewing and trying to live life around it all.  I suggested to girl child that we stop referring to our 644 square foot house as 'home' and start calling it 'the studio' in an effort to reframe our chaos into something we can feel good about.  She's not buying it. 

At least, not until I get my shelves sorted out.

Joan of Arc tunic

I am calling this girl child's Joan of Arc tunic, but girl child likes to refer to it as her princess warrior jacket.  Either way, the idea was for me to figure out how to do princess sleeves with godets (that's probably not the right term since godets are circular... somebody help me here) and give girl child a piece for her dress up collection.

Girl child has a long skirt that she pairs with this tunic in the same dark blue fabric and parades around as a princess.  When it comes time to fight - girl child believes, mainly due to modern literature, all princesses wield swords competently and fight ogres or march into battle whenever the occasion calls - the skirt is pulled off, leaving a short tunic with leggings.  The tunic has a jagged edge to suggest that the long skirt was cut away hastily to free the legs. Perfect for sword fighting.

I think I've done what I wanted to do with the sleeves and am ready to tackle the main costume piece I need to make for girl child's theatre group, the frog prince's jacket.  Unfortunately for girl child's tunic, I wasn't very careful drafting her bodice and I wish I had taken more time because the shoulders are too long.  Oh, well, all the better to swing the sword, I suppose.

In case you are wondering, girl child had rehearsals today and was wearing her fairy make up.  She has to do all her own make up.  One beautiful day, she'll also have to do her own hair. 

I have a couple of prom dresses hanging in my living room, a whole lot of satin material, and some great ideas for the ugly step sisters, also characters in the play.  I'll keep you updated as the costume sewing progresses.

Meowlody costume for party

I think I've seen a half dozen pictures on Facebook this year alone of people's children dressed up in Monster High costumes for birthday parties. 

Today was girl child's turn at her very good friend's ninth themed birthday party.  She decided she wanted to go as Meowlody, a werecat sister.  Whoever that is.  I admit a whole lot of ignorance when it comes this particular line of marketing.

After a bit of Googling, Girl child and I decided to collaborate on her party outfit.  The shirt and skirt were sort of whipped together by me during odd moments of the week from whatever fabric I happen to have laying around.  (Confession: I have an obscene amount of fabric just 'laying around'.) 

The shirt actually came together just a hour or so before the party.  Because we like to live dangerously.  I also did the ears this morning, though, I wish I had more time to do a better job.  Surely, I can do better work on the ears (although boy child has already broken the band on it so at least I won't have to see these ones anymore).

Girl child pulled the vest out her brother's drawer, found the leggings, attached earrings to the ears and stitched the ribbon onto her socks to serve as boots.  She also designed and put together the ball of yarn purse.  I think, other than the kid herself of course, that the purse is the cutest bit.

Without further ado, girl child, I mean, Meowlody, posing for the camera:

This kid of mine may be all tween and mature and whatnot, but she is so not done with dress up.  And that makes me happy.