Fabric, trim and bling!

So there you are on a restricted budget and you put out a call for any scraps available.  You will end up with a whole pile of stuff you can’t use but you can remove zips/buttons/fastenings to use on your costumes if you feel so inclined.  I don’t usually feel that inclined but it is worth remembering.

Out of those things you get given you may find yourself oohing and aahing with pleasure.  My favourite moments were the carrier bag containing two saris’ (big ooh as they are over 5 metres in length and often covered in plenty of bling) and the black bin bag containing two huge royal blue velvet curtains!  Curtains tend to be a godsend.  The jacquard ones make lovely frock coats, the really disgusting ones have enough fabric for Dames dresses and the plainer ones make costumes for the chorus such as skirts and bodices.  Don’t forget if you can’t use something then you can always throw it away and the donator will be none the wiser.

One thing I remember reading is that combinations of different fabrics in the same colour look great on stage and this has been born out on more than one occasion with the scraps I have used to make a costume (Robin Hood was a prime example of that). 

Sheets and Duvet covers are another great source of free fabric, just make sure you don’t use those ones with the stains on!  One prince’s jacket I made was from a duvet cover and looked stunning on stage!  Net curtains are useful and a lot cheaper than lace and often donated too.  Throw nothing away until you have thought about it, then make a trip to the tip and ensure you never think about those bits again....they may come back to haunt you!

One BIG mistake I made was when I was given an old fur coat and decided to use it instead of buying fur fabric.  I was unaware of the glue used to hold those things together that rotted after a few years and ended up clogging my sewing machine with an awful kind of gritty substance.  Luckily my go to machine for costumes is a 1950’s Singer 201k which I can pull apart and put back together myself.  I hate to think how much it would have cost to repair if I had used my more modern machine.  You can pick up an old machine like that for the same price as one of those really awful cheap ‘starter’ machines and they are built like tanks.  They go through so many layers of fabric without a hiccup that it may be worth considering getting one rather than your fragile, all bells and whistles, modern machine that is bound to collapse under the strain of some of the ridiculous things you will find yourself sewing.  I save my modern machine for embroidery and more delicate fabrics.

I also have a number of other pieces of essential equipment.  There is the glue gun...I love playing with that and save hours of sewing on individual bling type things like gems and sequins.  There is the plastic boning that is awful for proper corsetry but brilliant for making things like bows stand to attention for the performances.  I have hole punches and a sharp craft knife (you never know when they come in handy for purposes other than they were intended) as well as those strange things like split pins and all kinds of paint from spray to fabric.

Do not ever restrict yourself to the using an item purely for the purpose it was made as there is a world of options for any number of things.  Go to the after Christmas sales and you will be amazed at what you can get cheap (LED lights spring to mind that look great on a Dames dress).  I have bought a huge gold plastic bow and bunch of artificial blinged up flowers for nominal amounts that brought a Dames dress to life.  I would love to have an all bells and whistles embroidery machine but from a distance a painted design looks just as good, always remember to think of an alternative and the 15 foot rule...if you cant see the problem from 15 feet away it doesn’t matter!