Belle's second dress

When I started on the second Belle costume I realised I had an immediate problem.  The fabric to be used for the skirt is actually upholstery fabric and very thick (but when you only pay £1 a metre you can’t refuse) which gives limitations on how to do the waistband.  As you know, I like to make things adjustable and, with a skirt, that inevitably means  using elastic as the waistband.  This fabric is far too thick for that and would result in a lot of bunching around the waist.

After much contemplation, and a cup or two of coffee with my mum, the best solution appeared to be making a waistband that could be adjusted with buttons in two or three places that would be able to take it in (or our) by up to 6”.

The skirt needed to be worn on a 34” waist so I have tried to work it that this is the middle ‘setting’.

I cut the fabric into gores, three measure 10” at the waist and 3 measure 5”, the small gores were the ones I intended to use for the adjustment.

I sewed one of the large gores to one of the small gores along the same side so I ended up with 3 pieces that look like this;

 I then sewed those three pieces together leaving an 8” gap at the top where the adjustment will take place.

 Each of these pieces now measured 12”, so I cut three pieces 15” by 3”  and applied them as waistband facing by sewing onto the upper edge of the waistband, press and then overstitching.

 I then put buttonholes on the larger gored piece at one end and the button on the smaller piece.  The button can be moved to adjust the size of the skirt.

All it will take now is to move the buttons to change the size of the skirt.

 The bodice was made using the tried and trusted pattern and I made some binding in the co-ordinating fabric for the sleeve edges and eyelets in two other pieces at the front to add a design feature.   I then added broderie anglaise lace to the neck and bottom edges.

This doesn’t sit very well on a dummy that is three sizes too small, but I am sure you get the idea! 

Belle's first dress

A couple of weeks ago, Auntie Em brought round this bit of fabric from her mum’s stash. 

I immediately paired it up with the fabric I had used for my younger daughters Victorian dress (that would be the lilac one) and it was a perfect combination.  So out came the Victorian skirt...already made so a bit of a time saver, and off we went to Belle’s house to get her measured. 

The first thing to do was shorten the skirt as the actress is a good 5” shorter than my daughter in the leg department (we have incredibly long legs in my family and my 5’6” daughter has an inside leg measurement of 34”).

I didn't want to do a permanent shortening as there is bound to be a time when daughter wants to wear the skirt again, so I thought of various ways I could take the length off yet make the process reversible.

The plan I came up with is similar to honeycomb smocking (there are many tutorials out there if you want to see how it’s done) but on a larger scale.

The fabric where the red pin is, is pinned to where the black pin is.  The green pin to the yellow pin and I did two lots of this for each section. 

I am lucky in the lilac skirt already had a square pattern in it so I didn't have to measure anything!  I then did a simple stitch to hold each fold in place.

The skirt is now 6” shorter but can be easily returned to its original length.

The bodice was the tried and tested one that I know I can put together in a couple of hours, but the whole effect was a bit bland for stage so out came the purple lace to form the detail at the front, neck edge and bottom of the bodice.

The next project is Belle’s second dress made with this combination of fabrics.

Adjusting a bodice pattern to a tail coat

 After contemplation I decided that I would use a pattern for the Beast’s jacket rather than a cut and shut job.  I have two blue velvet curtains for this costume that do not allow for mistakes and I am sure it will look better fitted rather than not.

Although I have a drawer full of patterns I rarely use them as I have discovered over the years...if it ain’t broke don't fix it (I said that before recently didn't I?)

My go-to pattern for the jacket is the bodice pattern I used for the chorus costumes.  I used this same pattern for the Victorian dresses too!  With a bit of manipulation you can get the pattern you want from this, with the first step being a quick sketch to show the original and where it needs changing.

The first, and most obvious, change is the sizing.  The bodice pattern will have to be made larger to get it up to the required 52” chest necessary to cover the bulky muscles and shirt.  As I have this pattern up to a 48” chest I just need to add on 4” which I will put on around the edges of the pattern pieces.  Eight pieces, with two sides each, mean I only need to put on about ¼” to each side and wont affect the shaping too much.

The second point is that the bodice is made for a womanly figure (if you get my drift) and there isn't much call for that.  So I will ‘flatten’ out the front side piece to take away any boob allowance.  If I was to do this at the chest area by taking it away, this would change the sizing.  But by adding to the waist area I will be keeping the measurement I require!

The neckline needs to be raised to make it sit closer to the collar line and this is to be done both front and back.  Then the centre front needs to have the bottom changed so that it forms a ‘V’ upwards and not down as the original pattern is (ignore where I drew the line wrong on the right hand side lol).

The front facing can be incorporated into the front pattern piece just to make life easier and quicker when constructing the jacket.

Finally, the ‘tails’ need to be added to the back pattern pieces.

The final pattern pieces should end up looking something like this...

I made up the pattern pieces to plan, cut them out and pinned them to the Beast muscle and shirt to check for fitting.

I just needed to make some adjustment to the side front pieces by cutting some off the width and the bottom needed a trim to get the downward 'V' right. Here the front view also has some of the trim I intend to use pinned to it and a stand collar also pinned on.

Here is the back view, I am still undecided on whether the tails need thinning out a bit.

Next step is to sew it all together!

Waistcoat from tutorial

So earlier today I posted a tutorial on how to make a basic waistcoat to be embellished for a male chorus member.

Obviously I started out by having to take photos and write the tutorial before completing my waistcoat but here it is all finished and prettied up in less than 7 hours including the time spent on the tutorial:

I added a stand collar (I have also added a tutorial for that), epaulette sleeve caps and black trim.  I also put side lacing in which means this waistcoat (shown on the size 10 dummy) will go up to fit a 46" chest (not quite as much as I hoped but it is still a big difference and very flexible).

With the basic design all you need to do is add a few bits and each waistcoat will look totally different.  Not only can this be used for theatrical wear, it is the perfect fancy dress starter for many costumes from pirates to Victorians and can be adapted for any size from children to adults.  The only difference is the chest and length measurements, the rest is done exactly the same!

This is my second waistcoat made from the same pattern:

I added in an overlap of 5" at the front so that when it was turned to form the lapel it had a double layer.  The stand collar was measured from the shoulder seams to fit to where the lapel ends.  I have also added a tutorial on how to do the epaulettes/cap sleeves

Starting the chorus costumes

I am taking a giant leap of faith into the unknown by assuming the chorus in our panto will be able to wear the costumes I have decided on.  As I still don't know what the pantomime will be next year this could be a very stupid move but being a bit on the ill side, and not wanting to do anything too brain strenuous, bodices for a coordinated chorus seem like a good idea.

I have made this pattern so many times before it is ridiculous.  It is one of the most adaptable patterns I have made and is based on a basic 16^th Century design.  Since its appearance in the fashion world it has continued to be used to this day so it must be a good one!  I have used it from Tudor to 1950’s and it has never let me down.  It is also the pattern we are using for our Victorian dresses but without all the ‘proper’ sewing they will need  it’s relatively quick and easy to do.

What I am trying to achieve is a bodice that can be reduced by at least two sizes by pulling in the lacing.  Have I told you about my zip trick?  A normal dress zip costs less than an open ended zip so I put them in upside down!  In the case of a bodice it works really well and they are so much cheaper and easier to get hold of.

So the fist thing I did was cut the bodice out and overlock around the edges so I didn't have to do any hemming etc Then I put two pin tucks 2” from the centre on both the back and the front pieces.  

 In those pin tucks I inserted a loop of ribbon 1½ “ long and then sewed along the length, these form the loops for the lacing.

Because I have used an overlocker (serger) on the edges I can do smaller seams which may add a bit more to the bodices adjustment ability!  All the seams are pinned and sewn together except the left side where I insert an upside down dress zip.  A good pressing and put ribbon through the loops.

It seems I have now got about 5” worth of adjustment from largest to smallest size on this so that’s a success.  The blue version is left to its full size which measures 41”, the pink shows the bodice pulled tight and measures 36”

Both bodices are identical sizes shown on the same dummy (you can see the pink peeking out from under the blue) so I think I can assume this project was a success :D

Dames dress refashion

At the end of last year I found myself really behind on my panto sewing, I won't go into details but it was an unavoidable money problem that inevitably happens when a personal issue hits someone within a group.

Anyway, it did mean that around half the costumes didn't have the time given to them that I would want them to have and it was often a case of 'that will have to do!'

One of those costumes was this Dames dress:

which in my mind was only half finished.

I decided to get all the 'refashions' out of the way as soon as possible as you can probably tell from my previous posts!  This was the last one and needed the most work.

To start with I cut the over skirt into an asymetrical shape and then I sewed on a full circle underskirt of blue.  Then I added a piece of curtain net to the bottom and an apron type device over the top and to the sides (It's really difficult to explain but easy to look at the picture)

Finally I ruched the sleeves and added some net to the ends and elastic to the cuffs.

The end result has more shape and poofiness all round which is more how I imagined it in the first place.

So now thats finished it can go out to the caravan, providing I have a caravan tomorrow as the wind has already blown away one of the stables in the field next to my house so who knows if it will last the night!

I also made a nifty mop cap for which I have made a tutorial, It's useful having a camera around when you're making something I have decided!

I remember wearing this a few years ago!

While it is a lovely idea to make costumes to fit, if you are on a tight budget it is highly likely you will need to reuse a costume over many years with many different people wearing it.  My first year I did not do this and found some costumes I could have used did not fit and had to make another!  My grand plan was that after two or three years there should be a stock of costumes that would be for the chorus and minor characters and I could then spend my time and money on the principal characters.  I didn’t take two things into account!  The first being my failure to make my first years costumes adjustable so any that I could have used just didn't fit the people they could have been used for.  The second problem was I did not figure on the director choosing Robin Hood the year after Snow White and most of the costumes I had made just didn’t fit into the medieval time period!

While I have certainly improved by adding lacings that can increase the size of a costume, or used elastic waistbands, I am more than aware there are other areas I could make this easier on myself.  I went to a local boot fair and stocked up on a variety of belts, they are surprisingly useful for making something look like it fits when it doesn’t!  Always make things a bit bigger than you need and then work out how to make it fit a smaller body, it will surprise you how many sizes you then cover for one costume.  All Marion’s dresses, for example, fastened with one hook and eye which will take little effort to fit a larger size in future productions.

Bear in mind that costumes can and will be recycled!  If you spend hours on sewing individual flowers on a Dames dress it will take hours to remove them!  We do four performances; I sew things on to last four performances.  For the Dames dresses I would suggest you need about six as a staple, although professionals may undergo considerably more changes, we tend to go for three or four dress changes for each performance.  Try and rotate the use of the dresses as the audience is unlikely to remember them unless you use them every year.  Then all you need to do is make one new outstanding dress for the end of the panto each year and throw everything into it.  Last year I used a huge gold bow and a bejewelled bouquet that were removed after the final performance and replaced with less memorable adornments for future use.  The bow and bouquet are now in my stash for future use.

I am now working on making a selection of bodices and skirts in various sizes that are also adjustable with lacing and elastic.  My plan is to then make over skirts that tie at the back with a bow, by adding these in different colours the basic garment will be changed from one year to the next with little effort.  

Some things are worth spending time on, such as the principal girls pretty girlie stuff that has all the females in the audience cooing with delight (and some of the men), but please make sure they are adjustable so that next year you can get them out again and they will fit a different size of person lurking in the background!

Here is a costume that underwent a bit of change:

Year one and the skirt is a froth of voile with flowers scattered all over.

Year two and the froth has become a petticoat under the same yellow strips.  Cat print shiny lycra is sewn between the yellow and the red waistband was added.

Year three is complete but no pic yet.  This time the red froth has become a bustle with LED lights at the ready to put in place!  I think I will stick with the year three concoction and move onto something else to play around with next year.