A bit of motherly advice

Before I allowed mother in the room, I told her she had to walk in and tell me her first impressions.

She stood in the doorway, did a quick intake of breath and said 'that's beautiful'!

Then I made her tell me what it needed.  Very quickly she that it needed lightening (not the weather type I hasten to add).

The result was a peplum with a row of gold ribbon and braid to match the bertha and bows to give that well known 'Belle' look without the ruffles all the way up the skirt.

She also decided I needed the beads on the bodice front.  So being the dutiful daughter that I am, I added the peplum and have started on more beads which are, so far, at the top of the bodice front if you look carefully.

The peplum was made using the fabric cut from the edge of the fabric to make the underskirt the right length and pleated to the match the size of the waistband.  I haven't yet sewed it to the waistband and if you look carefully you can see where it is pinned on at the side.  The braid and ribbon was put round and I beaded the braid to match the top.  As the skirt is still on a still too small dummy, I havent attached the bows yet, I need to measure it all out properly so they are in the right place when the dress is worn, but you get the idea!

Step two was to send a pic of this to younger daughter who is the Belle obsessive.  Her reaction?  

"Is this for the panto :( "

Note the unhappy not smiley face!  This means she likes it and is disappointed it is not for her.

I put her mind at rest by telling her I had left out many of the 'real' Belle features and of course the fabric is horrible and her wedding dress would be pure silk.  This placated her and left me happy that the biggest critic of a Belle dress had approved it!

I now have many more hours of beading before the dress is finished but I am on the home straight.  

This has truly been a labour of love and has taken far longer than any other costume I have made...but it had to be done!

The little girl in my mind

The gold dress has caused me problems!  I always have an issue with the ‘ooh ahh’ dress anyway but this time round it has become the most important thing in the world (I should probably not take these things so seriously!).

In my mind I picture the scene, families sitting in the village hall watching a pantomime that they do not expect to meet the grandeur of the Palladium, but a bit of gentle entertainment they can all enjoy.  Then amongst those in the audience is a little girl (I think it’s because I had four of those little girls that it seems so important).  This little girl loves dressing up in her princess clothes and watching her princess DVD’s and has been excitedly looking forward to this panto.  It’s Beauty and the Beast…it’s got Belle in it, and Belle does wear that lovely gold dress doesn’t she (Belle was the favourite Princess of two of my little girls, I can’t let them down)?

So it’s the ball scene and Belle comes on stage to one of two reactions;

Oh it’s a fairly pretty dress, or;

Oooooh ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

Then, when they go home that little girl is either thinking of that beautiful Belle dress, or just enjoyed the evening.

This is MY moment, the moment that the costume department rises to the fore (can you see me on my soapbox), the moment when we can make a little girl ecstatic or just let her carry on watching the local village panto.

I want to make that little girl ecstatic!

So I made up the bodice as the pattern instructed and put a panel of gold in the front.

Then I looked at it.

This dress is NOT a copy of the Disney one but does need to be an interpretation of it to keep that little girl happy (wherever she is I hope she appreciates the effort I put into this).  I have shown you the design I am basing it on and I merrily cut out the bertha and pinned it on.  I then attached some gold ribbon and lace and took a step back (15 foot rule, remember).

Very pretty for normal wear, but not enough for stage, the creamy colours would disappear in the spotlights.

Attempt number two involved adding some black and gold sparkly braid;

As bit better but it now makes the whole thing look brown, not gold.

 I pulled off the bertha and remade it with the gold fabric I had put on the front panel, put the ribbon back on and added some cream, lacy braid.  And stood back…still not enough!

Then I virtuously sat there for a whole day hand sewing gold beads and pearls onto the bodice.  Here it is with the top row of beads sewn on;

A couple of hundred beads to the top of the bodice have given it some glitter but I still need to add more to the front panel.  But one day of bead sewing was enough so I ventured forth and finished the basic sewing.

Here is the dress as it is today;

The dummy has padding added to the correct measurements for the bodice but the skirt is pinned back smaller, hence the gap between the two.

The skirt was cartridge pleated onto a waistband  (I will do a tutorial for the cartridge pleating in the future as it does add fullness to the skirt without the need of a petticoat).

And I step back…it needs more.  Something on the skirt?  Or does it need more sparkle in the shape of some descrete sequins?  I dont want it looking tacky but it does need to stand out from the crowd.  I just don’t know what it needs and Auntie Em wont be round for a few days to help out. 

I do have my mother round today, she is always good as a practise audience member and I do have my daughter round later, but she is  coming after a scan so will be, no doubt, talking babies.

So if anyone reads this today and has any thoughts…do let me know…it’s for that little girl!

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

Sigh, here we go again

I said didn't I?  

So yet again I find myself in the budget quandry that hits every year and makes me mad at myself and everybody else that the situation is never settled.

At the end of our performances this year I spoke to the director and told her that I HAD to have funds up front to do the costumes as the way it was just did not work.

There are two versions of how the funding has been dealt with over the years;

• I pay for everything I use then put in a reciept for what is owed me and wait up to six months for it to be paid back
• I pay for nothing, put in a reciept and wait up to six months to get any money for anything

So when I went for the first option I found myself spending up to £150 and waiting too long to get it back.

The following year I went with the second method and found myself playing catch up over Christmas as I had waited so long to get any money to pay for things.

Therefore this year was going to be a new method.  I spoke to the director as I said and she assured me that I could have at least some money up front to pay for fabrics, trims etc in good time to not have to rush through as performance time approached.

Happy with this conversation I felt comfortable with using fabrics that I already had to start on the costumes as you have seen.

Last weekend I spoke to the treasurer and asked for the funds promised.  'Oh no,' she said.  'I wish you had asked before, director has allocated all the money and now there is none left to give you!'

To say I am peeved is to put it mildly.

It is now a week and I have still not recieved any reply about this from director person!

So, you have been warned, I have warned you a lot about this haven't I?

Of course I have returned to work and been too tired to do much on my return home, I have however been working on my own little project which involves embroidery on the front panel of a dress and here is where I am at;

I have never attempted this kind of embroidery before so it's all new ground and I am pretty pleased with the result.  It is mainly bullion stitch with a bit of satin stitch on smaller areas and pearl seeds in the largest areas.  I'm not sure at this point how far I will take this onto the front panel but it makes a change sitting with a needle and thread and not hammering away on the sewing machine :D

A flower tutorial

I have added a tutorial for these flowers:

Honestly, they can look really pretty with the right fabrics, I just wasn't going for the pretty look!

Thinking out of the box

So you have an initial idea for what you want but can’t quite pull it all together.  Just because, for example, you are making a Dame’s dress doesn’t mean you need to stick with those for ideas.

I mentioned before that I had stuck on the back a huge plastic gold bow that was intended for a Christmas decoration, well that was taken off and needed to be replaced with something less...well just less, while at the same time keeping the over the topness of a Dame’s dress. 

I was just going to add a bow when I saw this picture of a Worth Victorian dress;

How pretty is that?

It was an idea I immediately knew would give a variation to the Dame’s dress I was working on.  Not only could I use the fabric I had made the skirt out of, but also some of the offcuts from the original dress to pull it all together.

I just made a long sash and folded it onto the back of the dress into a vague ‘M’ shape.  I originally had the lilac fabric facing outwards but it didn't have much impact so I turned it around to have the pink floral on display and it looked a lot better.

I then made some fabric flowers which I stitched onto the top of the arranged sash holding the whole thing together and in place.

  I made a fourth flower which was stitched to the front and then stuck a gem in the middle of each flower.  I may stitch in some plastic boning before the performance to make it stand out more but this dress is being loaned out before then so I will keep it as it is for now.

I am having that awful moment when you realise something needs pressing badly but you have already taken the pictures so...ah well never mind!  

I will be doing a tutorial on the quick fabric flower.  Its not magnificent or lifelike but it does do a good embellishment job when all else fails!

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!