Getting on with things

The first rehearsal has been and gone and all the made or part made costumes were tried on with only one minor problem with the lilac Belle bodice being a bit small, but that is easily remedied by putting a strip of the fabric in at the side seam.

There was a lot of mumbling and grumbling, which is pretty usual and makes me feel totally unappreciated and taken for granted but I am used to it and tend to have shrugged it off by the next day.  So Saturday came round again and I finished off the maids dresses for the good fairy and her baby fairy assistant.

I was also able to check the sizing of the silver jacket from our Snow White production, which needs a little bit of adaptation in the chest area for it to fit the horse/prince character who is under the bad fairy’s spell.

We were going to make the horses head from upholstery foam but were unable to find any locally and postage costs made the whole thing unachievable so we settled on one of those horribly scary looking heads you can get in any fancy dress shop. 

We have tried to figure out how to de-horrify it, the only suggestion so far is to add false eyelashes to soften its ghastly stare! Have you managed to prettify one of these?  Any suggestions greatly received as we really don’t want scared children screaming their way out of the performance.

I am pleased to say my  list of things to do is dwindling fast and I really am hoping to have it all finished by the end of half term barring a bit of decoration and adding on of fastenings.

Daughter is  due to give birth the beginning of January and I absolutely refuse to still be finishing costumes (apart from hers of course) when I should be supporting her and getting to know my new grandson  so I won’t be accepting any extra requests to those already on the list.

But there was a delicious postal delivery that arrived today!  Samples of the fabrics we are thinking of for the bridesmaids dresses.  Daughter had fallen in love with the idea of teal shangtung silk so that is what we sent off for but to be on the safe side also went for a sample of satin back dupion.  We then searched for teal dress net for the petticoats but couldn’t find any and instead sent for two samples of French navy and forest green.

It was with great pleasure that the shuntung was as we hoped and also congratulated ourselves that the two dress net colours combined together for a perfect match to the dress fabric.  I will be ordering a roll of the teal fabric and a roll each of the two net colours next week so that can sit safely away in the bought and paid for corner until we decide it is time to start on the bridesmaids dresses.

At the moment we are waiting for my mum to return from a holiday abroad as she is going with my daughter to book the wedding date!  Once that is arranged we can really get going on deciding what will be done on the day.  Luckily we are a very crafty family with artists, bakers and sewers in the mix all ready to do their bit for the big day.

Interestingly this is going to turn out to be a very cheap wedding even though it is exactly what my daughter and her boyfriend wants, so I thought I would keep a tally of how much we actually spend on the whole affair.  I am starting off with the first item on the list;

One wedding dress… Vintage 1950’s wedding dress donated by a friend, made and worn by her mother….   £0

Here is the dress straight out of the bin bag that had been stashed in the loft for goodness knows how long!  It will of course be receiving tlc in the next few months and some adjustments but there are no signs of wear and tear so it’s all good

Not a bad start and probably saved around £1000 from the average wedding!  But it was the dress daughter fell in love with so that is what she is getting.

I will keep you updated as further decisions are made :D

What a beauty!

Well the meal was a total success in my eyes! Yes, it is Beauty and the Beast and I am so excited about it you wouldn't believe! I also got that money up front so I can relax and plan without worrying about how I am going to pay for everything (I am feeling slightly smug about that and intend to show them what they can get with a bit of extra money).

As I had already spent time thinking about how to make a beast costume, when I was asked offhand how I would do it, my plans were met with a nod and smile of approval.  The directors main concern that a mic would have to be fitted is not a problem with my idea.

So, I don't necessarily hear you ask, what is the plan?

It's based on this...

Please don't laugh!  My daughter had this doll along with pretty much every other Beauty and the Beast saleable item when she was a kid (she still has them all in a display cabinet!).

My plan is to start with a lining fitted to the person playing the beast (don't know who yet, auditions are in May).  Then add a layer of wadding to bulk up the shoulder and chest area just like the doll has.  I will then make a dark blue, velvet frock coat to fit over the top to create a Beast sized torso.

A pair of fur fabric trousers will make the beast look beastly in the body department, I mustn't forget to add a tail!

The head will be made of a half mask sewn to a long wig which will also have horns sewn on.

I am hoping this plan will work and give a good, easy to wear, Beast.  At this point I hope you are muttering to yourself about how I had said some of my costumes do get more complicated lol

Belle will start off with a dirndl style like she does in the film, but I want to make it more of a romantic ballet style skirt with layers of tulle.  I will start with a lilac one (I have the fabric for these) and change to a gold and pink one when she is at the Beast's castle.

This example come from thecostumelady.net/

I am pondering whether to make one petticoat type skirt with layers of white tulle that can go under all Belle's costumes and add a top layer to the dirndl's of the lilac and pink.  This would then also give volume to the most exciting part of this year...

THE GOLD BALLGOWN!!!!!!

Yesssssssssssssssssss, there is a ball room scene!!!!!

Yesssssssssssssssssss, I get to make the gown!!!!!!!

This is not any gown, this is the gown that started me off!  When my daughter was young the Belle doll she had didn't have a gold dress, so mummy made her one!  I then made a few other things then made costumes for the kids, then the kids got bigger and I was making full size costumes lol  It was the first copy of anything I made and it was this dress for this doll and now I get to recreate that on a real life adult woman!  So the hunt is on for the fabric and my mind is working overtime to figure out how close to the original it becomes.  

The other thing is, my daughter is determined that she wants Belle's gold ball gown for her wedding dress.  The wedding is not on the cards but it will be nice to know I have had a practise run when it comes to making that!

As I go through the script I will let you know what goes through my mind and then see what the result are.  Next week I am off fabric shopping....I really hope I find some beautiful gold!

Principal boy

Basically the principal boy falls into two categories: A boy or a girl!  As our panto group is considerable loaded in favour of female participants we don't really have a choice about whether it is a girl or a boy...we don't have anyone the right age to play him!  But I am an old fashioned girl at heart and I like the Principal boy role being played by a girl.  I have been told to ‘make the girls look like boys’ and ignored it.  We had so many girls playing male roles in Robin Hood that to pretend they were men seemed a bit ridiculous.  At the end of the day what I provide is used, so I tend to rebel a bit when I don’t agree with what has been asked for.  My girls look like girls, prettiness is an essential part of my principal boy along with high heels and long legs and if that look floats down to some of the other main characters, well what can I do about that (can you see my innocent look here?)?

Sparkly is good.  I do like a bit of sparkle and I am always on the look out for sparkly fabrics.  If I can’t find them there is always the old faithful glue gun and gems... pva glue and sequins...or glitter glue!  I really don’t care what I use as long as it is shiny.  The best fabrics I have come across are already glittery.  Snow Whites Principal boy ended up in a lovely silver number.  The fabric I had bought was actually not as shiny until you looked on the wrong side and then the bling hit.  Consequently I made the whole frock coat with the wrong side of the fabric and then covered it with pink embroidery trim.

If you do have a male principal boy, please try and make him manly!  Ok, so that may be my preference but I really wouldn't have put pink embroidery on that jacket if it had been a man!  This is the person that has come along and swept our beloved princess off our feet and I just don't think loads of frills and lace look right.  Take a look at 17^th and 18^th century frock coats and you will see what I mean, they are gorgeous and yet manly at the same time...it can be done you know.