Humpty Dumpty

Some time ago I said that my daughter would be making costumes for this years pantomime.  As they are doing a nursery rhyme theme panto, they are mostly using from the stash of costumes from previous years.
The one she has had to make from scratch is Humpty Dumpty.
Now this did include my help to some degree, but a very small degree consisting of 1 phone call and a number of texts.  So here I go with the details.
Phone call #1
DD "Hi mum, I have to make some shorts for Humpty Dumpty, I have a hula hoop, how do I go about it?"
Me "You need to measure the circumference of the hula hoop, divide by four and draw the waistline of your pattern to that measurement."
DD "What about the rest of it?"
Me "I'll draw a pic and send it to you...."
Still on the phone to her, drawing, taking pic and sending.

DD "So if I draw this pattern and send it to you, where do I sew?"

Me "I'll need a different colour pen, hang on, got the pen!  Ok sending to you."

Me "You sew down the purple bit, then have to sew together the 'J' bit for the crotch."

DD "Ok, will text when I have done the pattern."

The rest is by text.

Pic sent by DD.

Me "Make the legs longer, the 'J' rounder, remember it has to go round the crotch too."

DD "Ran out of paper when realised how long the 'J' would be lol what do you mean by rounder? Also remember the top will be stuck to the hula hoop."

I send back this pic.

Me "Remember I did that with my finger on my  mobile so it's not very accurate!"

DD "Ha ha, ok."

DD "...ish, will cut it rounder!  So is that ok?"

Me "Yeah, looks good, cut legs longer just in case you  need longer crotch than pattern, better to cut some leg off after than have to start from scratch."

DD "Yup was gonna, that way I can cut the length to fit as well.  Will probably cut tonight and make 2 separate legs as well but wait to sew them together tomorrow."

Me "Ok, good luck."

DD "Ok, ended up just keeping on going til I finished lol"

Me "Well done, looks like shorts :)"

The following day this pic arrived. Modelled on 4 year old, being made for older person so obviously too big for the model!

DD "Will have some padding on the shoulders as well."

Me "Excellent job Grasshopper!"

So concludes my tale of how to make a Humpty Dumpty costume.  All I can say is that if she did it from those instructions and sew it all by hand, so can you!

On to the designs

So you have your script and you have the ideas in your head...what next?

I always have a number of ideas floating around and find that the best thing is to make sketches to get some idea of what the plan will look like and generally take my time to figure out if I can make it the way I imagine it.  As I have said before there is a horrendous hiatus in our pantomime from getting the script to actually knowing who will play the role which causes me untold problems as I try to figure out what costume to make.  I also buy the fabric in one go.  There is very little to choose from in Norfolk so when I visit my husband’s family in Bolton it is also a chance to go fabric shopping.

Unfortunately, this year I will be in the northern land a month before the auditions.  This means that I have to think about what I want to do but also have alternatives in my head in case a plan goes completely pear shaped.

A good example of this is the fairies.  I have in my mind the two people I think will be playing them and the costumes I have talked about will work perfectly with them.  But if I am wrong will the costumes I have designed suit the alternate actors?

It is always good to have one or two designs for each character just in case the person playing them really doesn't like them.  And in case you are wondering why you should worry about them when you spend all your time and effort making a costume, take a moment to think what it is like to wear something you don't like, then expand that ten fold with having to stand on stage acting in it night after night.  I don't think it hurts to take an actors opinion into account unless they want something totally unworkable that is not a compromise on what you have designed.

The main roles in our panto are taken with people aged 17-70; there is no way they will want to wear the same style of costume if they are a fairy for example!

Now don't panic if you can’t draw, you don't need to!  You download a variety of croquis.  If you are wondering what a croquis is, it’s a body shape that you just draw your outfit on, if you used to play with paper dolls as a child then you will love this.  There are many available for free here;

http://www.designersnexus.com/fashion-design-portfolio/fashion-design-croquis-template/

Get yourself a variety of body sizes, men and women’s and then you will be able to draw over the top of it with your design.

Here are some designs I have drawn for the fairies with the croquis in the middle.

These aren’t coloured in but I also do a number of similar designs in different colours to see what they look like and pick the one I prefer

They take a few minutes to draw but help tremendously, not only for you but also other people to be able to look at and understand the design you are talking about.

So get downloading and have fun playing around with those designs!

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!

Why you need to plan so much in advance

When you are making costumes for so many people (mine average out to around 30 a year), it pays to plan in advance.  I have been in the situation of three weeks to go and not all principal players’ costumes made and it is not good.  That is when the stress sets in and enjoyment of the project goes flying out of the window.

Christmas is spent chained to the sewing machine and, as is often the case with me, if you get ill on top of that the whole thing becomes a weight around your neck.

As I like to spend my summer holidays making as many of the costumes as possible it stands to reason that planning needs to be in place before that period arrives.  Unfortunately, as I have said before, there is one thing that often gets in the way...money.

So here is my annual plan of how it should go (although there are often out of control events that make this plan unworkable which is how I got so behind before, this year I intend it to be different).

• ·         Get all the odd jobs out of the way a soon as possible.  Cleaning, mending and altering should be finished before anything else happens.
• ·         Are there any gaps in your costume wardrobe?  For me this year it was the chorus so I have put some time aside to get that up and running
• ·         Make sure you have your budget beforehand and preferably cash in hand so you can get those bits when you need them and not waiting for your local treasurer to have the time to get it to you.  This is really important as one year I found myself waiting nearly 6 months to be reimbursed £150 due to the treasurers personal problems, if you can afford to wait then don’t worry about this but if you can’t be aware that getting money to you may not be top of their list in importance. 
• ·         Once you know what your panto will be, start looking at possible costumes and make sure you have your budget available to you (am I pushing this point? I do hope so!).  We have our announcement end March/beginning April so there is plenty of time for designs to be drafted and put to the producer and actors if this is necessary.  You may not have as long but ensure that you know, more or less, what you are doing before you start
• ·         Get your fabrics and trims decided on, bought, washed and ironed.
• ·         Make sure you have all your casts measurements, I keep mine in a book so I always know where they are
• ·         Get sewing, this may include fittings as you sew
• ·         As soon as I have a costume made I do a final fitting on the cast member, as long as it fits it then gets put away
• ·         We have a photo call for the local newspaper  end November/early December, you really need main characters in full costume for this if possible
• ·         Full dress rehearsals should have everything made and ready to go, at this point you may find some tweaking or repairs are necessary
• ·         The week before performances we have a full dress rehearsal, when  the costumes are finished with see what needs cleaning and then iron it all, hang it up and look on in amazement at all you have achieved
• ·         Be prepared during the performance with some safety pins, needle and thread and any other quick fix repair elements!
• ·         Sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labour

Now I feel organised!

I have been a bit busy this week!

I wandered into the office at work with a sick child in tow (one of the downfalls of working in a school is how many times you have to deal with sick children)and was met by a whole load of new filing cabinets.  I oohed and aahed over them with the secretary (it would be rude not to) when she casually asked if I wanted the old ones.

My brain did that little think and my mouth said...yes please! I figured I would work out the logistics of if I had room for three filing cabinets later.  This coincided with my husband having a few days off work which was more than convenient.  I told him that evening that he would probably be getting a cabinet the next day, it ended up being all three as the secretary got overexcited and emptied them all in one go.

I arrived home after work and we stood in my sewing room, which is of course not a sewing room but my 'sewing things storage room'and tried to work out if we could get two in, let alone three!

This is sewing room before cabinets:

It is as tidy as it ever was going to be with boxes of stuff on the floor and trims scattered over the shelves, the wardrobe holds amounts of fabrics more than 2 metres, the boxes hold everything else material wise.

Number one cabinet went in, we stood and looked and I filled it up.  Then we took down shelves, moved the wardrobe to the opposite side of the room, looked a bit more and realised all three would go in...result!!!!!

I spent a happy time filling up the cabinets and this is how the room looks now:

One drawer holds more than one box so all the boxes left the building.  The wardrobe is now behind the door.

Would anybody know I am an obsessive sewist walking in my house now?

This then led to the caravan as I had found a few items of costuming hidden in the room and all those plastic boxes to put costumes in not those cardboard ones currently in use.  I did the deed I talked about and threw away all those items of clothing that had been donated last year and I know will not now be used.  I am pleased to report that I have a hanging rail full of clothes and boxes filled with others.  I just have three boxes to go through which I filled at this time last year when I was sorting out what costumes I would not be using for last years pantomime so they could be stored out of the way.

I am now feeling very pleased with myself and counting down the days to April 6^th...P day!  Or the day the pantomime is officially revealed and I get my grubby little hands on a script to work out the need for costumes from characters not from what I think there may be.

Then the shopping trip for trims and fabrics, then auditions, then I get sewing.

I feel that these two weeks are the calm before the storm.  My last two weeks of being able to do what I want when I want.  But with no real projects underway I will probably start on some adjustable waistcoats for the male members of the chorus just so I don't get bored doing nothing this weekend!

A little planning goes a long way

I spent a little while last week studying the pictures of pantomimes that I thought looked good and those that didn't.  I was trying to figure out exactly what made some people look good on stage and what it was that made others look thrown together in an amateur kind of way.  I did come to a conclusion you may be pleased to know.

Of course there is the obvious answer...money!  But us amateurs can do nothing about that so we have to look at alternative ways.

It took a while to realise that a good set of costumes is just that, a set.  They all fit together, either colour or style, and flow from scene to scene the same way the spoken word does.

I am a big fan of colour, so one of the first things I do when starting out on a pantomimes costumes, is to pick a colour.  Snow White was silver and Robin Hood was green (obviously).  Then I pick a contrast colour, SW was pink and RH was gold.  The plan is to try and incorporate one of these colours in as many costumes as possible so it all blends together.  With SW I also had the time to appliqué silver butterflies on the princess and Prince Charming costumes, which all flowed together in the pink and silver walk down dress worn by Snow White (I was impressed with myself over that one and must remember it looked good and do it again, although to be honest it was my husbands idea).

Of course the limitations of fabric mean this isn't always possible and inevitably there will be some costumes that just don't get either of those colours in there but if you can get enough of them it will add a colour flow throughout the pantomime that will make a difference to the whole performance.

This did work with SW and I was pleased with the result, unfortunately the same can’t be said for RH so I will be trying harder with this years costumes to keep those colours in the right direction.

I did a Google for Disney colour palettes and you can find a few things there that give you an idea of what I am talking about.  Some colours go together and some don't. Just try and get those blends right and half the work is done.

Can I point out here that I am not a professional in any sense of the word?  I am a complete amateur just like everybody else in our performances and hope that anything I say here can be used to help fellow amateurs get a look they are pleased with after all those hours chained to the sewing machine.  I would love to be able to say I know exactly what I am doing and that I have A, B and C certificates to prove it, but I don't and I am telling you what I have learned by doing it wrong in the hope you don't have to!

Back to the plot.  Style is something I can keep to even if there is a limit on fabrics.  With SW the style came through the men.  Frock coats and waistcoats based on 18^th century designs I found by that well known Google images.  The women had all kinds of styles that I thought looked nice and pretty and didn't really bother too much about it.  It worked in my humble and correct opinion!  With RH I managed really well to keep to a medieval style.  Marion had Italian Renaissance style dresses, Robin and his merry men all had waistcoats and tunics and Prince John and the Sheriff had medieval robes.  Unfortunately, the medieval style is totally based on tunics which I got really bored with.  I will be doing a tutorial on how to make a tunic, which is the same style for a robe, and really easy to do with a tape measure and a few metres of fabric it just leaves little room for playing and I like playing.

Just one of many Disney colour palettes you can find on Google images