Showing posts with label tutu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tutu. Show all posts

Sunday, 13 July 2014

I'm still here.....

I have been quiet for a few weeks as the maternity wear was the last thing I made!  It is the last few weeks of term and I am tired, tired, tired.  I don't want to start on panto costumes as I don't want to get them wrong.  I also have a number of Egyptian accessories to make for the school end of year production, which is today’s job.  I also, via friends at panto, have somehow managed to volunteer my services for 30 drawstring bags for the local scout group. That will be next weekend’s job!

Last weekend there was a garage sale in our village, so me and daughters spent three hours trudging around the streets along with hundreds of other people.  Best buy was a beautiful wooden high chair for £5.  Daughter’s boyfriend kept complaining that he didn't feel right buying things for something that wasn’t there yet...although the retort was, it has a face so it needs something to keep it happy!  He is, of course, secretly very excited but also scared of his approaching parenthood!  Daughter was over the moon to get a copy of ‘The hungry caterpillar’ for 50p.  Apparently, every child needs a copy of ‘The hungry caterpillar’ and ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’, so we are still looking out for the other one.

I also had mother’s birthday weekend and I took her to the theatre to see ‘Dance ‘til Dawn’ which starred Flavia and Vincent from Strictly.  It was a wonderful show full of dancing and singing and a very funny narrative that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good night out!  Mother was over the moon before we even got there, by the end she was like a little girl she had such a good time.  I felt great too, she is not the easiest person to get presents for but we really hit the jackpot with this one!

I also got the list of ‘who is what’ and had some thinking to do!
First up is the fact that my (at the moment small bump) daughter is to play the bad fairy.  She is due to give birth about a month before the performances and will be sharing the role with somebody a couple of sizes smaller.  So this will mean judicious use of the how to make something adjustable in the bad fairy department AND there is only enough of the fabric for one go at this!

I have to find out how to reduce the size of the two tutu’s (try saying that after a few glasses of red medicine) as the baby fairies are teeny tiny.  I also have to go and see various people about their costumes to find out if they are happy with what I have planned and come up with a plan B if they aren't.  At the moment I have £50 of budget left but don't have a wig or mask for Beast or any trimmings, so that will be interesting if I need to replace anything!


So think of this post as the calm before the storm.  The post leading up to the summer holidays when I will spend many days sewing and there will be an influx of things done.  The post that is saying; ‘wait for it’ and ‘bear with’.  Just one and a half weeks left of school and then sit back and watch the costuming begin!

Tuesday, 8 April 2014

Fairies galore

The next characters that really draw my attention in a costuming way are fairies.  Unfortunately, last year there was a directorial intervention in the fairy costume that I really should have ignored.  She wanted the fairy to look all punked up (I wanted a tutu), at the last rehearsal before Christmas the fairies mother stepped in as she didn't like her young daughter dressed like that, I told her I agreed completely so there was no hard feeling there lol.   This put a halt to the punk fairy but as there was now no time to make the tutu she ended up in the fairy costume that was one of the few nice costumes we already had on standby.
I have two types of fairy in my head, the young fairy in a tutu and the older one in a floaty ethereal gown.  This year I get to do both, not once but twice!  Good and bad fairies, one of each young and old.
There will definitely be tutus on the young ones.  Of course it will be black for the bad and I will probably do cream for the good.  This is based on the two saris’ I already have in my stash, conveniently one is black with silver and the other is a very pale coffee with the same colour embroidery.

I have this kind of thing in mind for the bad fairy;

It’s a theatre costume by Bruno Santini used in Iolanthe!
For the good fairy I want lots of floaty prettiness, this beautiful gown by Firefly Path sums it up nicely;

I just hope there isn't another attempt at directorial intervention on these, it will have to be ignored this time I’m afraid, and she may not be happy about that!

This is the frustrating time for me, I know the characters, I start to plan costumes, but as I don't know what body the costumes will go on I have to sit and wait drumming my fingers impatiently on the table top.