Oops, must take those pictures!

I must apologise for the delay in the picture taking (I will try really hard to get it done today!) and updates on the panto costumes.  There is a really good reason for this though....my daughter has decided to set a date for her wedding and we have been totally girlie talking about everything she wants for the big day.

As we have decided on just about everything, and it will pretty much be a 'just us doing it all' affair, I thought it only fair to warn you that the term costumes now includes everything wedding!

Be prepared for overlap in the posts, a bit of an aside on the pre-wedding practise of my other daughters 18th birthday party, the panto preparations and the wedding preparations.  As such I may have to do a little title change on the blog (which has now happened)!

I am now going to hustle off and hopefully get some pictures sorted out and be back later today to do a proper update as the first rehearsal and costume fitting is on Wednesday!

A word of warning

I know I said it was ok to use upholstery fabric, and I know I said that as long as it looks right……..

Big BUT!

A friend of mine is going to a wedding in Finland next month and they have been asked to dress in traditional Nordic clothes so she asked me if I would make her an outfit.  Now as she is a very good friend that helps out whenever she is asked, she is a person I would never refuse. So we discussed, at length, what kind of fabric she needed for a Viking apron dress.   You know, natural fabrics like wool, linen or cotton were what I suggested. 

She turned up at my house very pleased with herself a few weeks ago with some fabric given to her by an old lady she knows.  It was upholstery fabric, it was very thick upholstery fabric and one of the upholstery fabrics was a thick cord!  Now I am all for using what you have, but this is for a wedding and it is to be worn all day not for a two hour performance!

I grunted a bit and suggested it was not quite the fabrics I had said but she was pleased with her bargain basement gift and was not going to be put off.  So I then went into ‘well you asked for it’ mode and said nothing more.  Stage one of apron dress was a very thick woven fabric to be made into an undertunic.  I spent the morning measuring and cutting out and sewed it all together.  After turning it in the right way I noticed a bit of seam was undone.  Not exactly sure how I could have done this I sewed it again, turned it in the right way and noticed a bit of seam was undone.  Getting a bit tense at this stage, I sewed it again, turned it the right way and noticed a bit of seam was undone.  In fact pretty much every seam was undone.  In fact, the fabric was such a loose weave that even the overlocker wasn’t stopping the seams unravelling!

I text my friend and told her it was just not happening with this stuff and we are going out on Tuesday to get what I suggested in the first place. 

I then moved onto stage two, the apron itself and I am now struggling with the ultra-thick cord which is going to have the movement of a lump of wood.  She will be hot, she will be uncomfortable, but she will have saved herself £10 so who am I to argue?

The reason I am telling you about this is simple.  If you are going to use upholstery fabric make sure that it is suitable for the purpose given it!  My upholstery silk looks lovely and moves right; it just feels a bit plasticky.  The fabric for the blue Belle skirt is thick, but not too thick for her to move in.  Please make sure that the fabric you use is not going to cause problems for the wearer, even if it is only for the duration of the performance.

As for my friend, she will still be wearing something extremely hot and uncomfortable and maybe next time she will understand that you need the appropriate fabrics for the job!  Of course, having wasted so much of my time making something I knew was not suitable, there may not be a next time.

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!

Sewing on hold

Yesterday, I did no sewing! 

Auntie Em came round and we sat and played with the various bits of gold stuff that was available and decided on what trim to use on the gold dress.  But then we got distracted by the prospect of the costume for the Beast’s manservant Pierre. 

Now the director had suggested that he was dressed in doublet and hose, but me and Auntie Em found this a strange choice of costume being totally out of keeping with the time frame of the other costumes.  So we made an executive decision that Pierre should be similarly dressed to Beast in a frock/ tail coat.  The actor playing Pierre is also known for his wonderful Dame performances which will be sadly lacking in this year’s panto.   It therefore seems appropriate for Pierre to be the campest manservant in history, just so that the actor can strut his stuff you understand.

Texts were exchanged with him and we sat giggling away as we sorted out some lovely pink/gold jacquard for the coat, gold stripes for a waistcoat, cream crushed velvet breeches and lashings of lace.

Eldest daughter then arrived and we had a chat about her scan next week, Auntie Em left, daughter stayed, two other friends turned up and one of them was able to throw some light on a problem that had been developing during the day.

My first suspicions that the antique gold fabric was waxed cotton were proving to be unfounded by me as I inspected it more closely.  The contemplations had continued throughout the day until my other two friends arrived.  One of them does a lot of fabric wall hangings and collage and as soon as I showed it to her she declared it was upholstery silk (she then stuck it between her teeth and chewed on it to confirm her suspicion!) and it was treated with anti-dirt, water and fire resistant coating, hence the waxy feel!

No wonder it looked good and felt so bad!

I had put it in the washing machine and, once the cycle had finished, removed it to find not one drop of water was left on it and I bundled it to one side ready for cutting.  I also cut off a small piece to test ironing and it performed perfectly, holding some pleats in place to perfection.

So I am now about to embark on the gold dress and, unusually for me, I am actually going to use a commercial pattern (Simplicity 4731) that I have had, unused, in my stash for many years.

There will be inevitable changes to this.  I will be making the off the shoulder version but making the sleeve short to give a base for lace and ribbons to be put on. 

I have also decided to put in a side zip on a separate bodice and then do lacings at the back to make the bodice adjustable for others to wear at a later date but will not need to be used during performances.  I am hoping for an end result something like this;

So today I will be sewing again, on two more weeks until the holidays are over so I really need to crack on and get as much finished as possible before I am back at work.

The fifteen foot rule

I just got the feeling that I should spend a little time explaining how the fifteen foot rule works in my mind.

After posts about using upholstery fabrics, curtains and anything else that comes to hand, I am about to embark on ‘The Ball gown’ to be  worn by Belle that needs to be this panto’s ‘ooh ahh’ dress.  Every panto needs an ‘ooh ahh’ dress.  It is always worn by the princess (or other principal girl role) and she needs to make a grand entrance that makes the audience go… (Wait for it) …. “Oooh, ahh” at the vision of beauty before them.

I had decided, way back when Beauty and the Beast was the desired pantomime and not even confirmed, that I would not be making the ‘ooh ahh’ dress in yellow satin as seems to be the common choice.

The first reason was that I think (and this is only my opinion) that satin does not look good on stage!  By satin I mean the cheap polysatin that is all I would be able to afford, not duchess satin that looks gorgeous and sumptuous and I can only dream of a budget that would stretch to being able to afford that.   Polysatin is too flimsy and has no substance to it and the only way to save it for a dramatic dress would be to cover it in starch.  It also has a shine to it that screams out cheap costume (think of all those fancy dress costumes you can buy that are all made in polysatin).

The second reason is that yellow does not suit everybody and can make them look drained, not a great idea for stage!

So, in my mind I had decided on an antique gold for the gown.

When I went on my big fabric hunt of 2014, one of the things I was looking for was antique gold for the ball gown and I found the perfect colour.  The only problem being that the fabric is a kind of waxed cotton and not too wonderful to the touch.  After continuing on the hunt and finding nothing else, I went back and bought this fabric that was in the perfect colour…all because of the fifteen foot rule.

The simple fact is, it doesn’t matter what the fabric is as long as it looks right!  From fifteen foot away, waxed cotton looks and moves like an expensive taffeta!  Upholstery fabric that matches beautifully with another upholstery fabric looks like expensive jacquard.  Sadly, the perfectly beautiful fabric with flowers appliqued onto it of the same fabric looks a bit bland from fifteen foot away and needs something to lift it and you will find yourself wondering if you should be using it for the costume after all (yes I am talking about Belle’s first dress)!

If, like me, you are a fabricaholic, one of the first things you do when buying the stuff is feel it!  Just remember that nobody in the audience is going to feel the fabric and train yourself to think how it will look from a distance.  Pantomime costume is all about illusion, there is no need to worry about how the seams are finished; nobody will see it.  There is no need to worry about a few tacks here and there that hold the costume in place; nobody will see it, and there is no need to worry about what the fabric feels like; all they will see is something extraordinary on the stage.

If you are looking at something in your living/sewing room and it doesn’t hit you in the face then you can be pretty sure you need to add something.

Today, Auntie Em is coming round and we are going to be deciding on the ball gown and its ‘beautifying’.  The only thing I can guarantee at this point is that we will not be worrying about the fact that the fabric is waxed cotton!

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!