Monday, October 3, 2011

Baby's first RenFest

I had the CUTEST idea for a mom & baby costume for James' first Halloween!  I'm sure that I'm not the first person to think of it, but I really want to do a Little Bo Peep and sheep costume.  If I had time (which I don't), dad would dress up as a wolf, but that will have to be another day.  We probably won't be doing anything cool for Halloween (weekend) proper, but we are going to be going to the Texas Renaissance Festival the weekend before with my in-laws, so I figured that's as good of an excuse as any to get dressed up.

I am going to use Simplicity 2788 for the lamb costume (since I have never done a baby/child costume, I will be using the full pattern and doing a complete review on patternreview.com).  I am at a loss for what fabric to use.  I'm afraid anything but single-layer cotton will be too hot, but the woolly looking fabric is so cute.  I think that I will probably end up doing plain cotton muslin lined with the same.  I'm not sure if the head piece is attached or not, but I would probably not attach it anyway in case it happens to be 100 degrees that late October day.  You never know.




For the Bo Peep costume, there are no extant patterns that are not "slutty Bo Peep," which I am not the least bit interested in.  Nobody wants all this hanging out, least of all me, so I'm going to have to get creative.  I just wanted a cute, authentic-looking costume, so I went to the story books.  I found this adorable illustration and the thing I love about it is that it's not PINK.  Although I have no qualms about wearing pink, I think that pink is overused.  I love this one!  I will have to do some dyeing to get the colors right, but I think I can achieve it.




I went through my pattern stash and found several costumes that I can pick apart and put back together to closely resemble this picture.

Let's review the candidates:
For the blouse: Simplicity 3809, View A.  Leaving off the portion of the sleeve below the first elastic channel, I should be able to achieve the cute short sleeved blouse.
 For the bodice:  Simplicity 3623.  The bodice on this pattern has a point in the front which the illustration does not, but I don't think I'll be changing that.  The difference is negligible.  I doubt that this pattern requires any boning for the vest.  Even so, I will definitely be adding 2 pieces of boning inside the grommets to prevent any wrinkling when it's laced up.
For the drape:  Simplicity 3723, View C.  I will use only the drapes from this pattern (maybe even cut them down a little) to get the blue pieces in the drawing.

I probably won't use a pattern for the skirt (if available).  I'll just cut a length of full-width fabric and gather it at the waist.  I'd also like to use a cute ruffly cotton petticoat, or maybe a hoop skirt, but I'll probably borrow that and a hat from the costume shop where I work (lucky me!).

I really hope I can get this done in the next 2 weeks.  I've got a lot on my plate right now, but I really want to do this!

Abby

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Fantasy Renaissance Madrigal Dress

I have completed Jenna's Renaissance Fair Madrigal dress!  Unfortunately, she will not need a Dickens-era dress, so that will have to be another day.  Here is a breakdown of the process and the modifications that I made to the pattern. *This is not a how-to, but simply a guide the the departures I made from the pattern instructions*

Simplicity Pattern #4940
To begin, I created a muslin mock-up of the dress that would eventually function as the lining:

I don't normally do this since I like to flat-line everything, but Jenna is so very petite that I was willing to put in a little extra elbow grease so I wouldn't have to cut anything twice.  I also didn't want to waste any of the beautiful red silk that I was using!

I then had her come in and do a fitting of the lining which I marked to her figure.  Post-fitting, I disassembled the lining and cut it to the marks, using the lining pieces as a pattern for the dress fabric pieces.




I flat-lined the madrigal dress fabric with the muslin by serging the pieces together and then assembling them.  I only flat-lined the main dress and the upper sleeves.  This provides durability where it is needed and absorbs sweat.

< This shows the inside of the flat-lined dress body with seams pressed open (always press your seams!).


< Silk & muslin serged together and assembled.









As I was cutting the muslin lining, I decided to add a train to the back of this dress that was not featured on the pattern.  This was my first time drafting a pattern piece freehand, so don't judge!  I think my parabola/curve on the top side is too narrow (left) and that the sides of the curve are too deep.  I think it needs to be more of a "waning crescent"  with less of a curve.  You can see from the picture on the right that there are 2 "ruffles" at the very back.  These don't show up terribly when the dress is right side out and the drag of the dress hides it pretty well.  Where the center back seam of the dress meets the train is where I installed the aforementioned wrist loop (previous post).  Wearing the wrist loop will greatly reduce the chance of losing the back of the skirt due to being stepped on. :D

I found some embroidered gold silk taffeta in my stash that I had used on a madrigal dress a couple of years ago (no connection) and thought that it would be a much richer complement to the merlot color of the dress than the cream silk contrast we had originally discussed.  After a quick text to Jenna and her mom, we went with the gold.

I assembled the sleeves according to the pattern instructions, doing a regular lining style on the drape.  The sleeve drape has a drawstring tie that can be drawn up to create a ruched look.  I threaded the cord through the drawstring channels before sewing the drape to the upper sleeve (therefore catching it in the seam) so that there would be no chance of losing the cord (in dry cleaning, etc).  It also helps to be able to draw the cord up really tight.

I just noticed that the ironing board legs behind the dressform make it look like some kind of wonky 3-legged mannequin. >

< Here is one of the only pics I took of the put-together dress before I put the trim on.  You can see the ruffly bits on the train don't really make it look unusual.
I have gotten into the habit of waiting to set the sleeves in a garment until I've finished the details on the neckline and sleeves.  This is especially true if the sleeves have a lot going on.  Trying to machine-sew trim onto a sleeve with a whole dress in your way--and vice-versa with trying to sew a dress with sleeves flopping everywhere--is pretty frustrating.  I have yet to find where this has proven to be a problem.  In my experience, sleeve details and body details are generally able to be separated.

If you have a hard time visualizing things without a picture like I do, then you may also feel like the collar on this thing was kind of a beast, according to the instructions. I have to turn on a part of my brain that reads the instructions one step at a time and doesn't try to put  things together my way.  Otherwise, I will skim the instructions and put the pattern together like puzzle pieces.  That is how I usually do it.

The collar is the same gold taffeta as the sleeve lining, with a sparkly net overlay.  When I made costumes for Performing Arts Supply, a rule we had in designing garments was that "if you have trim in one place, you need it in 3," meaning that you can't just have a color or type of trim hanging out by itself or in pairs.  Good and visually pleasing design is based in a golden rule of odd numbers.  That's not to say that this "rule" wasn't intentionally neglected from time to time, because sometimes, it just looks good the other way. :)


The collar and overlay are sewn together and a trim added to the bottom to disguise the ugly seam.  The trim I used is a 1/4" sheer organza ribbon with satin border applied with 3 rows of topstitching using Sulky metallic gold topstitching thread.  Sulky is the only brand of metallic thread I will use in a machine.  Every other brand I have ever tried breaks repeatedly and frequently.  Argh.









I added the facing to the collar, pressed it under, and hand-tacked it to the lining inside. 


< Cute shoulder bows!  I tacked these in the middle under the "knot" part of the bow and under the top "loops" to hide the thread.









The last modification I made to this dress was to add grommets to the back of the dress instead of a zipper.  I created the modesty panel that goes behind the laces to match the dress.


I created a lined piece 8" wide and 17" long--2 inches longer than the length of the grommeted opening >



 




 I added matching trim to the top so that it would continue the neck trim all the way around.  I hand-tacked the panel to the lining on the back left side of the dress, making sure that you could see it through the grommet holes on that side.



I used 20 gold grommets with a grommet-setting kit for the back. These grommets are spaced 1 1/2" apart.  I think it's a nice spacing, not too close, not too far:
I always use Fray Check on my grommet holes before setting them to avoid nasty frays and the loss of grommets...if the holes get bigger, the grommets will fall out!

In the middle of the whole process, I thought it would be nice to make a headpiece and a purse to complete the ensemble.  I made an autumn-leaf hair wreath and a small drawstring bag that hangs inside the sleeve:














I simply attached a ribbon loop to the seam where the upper and lower sleeve are joined and threaded the drawstring through the loop.

I thought it would be nice to make the purse out of the same fabric as the sleeve lining so that it would blend in (it's also reversible to the red silk used on the dress).  I used this tutorial on YouTube to make the purse.  I used a 16" circle of fabric because I didn't need it to also function as a hat (if you watch the video, you'll get that).  It will suffice to hold a cell phone and a wallet or coin purse, maybe some chapstick, too.

And, long story short, a little of this, a little of that, badabing, badaboom, Madrigal Dress!


You can check out all of the finished product photos under the Portfolio tab, including a close-up of the purse hiding in the sleeve (you can't really see it in this picture, but it's there!).
Abby

Thursday, August 18, 2011

A New Project!

My next project is for a lovely young lady named Jenna.  Jenna will be singing in her school's Madrigal Choir for the next 4 years and needs a dress to wear to the Texas Renaissance Festival on November 10th and another dress to wear to the Dickens on the Strand festival in Galveston the first weekend in December.  I had a meeting with she and her mom yesterday to get a feel for what she liked and she chose the gorgeous Simplicity Pattern #4940:
This pattern is a design by Andrea Schewe to imitate the gowns worn by the Elvish maiden Arwen (Liv Tyler) and Eowyn the Shieldmaiden in the Lord of the Rings films.  The end product that Jenna chose will be similar to this gown from "Return of the King":



Jenna's dress will have the sleeves pictured on the light green gown above.  The Renaissance Faire in Texas is usually very hot up until about late November (and the way it's been going this year, who knows how long until Fall...January maybe??), so she chose a dark red drapery silk for the gown and sleeves, a cream drapery silk for the sleeve lining, and gold trim for the neckline, shoulders and sleeves.  It will be fully flat-lined with cotton muslin to protect the underside of the silk skirt from the dust and mud of the Renfest, and protect the inside of the silk bodice area from sweat.  I will give her a wrist loop on the inside of the back of the skirt so that she can carry her skirt and prevent any unfortunate tears from folks stepping on the back of her gown!

This is going to be an enjoyable project...I have not made any replica gowns yet, and I am interested to see how this particular gown will look in silk.  I'll have to check Pattern Review for any pitfalls associated with this pattern.   Come back soon to see pictures of the progress!


Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Hiatus Already


So it seems my 1950's Dream Angel dress was postponed before I could even get started.  We have been on the job search now for a couple of months with some (though not concrete) success.  Lots of interviews, but no offers.
We are in a period of transition, trying to figure out if we're going to keep living in the house or sell it and move over to my parents' (empty) place.  So that means that my sewing room is being packed and transferred to storage until further notice.  I did get a few pictures of the muslin mock-up for the bodice, but the drape was giving me fits and the next step was to re-cut it.  Here are a couple of photos to show the beginning stages:
Basic strapless sweetheart bodice with Princess seams
Flattering low-cut back
Right back drape before left side is added

Right front drape before left side is added

This bodice will have a period-appropriate invisible side zip
Pinned drape that doesn't meet for zip closure


 As you can see, I've got some issues with the drape.  It's too bulky all around.  My next step is to re-cut it while keeping the basic bodice (which fits the dressform beautifully).  The under-bodice will be lightly boned to help it keep it's shape (and not fall down!) as well as have some type of millinery wire along the top of the bustline, also to help keep it in that wonderful sweetheart shape.

I thought to myself before that perhaps I would work on some smaller projects in the meantime, such as Victorian handbags or something that would be easy to cut and put together, but OH YEAH, my sewing table is in storage.  Also, my cutting table.  Also, my sewing machine.

Something definite needs to happen soon, though, I'm getting itchy to work on something!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Great Expectations


Dear Blogosphere,

Welcome! and thank you for reading this, if indeed you are. I am Abby and I am a professional costumer. This blog serves the purpose of chronicling my costuming and designing adventures. About a year ago, I subscribed to the popular website patternreview.com and began to review patterns I had sewn. Sharing my experiences and photos got me hooked, but I wanted to share more of my costume construction process than Pattern Review is prepared to handle, so here we are.

A little bit about me: In 2003, I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatrical Design and Production from Baylor University. My concentration was Scenic Design, but I have worked in every aspect of theatre production before and since. I have worked at various civic and professional theatres doing everything from scenic carpentry and scenic painting to costume design and lighting technician. In 2007 I began working full time in a costume production house in Houston and fell in love with costuming. More specifically, I fell in love with costume history and have become obsessed with recreating historical clothing with all of the accurate details. While working there, I was able to really hone my sewing skills and get some experience with other interesting costuming activities like making period headpieces, shoes and jewelry, and looking at pretty, pretty costume pictures.

At the end of 2010, I had decided to quit working full time and drop down to extreeeeemely part-time at the costume shop so that I could stay home with our son, who was (at the time) due to be born in February (he's now almost 3 months old!) and do some sewing for fun. However, at the end of December, my husband got laid off from his job, so now it looks like sewing might be a necessity rather than a hobby (Going back to full time at the shop really isn't an option, unfortunately, since I didn't make enough there to pay for child-care during work hours).

At any rate, I'll be doing more of it and will share my adventures here! My first project is for a sewing contest on Pattern Review called "Knock it Off!" where I am charged with reproducing a garment I have seen somewhere. I will be attempting a 1950's evening dress from a vintage Kotex ad. I will start working on it after the first of May per the contest rules and also due to the fact that my commissioned job for a set of Medieval costumes from Annunciation Orthodox School is due on Thursday the 28th. I've been sewing my little fingers to the bone over the last couple of days to get all of the last-minute things finished up.

I can't wait to get started on the new project!

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you soon!

Saturday, April 23, 2011