Costumes, Costumes and More Costumes

Cinderella - done?

No, not really.  Feels like it though.  We have two more venues to visit this weekend and then I'll be able to clean and store the costumes. 

With a small break this week I had thought to get caught up on my bee's but instead I did fittings for Nutcracker.

Sigh.

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of the costumes (with dancers) that I've been playing with for the last month.  I apologize for their quality, I was snapping the pictures backstage as I had time.

These beautiful ballgowns were by far the most work for me.  They are silk and beaded and 15 years old, so they are constantly needing repairs.

This is one of Prince Charming's costumes.  He tore the sleeves under the arm and since they are silk and 15 years old, I opted to remove them, he now wears a billowy cream shirt under it.  It actually looks better!

A dragonfly - before you insist there are no dragonflies in Cinderella - the ballet is different than the movie.  Cinderella meets four fairies of the seasons and they gift her with her gown, shoes and pretties for the ball.  The dragonflies are part of Spring.

My favorite of the fairy costumes.  Its new, I didn't build it but it is glittery and sparkly on stage.  The winter variation is my favorite of the fairy dances.

So these (and many more) are the costumes that have occupied every moment I had for the last month.

I can't wait to be able to spend time sewing something cotton that doesn't need to fit anyone!

Cinderella

Wow, what a day, and I'm not even home yet.

Getting down to my self imposed deadline for having all the costumes for the first ballet ready to go.  I gave myself until the end of the month to have everything prepped and ready.  I feel like I'm running around with my head cut off and talking gibberish all the time, but everyone keeps telling me I'm sooo organized.  Just wish I felt organized.

Crud.

Just realized I left the steamer sitting outside the warehouse (we had a photoshoot this afternoon).  Guess I'll be swinging by there on my way home.

I'm down to the "notes" for the costumes which means I'm mending tears, fixing hems, tacking in labels with names on them.  Not so glamourous.  I've poked myself with my seam ripper so many times today, my fingers are sore.

After lunch while the Muffin was napping I decided to take a small break and work on one of my bee blocks.  I didn't get very far when my Brother started making noises that aren't normal.

Sigh.

Last time is cost me $40 to have the sewing machine guy clear a bind.  I think I'm going to try to take it apart tonight and see if I can fix it myself.

Wish me luck

Silk, Satin, and Taffeta, Oh My!

My house has been invaded by these beautiful costumes.  I get to do the finish work, adding hooks and eyes, snaps and buttons, fitting them to the dancers.  Not a bit of quilting cotton in sight.

They are new Party Dresses, Lady Mice and Skaters for the Nutcracker.

My focus will be on costuming for a while, not so much quilting.

*sigh*

aren't they pretty?

Week without Words

Whew!

We made it.  A whirlwind tour over Spring break.  It's done.  Whew.  We - My hubby and I decided to take the kids with us on our week long tour with the Ballet company.  He's the stage manager and I'm the costumer.

Everything went pretty smoothly.  The kids played with their crayon totes I had made them.  I had brought some hand sewing to work on but never had a chance.  I did sew quite a bit though.  In each town there are local ballet students that are in the show...usually the costumes for the locals are pretty generic and fit pretty well.

Not this time.

I had been warned that I would mostl likely need to let out some of the costumes, but I was completely unprepared to have at least six girls that didn't remotely fit into ANY of the costumes.  The dresses have fitted bodices and tulle and chiffon skirts.  There is only so much that can be let out of the bodice.  I was looking at a gap of at least 4 to 6 inches in the back, and nowhere to let out that much.  I had no clue what to do.

I went to find the Ballet Mistress, who also works on the costumes and I hoped that she had some ideas.... nope.  Not really.  She just looked at me with a stumped look on her face.

I sent to girls upstairs to the rehearsal without their costumes and sat staring at the rack of costumes waiting for inspiration to come.

The next day I found the local JoAnn's and wandered through the isles.  I came up with a plan.  I would make a panel to fit in the back that attached with hook and eyes, to the hook and eyes that were already in the back of the costumes.  (Of course I have no pictures of my brilliant idea, I was to rushed trying to get them all ready before the preformance that evening.)

It worked.  The costumes weren't pretty, but they fit and the panel wasn't noticable from the audience. 

After that, I did random mendings - a split seat in a pair of pants, a couple of split shoulder seams, reattaching hooks to tutus..

Lots of sewing - all on a machine that refused to function unless it was set to a straight stitch at the longest stitch width.  We had words, that machine and I.  It's currently sitting in the back of the van, destined for the repair shop.

All in all it was a good trip, but I'm glad to be home, showing in my own shower.

Busy Working...having a great time...

So, I've been actually working (outside the house) this last week.  What was I doing?  I was Wardrobe Mistress for Eugene Ballet's production of Dark Side of the Moon.  What does the Wardrobe Mistress do?  Lots of steaming, ironing and washing before the show and lots of standing backstage with threaded needle and safety pins during the show.  Now my garage is full of costumes that need to be repaired, washed and hung up in storage.

Here's a clip of the performance:



We got a totally wonderful review from our local paper.  It truly was an awesome show.

Entertainment: Arts "Ballet’s interpretation of Pink Floyd is money" The Register-Guard Eugene, Oregon

Time for Me

I finished up the Nutcracker costumes, they turned out great.  I can't wait to see them onstage.  Miss Mae and The Boy are going to be in the show, an angel and a baby mouse.  They are totally excited.  Muffin and Miss Mae were in a photo shoot for the Nutcracker Tea a couple of years ago.  They keep using the photo in their posters, It's sooo cute.

On another note -
I recently found Quiltville.com. What a great website. I decided to try out Bonnie’s scrap users system... I love it! I don’t have nearly as many scraps, but it is nice to have things organized and easily accessible.



Bonnie started a mystery quilt today. I’ve never done a mystery quilt, usually they require buying certain amount of yardage of particular fabrics. Since my fabric budget is usually nonexistent, buying fabric is out of the question. This quilt is called “Carolina Christmas” and it’s scrappy! She suggests using a single print of one color, to tie the whole thing together. I happened to have a bit of birthday money burning a hole in my pocket, so I bought 2 yards of a nice dark chocolate brown.


Since I don’t need to buy anything, I thought I’d give it a spin. She’s using scraps of red, green, neutral with a single gold print. I opted not to use gold but brown. The first step was listed late last night, and since I was up, (avoiding homework and folding laundry) I started it.


I worked on the units today, while my kiddos had a "movie day."  Tonight, I finished step 1.

Now I have to wait until for the next clue.  I guess I could clean up my mess....

~Kristin

Costumes

19 costumes, 1 month. Doable but daunting.

I’ve committed to building 12 Baby Mice, 7 Party Boys and 1 Fritz for EBC's The Nutcracker. No patterns, but I do have the old costumes to use as templates. So far I’ve layed out one of the Mice and traced out pattern pieces for the front, back and sleeve. Next step is to cut out one and build it, to test my pattern.

Totally had plans to do that this afternoon while the kiddos were entertaining each other after school. Really I did. Cleaned off the table, laid out the fabric and started tracing.

Then I remembered that the kids hadn’t eaten lunch yet. So, everything got swept off the table so they could eat without touching the fabric. Now I have a pile of gray microsuede fabric and pattern pieces smunched up on my ironing board. 

I could be doing it right now, while The Boy and Miss Mae are at Tap Class and Muffin is enjoying time with no siblings. Instead I’m sitting here writing. I promise I’ll do it after all the kiddos are safely in bed and nowhere near the pattern pieces and fabric.

Really, I will...really.