Sempstress

New Demo: Setting a Gusset

So, I’m making up a Regency style corset and it has gussets at the bust and hip to give it shape. I’m lining the corset, but I’d like to do the gussets as single-layer pieces. If you find yourself doing something equally silly, here’s how to slam a gusset in between the two layers in one go. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 1800s, Construction, Corsetry, Regency, Sewing

Hooray for Progress!

So, it’s been, like, forever since I’ve gotten to work on anything for my dollies, right? Oy then! Not cool… But I did get a few minutes the other day to work on Maid Marion’s little overdress that I started months ago. I dyed it months ago, too, and then crazy show-float-show-crap-I’ve-got-clients-too! season get the better of me… But, finally, progress! Here’s a general method for sewing a lined princess seam dress, regardless of size. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 1000s, Dolls, Fantasy

New Demo: From Moulage to Regency Corset Pattern

Ok, so you know I’m gonzo about le moulage, right? It’s basically a princess line dress, with no ease. That makes it a pretty accurate model of a specific human’s torso. But what the heck do I do with that information? I’m working with two remote clients right now, and they’ve sent me back their moulages (with notes – nothing is perfect the first go). For Haley, I need to draft a regency style corset for her Elizabeth Bennet inspired dress. Here’s how to go from Moulage (or any other princess-line sloper you’ve got handy) to the least moulage like thing I can think of – an 1820s corset. ;) Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 1800s, Corsetry, Jane Austin, Patterning

New Demo: Steampunk on a Shoestring: the Countess

I’m saving the best for last – I loved the way this costume turned out! It is, by far, the most wack-a-doodle set of design decisions I’ve ever made. I really wanted to do a rather prim dress for the Countess, what with how she’s rich and all. At the same time, there’s only so much “prim” you can use around a Steve Martin script, and the character is fairly exuberant. So she needed a costume with enough detail to be lavish, enough joy to match the character, an olde-timey silhouette, and it had to come from resale. You know, no bigs….  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Guerilla Costuming, On the Cheap, Steampunk, Theater

New Skill: Removing Sharp Edges from Plastic Boning

I’ve been a huge fan of jumbo plastic cable ties as corset boning for a long time. The only real downside to them is that they can get sharp corners when you cut them, and those corners will eat through fabric over time. I used to file them down with a nail-file, but that takes time. There’s a faster, easier way….

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Tags: Boning, Cable Ties, Corsetry

Oh, sweet irony…

I have six over-due library books right now. They are all on the topics of Time Management and Productivity. (This speaks volumes about what my life has been like for the last five months, and just how overwhelmed I’ve been feeling about it….)

Tags: Life, productivity

New Demo: Steampunk on a Shoestring: Germaine

So, for the next installment in the series, I’ll tackle the character of Germaine in Picasso at the Lapin Agile. (Wowza, did that sound pretensious…) The rough inspiration for the costume was, “How would Miss Piggy do Steampunk?” This one is slightly more complex than the Admirer, but still pretty easy to wrangle out of resale… Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Guerilla Costuming, On the Cheap, Steampunk, Theater

New Demo: Steampunk on a Shoestring: the Admirer

So I’m doing Picasso at the Lapin Agile at Wheaton Drama right now – big funny Steve Martin craziness, right? It’s our studio show. Now, I figured the studio show was where we do something artistically risky, just to see how the audience responds and not care too much about how it sells. This should tell you how much I still need to learn about theater… Le sigh. Silly me. Apparently, “studio show” is theater-ese for “low budget”. So, what’s a costumer to do when she finds herself with an 11 person period show, and the show budget is 500$ less than what she wanted for the costumes? Steampunk. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Guerilla Costuming, On the Cheap, Steampunk, Theater

My Glamorous Life

During the week, when there are no shows going on, actors and most of the crew return to their regularly scheduled lives. Do you know what costumers do? Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Costume, Laundry, Theater

New Demo: How to Make a Hair Wreath from Living Flowers

So there’s always that scene in midieval movies where the heroine is seen romping around a field with a wreath of real live flowers on her head, and maybe there’s someone shown doing some totally random bit of jiggery-pokery  that effortlessly causes flowers to form into a neat little chain. These scenes annoy me. I’ve tried everything I can think of to make flowers turn into neato little wreaths and chains — braiding, twisting, weird-pokey-stem-through-stem things, everything. And it never works. So I end up buying a dried flower wreath at faire. Well, no more… Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: dandelions, hairwreath