A dress for me!

Today I got to wear a new dress! A super simple to make, can you say the serger is a wonderful quick and efficient friend =)

I have always loved the simplicity (no pun intended!) of this Simplicity 2054 a Cinthia Rowley pattern. It is a t-shirt lengthened to an A line dress. I could have lots of these in my closet...easy to wear, easy to accesorize specially during those mornings when there isn't a lot of time to think about what to wear.

I wore it with a cardigan today and no belt,  I think I like it even more with the belt. I also like the sleeve length since we don't all have Mrs Obamas's shapely arms.

I'm so excited to sew! What next! I'll let you know when I decide. If you have suggestions for any must have garment/pattern let me know! I have been out of the loop of the greatest and most popular.

I'll be back soon!

A quick hello

Have I told you how much I miss blogging? Well, I do! Life has become busier for me lately, I won't bore you with details but soon, meaning end of spring term, I will have more time.

I have a knit dress cut waiting to be sewn

I used a knit from my PR New York trip, which I saw Karen getting at Kashi's and I had to have it also =). I would like to get it done to wear to work on Tues, we will see if I can manage it.

Happy spring to all! Keep on sewing and I will too!

What has kept me busy up to now!

Hello everyone! I am so excited to be back to blogging and soon back to sewing for me!

The show was a tremendous success! We had 6 shows, one only open to elementary schools in the area and 5 to the public, out of the public shows 3 were sold out. At the last show people bought tickets knowing they would have to stand to see the the show!

I will show you pictures taken during one of the dress rehearsals taken by the photographer who did a fantastic job capturing it all.

I hope you enjoy!

Dorothy's costume was made using Simplicity 4136. Of course all the bias binding I did was my addition and I loved how it turned out. The dress fitted perfectly with no fittings issues the first time I tried it on!

All fabrics came from Joann and the trim was in my stash.

I was originally going to make the Cowardly lion's costume but the basic costume from the company we rent from was okay so we kept it and enhanced it. The wig was purchased by the school, I made new mittens and then added strips of the mitten fur to the shoulder fur piece and the shoe covering, as well as enhancing the tail to incorporate the new fur pattern all over the costume.

Here is what we got from the rental company for the Tin Man, poor guy looked like a spaceman...

 

 This is how I transformed him.

I took pieces from different patterns that featured gladiators and knights and I added the vest, boots a new funnel (which my husband sprayed painted for me!), we gave him silver gloves and I made him a bow tie to keep with the traditional look of the movie. The mom who was helping me added the silver electrical tape for additional texture.

 

Scarecrow looked fine we added raffia cuffs  and a burlap sash.

I made the burlap cape for when Cowardly lion gets crowned

I used Burda 7686 to make the jacket. The beautiful actress sparkled on stage!

Here you can see the rosettes I added to Glinda's dress to cover the buckles that strapped her for security purpose when she was flying in her  bubble. One of the talented actors made them for me! Her dress was too tight on her so I spent a good chunk of time adding in a v shaped pieced at center back because there were no seam allowances to speak of at the sides. The dress a friend of the director's had donated it to the production.

Using Butterick 6411 view A I made 18 capelets out of white ponte roma knit from Joann's for the poppies when Glinda covers them with snow. They moved beautifully on stage and the dancers loved them.

Along with the other mom we came up with the design for the crows and trees. We made feather accessories for the neck, wrists and ankles and the hats were decorated with feathers and sunflowers for the crows.

 The trees got hats with branches and apples and gloves with detachable apples that they could throw at the Scarecrow and Dorothy in one of the scenes. We wanted chic costumes and I think we got them!

I modified all costumes used for those actors that would be flying Glinda, the bad witch, the monkeys. I replaced zippers, hemmed and accessorized. Last minute I made a quick cover/quilt for Dorothy's bed, for the twister scene, that tied the yellow brick road to her bedroom (it had a yellow wide stripe in the center)

Here are a few more pictures of the show

Cool special effects

Scary flying monkeys

Huge production team

We had it all and I am so glad I got to be part of it!

Wish me luck!

Today is the costume parade which is when the director and I review all the actors in costume and approve, note changes to be made, etc. There are close to a 100, yeap. This weekend I also found out that this time around the harnesses for flying come out at each hip instead of out the back, so on Glinda's dress thankfully that spot fell at the end of the bodice so I was able to open up seams at each side and secure for the clips to come out. Now I have to deal with the witch's costume and the monkeys.

The capes got done this weekend!I brought them in to school just needing hooks and eyes sewn on and the actress who plays Dorothy who is a sweetheart sat with me and together we finished 13 sets (I had already finished 5).

I also have to grade the exams I gave my students last week and prepare for classes this week. This weekend both my kids were preparing for math exams so after the craziness of theater I had to put my thinking cap and do math to help them.

Did I tell you the show opens a week from Thurs? I have to tell you that I am a little overwhelmed, but I won't admit it to my family. In two weeks the show will be over and I can go back to my usual normal.

So anyways, wish me luck this afternoon!

Burda 7686 Glinda's bolero

Hello everyone!!! I hope everyone has been well and sewing up a storm so that when I'm done at the end of the month I'll have tons of posts to read!

Tomorrow Glinda's bolero is going to go to the theater room and to its garment bag so I took a couple of pictures to show you.

 Burda patterns rock, even in a simple little jacket they add details that make such a different, in this case darts in the back to bring in the hem close to the body, darts in the sleeves for comfort and better fit. You can see that there's an opening in the back of the jacket, it is there because the flight harness needs to come out.

The fabric is a poly-organza from Joann's (there is a lot of glitter in the special occasion isle!) In the picture below you can see better the silver dots all over the fabric and the sparkly clear and pink gems I added on the edges (finished with self made bias binding ,poly satin from Joann). Yeap, I thought they were self sticking ones, but they weren't so I glued them individually and I alternated between the colors. I know I'm insane but doesn't it look pretty? All I kept thinking was how pretty it will look under the lights.

I have made 5 capelets, will start on the rest tonight since I received the fabric from Joann's yesterday (white ponte).

Happy March to all (in case I don't make it back here soon!)

A quick update

I finished Dorothy! And I did not take a single picture! This is how crazy things have been! But don't worry there will be plenty of pictures when the show starts. I did all the binding like I wanted and it turned out perfect and a perfect fit! The actress was thrilled.

I will show you the bolero I'm still working on for Glinda to wear. It looks great with the dress we are using. I will take pictures soon. Here is the pattern Burda 7686. It turns out while I have tons of bolero patterns they were all for knits and I really didn't have the time to think about allowing  ease and so on, so I bought one for wovens.

It turns out I won't be making the lion's costume which gives me more time for the 18 capelets I am making for the Poppies to wear to simulate being covered with snow. I will be making view A from this super cute reprint of a 1948 pattern.

Can I tell you what a wonderful chaotic, fun, and exhilarating day I had yesterday? The lady who has the majority of the costumes we use came in and we fitted the majority of the cast (close to a 100!) Later will come adding those details that finish a look and repairing and final fittings. I am very lucky to have the help of another mom who is creative as well as fun and easy to get along with and she can also handle a needle when necessary!

I apologize for my lack of commenting on your blogs, I will have a lot to read when the craziness dies down! I hope that you are all well and creating some wonderful garments for me to admire later on!

Making it my own

So how do you take an iconic character like Dorothy and give it your own special touch? Well there isn't much that I can change but it's all in the details, isn't it?

Dorothy in Weber's production

Before I knew what the director was thinking for the show I started to look for inspiration and I loved what Andrew Lloyd Weber's production had done with the set and costumes.  I now know the director wants a traditional look for the leads.

I love the bias binding and flat piping that the designer incorporated in the dress so I plan to do the same. For the blouse, which in the pattern is not a separate garment but just the upper bodice, I will stay with the traditional look from the movie with the high neckline and I will add rick-rack but still haven't decide where. I found at Joann's some big white very retro looking buttons which I love and will enhance the retro look I'm going for.

I modified the pattern and I'm now ready to cut and do a first fitting on Wed. After Dorothy it will be the Lion and Glinda.

I will keep you posted!