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!

I finally got my sewing mojo back (very excited about a lot of designs in Burda Style magazine!) but life has kept me from sewing. It is the start of the spring semester so I have been attending seminars/professional development/training sessions, filling out paperwork, coordinating schedules and now doing lessons plans. My oldest left for school yesterday so I spent most of my day getting him ready. Also the school musical is moving along and costumes are going to be made. Of course these are just the extras all the regular stuff also has to be kept up =O.

I was feeling a bit overwhelmed yesterday, especially when I realized that we had stripped my son's bed in school at the end of the semester to wash all the bedding and I did not see it at all during the break and still has yet to be found. I'm thankful that I had given an extra set of sheets but mattress cover and duvet cover are missing. Where is the stuff???

So...School musical Wizard of Oz....patterns I will use...

This looks like a bear with the dark color fur!!

I will be making Dorothy's and the Cowardly Lion for now the others have to be decided. We might have a dress that I can add to for Glinda, but I still have yet to actually see what the rentals look like in person.

I requested fur samples and I'm waiting for those and I think I can get most I need at Fabric.com and Joann's.

I apologize that I haven't kept up reading all the wonderful blogs I follow and hopefully once I get into my routine this semester I will be able to keep up again. By the way I had to remove my blog list since it was giving virus alerts when readers using Chrome would try to access my blog, Blogger!! I will have to play with it again and see if it was a temporary bug with Blogger.

Looking forward to a new normal!

Inspired by a Cynthia Rowley top

 Don't ask me why but I saw this Cynthia Rowley top at Macy's and I loved it. I think it was $60 on sale and there was no way I was going to pay that. I instantly thought of the plaid knit you see in my garment,  I bought it from Gorgeous Fabrics a while ago (Ann now has other plaid knits available). There wasn't much left and since placement mattered with this fabric I had left it for when inspiration struck.  The grey knit was in my stash also, no idea where it came from!

For my version I used Vogue 1261 which I have made before as the basis. I added width to the sleeves, which are pretty narrow in this pattern.

 I remembered seeing the Hot Cocoa Sweater pattern in a blog (it's free!) and I had liked how the back was longer than the front but in a gentle curve so I used the bottom of  this pattern to shape my hem and then measured and cut a band to fit. I also added cuffs to the sleeves and cut a wider band for the neckline than the recommended width in the Vogue pattern.

As you can see my version is longer than the inspiration and the neckline not as high. I'm very happy with mine I think my changes make this top more versatile.

This top was finished before the New Year but just got to wear it yesterday for the first time. I'm glad I had it to show you since no sewing has been going on. I have been knitting but I can't decide what to sew next and it has paralyzed my mojo, anyone familiar with this?

Simple Laptop Sleeve

Yesterday I finished the laptop envelope for DS2. DS1 received his at Christmas but my youngest didn't like any of the fabrics I had for his. When I told Andrea that I was having trouble finding a fabric he liked she mentioned she had a dragon print in black, red and gray that maybe my son would like since she knows he is big into fantasy. She sent a picture and he loved it! So I ran to Joann's and I couldn't find it so Andrea, a dear that she is, went to her local Joann's, bought it and mailed it to me!

I used an excellent tutorial over at Sew, Mama, Sew! . The only thing that I did different was to fuse the fleece to the lining instead of the fashion fabric. The fabric for DS1 is textured and the fusible fleece would have crushed it. It is a great tutorial that  can be used for any size rectangular shaped device, she gives a little formula to figure out the panel sizes to cut.

This was a quick and satisfying project, don't forget practical too! I feel a little better that the kids have an extra layer of protection on their computers when they are transporting them.

¡Feliz Día de los Reyes!

Have you seen CBS Elementary?

 While I lay around hoping this cold gets better, I watched the newest episode of Elementary and then started to search for info on the wardrobe worn by Lucy Liu, who plays Joan Watson, Sherlock's companion.

Can I just tell you how much I love the clothes? Love, love, love

 Of course I'm going to sew inspired garments! I already have a top I finished before the New Year and it is waiting to be worn and shared. I'll tell you how that top came to be and although the inspiration did not come from the show, I believe it fits right in.

The one piece I was smitten with is this dress

The dress by designer Yigal Azrouel

On the show Ms Liu wears it with a button down white shirt ( I figured out how to do screen shots!) and it is just perfect. I have never heard of the designer but I am in love with so many of the pieces! I am going to try to reproduce it, with a more modest length of course.

A couple of more outfits

 This site has a lot of pictures and info about the show and  a how-to-get-the-look using rtw.

Anyways hope you enjoyed the ramblings of my congested head ! =)

What I made in 2012

As usual I made more Burda Style and Burda patterns than any other, just love their style and fit.
I left out one Vogue top that came out huge and needs to be worked on to be wearable.

Como siempre usé mas patrones de Burda Style y de los de sobre que ningún otro. Me encanta su estilo y como me quedan al cuerpo. Dejé fuera la foto de una blusa de Vogue que me quedó inmensa así que tengo que arreglarla.

Vogue Patterns

The dress on the left, Burda envelope, was made but never worn, except for the picture.

Este vestido es de Burda pero no llegué a estrenarlo, sólo me lo puse para la foto

 



 Burda Style and Burda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simplicity

 

My son loves his hat! 

 A mi hijo le encanta su sombrero!

 

 

 

 

Knitting

 

The pink is a shawl that I finished but having gotten around to blog about it.

 

Lo rosado es una manta que terminé y quedó muy bonita per aún no la he fotografiado.

 

 

 

 

These two skirts from Chritine Jonson patterns were made from leftover fabric from other projects and they have been worn the most out of my sewing this past year.

Estas dos sallas (Christine Jonson patterns) hechas de retazos son muy prácticas y me las he puesto muy a menudo.

This was a vintage pattern from McCalls, inspired by a dress I saw on Mad Men.

Este patón es "vintage" McCalls, inspirado por un vestido que vi en Mad Men.



The most fun I've had this year sewing? Come to think ever! Sewing for Seussical!

Lo más que me he divertido cosiendo fue durante el show de Seussical!

Even though I did not make the outfit on the left I did put it together so these were "my girls"

Aunque no cosí el conjunto de la izquierda yo lo compuse así que estas eran "mis chicas"

 

 I took on the challenge of making a tail grow on stage and everyone was thrilled with the results!

Accepté el hacer una cola crecer en escena y a todos le encantó como quedó!

And the bird girl that just wanted to have fun never looked more beautiful. I accesorized, repaired and coordinated costumes and it was a blast!

Y la chica pájaro que sólo quería divertirse nunca se vió más linda. Creé detalles para completar el vestuario, los reparé y tuve la oportunidad de ser parte del diseño, no solo de de la confección.




One more project finished in December didn't get photographed, it is a cover for my son's laptop. I'm finishing another and then I will share it with you. I had hoped to have it finished by now but I came down with a cold that has me laying around miserable.

Tengo un proyecto más que terminé en diciembre, un sobre para proteger el "laptop" de mis hijos. Terminé uno pero yo he terminado el año y empezado el nuevo con un catarro que me tiene tumbada. Cuando lo termine compartiré con ustedes.



Looking forward to reading everyone's end of year reviews!

Espero leer los escritos de fin de año de todos ustedes!