Hamlet's Jerkin

Despite the fact that the cat wanted to eat both the gold trim and the leather lacing, I had a jerkin ready to send in in time for Monday's school performance. The Actor tells me that his director and the young lady who actually plays Hamlet both liked it.



I don't know if you can tell from the photo of the back, but I added 3/4" to the back seam and finished it off w/the lining, then used Velcro(R) to close it up. The costume changes are pretty quick, so the only way that lace-up vest was going to be useful was if it had a quick entry.

I used black moleskin (faux suede). Not as fancy as velvet would've been, but not as expensive, either... ;).

The pattern is Simplicity 4059; if I can get a picture of it on the actress I'll post it w/a review... ;)

For anyone who happens to be in the Rocket City area, the kids are doing a fundraiser performance on Monday at Lee High School at 7 PM. No admission charge per se, but they are requesting a $5 donation...trying to cover the expenses of going to the state competition (which is next weekend). Just FYI. ;)

Compleat Works Goes to State!

Wish I'd taken my camera for the awards ceremony...

5 plays from our district were selected to go on to State competition and Compleat Works was one of them! So there is much rejoicing!

And, this mama has to brag just a minute...The Actor was selected to the District All-Star Cast, along with his fellow cast member, the Wearer of the Orange Pants. ;)

The Director/Tech Director took the comments to pore over; we'll see if any costume changes will be recommended. State competition is the first weekend in December.

Meantime, I have brought home a partially assembled Simplicity 3878...red poly satin and tulle...to finish out for 'White Christmas', which opens Friday. I say partially assembled; the bodice has been assembled and alterations pinned in, but I'm not even sure the entire skirt has been cut out yet.

Gulp.

Guess you know what I'm going to be doing every available moment for the next 2-3 days...

Dress Rehearsal Photos

Out of about 11 photos that I took (with no flash, of course!) This is one of the only two that weren't horribly out of focus...and the other one had blurred hands.

The Comedy section... ;)

Last Minute Switch

Sometimes I just wanna smack my head.

The basically red skirt I made for The Actor to wear as all the girls in Compleat Works looked great w/his basic costume...but I failed utterly to consider how it would look onstage alongside the very orange breeches of one of his fellow castmembers.

When we finally got everyone on stage in costume today I got the report...the red skirt Did Not Work. Ish. One of the drawbacks of just winging it instead of doing a show palette, I suppose.

So, our intrepid director raided the costume workshop and located a piece of fabric in colors that work w/all the costumes AND was long enough for a replacement skirt, not only for The Actor, but for the MiniMe doll that has to come in at one point.

Whew.


Yeah, I know it's ugly. That's the idea...

We Have a Costume!

(Cue the lightning and the maniacal laughter) Yes! Igor, we have done it! I have a suitable getup for a quasi-Shakespearian actor!

Or at least one that looks like poufy pants instead of poopy pants. That's Kwik Sew 3636 for leggings, substantially modified boxer shorts and The Artist's Butterick 4486 Pirate shirt.

So...that being a hit, I have fabric for the next leggings/poufy pants set dyed orange and drying, with the purple on deck for tomorrow. As the kids are rehearsing, it's becoming obvious that they have about all the costume pieces they can handle, so once the leggings and pants are done...dare I say it?...I may be finished.

But 'White Christmas' has been knocking on my door with a need for the dresses the girls wear to sing 'Sisters'...Vogue 2903.

So even if I'm finished...I'm not done. Not yet...

(So, of course I ordered fabric today. Makes sense, eh? :rolleyes:)

Progress...maybe...

I finally broke down and bought the dark green Rit and redyed that fabric AGAIN. So now it is a nice spruce color. Not really what I was looking for, but definitely a 'guy' green. The Granny Smith/lime greens I had the first two times were way too girly.

So I moved on and cut out the pouffy pants. I now have them completed to the leg elastic...and I'm afraid that what I wanted to turn out as poufy pants is just going to look 'full diaper'. We'll see...

I've also got the matching tights done to the elastic. I'm only going in to work for about 2 hours tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to make some significant gains tomorrow afternoon as well.

Maybe even do a load or two of laundry. The pile is getting dangerous.

Dyeing Newbie; or, How White Fabric Becomes Green with Only Three Trips Through The Washer

As I said earlier, I decided that, rather than to run all over and stress about finding fabric the right color, we'd just dye some white cotton/lycra jersey for the leggings the kids need to wear in Compleat Works. Plus, I picked up some white corduroy from the dollar-fifty table at Wal-mart to possibly use as pouffy pants with the brilliant idea of throwing it in the dye bath so as to match the tights. Pretty nifty, eh?

Thought I'd start with The Actor's personal hose-and-breeches. They're supposed to be green, but the only shade of Rit dye I could find was a dark forest green...not what I wanted. I decided I'd mix yellow and royal blue...that should make a nice bright green, right?

Today was the day. I got up and read the directions carefully...wash fabric in hot water...mix dye; I began with yellow and added blue until it looked like it would be a reasonable green...add detergent and salt to dye bath...add wet fabric...agitate in washer for half an hour...check check and check.

Imagine my surprise when I opened the washer after dutifully resetting the cycle so as to have a full half hour of agitation to find...white fabric.

What??? It didn't take the dye at all??? I did a quick burn test...yes, it is cotton. Could the Lycra content inhibit dyeing? did I do something wrong? Maybe I'll dye one of the other cast member's fabric...just to see what happened.

So I went out and began to fill the washer to start the process again and looked around for the bucket I'd used to mix the dye from the first batch.

And found it sitting on the laundry shelf with the dye mixture still in it. I'd forgotten to put it in the water.

Head-slapping time.

So, I redid it, making sure to add the dye the second time.

And I got fabric in a very nice shade of Granny Smith Green. Not what I wanted...

Another trip to another Wal-Mart. Still no green other than Dark Forest. So, more royal blue and yellow; this time I began with the blue and added yellow to it.

I still have a pretty bright green, but it's darker than the apple green I had the first time. It *might* be dark enough. We'll see what it looks like when it's dry...

And I tried dipping a bit of scrap fabric into the dye to see what the tint would be; that really didn't work. You folks who use Rit...is there any way to be sure what color you'll get before you actually do it??

Skirting the issue...

I put the pedal to the metal (70's cb radio slang, anyone?) on the Compleat Works skirt (a modification of Your Basic Dickens Skirt -- I only used 3 panels instead of 4) last night and got it prewashed, cut out (well, torn to size) and assembled. I tried it on The Actor, who was understandably uncomfortable in a skirt, and the kitten ran underneath it. He looked down at the cat tail emerging from under the hem and said, 'Oh, that's cute! I wish I had a picture.'

'Son, do you *really* want a picture of yourself in a skirt?' I asked.

He looked at me and nodded, 'Good point, Mom!'

So I thought I'd take a picture of it on a hanger, but I took it in to school today and forgot to take a photo. Maybe I'll get a shot of it on him in one of the rehearsals...

And, I brought home the fabric and the pattern for the bridesmaids skirt...it's Simplicity 2512, view B, which will be slightly modified. I don't have the fabric for the contrast trim, so I only need to do it to the hem. I will finish the top of the skirt w/o the trim, so that if there's a problem attaching the trim after the zipper's in it can be left off w/o leaving a raw edge at the top.

I got the measurements of the lady who will wear it; I'll need to add to the waist as she does not have as much difference between her waist and hips as the pattern expects, but I don't think that will be too hard. Basically, I'll adjust the fancy waistband and then just gather the skirt a little less in order to fit. A Petite Plus will look better w/o quite so much pouf anyway.

And, given the schedule I have this week, tonight is my best shot at sewing. So I'm off...

Assignments in Hand

I went to school today...even though it's fall break. Had a meeting with the Drama Director and the Tech Theater director and we more or less talked our way through the costuming for Compleat Works.

The big news is that we all agreed on an approach to the costuming...by and large, this show needs to look like three kids had a brainstorm and threw it together.

Which means the costumes are going to be even less authentic than we originally thought. The idea is mostly gonna be scrounge, scrounge, scrounge.

I brought home some really, truly ugly fabric found in the costume shop (printed w/teeny tiny tomatoes...) to make the skirt that will be the basis of all the female character costumes...Juliette, Lavinia, Cleopatra, Ophelia, Gertrude. Some fringe to make a wig. A set of drapes to turn into a kingly robe.

This show is gonna be a scream.

We're still a bit up in the air on the balooney knickers; they may end up being basketball shorts w/elastic added at the hems. We'll see...

Good thing; we have about three weeks till move in/tech week/dress rehearsals...

I'll post photos as I get 'em.

Petard Fabrication

The three kids doing Compleat Works are going to need leggings...we haven't definitely decided on colors yet, but they will be bright solids like purple, yellow, green, or red, depending upon which color of Chuck Taylors we find to fit the kids...the leggings will be the same color as their shoes.

But I have been visiting all my usual supply houses, and the colors of the season appear to be muted and muddy. Nice clear colors such as we will need for this show are hard to come by. I was despairing.

Then I had a Brain Flash...we could buy white knit and dye it. Get the fabric, cut the leggings out, then dye 'em and sew up up with thread that matches after the dye job.

I dunno what those leggings will sell for at a dancewear shop, but I'm willing to bet I can make 'em a bunch cheaper.... ;)

An' It's the Pirate Shirts to the Rescue!

Ahoy! Tis International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and, in honor of said day, 'tis me practice to link to me personal favorite of all me pattern reviews, Butterick 4486. But, actually, 'tis a timely notation, as Compleat Works will be requirin' th' actors to wear some blousy-type shirts. An' Oi just so 'appen t'ave three such shirts in me 'ouse from different times what we've 'ad to be piratey in our attire.

So, thanks t' the very same shirts, Oi'll loikely not be sewin' new ones fer th' show, savin' meself twelve-fifteen 'ours fer other things.

'Tis jolly good, Oi'd say!

Here we go: One Act Competition

I had the first official meeting this afternoon w/the director and cast of this year's competition one act, The Compleat Works of Shakespeare (Abridged(Abridged)). We just discussed a little bit what we're looking at, and Mr G sent home a copy of the DVD for me to watch so I can get a better idea of the required costumes.

Oh.My.Gosh. That is one hysterical production. A bit ribald in places...but, so was good ol' Will.

But, the good thing is that the production has a pronounced improv feel to it...so the costumes look very thrown together as well.

There are only three people in the cast, and I'm thinking of some things in my own costume wardrobe at home that might work, as well as some things that I know are in the costume shop from previous shows I've been involved with. There will be some sewing, to be sure, but mostly it's going to be scrounged up.

I'm breathing just a *little* easier ;)