Charity Begins at Home

In light of the recent tornadoes in other parts of the country, my mom's company was asked to help one of their software clients by donating any extra items they could. The clients are a company that currently has 300 employees without homes or a place to work. Very distressing. So in the spirit of giving, my mom and I went up to the attic and purged any old clothing we no longer wore. After pulling down boxes, I managed to empty 2 whole boxes of old t-shirts. My mom also added to the pile a number of cotton "Fresh Produce" dresses and some other shapeless late nineties outfits. I personally am really glad I got rid of all the shirts, because I am constantly telling myself that I don't need anymore clothing (yet I insist on making more costumes to wear - you can NEVER have enough, in my opinion). Letting go of all the memories attached to the clothes is a bit hard, but good to do.

The massive pile of clothes getting ready to go to new homes!

As well as pulling clothes down to donate, my mom also showed me a couple dresses she wore in the late eighties/early nineties. One was a mock Laura Ashley dress made of blue corduroy and trimmed with lace at the collar and cuffs. The skirt was full with tucks adorning the lower half. It almost reminded me of a prairie dress, but was way too strange to wear. The other was a black floral dress with a hint of fifties (crinolined skirt) and a shawl collar on the back. If the dress had had a shawl collar on the front or been smaller at the bust, I might have liked it better.

My mom also pulled down from the attic a number of short, narrow scarves that she used to wear to work with her blazers and button down shirts. Most of them were darker mauves and muted blues, but I managed to save a couple colorful and neutral colored ones for use in future costumes (the bright blue one might make a great sash to match my 1930's dress or the red one might work well as a headband in Godspell). Hopefully you'll see them in future photos!

Spotty Dots

Finally some progress on my 1930's blouse set. I finished the muslin mockup (after making about a dozen silly mistakes including sewing darts and tucks on the wrong sides, sewing the neck fabric to the wrong sides, forgetting the collar after cutting it wrong, puckering on the shoulder, etc, etc.) and it looks good. The sleeves are currently three quarter length and I intend to make them in the short sleeve length. The shoulders are very puffy (which is the style, despite the blouse being a button down shirt), which are helped out by a cut of silky taffeta sewn into the armband (I think). Like most mockups I've done, I've yet to figure every detail out before starting the final project, so that will be one thing I'll do when I make the final blouse.

Something Borrowed, Something Blue..

And a silver sixpence in her shoe…On occasion I do like to repost some fun photos I find while looking through various tumblrs because I refuse to create another blog account (why should I make another when I have a perfectly fine blogger account, even though I could then follow some of my college friends that way) just to repost pictures. Anyway, I've always had a craving for oogling at fancy dresses (does it surprise you readers that I bought my junior prom dress in January, before I even had a date and tickets went on sale?), especially wedding dresses. So here I present some of my favorite dress findings (below the cut):

1930's Hair and Makeup Tutorials

I've started looking into makeup and hair tutorials for the 1930's so I have lots of inspiration for Reefer Madness come fall. I've done a lot of googling and found a reasonable amount of information about makeup recreating, but less detailed info about how to recreate the styled, curly and slim hairstyles. I have to admit that I have never been great with hair (every time I've curled my hair it turns out lumpy and strange - perhaps due to lack of correct tools) and I need specific instructions to create complex styles (which is why I ordered the Vintage Hairstyling book which should arrive soon). Anyway, I am creating this post for use as a basic tool and reference guide for those wishing to get a perfect 1930's look (and also for use during Reefer Madness this fall).

Broadway Antics

A couple weeks ago, the Tony Award nominees were announced, but I didn't recognize most of contenders for best play and musical. I haven't really kept up with the last couple potential Tony Awards nominees, which probably explains why I only recognize the revivals of Anything Goes (starring Sutton Foster - which I would love to see. She is an amazing actress.), How to Succeed…Trying (starring Dan Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame and with costumes I saw in my trip to New York in April), and The Importance of Being Earnest (starring Brian Bedford). Every year when I watch the Tonys, I revel in watching all the clips and performances put on by all the nominees, partly because they are more interesting than the suspense of waiting for the winners to be announced, but mostly because I love the spectacle of the elaborate sets and costumes.

Monday was the Drama Desk Awards Ceremony, with a number of important awards handed out to very deserving awardees. I didn't get the chance to watch it (I'm not even sure if it was televised), but I did look over the winners and nominees and they were quite satisfactory. Sutton Foster won the award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for Anything Goes (not surprising and definitely deserved) and the designer for Priscilla: Queen of the Desert won best costumes (SOOO glad - I've seen photos and they are amazing and swathed with detail. I used the movie as inspiration for my Midsummer Night's Dream/Costume Design 1 Final first semester)

Some of the nutty Priscilla costumes

Outstanding Music in a Play went to Peter and the Starcatcher, the play I was supposed to see when I was in NYC for my costuming trip (but didn't because an actor was sick); Sleep No More, an award winning theatrical experience, also won an award. I never had the opportunity to see the show, but it had a very cool premise. It was Macbeth, only set in an old high school and you walked through and watched the story unfold before your eyes. A complete list of winners can be found here.

A plus is that the Tony Awards are on June 12th! I can't wait to see what happens. In the meantime, I'll start doing some research about the nominated shows. Also Neil Patrick Harris is hosting. I love him (especially in Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog).

I also have task for you readers - if you are in the area, get tickets to come see Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music at Reagle Music Theater! I can assure you that both will be fantastic shows and won't disappoint!

"I think it's pretty, I reply."

Yep, another blog revamp. I was getting a bit tired of the older dull blue. I wanted something with a bit more pop (plus the header was out of date and I couldn't find the right file to fix it).

Haven't done all that much over the past couple days - measurements on Monday went well but were quite long and tedious. I got there at 9 and left at 7pm because we had appointments scattered throughout the day. There were a couple points when I had nothing to because of such a gap in appointments.

Still have made little progress on the 1930's dress. I need to work on the sleeves and sides and the collar before I can move on to making the skirt. I also need to get buttons for the blouse and a closure for the skirt, so it looks like a Joann's run is in order today.

Midnight Sewing Madness

Sew (sorry, bad pun), as most of you know, I've had started a lot of different projects over the 2 week span I have been home - most of these are quite far from finished (my 30's ensemble, the apron for my cousin…). Last night I decided to embark on another (quick) project. At the end of the school year, my theater group was enlisted to clean our stuff out of the basements of the houses we were storing stuff in, and move it to another basement. We split up and conquered two houses and each took a box containing varying props, costumes, and other really random knick-knacks (a ceramic duck? body parts? I think you get the idea). In the process we found a few really old t-shirts that were printed before any of us were even involved with the group - of course they were all size large and extra large, but I managed to get a large, figuring I could do something to make it fit. And I did.

I lay the shirt out and measured the front and back and cut it so the width of the shirt was slightly larger than my bust measurement and then zig-zagged the edges to prevent any fraying (I've never used or had any interest in using pinking shears). I stitched the two sides together, adjusting the arm holes a couple times until they fit right. I then folded over the armhole seams so they sat on my shoulders better and voila - I now have a nicely fitted sleeveless shirt! I was hoping it would be a little longer because I can't wear it without shorts or pants to bed, but with bottoms it will make a nice rehearsal shirt. It took me a couple of hours, plus I also sewed another part of my 30's blouse muslin. Yay!

Retro Styling

I finally broke down and bought the Vintage Hairstyling book from the publisher. I was growing impatient with Amazon for not having it back in stock and was having cravings for vintage hair and makeup (for some reason I have had this huge craving to go to the MAC store at the mall and play with all the different lipsticks and eye shadows to create a fancy vintage look). It should come in the next week or so.

I have made little progress on my 1930's dress ensemble. I whipped out the muslin of the skirt in about 2 hours and would just need to put a waistband on it. The shirt is proving more difficult; it is 5 pieces with the front and back pieces connecting and gathered to empaulets on the shoulders. It doesn't sound that difficult, but the pattern also calls for some really funky darts at the shoulders(?!?) and elbows (which will probably disappear when I turn them into short sleeve) which makes for some tricky maneuvering while sewing on the machine. Once I finish this muslin, I'll take apart the skirt muslin and try to line my fashion fabric with it, so I'm not flashing the audience, while dancing.

I also just learned my brother took the car for the weekend, so I'm back to my mom driving me places until they come back tomorrow afternoon. So much for my leisurely excursion to the mall tomorrow.

I also officially start my internship bright and early Monday morning at 9:00. I'll be there all day helping with measurement appointments (which I am very good at ;)) for Oklahoma, so that could get tedious. Good news is that I saw the cast list and I recognize a couple of the names, so it will be good to see those people again.

There's a bright golden haze on the meadow...

I've known for a couple days now, but it's now officially official - I've been hired as a wardrobe intern! I'll be helping with the construction and fitting of their two shows this summer - Oklahoma and The Sound of Music. I went to the theater and met with the producer and he mentioned that recently the University of North Carolina School of Arts put on a (practically) award winning production of Oklahoma and we would be renting the costumes from them. But the REALLY big deal with this is that they recreated the entire production to look like the original 1943 production - right down to the exact fabric choices and specks of paint on the backdrop. The production was absolutely stunning. Plus, they were blessed to have one of their alums (Terrance Mann - right after his stint on Broadway in The Addams Family) come back and direct, along with original Agnes De Mille choreography by Gemze de Lappe (who was Agnes de Mille's protegee). Anyway, long story short, it looks like we will be renting as many of UNC's "restored" costumes and I'll be helping with construction for any extra (larger) costumes they may need.

I realize this is a lot, but gets even better. Gemze de Lappe is choreographing the show. Readers, you have NO IDEA how excited I am about this. Gemze was in the original 1943 production and later was cast as Dream Laurey and continued on to work with Agnes de Mille. She currently travels the country teaching the choreography to various companies - and she is 89. Still not convinced? If you want to watch (a much younger version of) her work, she danced the part of "Simon of Legree" in the movie of The King and I with Yul Brunner.

So it looks like I will be kept busy with that (aka. making costumes) for a while. I rented the movie version this afternoon and finished it. After watching it, I don't really understand the appeal of the show (except for a couple fantastic dance numbers and famous songs) and truly prefer some of the other Rodgers and Hammerstein works. This is probably because I grew up with Cinderella, The Sound of Music, and The King and I (of which I have been in two out of three). However, I am very glad for Oklahoma's advancement of the musical theater genre.

Something I'm considering

I've been eyeing two different retro books for a while, both of which would help with costumes and such for Reefer Madness (and also fulfill my need for Retro styles for dances and such). The two books are actually both modern and written by Lauren Rennells of The Bobby Pin Blog and Vintagehairstyling.com, two fantastic resources for anything related to Retro Styling. Anyway, I came across the first book Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques a couple of years ago and found that it is practically the bible for vintage hairstyling. It goes into detail about how to create the exact look you want and what tools to use, plus also contains dozens of easy step-by-step tutorials about how to create vintage hairstyles. Lauren also recently published a companion book on how to create vintage makeup styles. Like the previous book, I've done my research and it also is very thorough with the history of vintage makeup. Both books look really interesting and useful, but I'm not sure if I really want to spend that much on books. Currently, they are both available on the publisher's website (that includes a shipping fee) and on Amazon (where only one is currently in stock, but includes free shipping). Any Leading Ladies want to weigh in on which whether the makeup book would be any use for Reefer Madness?

Huzzah!

My patterns came in the mail yesterday and I am suddenly really inspired to get started on (at least one of) them. I checked the mail as I left for babysitting and found a small package with my name in the mail!! Yay! They were here! Both were packaged very nicely in clear plastic envelopes (and I would highly recommend the seller as she shipped very quickly - purchased monday, sent wednesday, received friday).

I'm starting with the pattern on the left, the dress/skirt and blouse set with the short sleeves

After babysitting, I went over to Joann's to pick up some fabric for the blouse/dress/skirt (and notions for my apron making fiasco). Let's just note this now that when I go shopping alone, I tend to take my time, weighing every option and possibility (which is great for a savvy shopper, not the time-saver). Two hours later, I walked out with tracing paper, a tracing wheel, a measuring gauge (good for making a pattern and creating your own seam allowances), and a huge pile of fabric. I think it totals close to 8 yards. I bought 3 yards of plain white muslin (for lining and such - boring), 1/8th of a yard of silky white taffeta for "sleeve stiffener," 4 yards of a blue and green dot cotton which I am planning to use as the blouse (with enough leftover yardage to create a matching skirt), and a yard and a half of bright lime green cotton sateen for a second skirt to match the blouse. I'm really happy with the dotted fabric because it is very similar to one I found on reproductionfabrics.com, just half the price and minus shipping costs.

So pretty!!

I'm also working on some baby bibs for my mom's coworker who just had a baby girl and I decided it might be good to deplete my stash of pink baby fabric. More about that in my next post.

I also finally heard from the theater I applied to intern at and they want me to come in on Sunday and help them out by being a dresser backstage! I've never been a dresser before, so I hope it's not too hard to pick up on. Hopefully I'll have good news to report!

A Potential Commission

On Sunday, I went to visit my cousin (who is currently a Med Student at Boston University) and then made dumplings back at my house with her and my family. While we were touring the BU campus (for one of my brothers who is very interested in being a studio art major in college), she asked me if she could commission an apron from me! I certainly don't think it would be that difficult, so I think I'll be able to do it!

As far as my experience with aprons goes, I haven't had a lot. Some of you may remember my Alice costume from this past fall where I found a perfect dress in the costume store downtown, then made an apron to go over top. That apron was drafted completely by hand and included a simple rectangle gathered to a long strip (more like ribbon) of fabric and a square pinafore piece sewn to the waistband and with button-neckpiece (I know, it seems complicated, but makes some sense). Anyway, you may recognize I've had a lot of extra time now that I'm on break and have had way too much time to spend surfing Etsy, but I think this habit will prove quite beneficial because I now have more ideas for aprons and my 1930s/40s outfits.

Maybe this will explain my Material Culture focus...

I know the patterns haven't even shipped yet, but I can't stop thinking about what materials I want to use for my patterns. For the blouse and skirt set, I know I want one half to be patterned with the other half solid, so I have a nice mix and matchy costume idea going on (and then I can make a separate blouse or skirt to match other half - genius!). The dress, on the other hand, I have no idea. The pattern illustration is making me think a lot about how it appears to be a knit fabric, which would be nice for everyday wear. I think it will probably depend on my choices for the blouse and skirt set.

Decisions (or at least one) made!

I ordered the patterns for my vintage dresses! They should be shipped out in the next day or two. After a lot of deliberation, I decided to order two patterns: one for a 1940's scoopneck shirtwaist dress and another for a 1930's blouse and skirt set. Now to decide on the fabric. I'm thinking about choosing brighter colors for the both of them, but don't know if I want to shell out the cash for fancy vintage reproduction cotton. We'll see. I am currently leaning towards maybe ordering reproduction fabric for one, then getting something from JoAnn's for the other. I've only worked with cotton or linen before (and had good results), so I am leaning towards that because it's easy to work with. But I may try to branch out and pick a different fabric for the dress. Anyway, without further ado, I present my two pattern choices.

Blue Roses

Fabric choices for any sewing project are always the hardest part because I have to pick just one. For my 30's dress, I am planning to pick a cotton print (which will make it easy to wash), I just don't know if I want to splurge on a retro print (some of which are adorably expensive). Here are my favorites from the mouth-watering reproductionfabrics.com:

Mary Lane and Pretty Dresses (Post #100!!)

So in my last post I mentioned I had plans for a 1930's dress for use in Reefer Madness (and also daily use).  I guess a bit of background about the show and my plans for my dress would be quite appropriate.

Reefer Madness is a musical based off the 1936 film of the same name. It was originally a propaganda film that was supposed to warn parents of the dangers of smoking marijuana and to keep it away from their kids. I have watched part of the movie, but got a bit bored with it (probably because I had trouble hearing it and I didn't really have the energy to focus on it). Anyway, in 2005, the cult hit was remade into a movie musical (using the songs from the 2001 musical performance) starring Kristen Bell and Alan Cumming (who played the Emcee from the Cabaret Revival, small world). So yeah.

Finally Finished!

I can't believe I just finished my first year of college! It's hitting me pretty slowly, but I'm sure I'll notice it at some point. I'm officially moved out and back home with a little puppy sleeping at my feet. I had so much stuff that we had to take two cars back. My stuff is now unloaded out of the cars (except for the fridge) and is taking up the entire living room. Typical. It looks like I'll be cleaning up for the next week.

Right now (probably because the laziness of summer hasn't kicked into yet), I have a number of projects and such lined up to do. Tonight I have a ticket to see my high school's production of Les Miserables (our final production in our beloved Little Theater). It has gotten really good reviews, so it should be fun. It's also the last night, so I won't get a chance to to see everyone before they disappear to strike the set.

I am also babysitting next week for my neighbors, which should be a good way to earn a little extra cash before the summer starts.

I still haven't heard back from the major theater company I applied to intern at, but my mother keeps suggesting I call them, which I should probably do on Monday.

One of my biggest projects this summer is related to my theater group's fall musical Reefer Madness. I'm planning to sew a 1930's era dress to wear in the musical this fall. I don't know what part I will have, but probably something in the ensemble. It also helps that there are a few other regulars who are a similar size, so I could always lend it to one of them if I end up as a guy or a slutty character (the latter of which is MOST unlikely).

And so I leave you with a neat article about clothing sizes - which would make all of our lives about 100 times easier.

And piles and piles and piles….

of work. I'm getting sick of this. I just finished playing the cut and paste game with all the notes I took about children's clothing and I'm at 10 pages for my Material Culture essay. Just 5 6 to go (My 15th page has to be actual text, not piles of end notes, as I'd love it to be).

Also, I apologize for anyone who is reading my blog. The next few posts will probably be me complaining about my excessive work for finals. I promise that my 100th post (this is my 98th) will be something readable and amusing.