My last project began with a woman’s blouse that was already fitted through the body, and I liked the shape of that shirt (see Fiddler on the Roof: Peasant Costume #2). So, for this project, I wanted to do a little remodeling with the shirt. I also liked the look of the blouse worn outside the…
I’m continuing in my exploration on different ways to upcycle thrifted garments and lines to create the peasant/villager outfits for an upcoming production of “Fiddler on the Roof”. I am continuing to work with combining different patterns and textures, and hoping to end up with an Eastern European feel. In my first costume, I ended…
One of my friends is costuming “Fiddler on the Roof” this fall. This is a new musical for me (well, to costume . . . my kids were chorus members years ago 10-12 years ago). I began by doing an image search of the costumes, as well as looking for costume plots. I also…
This is my last post about “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. The show will be performed next weekend, and the costumes are set and ready to go. Now that I am done writing up these posts, projects will probably start coming a little slower and with a more eclectic inspiration. I have a long list…
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang / Costume / dress / Edwardian / Music Man / sewing / turn-of-the-century / upcycle / Victorian/1800
This project began with the need for a costume in a specific size. I didn’t have anything good for a base dress in my stash, so I went on a quick thrift-store run. I did not have anything specific in mind other than I thought I would like to start with a dress. I found…
I needed to make a few more costumes for the chorus to wear to the Fun Fair, and so I searched images on the internet looking for turn-of-the-century fashion for inspiration. I found several pictures that showed a jumper look: The nice thing about these looks, especially the one on the far right, is that…
When I began making dresses for this production, between the Baroness and the Samba, I KNEW I had a perfect dress to use for pieces: This dress has been in my stash a long time . . . I bought it when my kids were in middle school, and were still excited about dressing up…
One of the most memorable songs (at least for myself and my sisters) from the 1960’s movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” was the “Toot Sweet” song. This is a grand, frolicking piece with a very singable chorus, and of course, the added joy of the dogs storming the Candy Shop at the end is…
The fourth Bombie Samba chorus dress was embellished using organza table runners from Tableclothfactory.com. The table runners are 14″ wide and 108″ long, which makes them a great size for creating ruffles. The really nice thing about them is that all the edges come pre-finished, which makes the project really zip along. I began with a black…
The third Bombie Samba back-up dancer dress began with another one of those “gotta buy it” perfect base dresses. This is probably a late 80’s/early 90’s black taffeta ruffled party dress. It has a boned bodice, a reasonably modest neckline, and a stretchy back which is great for flexible sizing. It has three tiers of…
I was in the middle of making assorted Fun Fair costumes, and I had already made a number of the two piece jacket/skirt ensembles that I have previously blogged about, so . . . I was getting bored. One of my favorite “personal challenge” games is to find something inspirational at a thrift store, and…
This is the second Bombie Samba dress I made for the “backup dancers”. I was continuing with the theme of black dress and red ruffles. For this outfit, I began with a black sequin peplum top. The sleeveless top had a scoop neck, a zip back and an almost-circle peplum. My first step was to…
