So . . . my costuming life is going to be changing. I am officially “done” costuming for my local high school. My personal stuff is removed from the costume room . . . my school key is turned in . . . and I’m looking at what comes next. I will continue to make…
Wedding dresses are a great source of trim, fabric, petticoats and base garments for an upcycling costumer. The biggest drawback to these dresses is that they are WHITE. Unless you are Ella-going-to-the-ball, an “Addams Family” Ancestor, or perhaps Eliza Dolittle, a fancy white dress pretty much screams “BRIDE”. Most wedding dresses are made of…
This costume was inspired by some fabric I found while helping with a youth sewing project this week. Our church makes school kits for refugees as a summer youth project. The quilting group saves donated fabric that is suitable for school bags throughout the year. I was helping trouble-shoot sewing machines for beginning sewers, and…
Have I mentioned that I am having the BEST time making these costumes? Mixing and matching patterns, colors and prints is so much fun . . . and much more satisfying than breaking off weeds that won’t pull out of my sun-baked clay, or cleaning . . . although I DID do a deep clean…
Costume / Fiddler on the Roof / peasant/villager / Tablecloth projects / upcycle / youtube companion
I am now moving into the “variations on a theme” sort of post. Shirt + skirt + linen = outfit. I have a few more ideas for different base garments, and hopefully I will get to those in the next couple of weeks. This is college-apartment moving season for daughters #3 & #4, and I…
I’m continuing to work on some potential chorus costumes for an upcoming production of “Fiddler on the Roof”. This project did not end up being one of my favorites, but the components have potential, even if the end outfit is lacking. I began with four pieces: a black/white stripe blouse, a cream knit peplum top,…
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…
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…
