I’ve been making Bombie Samba dresses today, and am waiting on a delivery of red lace (hopefully tomorrow!) . . . and I thought I could spend a bit of time finishing up “High School Musical”.  There isn’t much hugely creative with any of this stuff, but I’ll share what I used and where I found it.

Cheerleaders:

I ordered my cheerleader outfits through Augusta Sportswear.  I was fortunate that I was able to purchase them at a discounted price through my local screenprinter.  I used (red/white) Augusta Spirit Pom #6003, Explosion Shell #9120, Liberty Skirt #9115 and Ladies Brief #9015. The socks were purchased by a parent (I think through a source on Amazon), and the shoes were from Walmart ($8/pair).   The skirts are elastic waist so fit is flexible, and making them smaller was a matter of taking a little tuck.  Do note that Augusta has a separate sizing chart for cheer uniforms.

I also had an alternative top for the “Status Quo” scene:

I made red and white sparkly cheer bows.  I used 3″ white grosgrain ribbon for the base and some 90% off clearance (plastic) ribbon for the glittery part.  It worked really well as long as I used a teflon ironing sheet to keep the iron off the plastic.  They glittered very nicely, and were inexpensive to make.

I wanted the cheer outfits to have a little bit “more”.  I ordered white on white sequin mesh  to cover some of the white parts of the uniforms.  After doing this project (and several earlier ones using various types and brands of white on white sequins)  . . .  I don’t think it they are worth the time and money spent for the amount of bling you get.  IF you can use the iridescent sequins–they shine nicely.  However, they tend to have a pink tint.  That said, one of the mothers who tends to sit closer to the front than I did, liked the addition.  So, take that for what it’s worth, but I wasn’t impressed (the red on red, on the other hand, was great).

I cut a pattern for the white panels in the skirt.  Then I cut out the shape in the sequin fabric.  I used strips of iron on adhesive to attach the strips–ironing carefully from the back and using a teflon ironing sheet.  This worked well.  The remaining 63 panels were cut out by a parent volunteer, and then we used the green label peel & stick fabric tape to secure them to the skirts.  This was a little more expensive (and certainly more $$ than sewing), however, my non-sewing volunteers were able to do this task.  The panels stayed in through the show and washing at the end, so, I am liking that green label tape for certain projects.

 

The top was upgraded with white glitter HTV:

 

I also added white sequins to the panels on the sides of the tops.  I used the medium size shirt for the pattern and it was close enough for the other sizes.  I had a parent cut these out, and another parent put the iron on strips on the back, and then I ironed them to the front using the teflon sheet.  It took 2 yards of the white sequins to do the uniforms, and there wasn’t much left.

 

I was unhappy with the “more” when the girls were on stage, so I used strips of my favorite flashy sequin fabric and covered the red stripes in sequins.  I also glued some rhinestone gems around the “EHS”.    The Jones Tones brand jewel glue is my new fave.  It does take 8 hours to dry, and needs to wait 72+ hours before washing, but it is SO easy to use.  Dress rehearsal week–the best time to do things like bling 16 cheer tops (groan).

 

I also upgraded the second top:

 

These were purchased from the clearance section of Epic Sports, and for $3/each I decided my cheerleaders could have a second look!  The “cheer” word is really too small–but that was a miscommunication with the person who cut them out, and it was dress rehearsal week . . . so it is what it is.

Jocks:

Epic Sports was my go-to place for my Basketball guys.  I purchased the Champro Dream Reversible jerseys and shorts for the team.  Be careful that you get the same style of top and bottom.  I made the mistake of ordering two different styles, and the colors were WAY off.  Unfortunately, I didn’t notice this until I was getting ready to take pictures of them for the person who would be designing the HTV, and we had already written names on the labels.  THAT was a pricey little “oops”.

I am EXTREMELY fortunate to have a wonderfully supportive screenprint/HTV business in my community.  I am able to purchase items, and then they will create the designs for the HTV for me and cut it out.  I then collect it and have a parent volunteer do all the (many, many hours) of weeding.  I am then able to go and use their professional heat press to finish the items.  This saves me tons of time and gets the vinyl sealed well, and helps keep our costs down.  I am not the world’s fastest heat-presser, but,  doing the costumes for this show took me 12+ hours to get done.

 

At the beginning of the process, I was able to share the graphic for the set with the HTV designer.  She pulled the Wildcat logo, and the BB logo from the set, which made everything coordinate really well.  I pulled the numbers for the uniforms off the internet.

 

 

The uniforms turned out really well.  They had logos and numbers on the front and back and on the legs, in both colors.  These garments washed amazingly well.  My heart died a little when I had to wash them before the end of the show–but the white showed makeup wickedly.  However, a little oxyclean, and they were perfect–no bleeding.   I ended up doing a load of laundry between every dress rehearsal and show.

 

 

As a note, the  Wildcat costume was purchased during a Black Friday sale.  He is wearing a 2X tank top.  We didn’t use the feet.  We were happy with the costume and it added to the show.  The boys are wearing matching tennis shoes from Walmart.  I think they were about $15/pair.  Some of the boys were able to purchase their own, and then some parents donated funds for the rest.  I think the matching shoes really added to the level of costuming.

I also provided a “team shirt” for the boys.  They wore these throughout the show on and off as they wanted . . just like boys would at school.  They all wore them during “Status Quo” and we also used them for the supplemental dancers as Troy and Chad are standing on the tables.

 

I used the clearance section of Epic sports to find jackets and pants for the team.  The jackets were actually soccer jackets (is there a difference?) and a slightly different red, but they looked fine.  I told the boys to wear them as the Greasers would wear their T-Bird jackets in “Grease”.  Sometimes they wore them with their athletic pants, and, as the above picture, sometimes with khakis or jeans.  We tried to create a typical high school team look.  As I mentioned in the post about Troy, he only wore his uniform during the BB scenes, and then for “Status Quo”.  The rest of the time he separated himself from the team by wearing regular school clothes.

 

I really loved how the jackets and shirts matched the set:

 

The athletic pants were also a clearance item.  I was able to purchase 2XL pants for about $5/each.  We cut the waistband off (to preserve the elastic and snaps) leaving a couple of inches below the elastic so the pants could be reattached later.  The pants were recut, removing fabric from the inside seams/crotch so that the snaps on the outside remained.  The pants were then reattached to the waistband, pleating as necessary.  Any little imperfections in the top were hidden under their t-shirts.  You can see the seam below, especially in the “M” pants.

Regarding the BB jackets . . . originally when I was looking at costume plots, the pants and jackets wer listed and I wondered why you needed them.  Well, the pants you could probably do without (although my boys wore them a lot), but many of the jocks need the jackets for the “A Old Crab Mug” scene.

We spent a little more on some of these costumes than I typically spend.  However, we sold the “Wildcat” costumes within a few weeks of closing our show.  The musical licensing company websites very nicely provide lists of where upcoming productions will be occuring.  A little online sleuthing for school names and drama/music teachers . . . . and you might have success selling yours as well.

I think one more post to wrap everything up, and then “High School Musical” will be history.