Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Dear sewing, I miss you.

We had a ridiculously horrid rehearsal last night. To be honest, I'm finding it hard to be excited about our first full dress rehearsal tonight.

I didn't have my wig on yesterday and I was already sweating buckets. One girl in the chorus was drunk and fell down the last couple of stairs in her 4" platform heels (don't worry, I think being drunk kept her relaxed so she wasn't hurt). I thought I had a quick change and raced to get into what I thought was my next costume holding up the scene by 4 minutes when really, all I had to do was put a coat on over what I was already wearing. These were the most memorable mishaps of the evening, but believe me when I say that there were many many many more. Many.

I know I'm supposed to be having fun, and I'm sure I will. I'm hoping that tonight's rehearsal will surprise me and things will start falling into place a little more.

As for sewing. I took the week of the run off work, so I will have all of my days free to finish up some UFO's, and hopefully start something new. In the past, I've made a dress for the cast party, but I think this year, I might get another wear out of the red vogue I've already worn to a couple of weddings. It's a great dress, and I won't get a lot of opportunities to wear it again this summer.

UFO's I need to get finished:
1. Navy and white 80's dress. I'm at the stage where I'm attaching the lining to the zipper and hemming it, but after a try-on, even though it's a woven, I don't need the zip, and the lining shows at the sleeves, so I'm going to cut it out, go with facings and wear a slip. I'm also going to make a little tie belt for it, and hopefully find a bright red, orange or yellow skinny belt to wear with it in the future.

2. Bikini remake: I'm copying my favourite bathing suit. I took it apart and have had it underway for a long time. I got scared I was going to fail after installing some elastic for the fourth time and was easily lured away by other projects. I'm going to adopt a new fearless attitude and try to get more of it done. There's a lot of new skills to learn on this one.

3. I started a pair of pants. After the first try-on of said pants, there were issues with fitting in the waist. I think I can make them work. We'll see if I have the patience.


New projects:

1. Vintage shirtdress. I have the pattern. I have the fabric. I'd love to have the time to do a post about them. Stay tuned.

2. Summer tops.

3. Summer shorts

Hopefully in the next week, I can report on some progress with my ufo's.


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

What I've been up to: (some sewing required)

I've been busy. Really busy. Like... rehearsals every day busy (thus no posts or sewing really)
My husband and I both got leads in our community musical theatre group's production of The Producers. He's Franz (the Will Farrell character in the movie), and I'm Ulla. I usually sew for the shows we are in, and because of the demands on my time, my costume mistress usually doesn't give me too much to do.

This year, I was assigned this dress:


























I've made it before for another review show a couple of years ago so I'm familiar with the pattern. I wish I could tell you what it was, but I gave it back to her a while back and it's out of print anyway. I had to make no less than three muslins of the bodice (I'm wearing one of those bras that bumps you up at least two sizes) and I'm not used to sewing for that much boobage.

It's hard to see because of the patterned fabric, but this dress features a front drape that's faced and a couple of pleated scarf-like pieces that are sewn into the bodice side seams that you can wrap around yourself in a number of different ways.

Even after three muslins, I had to take it in on the bodice sides from 1/2" each side at the armpits to 1/4" at the waist and I eased the difference into the waist seam at the sides. The skirt portion is a size 10 graded to a 12 at the waist. Since the bottom half fit so well, I used this pattern to make a little skirt (without the drape) that may make an appearance in future postings.

Looking at this picture as I am writing this, I feel like something should be said about that wig: It's hot.

I have several other costumes that I will try to get pics of to show you, only because they are hilarious. If you are familiar with The Producers, you might know what I am talking about. I've got a few little fixes to do on a couple of other costumes (including some fringe on my white leotard that looks as though it was applied while thoroughly hammered). 

I also got eyelash extensions yesterday. Our makeup lady is training in their application so I got a free set. They stay on for 3-4 weeks, and I suck at putting on false eyelashes so it will save me a lot of time. For those of you who are interested, application costs somewhere in the range of $120-150, and you can't get them wet for 2 days after you get them.




















The show runs for 10 days, and we have just under two weeks of rehearsals left. Every day that thought becomes less terrifying as we pull it all together.

Breaking a leg!!