Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! Tomorrow is Isle of Tease at Deacon Giles Speakeasy! We’ve got a whole bunch of fun tropical acts for you — some fan favorites, some brand new — and some spectacular costumes. I can’t wait to see what delicious delights the bartender whip up!
Also, Introduction to Burlesque classes start next week! Although the Early Bird discount just ended, we’re still offering our new “Bring a Friend” special — register for all 4 classes and bring a friend for half price (or get a 25% discount on two registrations, depending on how you want to look at it).
One last note, the BeauTease and B.A.B.E. both use a ticketing service called Humanitix. They’re a charity who donates profits from the ticketing fees to other charities. Earlier this week, the Meta-bots, in their infinite wisdom deemed Humanitix a cybersecurity issue and removed all events, ads, and posts with links to their site. Days before a show. Yay.
Anyway, here’s your tip:
Make a mock up.
When trying out a new pattern or design for a costume or clothing do a test version first to check the fit and try out any new techniques. I can’t recommend this enough if you’re using an expensive fabric or don’t have much to spare. Get all the dumb mistakes out on the first go-round.
The traditional material for mock ups is unbleached muslin. You can also use old bedsheets, tablecloths, or curtains from around the house or the thrift store. It’s recycling!
However, if you make your mock up from a less-precious fabric that you like, you’ll end up with a wearable garment!
This is my mock up of Mrs. Maisel’s red dress (season one). I made it in black linen before trying to make it out of red silk (which I will do… someday…). I’m glad I did because parts of it were very fiddly and I had to redo the skirt a couple of times. Linen is much more forgiving than silk when you need to rip out stitches and resew.
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Oh, The Glamourous Life! 
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