Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! Here’s your tip:
When working with slippery, slithery, or otherwise difficult fabrics, baste them in place first.
Yes, it takes extra time and thread, but you’ll thank me later. I make these mistakes so you don’t have to.
Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.
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Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! I’ve been working on a new costume piece for The Big Time and that reminded me of this tip:
Canned food makes great pattern weights.
I like to use short cans, like tuna (I always get the kind with the mermaid!), pineapple, or water chestnuts.
Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.
Dear Constant Reader,
Besides making costumes, I also indulge in embroidery and other handwork. When I have time. Which, sadly, is not as often as I’d like. I have a big basket of unfinished projects, and every now and then I buckle down and complete one, as I did last night.
Ta da!
A trapunto tea cozy!
A what?, you ask. Trapunto is an Italian quilting technique that involves extra stuffing in the design elements to get a dimensional effect. It’s very time consuming. This is the front, which was hand-quilted and stuffed. The back is a simpler version of this design, which was machine-quilted and has no trapunto work (it was never going to be finished if I had to do two sides by hand).
A tea cozy, for those poor unfortunate souls who have never been to a proper tea, is like a winter coat for your tea pot to keep the contents nice and warm. This is a traditional style of cozy that sits over the pot, like an over-sized hat.
To the right you can see a different style of cozy, which was knitted by my doting mother. One can pour the tea without taking the cozy off. Sometimes it’s known as a “bachelor’s cozy”, presumably because men are too busy or lazy to remove a cozy or that’s a woman’s job or some other Victorian nonsense.
One project down! Many more in progress. However, The Expo and other events loom close and I fear my embroidery time has come to an end for now.
Dear Constant Reader,
Before I was a performer, I was a costumer. Thus when I am creating an act, the first thing I think is “what will I wear?” and that often dictates the choreography.
Sometime I make or acquire costumes and I have no idea how they want to be presented on stage. Case in point, this beauty.
When I joined the costume presentation “Victorian Secret“, I told myself I’d have to reuse the corset in a burlesque costume (I decided the chemise and drawers were exempt). Since then I’ve added a bra, garter belt, and side-tie panties. A skirt is in the works. Possibly gloves. Maybe a headpiece. It’s going to be stunning, if I do say so myself.
Except I have no idea how to use it. Nothing is coming to mind. No concept, no music, no hook. Nothing.
Alas. I shall keep working on the costume in hopes that inspiration strikes. However, soon I am going to have to set it aside in favor of costumes for Wrathskellar Tales.
Dear Constant Reader.
Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!
Sticky zipper? Lubricate it!
If your zipper is not gliding smoothly, rub the teeth with a lubricant (but not that kind…). There are various kinds of commercial zipper lubricants for sale, but there’s really no need to spend the money. You can use a candle, a bar of soap, a crayon, even lip balm, as long as it’s waxy. If the zipper is metal, you can also rub it with the lead of a pencil. This trick also works for a key if a lock is hard to open.
Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.
Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!
Safety goggles are for the sewing room as well as the workshop.
Having a broken machine needle fly in your face is an experience most sewers don’t soon forget! When sewing particularly tough materials (canvas, leather) or ones with hard little bits (sequined or beaded fabrics) or sewing through lots of layers or near metal bits — any time you’re likely to break a needle — wear safety goggles. They may not be chic, but they are sexier than an eyepatch!
Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.
Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!
Make metal hardware (snaps, hooks, zipper pulls, &c) coordinate with your costume by painting them with the appropriate color of nail polish.
Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!
When making pants tear-away, start with a pair that is at least one size larger than usual.
The easiest way to make tear-away pants is to cut open the outside seam and add snap tape (we’ve used velcro and don’t like it). However, the creates an overlap and thus reduces the size of the pant leg. Your leg is going to create pressure on the snaps if the pants are too tight and you’re at risk of premature poppage.
The picture to the right shows Brigitte and me in our “Factory Girls” overalls. Because I’m leaning over and putting some tension on the fabric, you can see the line of snap tape at the overlap. It would have been better if those overalls were maybe one size bigger, but they were originally made for someone other than me.
You can always make pants fit better with a larger overlap at the waistband. We like to use a whopper popper at the top to keep everything nice & secure and then release them right before the tearaway.
Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.
Dear Constant Reader,
I picked up the newly-cut staves for my Faerie Queene fan at the fabricators. If you need anything weird made, I recommend Danger!Awesome. They did a good job and when my order wasn’t what I wanted the first time (because of a now-former employee who thought she knew better what I needed), they made it right. Next up, test assembly and off to the artist for painting.
I did a little costume work. Finally got the right color elastic for an old-school g-string I made for another performer. Added some rhinestones to the ties of my bathtub costume panties, so I can tell which ribbons are the front one by touch.
And I did my Challenge and finished reading Goddess of Love. I still need to take a look at her bibliography and notes before I can call it done.
Dear Constant Reader,
Here we have two of my favorite things, costumes and books.
The costumes…
Ever since The Expo moved to Cambridge we’ve had a costume exhibit, ably curated by BettySioux Tailor, with the assistance of Baroness Blitzen von Schtupp for the last last *eight* years. As always, there was some fantastic stuff!
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From L to R (top row and then bottom row): Scarlett Letter, Dita Von Tease, Miss Mina Murray, Hedy Jo Star (pink), Hedy Jo Star (green), Jacqueline Hyde, Dangrrr Doll, Red Hot Annie, Sailor St. Claire, Matt Finish, Scarlett O’Hairdye, Raven Roland, Angie Pontani.
The two Hedy Jo Star costumes were gifted to The Expo from a costumer working in Tokyo who found them in the storage room of her theatre company. We have no idea how they got there or who wore them, but pink one has the name “Nancy Lee” written inside. Any thoughts? Pictures can not do these pieces justice. I hope you got a chance to see them close up.
We also had an exhibit in memory of Blaze Starr, who passed away over the summer. It included several photographs (two with Boston connections!), video of a couple of her film appearances, the costume Angie Pontani wore for her tribute to the Legend at Miss Exotic World 2006, and Blaze’s own powder puff and hand-made red evening bag with a handwritten note.
And the books…
The Atheneum was a new addition this year. Librarian Jennie put together a collection of relevant books and magazines in the breakfast/tea party room for people to browse during the day. Counterpoint Press was good enough to donate Leslie Zemeckis’s Goddess of Love Incarnate and Margo Christie sent her novel, These Days. Other books came from the Library at Stately Babydoll Manor and from Jennie’s own collection.
I have a collection of “Cavalcade of Burlesque”, an industry magazine published in the early 1950’s by burlesque agent Jess Mack. They’re valuable documents for our community and I wanted to share them, but as you might expect from 65-year-old pulp paper, they’re rather fragile. So, I carefully scanned all my issues page by page and had them printed them up to be as close to the original as possible. I’m so happy to share this bit of history while keeping the originals preserved! (By the way, I’m on the look-out for the May 1953, March 1954, and May 1954 issues…)
I certainly hope The Expo continues to offer The Atheneum and it becomes a bigger and better resource.
Up next, shopping!
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 