Frantically Costuming

Dear Constant Reader,

This past weekend was the biggest event in burlesque, The Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend (aka BHoF) in Las Vegas. Scratch usually puts in an appearance and plays in the poker tournament while I stay home and have a good time sewing something frivolous.

This year Scratch wasn’t able to go, due to some communication problems. I still spent much of the time sewing away, but it was far from frivolous.

Our summer tour of Madame Burlesqueis going to require that any 3 dancers be able to perform in the trios and duets. We’ve tried to make as many costumes wearable by as many people as possible (like an adjustable skirt that fits all dancers who know the #1 part in the duet), but sometimes that’s not possible.

devora as gypsyLast time we did this show, Devora did a Gypsy Rose Lee tribute and there are no changes to her costume. Yay!. Except she won’t be in all the shows and Scratch feels the act is important to the theme. So, I’ll be doing it when she’s not available. What can I wear? Hat, gloves, parasol are all fine. The skirt is somewhat adjustable and works fine. I have my own corset & garter belt. That leaves the bra. You might have noticed that D.D. and I don’t have a similar sized bust…

Here’s a crummy photo of my Friday night project. Fortunately, this came together pretty quickly. And matching fabric existed.

Also accomplished were a pair of tear-away undies, a new hip belt, and making a fringe skirt stripable. And now I’m onto the tedious project of making 6 matching bras. 4 of which have to be finished by our first show, which is in 10 days. And there’s even more to do. Fortunately, I’m not the only person working on all this. Marion of Vixen’s Ahoy did some, Heather, our production assistant is also an able seamstress, Devora is doing some hand-work, Betty, of course, is working away on several items, and Scratch has projects of his own.

Lest you think I spent the whole weekend toiling away on costumes, I also finished off these knitted wristlets, to fill the gap between glove and coat. Of course, I don’t need them until winter. I hope. You never know with New England. Alas, I never did get to the mock-up of the 1933 Evening Gown.

Back to the sewing room!

M2

Published in: on 10 June 2014 at 11:38 am  Leave a Comment  
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Friday Tip!

Dear Constant Reader,

First, a reminder that it’s almost Teaseday! Do you have your tickets? Brigitte & I will be doing a duet and some B.A.B.E. students will be making their performance debut with a routine choreographed by Brigitte.

Here’s your tip!

When working with hot glue, keep a glass of ice water nearby to dunk your fingers if you get burned.

Especially if you’re using real hot glue and not the low-temp stuff. Touching the hot gun tip is bad enough, but getting glue on your skin… Yowch! Immediate application of the ice water might save you from a bad blister.

M2

Published in: on 30 May 2014 at 2:10 pm  Comments (2)  
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Design Plan

Dear Constant Reader,

I have a plan for the 1933 Evening Gown. I want to make it in silk charmeuse with a habatoi lining. That was a no-brainer. And I want it to be silvery-grey, which I think will make a nice background for the emerald-green of my new vintage dress clip.
dress and shoe clips
And I’d wear the shoe clips too. I’ll probably have to buy new shoes. O woe!

Here’s where the crazy part comes in. Silk charmeuse is rawther pricey. I know a place where one can get it for a really decent price, but in white only. So, I started formulating a crazy plan to dye it myself. I save money and the fashion fabric and lining are exactly the same color. And it’s silk, so I can use an acid dye, which requires white vinegar to activate, instead of smelly, caustic chemicals that you can only buy in 10 lb. sacks.

It’s not that crazy. I’ve dyed silk before. Several times. Mostly quite successfully. But there was this one time….

Acid dyes want hot water to work well. You can use a large pot on the stove, but I don’t do this enough to be willing to dedicate a pot just for dyeing. So, I use the washing machine. The last time I dyed silk, it was the first time in that particular washing machine. The fabric came out gloriously, a beautiful red that was exactly what I had wanted. And then, because I’m overly cautious, I ran several empty loads with a little bleach, and then some more without bleach, and then a couple of loads of dark clothing. Then, confident that all the dye residue had been flushed away, I washed whites. And my summer wardrobe turned the shade of ripe watermelon.

My friends heard my cries of despair and introduced me to Run-Away and Color Catcher sheets. After a lot of work and many tears, I managed to salvage much of the clothing. Later I discovered the washing machine had bad seals or something and some of the dirty water would flow back. I have a new machine, but I’m still scarred by the Pink Incident. Maybe Betty will hold my hand.

But first, I need to make a mock up of the dress in muslin and check the fit. Then I can start worrying about the silk.

M2

Published in: on 29 May 2014 at 12:12 pm  Leave a Comment  
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And the Winner is…

Dear Constant Reader,

And the winner of the Dress Me contest is…


The 1933 Evening Gown!

Second place: Butterick 4790
Tied for 3rd place: Butterick 4919, 6582, 5556, and 5281

Now I need to actually make the gown. Once I’ve decided on fabric and color and then manage to find what I want, I’ll report back and keep you posted on my progress.

When the whole thing is done, I’d like to arrange for a photoshoot and show off my (I hope) stunning new gown.

M2

Published in: on 13 May 2014 at 11:14 am  Leave a Comment  
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Friday Tip!

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday!

First off, here’s where we stand in the Dress Me contest:
1933 Evening Gown: 4
Butterick 4790: 2
Butterick 4919: 1
Butterick 6582 View A: 1
Butterick 5556 View A: 1
Butterick 5556 View B: 1/2

You have until Monday to cast your vote (or choose a second option if you originally picked the Leading Lady Gown).

And here’s your tip!

It can’t hurt to ask.

Getting a “no” at the start is better than having to apologize later. And who knows, the answer might be “yes”!

M2

Published in: on 9 May 2014 at 2:31 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Cover Girl

Dear Constant Reader,

While I was preparing for Costume-Con, I kept blathering to everyone about my documentation and then was euphoric when I won an award for it. So what is this documentation?

Basically, you need to tell the judges in writing all the important stuff about your costume. What time and place it’s from, what’s your source, what materials did you use, how did you do things differently from the inspiration and why, what’s particularly neat about it. Stuff like that, but everything has to be presented concisely. I think we were only allowed 5 pages of actual text, but unlimited pictures and captions. I took shameless advantage of the captions.

Sometimes people get creative with how the documentation is presented and since this was a big competition for me, I decided to go all out.

This is the first thing the judges saw:

Cavalcade of Burlesque was the industry magazine for a few years in the ’50’s. I scanned my favorite cover from my collection, picked a photo from the shoot I did with Vintage Girl Studios, and Scratch did his Photoshop magic.

I was pretty pleased with how the whole thing came out and apparently, so were the judges! I’m idly considering making the whole thing available somewhere.

And as long as we’re talking about sewing…
Current stats for the Dress Me contest:
1933 Evening Gown: 4
Butterick 4790: 1
Butterick 4919: 1
Butterick 6582 View A: 1
Butterick 5556 View A: 1/2
Butterick 5556 View B: 1/2

If you picked the Leading Lady Gown, please vote again. If you haven’t made your opinion known yet, you have until Monday!

M2

Published in: on 8 May 2014 at 11:33 am  Comments (1)  
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Out of the Running

Dear Constant Reader,

I know so many of you wanted me to make the Leading Lady Gown for my little Dress Me contest, but after really looking over the pattern (I didn’t actually have it in my hot little hands when I so blithely included it), it wants a lot of time, care, and potentially much cursing and stuffing it out of sight for a while while I sulk in frustration.

So, I’m taking it out of this contest. Never fear, I will make it at some point in the future, but when I’m good and ready.

So, if you voted for the Leading Lady Gown, please cast your vote again. The options are…

Butterick 4790

Butterick 4919

Butterick 5281

Butterick 5556

Butterick 5557

Butterick 5813

Butterick 5882

Butterick 6582
Craftsy Bombshell Dress
No picture because it’s a class

Sew Chic Tia Dress (also a Craftsy class)

Decade of Style 1933 Evening Gown

And the current standings are:
1933 Evening Gown: 3
Butterick 6582 View A: 1
Butterick 4790: 1
Butterick 4919: 1
Butterick 5556 View A: 1/2*
Butterick 5556 View B: 1/2

M2

Published in: on 7 May 2014 at 11:30 am  Comments (2)  
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So far…

Dear Constant Reader,

I got a lot of responses on the first day of my Dress Me contest.

So far the results are:
Leading Lady Gown: 6
1933 Evening Gown: 3
Butterick 6582 View A: 1
Butterick 4790: 1
Butterick 4919: 1
Butterick 5556 View A: 1/2*
Butterick 5556 View B: 1/2

I put up this poll before my 1930’s patterns actually arrived and, despite its commanding lead, I might pull the Leading Lady Gown out of the competition. Now that I’ve actually looked it over, it’s going to be a challenge and I want to take my time and a lot of care with it. It might not be the best option for this particular project, where I want to be giving you frequent updates.

Have an opinion on which dress I should make for myself next? Leave a comment on the original post.

In other news, tonight is Teaseday! Brigitte Bisoux is currently in the lead for ticket sales (shock!). If you want some say in who the Cookie Queen (or King) is, buy your tickets now!

M2
*If someone gave a second choice, it got a half vote.

Published in: on 6 May 2014 at 9:37 am  Leave a Comment  
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Dress Me Again

Dear Constant Reader,

Last year I ran a little contest where you, my Constant Reader, picked which dress I should make from my vast collection of unused patterns and I would blog about it.

The winner was Folkwear Fifties Fit & Flair. Unfortunately, it was not so successful… Live, learn, and make muslins first.

But I’m willing to try again!

For the next week, I’m going to let you pick what dress I should make next. Just leave a comment below and the dress with the most votes wins! I’ll make that one and keep you updated on my progress from fabric to wearable, hopefully with lots of pictures. Please specify which version of the pattern you like, if there’s more than one variation. Click the picture to go to the full description.

The candidates are :

Butterick 4790

Butterick 4919

Butterick 5281

Butterick 5556

Butterick 5557

Butterick 5813

Butterick 5882

Butterick 6582
Craftsy Bombshell Dress
No picture because it’s a class

Sew Chic Tia Dress (also a Craftsy class)

Decades of Style 1933 Evening Gown

Decades of Style 1930s Leading Lady Gown

So, you have until next Monday to leave a comment with your vote!

M2

Published in: on 5 May 2014 at 10:06 am  Comments (13)  
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Friday Tip!

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!

Basting before sewing many seem like a waste of time, but trust me, it isn’t.

M2

Published in: on 2 May 2014 at 11:03 am  Leave a Comment  
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