Love It Sew Much!

THE CRUCIBLE

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 04:36:00 +0000

So our dress rehearsals start this week, and I am getting excited! These students are very talented and they have put together some really cool publicity shots. And some teaser videos. And a news interview!! I wanted to share them and give a sneak peek of the costumes:

The girls

Abigail Williams

Reverend Hale

Abigail Williams

Elizabeth Proctor

Reverend Parris

John Proctor

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TWO SHOWS...

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 04:34:00 +0000

Yep. Two.

It has been quite the busy past two months.

On the one hand, the high school I am the Costume Director for has me creating costumes for 21cast members in the chilling historical play by Arthur Miller. The Crucible. A story of the Salem witch hunts of 1692 and the scales of justice. My director gave me a large color palette to work with: black & white. I begged him for greyscale. He agreed that the story could not be told in only black and white, and he gave me greyscale - then my world opened up. Mr. Keat's set is VERY cool, set up like a balance scale with different levels off a center tree, with the actors only occupying certain parts of the stage depending on their character's motivations and obstacles. What a challenging and thought-provoking way to tell this intense story. I was limited, and simplified. And VERY satisfied with the results. To see publicity photos and video trailers, go here.

If you can attend this show, please do so.

On the other hand, I am costuming another show basically at the same time for another director friend who has since moved from Colorado to UT. He is having me design and coordinate the costumes for his show. Seussical Jr. 109 students, double cast. (Btw, the only way to do this is to have a parent volunteer in charge of everything on the other end, and to have a friend haul 5 huge trash bags full of costumes to her so she can coordinate all of the fittings and such. And to email like 5 times every day...)

Polar opposite shows, you say? Well maybe at first glance. But if you know the story of Horton Hears a Who, which is the main theme of Seussical Jr., you will know he endured rather a witch hunt of his own. I mean, the story of a sensitive misunderstood elephant who hears a Who on a speck of dust and cares for them while ridiculed by all the jungle bullies, then told by the judge that he is crazy and the dust speck must be boiled?? Heart-wrenching, yet set to awesome music and choregraphy...

If you are in American Fork UT at the junior high in November 15-22, go see it. And take some pictures for me. Or a video. And say hi to Mr. Reynolds for me. He is awesome.

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Getting ready for Guys & Dolls

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 16:22:00 +0000

This is me right now. Eating. Sleeping. Breathing. Loving it!

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Chewy Gingersnaps

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 19:14:00 +0000

I want to share a few of my favorite things about Christmas. Some of them do not even have to do with sewing...

And one of them is my favorite gingersnap cookie. I got this recipe from my dear high school/ college/ forever friend whose mother fed me and taught me quite a lot. We used to make these all the time and she may not even know how many times I have made them since being able to regularly see her. I think of her every time. Love you Lynette and Myrna!

As the recipe card says: "Chewy, the very best". It is truly the best chewy gingersnap recipe on the planet. For reals.

I beat the softened butter and sugar first.
Then throw in the eggs, keep beating, then the molasses, keep beating.
Then I scrape the bowl.
Next, add the dry ingredients and beat until a nice sticky dough forms.
But not too sticky that I cannot roll balls without a gooey mess.
If it is too sticky, I add a little flour.

Then I put it in the fridge for a good hour or longer (overnight is good).

Then I roll it onto balls with my hand palms. Or if I am feeling lazy or in a hurry, I use my small Pampered Chef scoop (with the spring release) and just make balls that way. Either way, the balls go into granulated sugar. They are covered and placed on my Silpat/ cookie sheet.

Bake exactly 10 minutes in 350* convection oven. The flatten a little and crackle just right. And they stay soft for a good week. If they stick around that long...

Try the recipe, hope you love it!

Also, try another of my favorite recipes for Eggnog Cookies. Ooh, I need to make those this year, too...

Hope you are enjoying the season, take a break from your holiday sewing and bake up a bit of love!

OH! Here's a sneak peek at another favorite thing I made last year and finished this year:

How did I make this Mickey Mouse wreath? Stay tuned for an upcoming post...

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STUDENT SHOWCASE ~ October - November 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 20:09:00 +0000

We had fun these last few months making some beautiful projects.

This is my Zippy Pouch that I teach. My students can easily customize the size to their liking.

One of my adult students made this for her niece attending Duke University - isn't it cool? You could obvs do this with other college prints and send them to your favorite college students. She also made a tote bag to match.

It is fully lined (sorry no picture of that - but it is solid blue). But I really wanted to show off her BE-YOO-TIFUL zipper ends! These are very hard to do to make them look nice and I have finally mastered the technique to teach it! She nailed it! And there are even little "D"s, on purpose, at each zipper end. Awesome or what? And the bottom boxed corners are perfect as well! Great job!!

This little student was making her first Basic Skirt. She chose this cute print just in time for Halloween. Elastic waistband casing. She could hem it right here and be done. Simple. Basic. Easy.

Here she is proud to show it to her mother.

BUT she needed to learn gathers and what better way than as a ruffle at the bottom of the skirt?

What an accomplishment! Great job, sweetie! It is so exciting to complete a project and have skills for future projects!

Now, these two sweet girls are (were - one of them had to move away) in a group sewing class together. They are best friends. So when we started our apron project, they wanted to make something to remember their friendship. Best Friend aprons! They chose an embroidery design and chose their fabrics and colors. After the embroidery was done, they sewed them up. They are reversible, too, and have ribbons for ties.

I did the embroidery, just as requested, on the apron piece before they sewed it.

Here is a better close-up.

Then, they also made matching doll aprons, for their "best friend" dolls! (These doll aprons are also reversible, sharing their fabrics. As best friends do). Great job girls!

Would you like to learn to sew?

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VIRTUAL PAMPERED CHEF PARTY!

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 00:06:00 +0000

Hey everyone!

I am having a virtual Pampered Chef party tonight at 8pm MST! If you are interested at all on Pampered Chef products, they make great Christmas gifts (or for yourself)!! You are invited to join us!

It just dawned on me to invite my bloggy friends, too!

And no, there will be food served through your computers (the one downside) BUT more on the upside is that more of you can join me! I guess this is new thing they are doing and they would really like feedback too. So even if you don't want to order a darn thing, just watch the party and give your feedback. My sweet consultant Kiley would really appreciate it :)

So click on the 1st link below and get to my party facebook page, and the direct link will be at the top of the page OR click the 2nd link below and go straight to the party!

Remember it's at 8pm tonight MST!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1377667862481940/

https://meet.fm/kileyferons

Hope many of you can join me there!

~ Julie

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SWEENEY TODD is coming...

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Sat, 02 Nov 2013 20:49:00 +0000

Ok, I have finally figured out and am prepared to state what has become the obvious: the two weeks before Halloween are by far my busiest of the year! Usually it is just Halloween costumes that I am working on, but for the past few years, I have added costuming for a musical to my busy October playlist. This year, the high school I work for bravely decided to do "Sweeney Todd, High School Edition", and open on Halloween weekend!!! It has been a blast. I love these students and parents and directors I get to collaborate with. It was an awesome experience.

This musical came out in 1979 on Broadway, and the 2007 movie starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter (directed by Tim Burton) has made it the cult classic it is today. Did you know Johnny Depp took singing lessons to do this film?

This musical stretched everyone's skillset and I believe it was done quite well! I wish all of you could see it. And if revenge and barbershop murders are not your cup of tea, then just to appreciate the set, the music, the choreography and the costumes.

My latest show - we are opening tomorrow night (Halloween weekend) and will show for two weekends!!

This wonderful piece of art was created by one of the cast members, Peyton Fleming, (who was also one of my costume crew for Singin' In The Rain) and I really feel like she captured all of my designs quite nicely. The talent in these kids is so amazing.

One of the Ponderosa Theatre students and cast member as well (Joe Zahorik), has put together this trailer for our production of Sweeney Todd, High School Edition.

After opening night (sometime, after I recover from dress rehearsals and get a few winks of sleep), I will share pictures!!!!! Here's a small taste...

Here is a sneak peek of one of Mrs. Lovett's costumes. The is the back of a skirt.

Mrs. Lovett (Emily Marrs), Sweeney Todd (Jackson Winn) and I.

More students (designed by another costume crew girl) created these sweet "locker tags" for every cast member, crew member and all the directors. Aren't they awesome? I will keep it forever! It is currently hanging on my studio door at home.

Stay tuned for more pictures! And if you are in the area - please come see our show!

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STUDENT SHOWCASE August 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 15:11:00 +0000

These are projects done by my amazing students - as taught in my sewing classes! (See my "Student Showcase" photo album on my Facebook page for more)

Remember this post? Here is the finished project!!! This is the front of her YW Camp Flag.

And the back of the flag.

Their value was "Good Works" and she did those letters with stretchy sequin trim. Pretty creative eh? They curved nicely. She stitched around the edges with straight stitch.

She embroidered each girl's name on a butterfly fabric, then gave dimension to them by adding a small wire between another layer of butterfly. Aren't they cute?

Here is a student's finished pillowcase! This is usually the first project we complete in beginner sewing lessons - it teaches 5 basic skills!

This is a dress a student made in class, for a vacation - cute huh? Front and back.

Single Ruffle skirt with elastic waist (and if you look real close you can see the ruffle is a double layer). Still only one ruffle, though.

Single Ruffle skirt with elastic waist. Cute prints together, right?

She is my newest student and this was her first completed project - I think a good owl print is perfect for a pillowcase! And yes, sewing barefoot is allowed in my studio!

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STUDENT SHOWCASE ~ UPDATE ~ July 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 21:39:00 +0000

STUDENT SHOWCASE ~ UPDATE ~ July 2013

These are projects done by my amazing students - as taught in my sewing classes! (See my "Student Showcase" photo album on my Facebook page for more)

Sun "Applique"

A Doll-size Tote Bag (made for American Girl dolls, or the like)

Window Valance - before mounting to the window wall. It is a free-hanging board mount.

A sweet outfit for a doll - Summer Top and Basic Skirt

Would you like to learn to sew?

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MISS TEEN COLORADO PAGEANT 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 19:32:00 +0000

In March, I was lucky enough to do 2 dresses for a contestant in the Miss Teen Colorado Pageant. The "locals" portion of the pageant was in April, and she WON the title of "Miss Parker Outstanding Teen"! How very exciting for her (and for me)!

There were 2 dresses that needed me. Dress #1 was for her Talent competition. She danced! And she wanted something flow-y and retro-looking.

Her mother found this original dress at this source, but they had none in stock to purchase - so of course I got the call to custom-make it for her daughter.

Note the ruching details and underbust/ shoulder strap.

And the beautiful chiffon ruching.

We got to work taking measurements and ordering fabric.

I always make custom garments in a muslin first. I just use extra random fabric for this - this was 80s home decor fabric - ugly I know! - but it didn't matter because it's just the pattern lines and fit that I need to get right - BEFORE I cut into the real fabric!

When fit and design lines are correct, I cut into the black satin underskirt, lining, and chiffon overskirt. This skirt was definitely not gathered - to keep the waist nice and slim - I made circular skirt pieces - 6 of each layer. Nice and full for dancing!

A few fittings later, the bodice (minus the long underbust shoulder strap) and all ruching layers are pinned in place. Hem is tentatively marked and relaxing so the bias grain can do it's thing.

Final fitting: making sure everything is in place, securing last-minute ruching, she even did some practice dance moves - it's great - just what she wanted!

On pickup day, we try on more time and check one more detail - I want to make sure she is 100% happy before she takes this baby home - and we adjust the strap one more tiny time.

Perfection? Good enough for Miss Teen Colorado, I would say :)

(Note: Her mother told me she was too nervous to take pictures during her dance, but she will send me the photographer's pics, so I will hopefully get those up and posted soon!)

Dress #2 was her evening gown. Her mother had ordered it online and it came too big (better than too small!) so I altered it to fit perfectly.

The neck strap was too long, so it needed to be shortened, that was easy enough. Also, it needed a good hem. I did a narrow rolled hem and left a slight train in the back, evening gown style. But the bodice was also too large in the bust area so that would require me taking it in, BUT do you see the back? Cool details but tricky to access the side seams with all those horizontal strap pieces. Luckily it was a side-zip, so most was taken care of by bringing that seam in. The rest was done by hand.

Here is the zipper side seam taken apart - more ruching details on this dress, too.

Here she is, in all her pageant glory! Congrats!

She will next compete at the state level of the pageant, at the end of June, in downtown Denver. I am sure she will do wonderfully! (Stay tuned...)

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PROM: Bodice Redo & "Yule Ball" Sleeves

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 17:27:00 +0000

Ready for prom? Ohhhh yeeeaaaahhh...!

This dress was the 4th of this particular group I got to fix up and get ready for the big night! Would you like to hear it's story?

Here was my client's inspiration. Hermione's dress at the Yule Ball - sleeves in particular. She liked the pieced bodice , too. But the sleeves - oh my! Very dramatic and breathtaking - this is what we are going for!

This dress has an amazing story actually...she found it at a thrift store. It was the perfect length for this tall, lovely girl. She knew it had great potential and she trusted me to bring it out. It was a simple princess-lined bodice that just needed to fit properly. And, the straps. Just skinny, boring straps. (But - the beading there is pretty). She just wanted something with much more excitement and flare to suit her, and a little more coverage, too.

First, we needed to address the fit. The bodice needed taken in a bit and the center front was not left out in this operation. (Refer to the inspiration above).

And that beading detail was not just a trim that was laid on, by the way. It was all hand-stitched individually, so it could not just be removed as one piece of trim and re-laid. It had a running stitch through all of it, so the beads could not just be cut out, they had to be cracked at the new seams, so they would lay flat. (Sorry for the details, but you should know it was not as easy as it may look ;)

Now, I need to prepare you for the next picture. I already explained how this dress needed sleeves. I am going to add them underneath the straps and make them look like they were "born there". But one needs matching fabric to do this! So...

This dress had 3 layers to it! One lining of course and 2 skirt layers! 2! No, this is not unheard of, but, not that common. It was probably to create more fullness and drape, or to act like a second "lining". But most of these types of dresses have a lining and a skirt layer - that's it! So she bought this dress with the thought that somehow that extra layer of fabric could be used for the sleeves - which is exactly what I did!

Here I am, cutting out the middle layer of the skirt. (And holding my breath just a bit ;) So the lining stays and the main skirt layer stays! And you won't even be able to tell...

Ta-da! Now I have fabric to work with!

So I measured the straps, and determined how long the sleeve should be. Then I made a pattern draft for a circular sleeve. This will make that ruffly flowy shape we wanted. The inside circle of the sleeve will go along the length of the strap. We can press later ;)

Here she is at our first fitting. One strap and one sleeve being fitted. Do you recognize this beautiful girl?

A couple views of the work in progress - yes it photographed two different reds. The left is most accurate.

Do you love how it's laying so far? Don't look at the wrinkles - those will steam out later ;) I shifted the sleeve angle slightly to raise it up in the front a bit more. All pinned and ready to go.

So the shape of the pattern changed slightly. I adjusted everything to be pretty again and mirrored the second sleeve. Pressed. Serged where it will attach under the strap.

I finished the sleeve edges with a perfect narrow rolled hem.

Hem close up. Don't be shy now.

Final fitting. It is just what she wanted! All fluttery and covers just right!

Back view. I could faint, it's so pretty the way it hangs and flows down all ripply like that. It's crazy how one piece can transform the dress's personality!

I think we nailed it, don't you? How fun was this alteration?!

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PROM: Adding Tulle Straps and a Circular Ruffle Hem

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

These cute kids!!! Do you recognize him?

If you have not been following yet, I had one group of girls that were all going to Prom together with their dates and they all asked me to do their alterations! Lucky me, seriously!

She came to me with needs for a hem and a full strap addition. And the ribbon was not laying very nicely or very secure at the waist.

Isn't it such a cute dress?

The skirt is full of vertical rows of tulle circular ruffles. I love these!!!

The hem needed to come up 3". Tulle does not need sewing so I just cut it off at 3". (The lining was hemmed shorter at 3" also - just a regular double hem.) But what about the end of the ruffles at the bottom of the hem? The original hem is curved and finished nice but when I cut it off, it goes all straight and looks unfinished...

I needed to move the ruffle curve down and cut off the point so that it was flush to the new hemline.

Here it is cut off like I said above.

Now I cut the curve round again, tapering at the new hemline.

Now those seams where the ruffles are attached have to be reinforced, because when the new hemline was cut, the backstitching was cut off that held it secure.

Here is the new hem, all pretty and perfect again!

Now on to the straps. Her mom brought me black tulle as I requested her, and I fashioned them into straps. These were basically tubes of tulle pieces long enough to fit over her shoulders from front to back bodice, and very wide! So I could gather the ends in really tight to fit in their places right above the bust. (Sorry no pics of this - hopefully your imagination can picture them for you).

We fit everything just right and pins held everything in place until I could secure it properly inside the lining.

Closeup of the strap placement. And the ribbon looks much better, as you can see. Nothing too good for prom. ;)

Now, we had to try it on with the shoes. She had these darling shoes with a large ruffly bow on them that we did not want to catch in the hem. So this length is perfect!

And it's even great without shoes - should she want to kick them off and dance! It's a Hem Miracle!

Finished views of the new straps - front and back.

Final try on and pickup!

I love this new addition and she looks so pretty in it! See that stitch across the shoulder? That is to hold all that unruly tulle in place so it does not flop down over her arms.

Beautiful from all angles!

Ok, after pickup, she wanted to make one more teensy alteration: just make the straps a little bit narrower, please! You bet - and it looks very delicate now against her neck area.

Prom pictures outside! Good times in a great dress!

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PROM: New Sleeves, a Hem & a Good Fit

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

A good prom dress is so worth it, right?

(Do you recognize him? And her? They were both in Singin' In The Rain, that I was so lucky to be costume director for a few months ago).

This is the group of four girls' dresses I was lucky enough to fix for prom this year.

She tried it on for me and we forgot to take the very first picture of her very long train that came with it. It was at least 6 inches too long in the front and 12 inches or so of a train. So this is her "Before" picture, after all the length got cut off.

She wanted to keep the original sleeves and add a little more width to them, for modesty and coverage. There were two options for this: on the inside edge, or the outside under the lace. (If you look closely, you can see that part of the lace sleeve has the dress fabric under it and the other part is just lace.) The original sleeves are very loose if they stand up straight, they want to flop to the side. We decided to work with that floppiness and add to the inside edge, nearer the neck.

*UPDATE: Her mother just emailed me a great "Before" picture! I should have thought to ask her in the first place... ;) See how crazy long that train is? Yay for me, that meant a lot of fabric to with!

I had marked the hem with pins and now cut a new hem, all the way around.

Another view of the hem in process.

This is very full skirt, with a lot of different grainlines, especially bias grain. After the hem is cut, it has to hang for a while. The weight of the bias grain does funny things (like drape and stretch) and sometimes you have to recut it later because it can hang unevenly after a few days.

Front and back views of the bodice with the original sleeves. That beautiful ruching is a detail that makes it breathtaking, don't you agree? I must do it justice...

That muslin shape up there is the pattern piece I draped at our first fitting (see the picture with the four dresses). After the hem was cut off, we had a lot of fabric to make the new sleeve addition. I cut four lining pieces from the pattern. I cut a large enough piece of the chiffon to gather it to the same ratio as the dress ruching, and attached these to two of the lining pieces as a base.

I prickstitched (invisible) the gathers into pleats to mimic the bodice. Then I attached them inside the bodice lining (remember it needs to look like it was "born there"). It sits just tucked underneath the original sleeve.

At the next fitting, I adjusted and pinned the sleeve addition, to fit and lay perfectly.

That hem has settled a little (see that little peek on the left?) A few tweeks and I can hem it now.

Won't that be pretty with the lace hanging down nice and airy on the outside edge and around the back, then the middle section of lace-covering-fabric, then the pleated fabric next to her face?

We also realized that it needed to be taken in under the arms and out at the waist a little. Can't have it too tight for prom dinner.

Sleeve additions complete. Hem is now final - I did the narrowest rolled hem to keep the airiness of the chiffon.

Note on how I completed the sleeve addition: I used the last two lining pieces and sewed them right sides together to the inside edge. Then turned it all out and understitched to make it look like those pieces were born there. I serged the other edge that would lay under the original lacy sleeve. I handstitched the inner edge in place.

You can't even tell it's addition, can you? I think it was meant to be there all along.

Front and back views of a happy bodice with new sleeves and a happy girl! The waist looks better now too, let out.

I love this transformation! Perfect dress for a perfect prom night!

What more can I say? Happy.

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PROM: A Perfect Narrow Hem

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Prom is such a fun time. with fun dresses, fun people, excited for a fun time! I am always excited at this time of year to get a call or email or facebook message that goes a lot like this: "Hi, I have a prom dress and I was wondering if you could fix it for me so that it fits perfectly, or hem it so I can wear it with my fabulous new shoes, or add something to make it even better! When can I come over?"

The only problem with this one was the length. It had been given to her by a taller friend (a great gift for any friend :) and she needed it hemmed pronto! Prom was only a week away! You bet, bring your shoes and we'll have a fitting! So we got it marked and here is the "Before" picture.

So with a little help from my handy-dandy smallest rolled hem foot, I whipped out this beauty of a narrow rolled hem. No other type of hem will do as beautifully as this narrowest of hems. Lining gets the same treatment.

She had just got her hair colored before she came for her pickup. Getting excited to go on a fun date with friends to prom! The length was just where she wanted it to be - you could even see a peek of those cute silver shoes! She plans to wear a white bolero shrug with the dress but did not have it for these pictures. No worries - check out the rest of the pictures - so darling with the dress!

Rockin' the dress in prom pictures! So cute and yes that hem is perfect, don't you think?

A good hem can make all the difference... :)

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PROM: Adding "Sleeve" Straps

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:25:00 +0000

Prom time! I have loved the alterations I had to do this year! I met some great girls at the high school where I costumed Singin' In The Rain. They told their friends about me and I was blessed to do prom alterations for 4 out of 5 girls in this prom date group (incidentally some of the boys that were their dates were also involved in Singin' In The Rain - you may recognize some of them in the "after" pictures if you look closely... ;)

Here are the "Before" pictures of the 4 girls' dresses in this group.

She sent me this picture from the dressing room, asking me if I could help her make straps. Doesn't it look kind of coral-hot pinkish?

Full length shot of the dress, before we add straps. Just a look at the inside. It was lined, but trickier than most dresses to get into. I think the length will be fine for her.

Yes, her length is fine. And it fits her everywhere else perfectly! She just needs some coverage up top to feel more modest. She would like a wide type of strap put on, almost like a sleeve. It would give great coverage. Now my job was to make it look like it was "born there". (That is my cute 4-year-old peeking through the studio door, he loves seeing the beautiful dresses that come in for me to fix, and he knew her from SITR.)

Bodice shots - front and back - with pins marked for strap placement.

Her mother had done some homework for me and brought several different 1 yard pieces of fabric that were possibilities to work. Hot pink tulle was a must. But it was too pink for the dress! The dress has kind of a coral undertone to it, so she had brought me a piece of light coral organza also. We layered them and determined it was a match!

One layer of coral organza and two layers of hot pink tulle was the perfect combination!

I fashioned 2 tubes out of the fabric layers and sewed gathering stitches to each end. I then pulled up the gathering stitches very tight and squished the ends of the straps between the placement pin markings on the bodice.

I attached the straps to the dress and it was time for her fitting! Everything was pinned into place exactly where it belonged! (It's funny because this front picture looks like the straps do not match the color well. But trust me it did, as the rest of the pictures will attest).

Here is the image of the straps sewed into place (inside the lining - to help it look "born there") , laying flat on the table. The pins at the top are the shoulder line that I marked when she was wearing the dress. Now I need to bring the wideness together to our determined width. So I gathered them up right on that shoulder line and secured it with a straight stitch.

Straps are complete, shoulder is narrow now, and we are ready for the next fitting!

Front view and back view.

Exactly what she wanted!! Looks perfect on her, and so much more flattering! It adds personality to the dress that suits her, too!! Born there? I would say - yes!

Happy beautiful girl! And look - the hem length is perfect with those shoes!

Prom day - taking pics! Love this one of her with her mom!

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SINGIN' IN THE RAIN costumes: DON LOCKWOOD'S "RAIN" JACKET

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 06:16:00 +0000

Probably the most popular or at least well-known scene from "Singin' In The Rain" is the scene where Don Lockwood sings. In the rain. Am I right? Even if you have never seen the movie or the play, you know the song.

Here is our cute Don Lockwood, he let me quickly shoot this pic between scenes. He is such a great kid - and he had CRAZY costume changes for his character. I never saw anyone work harder!

Google images: from the 1956 movie with Gene Kelly. His classic belted grey flannel suit is iconic, to be sure. What's funny though, is that if I wanted to get good pictures for design details, I could not get them very well from this scene. But what I discovered was that those original costumers played a cute trick on all of us. This suit is worn by two other characters before Don's rain scene. The director Roscoe Dexter wears it and the producer R.F. Simpson wears it. (It must have been a super popular style and they all wanted one...) Anyway, I got the best details from those characters. Don't believe me? Go watch it for yourself!

There were no versions available of this suit jacket anywhere, online or otherwise, so I knew I would have to create it myself (so sad... ;). I found a suit at the Goodwill for $10.99 that was huge so I could alter it down, and use fabric scraps to construct the important details. This suit would be getting wet at least 7 times, so I made sure it was not made of wool, or it would definitely be ruined by all the water. I tried it on our actor, and made the markings I needed.

I first hemmed the suit pants to fit our actor and cut off the excess, then pieced them together into a long strip. This would become the belt. Not shown, but I actually cut it in half again longways, and sewed those strips together to make a really long skinny strip. Then, I cut an identical size piece of dark grey denim, and sewed it to the back to create my stiff belt. You'll see more of this in a few steps.

I cut off the sleeve hems and removed the buttons. I will make cuffs from these pieces later. Then I turned the center front under. To make a new center front that not only fit better, but was now higher, to look more like 1920s. I folded under the hem to make it a little shorter and hit the right place on our actor's hip, to look "right".

Before I officially cut anything off, I soaped (my version of chalk is soap chips) out my character "lines". These were details that would have been part of the original coat pattern but I had to "apply" them to make it look like it was done that way. I made sure the new bottom hem was going to be perfect, and that what I cut off would be a wide enough piece to create those said chest pattern details. I checked that my belt piece would go around and overlap like I wanted it to. Yep - check. Now to cut everything off.

Here you can see the hem cut off - I serged that edge and turned it under, then topstitched it down. The sleeve cuffs are attached and topstitched at the edge to keep them standing up (Yah, it's not pretty construction that I normally do, but it's costuming, you can get away with that...) The new center front line is stitched in place. I pressed the new collar roll line so it looked more natural to be higher.

Then I added the belt. All important for the right "look". You can see I backed that strip I cut off earlier from the hem, with a stiffer denim. I created a nice pointed end for the belt overlap and that is where I started my wrap around the jacket waistline, leaving a little hanging off, to start. I just pinned it every few inches, then when I got around to the other side, I tucked it under the center front and stitched it down.

Here are those details finished. Also, I added buttonholes, then buttons later. And remember when I had the bottom hem folded under and said that I would use what I cut off to make those "details"? Well, that narrow cutoff piece became these cool strap-things that flow from the shoulder into belt loops - cool huh?

I don't know why but this upside-down view helps us see the details better.

Whaddya think? Not too shabby a transformation for a Goodwill suit, eh?

And he is just a marvelous Don Lockwood - he does the suit proud!

Let's see him in action, singing in the rain...

No wonder Kathy Seldon found him irresistible, right?!

{FYI, I was the Costume Director for Ponderosa High School's "Singin' In The Rain". This play was directed by the fantastic Geoffrey Reynolds - look for us on Broadway one day ;) ;) }

Thank you for joining me on my costume journey...stay tuned for more!

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SINGIN' IN THE RAIN costumes: SPIDER WEB DRESS

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:42:00 +0000

Wow, the first performance weekend of our "Singin' In The Rain" at Ponderosa High School Theatre has gone beautifully! Really this is a stellar cast and crew and set of directors - I am so lucky to be working with!

I wanted to share one of my favorite dresses (it is hard to choose however, which one dress was the most favorite - that's like picking your favorite child when you have 6 of them. Although, there are days...but I digress!)

There are certain pieces I wanted to be just right for this play. Iconic dresses and outfits that scream "Singin'" if you know what I mean! Anyone who loves the movie or the play wants to see key things lit up for them - it brings joy and satisfaction to the viewer or audience member and my job as Costumer was to get those things right as much as I could!

Google image: Olga Mara's Spider Web dress on the red carpet in the opening scene is one of those iconic eye-catching pieces representing the outlandishness of the flapper era.

So I set about to create my version of this showstopper.

I found this dress for under $5 at Salvation Army. It had "good bones" and a bit of a plunge neckline, backless to boot. Perfect base for my dress.

I marked off lines with a soap chip for fringe placement.

Close-up view of my fringe lines.

I started by adding my first layer of black fringe - a fabulous 10" chainette fringe that I found only at Dove Originals Trims. This was attached to the bottom hem of the dress.

Then I added layers and layers of 4" black chainette fringe to all my soap lines.

Making the spider web was the trickiest part. I drew out what I wanted the spider web to look like. At first I tried knotting with a rayon cording - and it just did not hang right. Then I tried a rhinestone trim that I had laying around from a previous project. I thought maybe it would read well on the stage and catch the light to reflect it well.

I tried sewing each intersection but it was a pain and I did not feel it would be secure. So out came the glue gun. I put globs on the front and back where they overlapped. It dried clear and looked OK.

So the spider web was going to be in back because that was my biggest area to work with. (I couldn't really do quite the plunge in the front like the original - it's a high school show after all, people!) Plus, I actually just thought it would look cooler with the spider web in the back.

The front piece had it's own story: I made this piece at first, then the actress and I decided it would be hard to get in and out of the dress if we attached the front piece, so we gave her a cool beaded necklace with tons of strands that resembled the fringe. But it was all plain and black and boring really. Then the next rehearsal we both showed up and she really wanted the rhinestone front piece and so did I! So we only attached it partway so she could get in and out of it and just attach the other part of it with safety pins each time. A little extra work but worth it for the look! I love it when little things like that fall into place!

Here she is, in all her Olga Mara glory! This is the costume room. She was great!

Rockin' the fringe!

Love the spider web on the back! It's flexible enough to move with her as she dances.

Loved her attitude as Olga Mara!

Awesome!

Now time for performance! Here are some pics of the scenes starring this beautiful girl and showstopping dress!

Her proud mom taking a picture onstage after a performance well done!

THAT was fun! Stay tuned for more...

{FYI, I was the Costume Director for Ponderosa High School's "Singin' In The Rain". This play was directed by the fantastic Geoffrey Reynolds - look for us on Broadway one day ;) ;) }

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SINGIN' IN THE RAIN costumes: MAKE 'EM LAUGH dummy

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 06:22:00 +0000

Wow - I went straight from finishing one musical production to the next one!

(Practically... I finished this one the first week in December, then my whole family got sick with 2 types of flu through Christmas, we were better by New Years, and I started THIS musical in January!)

I was hired by Ponderosa High School Theatre to be the Costume Director for this show:

The interesting thing about working on costumes on a high school level is that my crew is students. I get to train them by example, and on a practical level, teach them skills so they can one day do this themselves if they so desire. I have a great set of 5 girls that I have gotten to know and hope to stay in touch with for years to come.

One of the first things I sewed up for the show was the dummy from Cosmo's "Make 'Em Laugh" scene.

Here's the clip from the movie: My 4-year old thinks this is funniest thing to watch! Personally, I enjoy it more every time I see it. Very catchy indeed.

Here's a few peeks into how I made it:

I had traced my 16-year old son's outline onto pattern paper to get proportions and an outline for size. Then I made a few adaptations into a paper pattern and cut it out of a sturdy muslin. 2 body pieces on the fold, 4 arm pieces, and 4 lower leg pieces.

After sewing each unit individually (lower legs, arms, body), I stuffed them, then joined the units into one headless body. I used stuffing from old pillows that I took apart - gotta love recycling!

I used bed-size pillows to fill the body torso - they fit perfectly! That pillow that looks like it could be a head for the dummy is NOT a head. It is an extra pillow that we brought to rehearsal just in case it needed to be "rounder" in the middle...we ended up using it. I hand-sewed the top closed.

Off to rehearsal to try it out!

"Don'cha know everyone wants to laugh?"

It was a hit! Our Cosmo loved it and his choregraphy is wonderful and hilarious - they make a beautiful scene together!

Stay tuned for more costume highlights to come...

UPDATE: Here are some performance pictures of our famous dummy with Cosmo!

Curtain call!

Aren't they great?

And here is a link to the video of their performance.

{FYI, I was the Costume Director for Ponderosa High School's "Singin' In The Rain". This play was directed by the fantastic Geoffrey Reynolds - look for us on Broadway one day ;) ;) }

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Costuming for a musical production

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:29:00 +0000

I realize I am super behind and have not posted for over a month but I have a few fun things coming...

Meanwhile, THIS is why I have been AWOL...

It has changed my life.

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Costume Collection Part 4: PEANUTS & CHOCOLATE BARS

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 20:53:00 +0000

This year, one of my favorite families came up with a very creative idea to showcase their family's personalities.

And the story goes like this:

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar, and a handsome bag of Planter's Salted Peanuts.

They met and fell in love!

They had four delicious "babies": Butterfingers, Snickers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, and Peanut M & M's.

The Butterfinger bar was their firstborn. He is very responsible and helpful with his younger "peanut & chocolate" siblings. He is also very tall.

Then along came the next offspring. The Snickers bar. He provides a lot of chuckles to their family life.

And of course, "Snickers really satisfies you!"

Then along came a single serving Peanut Butter Cup. He is covered in cute chocolate and very sweet on the inside.

Lastly, a "FUN SIZE" addition to top off their family. Peanut M & M's. She is fun and colorful and you just want to eat her all up!

Did you enjoy that story?

Now would you like to see a little bit of how they were created?

We started by assigning each family member to each treat. And of course, I had to taste all of them, you know, to get into the characters - that's what a good "costumer" does, after all.

I took each person's measurements and estimated fabric yardage for main bodies and lettering and details.

I graphed it out to get the right proportions. This was to help in estimating size and how much fabric to buy.

Then I bought yards and yards of felt. And some "WonderUnder" for fusing and applique.

I cut and sewed the main bodies to the proper size for each family member. (See diagram below for specifics).

I went to my local copy center and enlarged those chocolate bar wrappers by 200%. Then some by another 200%. After piecing and cutting and taping, I arrived at the perfect-sized letters for each candy. (Of course, this is just a sampling of the hundreds of pieces, as you can imagine.)

I then painstakingly cut out those paper letters. Then transferred those cuttings to the right felt colors.

For the smaller letters, I fused the Wonder Under to the backside of the felt, then traced the letters backwards (mirror image) and cut those out.

Then I just peeled off the paper backing and ironed (fused) them onto the main body in the correct position. (I actually used a press cloth in between when I fused.)

I traced around the larger letters and just cut them inside the Sharpie line. They were just held in position with pins and I sewed an outline around each letter.

Yes, I sewed around every one of them, people! Yeah, that's how I roll. No cheapy-cheapy for me. Or maybe that's the OCD part of me I cannot let go of. Oh well, I think it was worth it. This family can wear these costumes out, but those letters will never come off on the wash or play.

I added special details as needed, like the embroidered "m" on the Peanut M & M's.

I appliqued the m&m's and the peanuts on in a random fashion.

And the special face and arm details on Mr. Peanut.

I sewed across the top for the shoulders, leaving an opening for the head in the center. Then bottom hem was just left open for walking. I left armholes open. And in the Planter's Peanuts, I cut side slits to access pockets. Some of the wrappers got the raggedy-edge treatment just like the original wrappers.

Then they purchased shirts, pants,and jammies to wear underneath.

Here are pictures of the candy before everyone tried them on!

Then it was time for the photo shoot.

And a recap of each one in costume!

Wouldn't you say this was ALL worth it?!

I will never look at these chocolate bars the same - EVER!

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Costume Collection Part 3: SNEETCHES & THINGS

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 06:52:00 +0000

Costuming a family can be totally fun! Especially if it is a FUN FAMILY!

Here is a family that I really LOVE and had the good fortune to design and sew their costumes for Halloween in 2011.

Mom and Dad were Thing 1 & Thing 2. They have 4 children.

Their oldest was a Plain Belly Sneetch and their youngest was a Star Belly Sneetch.

The kids in the middle already had their costumes: The Cat in the Hat & Horton the Elephant. What a cute family - I really think Dr. Seuss would be proud!

Here is the whole gang!

The Star-bellied Sneetches had bellies with stars!

The Plain-bellied Sneetches had none upon thars!

Under my hat I have Thing 1 & Thing 2!

What did I tell you?! A FUN family perfect for a Dr.Seuss Halloween!

Do you enjoy Dr. Seuss as much as we do?

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Costume Collection Part 2: Halloween Costumes For My Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 17:26:00 +0000

My last post was Part 1 of Halloween Costumes for my kids, part of my October series Costume Collection. Here is Part 2.

This was actually my real-life dress from my 8th grade prom! And it is one of my first memories of the realization that my mother was so super-skilled and could alter clothing: It was a strapless dress. She added the straps and the lacy sleeves. She was amazing! I gained my love of creating and sewing from her no doubt! And then my daughter wears the dress and some 80s accessories with a Prom crown!

I had inherited a Karate costume (it was white) from someone. My kids wear it all the time for dress-up but we wanted to go a little more exciting for Halloween for my boys. So I took a pattern from it. I had this really cool fabric with symbols all-over it and through the magic of the creative process, this Karate Kid outfit was born!

And his brother got a matching smaller version, but sleeveless.

Then of course, the Ninja! (That goes with Karate Kid right?) This one was very cool but difficult to make. I wanted it to have no visible opening but still be one-piece! So it unzips at the back of the neck, down to the waist. Tricky, but worth it!

This one was very original indeed. But my favorite touch was the mustache - his idea!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

He loves Mickey Mouse like nothing I have ever seen! So of course he loved to BE Mickey!

At our church Halloween party, he found Minnie Mouse (she was a little older, but she could not resist him)! And there is Minnie's Prom Queen friend...

We attended several parties that year and switched out costumes for some older stand-bys...Winnie The Pooh and a Superhero/ Scooby Doo...?

Halloween is so much fun ~ what costumes do your kids love the most?

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Costume Collection Part 1: Halloween Costumes for My Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 19:05:00 +0000

I was going through pictures of all the Halloween costumes from years past and I decided I would share them with you! Most of them I have made. It is actually one of my favorite times of the year - not all the spooky haunted-ness part of Halloween - I just put up with that BUT I love doing costumes for anyone who asks me).

So - I am going to do a series of Costume Collections - some with themes and others just random collections by year or family or whatever... so stay tuned during October for Halloween Costumes!!!!

The first one is of my kids' Halloween in 2009. Each kid wanted to do their own thing that year...

He wanted to be a bum. A hobo.

Hopefully he got this out of his system.

She and I love the"Anne of Green Gables" series and she was the perfect age to play the Anne from the beginning of the story. We even made the carpet bag she arrived with, the one with the loose fastener. It doubled as the trick-or-treat bag. She's the perfect Anne, personality and everything!

He really wanted to be a vampire. Actually this kid was fascinated with magic and had asked me for a magician cape, so I made it for him. Then he used it at Halloween to be Dracula. It was perfect! I made this from two flat twin-size bedsheets - black and red - so that it was lined and could be worn with either side showing.

Cute little vampire isn't he?

He wore what his brother had me make the year before (fascination with Wizards and magic...) and I think he looks just as darling (where are the pics of his brother last year? I do not know) as his brother did last year!

We went to a Halloween party and it was like pulling teeth to get a pose. There was candy and games to be had, mom! Oh, well...

We got better pics at home on the stairs.

He was Winnie the Pooh, as were all his brothers before him when they were that age. (Maybe I will put together a collage of all the Winnie the Poohs in our family - and Piglet, too...)

This was his first Halloween - and I just love a baby in a Pumpkin costume - not only is it cute but it stays as warm as you need it to be. You can layer under it with warm coats (can you tell I am from Canada?) or just leave a diaper on underneath if it's warm enough.

Hope you have enjoyed this first installment of Halloween costumes during the month of October.

What are your favorite kids' costumes form years past?

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Adding Half-Cap Sleeves to a Sleeveless Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Here is a custom/alteration detail that I am often asked to do for people. It's a small detail that has a lot of impact!

Aren't these sweet little sleeves...well, half-sleeves?

This sweet sleeveless Baptism dress was going to be worn by a little girl whose mother knew she would not keep a jacket or a sweater on, but wanted her daughter covered up a little more than the sleeveless look would provide.

It just needed a more permanent solution that would be as darling as the dress itself.

I found a piece of fabric that closely resembled the dress, and fashioned two partial sleeves. If you have ever set in a regular sleeve, you are familiar with how a sleeve pattern piece looks - and how much time it takes to set in a whole sleeve! With this method you only need to use the top half of it - the "cap" part. (The pattern piece actually looks like a football). And it takes less than half the work!

You can gather it at the very top to whatever fullness you choose, or leave it ungathered. I gathered these.

You can take the lining apart and insert the sleeve inside that seam or you can simply lay it underneath that top half section of the armhole and handstitch it in place!

There are a lot of options within this sleeve addition. Have fun with it! It can add a lot of personality to an otherwise boring sleeveless bodice!

Do you have anything you can add Half-Cap sleeves to?

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Studio Update ~ Homecoming Formal Shrug

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Snow) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 19:30:00 +0000

Homecoming time is fun for me - I love the alterations and custom formal items I get to sew for my clients to make their nights special!

It's not so much about the football game for me - it's about the DANCE!

Sometimes a shrug can add the "sparkle" to a homecoming dress.

Here is where this story began: my client and her daughter were searching for a shrug/ bolero jacket of some sort to give a little more coverage to her homecoming dress. They found a scarf that looked smashing with the silver sequins on the grey tulle dress. This could do if they could not find the perfect shrug. They continued looking for a ready-made shrug and had no luck...so, "Could you make this scarf into a shrug to go with this dress?"

"Why, yes!" And so I did.

The silver fabric of the scarf was beautiful, but a very loose weave and I was afraid of it snagging too easily. I also wanted it to have a nice drape without "sagging" off her shoulders.

So I interfaced it with a lightweight interfacing - to fuse those snaggable threads together and to give it a little more body without stiffness.

Here is the back view of the dress. I love the layered hemline. The back was floor length, while the front was to the knee. That cute "high-low" hemline.

And did I tell you that this shrug is reversible - the inside is the same as the outside - that way if any spillage happens at dinner or some clumsy kid spills his punch on her before the night is over, she can turn it inside out and still wear it! (Then dry-clean it later of course).

It is still shiny on both sides - but I thought I would show you two versions of this picture - one with the flash capturing the shine and one without.

I love where the shrug hits the back of the bodice just above the sequins - perfect!

Isn't it darling on her?!

The hem was a little too long in the back at first, so I shortened it to where it needed to be (here shown with hem redone). I tapered it from the back around to the front, blending with the original front hemline. It had to be the right height for wearing heels, but when the shoes come off for dancing after dinner and pictures - it cannot be so long that she steps on it!

Have fun, girl! :)

What did you do for Homecoming this year?

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