Saturday, March 31, 2007

Costumes

The phases (this one & that one) all blurred together with the final product being a huge success on stage.
I had a vision, collaborated with each student, came up with individual lists of what each student needed to hunt down and bring in to bring their idea to life, had to frequent thrift stores to find pieces and worked alongside creative & imaginative parents. There were a lot of trips to Beverly Fabrics, a lot of loose thread about the house, a lot of consulting with the students, a lot of laughs, a lot of gasps & shreaks of glee and did I menton, a lot of laughs?!!!!

When I sat down with the two Step-Sisters we were so giddy because we shared the same vision! The problems were they didn't know where to start and I didn't have the sewing talent to bring the vision to life. For me the easy part was starting them off. For the two Step-Sisters, I found 5-6 dresses at a fun thrift store for under $50! (Sorry, can't reveal, it's a secret!) I divided the dresses up, we modified their costume sketches & consulted my costume binder of ideas and I sent them on their way. Luck have it, both girls' mothers are brilliant seamstresses! Another Mom sewed the Mice & Horse costumes. Laura coordinated the "boy" mice costumes with the "girl" mice costumes, much like in the Disney version - real fun and added an authenticity to the Fairy Tale we grew up with. (When I saw Laura's costumes it brought my favorite "Cinderella" line to mind, "Breakfast! Breakfast! Everybody up! Hurry! Hurry!" Don't know, just is.)

Brunhilda & the Prince (I just absolutely lovelovelove Yasi's petticoat!)Another Mom in the class helped me embellish costumes. For the Majordomos, we took wool vests and turned them inside out to reveal the silk lining. Sharon added sequins & tassels.

I decked the Royal Family out in royal blue & gold. Agustin was such a distinguished King and Michaela a regal Queen (her Mom sewed her dress - just divine!) I hand-sewed sequins individually over gold trim & blue ribbon on Grant's (Prince) own quality jacket & slacks. Lightly sewed in order to bring the suit back to its normal state when the play was all said & done...I have a feeling Grant will leave his suit as is! :) I'm touched, blushing in fact.
Just can't get enough of the Royals!
(Yes, that's Dorothy...you had to have been there to fully appreciate!)
We went through tons of skirts & aprons and had conversation upon conversation over her not using her tshirt as part of the costume. Her mother had found this skirt that she had sewn years ago - perfect and Brigette & I picked the apron from a stack I found...and the tshirt? I spent a lot of time thinking about that tshirt and a lot of time 'debating' its usage on stage. I didn't want anything modern-day on stage but it finally dawned on me that it's solid color & simple line was so plain & 'drab' it fit Cinderella's simpleness...forget the fact that Brigette was soooo insistent :) She was right, it worked on stage beautifully - plainly beautiful!

Doing costumes for school plays is my ultimate favorite. I get to dip into each student's creative side, I get to spend time with each student on a one-to-one basis and thus get to know them quite well and everyday I am constantly approached by hoardes of students who are sooo excited about their costumes - they want to talk about the progress, they want to see the transformaton of the pieces and they want to try them on- oh boy do they! Could possibly be the last school play I coordinate the costumes for. (IF I have one more to put under my belt, I hope Sharon is at my side again!)

This experience was truly a memorable one.

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photos taken during their last dress rehearsal

(will include pics of my costume binder)

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Breana's Creative Work


Breana's handmade card for her violin teacher.

Felt 'love'

My girls miss all the crafting we use to do. When they were younger I always had them working on something. This day Breana mentioned that she wished we weren't soo busy to do something creative. That was my cue. I pushed aside the costumes for the play, retrieved materials from the studio and got the girls started on a felt project.


I won't spoil the surprise. All you need to know is they've been snipping & sewing & creating...just like 'ol times.


Finding the 'love' in putting aside what was important on my list to do something important on theirs.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Getting inspired

Sunday afternoon we spent some time in one of our favorite bookstores. While Dan was looking for gifts, Kaitlin was hunting to spend her gift cards and Breana was scoping out the stationary section, I was getting inspired in the craft section.


I'm thinking after the school play and cleaning out the studio, this could be a great project for me - just in time for summer, too!

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

scarves all mine!




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co 125 - knit
Elaine by Schaeffer Yarns - color: Mary Pickford
Delicious hand painted luxury fibers.

Monday, March 05, 2007

phase 2 of costumes

The more I work on these costumes the more I'm irritated that I didn't clean out my studio last year. "Something always gets in the way" - well, I always let things get in the way...something always becomes more important. I used the dining table, the ironing board AND the the side-buffet table this weekend as my work space for a few costumes. I started by laying out pieces for the King, Queen & Prince as well as the pieces for my own daughters. I needed to priorities my plan of attack by those that can be done quicker - it was friday, which is a short day for the girls and a long violin/piano day for me.
Breana's Fairy costume looks simple, seems easy - yet I get intimidated by cutting fabric, therefore, get easily frightened by the whole procedure. We all know, no cuttey the fabric, no doey the project!

So I decided to start with the Royal Sashes. I found this gorgeous royal blue & gold brocade fabric the week before. I divided the fabric into threes, took a deep breath, grabbed a hold of the scissors and made the first snip. Am I the only one who gets nervous of cutting fabric? Once started, though, the rest started to flow naturally. I pleated the fabric and started sewing sequins - this is in my blood. My late-Grandmother Q made gorgeous wedding gowns that she hand beaded herself - they weighed a 'ton' and were breathtaking.

Thank goodness it's a stage performance so I'm able to baste the fabric and sew the sequins without worrying about details like the color of the thread. Sewing moved faster due to that.

By the end of the weekend, I had 2 1/2 sashes complete with their royal sparkly glory!
2 1/2 down, dare I look at my list?

Thursday, March 01, 2007

checkered patterns




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My sister's Mother-in-Law called her after raiding a yard sale - excuse me, let me be more specific, 'a yarn sale' yard sale - that we had to go see! Just had to! We didn't have the exact address but somehow our noses knew the way. The front of the house was decieving with chairs & books and odds & ends but we were given heads up that the goods were in the back.
The Yarn Sale was in a 2 room studio that was packed from floor-to-ceiling (in drawers, under tables, behind doors, in boxes) of stacks&stacks&stacks with skeins&skeins&skeins of yarn. I walked out with 2 bags jam-packed with skeins & skeins of yarn & needles. I coveted my treasures. No project was good enough for them.
It's taken some time but I'm finally 'over' hoarding the yarn. I'm sharing the wealth now.
However, I was finding myself 'looking' for certain pieces as I was getting dressed and realized that I didn't have any of my own knitted creations - not a single scarf.
This piece is one that I made specifically for myself. It's made from a wonderful orange (color: 543 Porphyr, dye lot: 4641 to be more specific) 100 % wool Britania, Shetland Type Yarn.
My pattern is co 25 stitches, knit 5, purl 5 for 5 rows, alternating the pattern every 5 rows - similar to this. I didn't knit it too long. Right now, I prefer much shorter scarves - almost neck warmers - where I tie it once or wrap it once and it's all there right under my neck.

creative minds

In our front room there is a "game table" used for games & puzzles. These games or puzzles can be left there undisturbed until a new game is brought out or the puzzle is completed. Being separate from our dining table it allows play & leisure time to occur when one has time on their hands or when one is passing by. I often switch the games out while the girls are at school and when they're home I find them tinkering around the table exploring the possibilites on their own. A few weeks ago it was 'Scrabble', last week it was 'Backgammon', this week it's 'Boggle' - next week? Hmmm, it's between 'Trivial Pursuit - the 20th Anniversary Edition' or 'Dominos'...you'll have to visit to see which!



Because my studio is in disarry (ugh), my girls & I must bring the creative necessities into the house and use that table in the front room.


'Boggle' was put aside and bowls of buttons were set out.
When she had a moment to spare, Breana made herself a necklace.


We dubbed this the 'MunkiMunki' necklace. My friend, Christie, let me gobble up handfuls of buttons she & her sister used for their 'MunkiMunki' kid's clothing line. (If Breana could still fit into those 'MunkiMunki' dresses & jackets, she'd match perfectly!)

The buttons have since been moved back to the studio and 'Boggle' resumed its place. This morning I found Kaitlin stopping to find some words while she was enroute to feed Tiger. She might have been distracted for a little bit, but I don't mind. I like this little table that we have to walk by to get from one end of the house to the other. If you stop and linger over it for awhile that's fine - it's the spot where you're reminded to take a deep breath & enjoy.