Funny Girl Costumes: It's Crunch Time

After spending most of the weekend stitching, hot-glueing, and otherwise creating I am both exhausted and only too aware of how much is left to get done before our first dress rehearsal next Sunday. 
My weekend in pictures:


My attempts at Drynuary took a brief hiatus because I earned this glass of wine...

I am grateful that some of the items I ordered arrived... sadly I have not yet recieved the fabric I ordered to make the uniform coat/dresses to match these hats.  Get on the ball, fabric.com!  (I am totally calling to complain today.)



Items that I have built and found are currently hung on every possible surface of my sewing room awaiting alterations, pressing, finishing, bedazzling, or other time-consuming labor.

On the other hand, I found some items that will be perfect as is and require no further work from me!  Thank goodness!



B5232 which will be matched to skirt B from B4954.  This suit is made of uphostery weight velvet and will be worn over an antique cream-colored lace blouse with a white fur hat and muff for "Don't Rain on my Parade."





I am not the only person at the theater hard at work!  Here is a backstage view of our set in progress. 



Saturday afternoon I managed to get most of the items I have pulled organized, labelled and ready for fittings this week.

The stairs from the stage downstairs to the costume shop and dressing room.  Hauling things up and down is tiring and awkward.  I am not a fan.



A view of our costume storage from above. 

The bodice in progres for Fanny to wear in her dinner scene with Nick.  I used the bodice of Simplicity 4055 and then added a fitted midriff.  The skirt will also be from B4954 with a lace overlay that extends just past the horizontal seamline near the knee.  I am hoping to finish this dress today.  Really I just need to attach the skirt, add a zipper and finish the neckline.  It shouldn't take more than half an hour but I sort of ran out of steam on this one.

This is called Jenny experiments with a glue gun before starting to make the white headresses that are actually needed in the show.  I don't know whether this will appear in the show at any point but the hot-glue related blisters on my fingertips certainly hope so.



More of the Zeigfeld bride costumes hanging.  My idea is that each one will be different.  I may have to see what they look like before making a final decision. 



After a long hard weekend of work, my assistant decides to take a cat-nap on a pile of bridal satin.



Project Runway Season 11, Episode 1: Teams

About a week ago I was commenting to my gentleman friend that I think my perennial favorite television show, Project Runway, may have jumped the shark...  Between Miss "I can't sew" from Trinidad/Tobago winning season 9 to the relatively boring looks and personalities of season 10, I suspected for some time that the show may not run too much longer.  When I heard that Michael Kors had left the show and that season 11 would consist of nothing but team challenges?  It sounded like a death knell to me...

Now I think I was wrong.

While the idea of an "all team challenges" season seems cooked up merely to instigate drama, after actually seeing the first episode I think it may be just the boost the show needs.  The 16 designers arrived with no idea about the "twist" that was awaiting them but were quickly divided into two teams who amply demonstrated the best and worst of teamwork.  The "Dream Team" and team "Keeping it Real" (seriously guys?) were given views of NYC as inspiration and tasked with designing ensembles which demonstrated their personal style while utilizing the advice of their team members.

Despite their ridiculous name, "Keeping it Real" did a fantastic job of working together.  You could sense a real camaraderie between the designers who gave each other useful and valuable criticism and assisted each other with drafting and construction.  When the two collections walked out on the runway they were the clear and obvious winners.  In contrast, the "Dream Team" decided to work under more of an "every man for himself" model.  While there were some strong looks, they also allowed each other to flounder and the end products suffered for it. 

I loved all of the top three designers.  I will admit to having initial doubts about mustachioed Daniel Esquivel and Patricia "Water Lilly" Michaels due to their personal style but they ended up being the clear standouts with a sleek black suit with an exaggerated peplum and an artistic cutout leather dress, respectively.  I'll be especially interested in watching Patricia.  In each season they always seem to cast one "offbeat" designer who marks with spit instead of chalk, uses themselves as a dress form, or dresses like something out of a cartoon.  Usually this designer is eliminated fairly early on for creating peculiar designs that are either a bit too "out-there" or bit too "home-made."  I initially had Patricia in this category, especially when she started hand-painting her textile, but she clearly has a great eye as she created a chic and original look out of something that could have been very "craft show" in less skilled hands.

 

I can't say I was sad to see Emily go.  She annoyed me from the get go with her talk of being young and inexperienced but just so talented that everyone else should pack their bags.  Girl may have a vision but she bit off way more than she could chew and frankly I don't believe that she spends every evening after work sewing.  Someone who spends every evening sewing would not have created the hot-glued organza mess.  Honestly she would have been better off sending her muslin down the runway and claiming it was a homage to the garment district or something...


As for the changes to the structure of the show, I think I like that Tim Gunn's critique is more workshop style with the entire team chiming in with ideas.  As for Zac Posen... I like the man's designs but I am so far unimpressed with his judging.  I miss Kors's clever (bitchy?) quips.  When it comes to being a TV personality, you, Zac Posen? Are NO Michael Kors.

Of course you could prove me wrong.  It's happened before.

Funny Girl Costumes - Step 3: Pulling from Stock

What I am about to tell you is likely to come as a major shock but here goes...

Community theater in Parma Heights, Ohio?  Is NOT BROADWAY.

Suprising, right?  I know that I was astonished by this news!  However, in being NOT BROADWAY, our shows have a very NOT BROADWAY budget.  Our shows in fact have a very limited budget.  (Also a very limited costume staff, namely myself.)  What this means is that the funds and labor I do have at my disposal have to be allocated intelligently.  Now if I had unlimited time, money, and man-power I would take a month to sketch detailed designs for every character in the show and have a staff of dilligent pattern drafters and stitchers who turned those designs into actual garments under the supervision of my watchful eye over the course of months.  In reality I have to depend on three weeks, a few hundred dollars, and my own ingenuity and lack of sleep.  So while I may want to custom design and build every item in the show I instead have to dig through the piles of costumes that the theater has obtained through the years and make alterations as necessary.  Now this may not seem like a particularly daunting task until you discover what our costume and fabric storage looks like:

Once this show closes, re-organizing is a major priority that I imagine will take up several weekends of my life.  However, the show must go on and the actors must be clothed before opening night TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY! (I think the aforementioned lack of sleep is starting to show itself though my overuse of caps lock in this post.)

In any case, a large portion of the past week has been dedicated to digging through the above-pictured mess to find clothing that is: 1) the correct size, 2) the correct time period, 3) not disintegrating due to age, and 4) appropriate for the character in question.  And yes, these are the order of my priorities. 

Pulling costumes from our existing stock is a challenge for a variety of reasons.  First and foremost, much of our stock originates from donations.  We are of course grateful for these donations as without them our cast would be nude and this is a family show.  However, it seems that much of what people donate is a) falling to peices, b) ugly, and/or c) from the 1980s (b and c are usually related).  Now I think the most obvious solution is to start doing more shows that take place among homeless people in 1985 but thus far I have been unable to convince the board to take this eminently sensible suggestion.  So instead I am tasked with turning 1980s bridesmaids into 1920s glamour girls (this usually involves removing the shoulder pads).

The second challenge often has to do with size.  As many news organizations have noted, our nation's citizens have grown remarkably larger over the past few decades.  This means that when we do recieve donations of beautiful vintage garments they are usually absurdly small.  Like 27 inch busts small.  I am not joking about this.  I often look at these garments and then die a little inside when I realize that my bust measurement is almost two feet larger in diameter and I usually don't consider myself to be grossly obese.  Now for this particular production I have lucked out in this aspect as much of the cast is relatively petite, however this remains an ongoing challenge.

So after a week of digging, I've managed to pull a variety of garments and start some preliminary fittings.  I plan to do full fittings early next week so as to give myself a full week to do alterations.

Meanwhile, I've also finished shopping and started building some specific items which will be the subject of my next post... stay tuned!

   



Funny Girl Costumes: Plans and Sketches (Step Two, Ongoing, and Many)

After gathering images to inspire my "vision" for the production, the next step I take is sketching out some designs in order to translate what is happening in my head into a medium that others can see and appreciate.

 My sketchbook for this show is a combination of rough sketches and finished sketches, a difference which is largely dependent on how concrete my thoughts are at any given time. I've been carrying my sketch pad with me at all times so that I can jot something down any time I am struck with inspiration. Some of these rough sketches later get fleshed out, particularly for items that I will be drafting patterns and building.

My first sketch for the dancers in "Rat-a-tat-tat"

My final "Rat-a-tat-tat" sketch, from which I've now I have sourced materials such as fabric, hats, and buttons.

Many of my most complete sketches are for the character of Fanny Brice.  While Funny Girl is a large scale production with a numerous cast, it is also very much a star vehicle, so most of my efforts and very limited time is focused on giving my star a very specific visual journey.

 

 

My thoughts for "Don't Rain on my Parade" are clearly a little less concrete than my thoughts for some of the other garments in the show...

I have also spent a good amount of time working on ideas for the various Ziegfeld Girl costumes, although as these will largely be sourced and constructed from existing stock costumes I have focused less on specifics and more on concepts.  For example, I really want to move forward with the classic arm drape and managed to find some beautiful mosquito netting for $2.00 per yard which has the perfect drape.

Funny Girl Costumes - Step One: Inspiration

The Cassidy Theatre in Parma Heights is putting on a production of Funny Girl and I have been retained to design and build the costumes. Now if you clicked on that link, you'll have noticed that the show opens February 8.  A February 8 opening means a dress rehearsal on February 3 which means I have approximately 3 weeks to costume this production.  Now if you are not familiar with Funny Girl (either the stage show or the movie starring Barbara Streisand) you may not know what a massive undertaking I have just... undertook.

This is not a small show.  There are 20 actors in the cast, most of whom play multiple roles.  The narrative spans nearly 20 years from Fanny Brice's humble beginnings in show business in 1908 to the collapse of her marriage to Nick Arnstein in 1927.  Finally, most of the show takes place in and around the Zeigfeld Follies so these are not just period costumes but period SHOWGIRL costumes.  I have a sneaky suspicion that my bedazzler is going to get quite a workout!

In any case, my first step in costuming a show is to conduct research.  I not only research the source material (in this case I read a good deal about the actual Fanny Brice as well as carefully reading and notating the script and re-watching the film) but gather visual research and inpirational images.  In the past I have created paper collages from images I sourced online.  This time however I am joining modern day and utilizing Pinterest.  I've created a Pinterest board where I've "pinned" a large number of pictures that I find relevent to this project.

In creating this board I've pulled a large number of images including photos of Fanny Brice,

photos of Barbara Streisand as Fanny Brice,

images of well dressed "gangster" types,

pictures of dresses from the 1910's,

and 1920's,

images showing the uniforms of WWI,

and (of course) photographs of those beautiful Zeigfeld girls!

Meanwhile I've also taken the measurements of most of my cast, started sketching design ideas, and begun pulling garments from the available stock so I can assess what I will need to build, borrow, or buy.

V8346 - The Finished Product

Having ultimately decided on the gold buttons, I finished up the final touches on my coat Monday night! 

 

I made two large changes to the pattern as drafted. Being in possession of a lovely vintage fur collar I disregarded the collar peice on the pattern and instead cut the collar to be the same size and shape as the fur.  I otherwise attached the collar as explained in the instructions and then handstiched the fur to the completed collar.  

The other major change was making the coat single, rather than double breasted.  I think that this helped make the coat more "vintage inspired glamour" and less "crochety boat captain headed to the arctic."

 

The hem and sleeves are finished by first basting the coating to the appropriate length and steaming smooth, then basting the lining to a slightly shorter length and attaching the two using a blind hem slipstich.  Word of warning for anyone who plans on making this garment... it is a LOT of hemming.  It took almost three hours which seems absurd until you realize how full the "skirt" portion of the coat really is.

 

The lining is a graphic black and white print that I pulled from my stash.  It's some sort of poly-rayon blend that Joanns tends to just label as "silky" and that I avoid other than for attractive linings.  This however is a heavier weight than the average "silky" which lends a bit of warmth and weight to the coat. 

 

 

And finally, here is the coat on my actual human body (rather than my foam double).  It's hard to see the shape because of the angle (I should totally photoshop out my right arm), but I love that the coat nips in at the waist and flares out into a nice easy fullness  I also like the princess seaming and that the sleeve is cut relatively close to the body.  This definitely a coat to go over dresses and form-filling sweaters and not to throw on over something bulky. 

 

Speaking of sleeves... one major perk of making my own winter coat is that for the first time since probably 1995 I have sleeves the appropriate length.  I no longer have to depend on slightly longer gloves to protect my poor, delicate wrists from the harsh, terrible cold!  Seriously, until I finally had sleeves the correct length, I didn't truely appreciate how annoying my slightly too-short sleeves had been all these many years!

 







 

And after two days of wear in the Cleveland winter I can attest that this combination of thick fur and cozy cashmere is indeed very warm, making this not only pretty, but also quite practical!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

V8346 - Cashmere Coat with Vintage Fur Collar (in progress)

In the spirit of Sewing Resolution #2, I spent a large portion of New Year's Day 2013 working on V8346.  I cut out the fabric for this coat a while back with the intention of making it for the mini-wardrobe challenge at Pattern Review.  Sadly I never moved past the cutting out stage, failed to enter the contest as planned and the coat became a UFO.

 

After a few hours I would say that construction of the coat is about 50% complete. It is made of a navy blue cashmere coating and lined in a black and white graphic floral print. The collar is a genuine vintage fur inherited from my cousins' grandmother. I altered the pattern to match the shape and size of the already finished fur collar. I've attached the underside of the collar to the coat and will handstitch the fur to coat once it is otherwise complete.

I cut a size 18 to assure that the coat will fit appropriately through the shoulder. Having tried on what I have so far it seems that the coat will fit well albeit closely through the bust and sleeve. I think ultimately this will be a dressy winter coat to wear over fitted sheath dresses and not something to throw on over a sweater. I also apparently inserted the pockets way too high in the side seams (they are currently centered over my natural waist which is clearly not correct). I think I may ultimately just cut out the pockets and sew the side seams up completely. I don't typically use my coat pockets anyway, what with carrying a purse, so I think that eliminating the pockets may make for the sleekest fit. 

At this point the entire outer shell is constructed and the lining sections are pinned together and ready to stitch.  I am still trying to decide which buttons to use.  I like the plastic navy buttons that are cut in a jewel-like shape (second from the left) but they are a brighter navy than the coat.  The plain navy buttons are a better color match but less interesting.  I may ultimately go with the gold but I'm afraid that it might lend too much of a military feeling when I'm actually aiming for vintage glamour.  Any suggestions or opinions?