Next stages

Continuing with the story of the opening ceremony costumes, we needed the green light to go ahead with the rest of the costumes. The designer was flown out and the costume co-ordinator nabbed office staff in Vancouver to try on the prototypes for the producer to see.

We got the call that all went well- our prototypes hit the mark and were a success.. that sent us onto the next stage which was to get going on the rest as we needed to deliver finished goods by the end of November.

One thing that came out of the prototype fittings was the application of textured fabrics on top of the quilting, and using various fabrics to create effects such as fur.

Now in the past I have made "fur" out of tulle, but this fur was mostly made from a drapery fabric.

The process was simple enough- cut long strips of fabric, then accordion fold them up to a thickness that you can still manage to cut through, then start cutting random triangular pieces out of the edges, as well as cutting into the edge with straight cuts. Open the strips out, fold lengthwise, offsetting the cut edges a bit, then put in gathering stitches along the folded edge and gather to the density required. It sounds a bit loose and it was meant to be- the randomness while cutting ensures that when the strips are finished, you will get a good texture happening. You can then trim or cut a bit more after the strips are gathered and stitched by hand to the garment.

This is a sample of the textured fabric and fake fur "pelts" that were put on this item.

This coat had both an applique celtic knot and an edging of "fur " that was made from a layer of the quilted fabric, which had been cut into as described as well as a layer of the drapery fabric to create the texture.