closures

Here's a peek at the way we closed this doublet at the centre front.
We used alternating hooks and eyes down the front. The buttons are decorative and are stitched just to the edge of the front so that when the hooks are done up, all you see is the illusion of the buttons being the closures.
If you put all the hooks on one side and all the eyes on the other, there is a risk that with movement, the hooks could pop out of the eyes. If you sew them on alternating this does not happen. They are stitched on with a buttonhole stitch with heavy thread. When stitching hooks and eyes or bars, it is important to take at least one small stitch through all the layers to the right side of the garment. This holds all the layers together as one when the hooks are done up.
The centre front is supported on both sides with spiral steel boning to keep it rigid. We also put boning in the garment underneath the trim detailing at the side front, sides and side back. This will keep it looking crisp and uncrumpled over the months to come.

more completed

I just wanted to post a picture of another completed doublet that I had posted about previously here and here
I find that I am so busy juggling so many projects at the same time, that it is hard to get in and photograph all the stages of building a costume.
Today we realized that we will need to build something for an understudy and I just stood there with a couple of my team members while we debated whether or not we flat mounted the original costume fabric or not. That happened only a couple of months ago, but we all had different opinions as to how we proceeded. There's just too much information to absorb! I'll deal with figuring it out tomorrow and start drafting anew.

completion

Completion!
This is the final stage of the doublet that I have been posting about since February.
It has successfully made its debut onstage in a technical dress rehearsal and the 1st dress. This Tuesday it will be worn again for the 2nd dress rehearsal and after that come a number of previews, then opening night.

All of these rehearsals allow a chance for everyone involved in the production to run the show from beginning to end with costumes lights, sound, changes and cues to make sure that everything runs smoothly. For the costume designer, it allows a chance to see the costumes from the audiences perspective instead of in the fitting room.

It will be worn until the beginning of November, and that is why we take such pains to construct these costumes well.
They have to withstand being worn and sweated in, and cleaned a number of times a week over many months and when the show is finished, they are catalogued and put in our warehouse of stock costumes. They then may be resurrected another year, refit and altered, and changed to fit another designer's vision.
It feels good to have it, all the others finished too and to look back on all the stages it has gone through getting to this point. The last things we added were the rosettes at the waist, and the Cordon Bleu medal .

another bit of lace

Well, this has been a very busy week with two shows tech dressing, and I think we're through the most stressful part.
We worked on the holiday Monday, in order to get important pieces like this collar made.
The collar in a previous post was made by Susy, this one was made by Karen.
Again, I started by draping the shape I wanted in muslin, making a paper pattern from that, cutting the base out of black crin, then double checking it in a fitting with the actor and designer. The edging lace was made up of a very wide lace border that we cut down into the elements that we wanted to use.
Karen did a couple of samples of how to create the best corner motifs and she laid it out along the edges, and we changed the pattern slightly in order to get the motifs to fit in well. She then proceeded as Susy did, basting over the tailor's egg and then zigging the lace down in sections.
I think the next time I cut one of these, I will consider putting a seam in the base fabric at the centre back, since I was noticing slight variations in how the collar sat at the front. I think it was due to the different bias at the front with the centre back on the fold.
Minor things really.
I am very pleased with the way this collar turned out.

dressing gown

While we are bogged down getting the last minute things ready for our tech dress rehearsal tomorrow, here's a dressing gown to look at.
This is from "Anything Goes" that was produced a few years ago.
Patterned silk body, quilted silk lapels and cuffs with piped edges, and fully lined.
Dressing gowns like this need a little bit of soft structure to them, but not a fully structured chest canvas, so they don't look like a bathrobe!
Suitable wear for drinking a gin and tonic, lounging in your stateroom on a cruise, don't you think?




Designer: Patrick Clark

cuffs

Here are the lace cuff samples that we did before moving onward.
The base of the cuff is the same black crin as the collar. The main body of the cuff is dupioni silk with the trim applied on teh edge ans then zigged and trimmed away.
We decided that it needed a bit more structure, so we took apart some rigilene nylon boning which is made up of filaments similar to very heavy fishing line, and it was zigged on up the sides and across the cuff at the base of the trim.
I'll take a picture of the rigilene and the technique to post next week.
As for the deadlines, it feels like a bit of a train wreck. Forces beyond our control this season have put us behind by about 244 working hours which is huge, considering my workload stayed the same.
I was really looking forward to this Victoria day long week-end, but we'll all be in on the holiday Monday, trying to make our Tuesday deadline.

black and white dress

I thought that I would show you this dress from the ladies wear side of our room.
I love how graphic it is and what a nice job that both the cutter and the seamstress did with this collar.
The dress is actually one that was pulled from stock- which means that it was built for a previous show and it has been resurrected and altered to fit, and had this lovely collar added to it. The dress is made of Holland linen and the collar is of organdy with a cotton trim.