Parka pattern and bonus beadwork!

So I have just been in a whirlwind of activity since finishing the opera. I am not sure if I am afraid that when I stop I will crash, but I have been getting a lot done. Except for the garden.....it still needs some TLC.

But following up to the previous post in which I am making a pattern for an amautik inspired parka, I made a toile for Yvette, and fit it on her on Saturday. It wasn't too bad, although the hood needed work, as I suspected.

Today I managed to alter the pattern and trace a copy of it out for her so she can order material. She is planning on making it out of melton with a separate wind resistant outer shell.

Here is what it looked like on my table. No sleeves in the photo.

Interesting don't you think? Can you see how it goes together? This is a simplified amautik inspired piece. The child's amautik that I took a pattern from is much more complicated!

Interesting things are the only "extra-curricular" projects I take on these days.

This was indeed "interesting", and I hope she gets her fabric soon, because now I am interested in seeing it as a finished garment. I will leave it to her to add her rickrack trim details and patch pockets. I wonder if she is going to put beading on it? She showed me some beautiful beaded pieces that she rescued from mukluks and other garments they wore in the north, that finally wore out.
Really beautiful work.

Oh, I have a pair of beaded gauntlet gloves.....just let me run and get them.

These were given to my father in law many years ago. He worked for the Indian Affairs Department of the Canadian government in Saskatchewan.






Smoked moose hide. They still smell. Even now.
Early 1960's I think.  Northern Saskatchewan.
Beautiful bead work.

Thanks to my DH who happened by and was willing to be a model.

Fittings

One last fitting to go. For a pair of leather pants that weren't quite ready last Thursday. 

Which will add up to 85 fittings since January.
Not 85 costumes, mind you. Way way more.

As a point of interest, here's a list of what I fit on one actor, in one fitting, on Thursday and all the people involved, and sometimes all in the room at the same time.

90 minutes.

One actor, Me (cutter), Susy (first hand), Paul (designer), Jenna (design assistant), Bradley (wardrobe manager), Connie (boots and shoes), Rebecca (Bijou), Eric(props), Lisa (costume breakdown).

A.Velvet jeans, under bodice 1 and sleeves, gambeson 1, belt 1, gorget 1, velvet cape, boots.

B. Same jeans, under bodice 2 with chain mail sleeves, gambeson 2, steel gorget, hooded cloak, steel breastplate, pauldrons, gauntlets, grieves, belt 2, sword, worn in various combinations.

C. Same jeans, under bodice 3 with sleeves, gambeson 3, gorget 2, velvet cape again, belt 3.

Last fitting (with fingers crossed)....one pair of leather pants. One actor, me, Susy, Paul, Jenna, Connie  and Bradley.

Well, I never did get a fitting proper, so I checked the fit backstage in the dressing room. Just me, and the actor wearing them.
I'm happy, they look good, and he can do everything he needs to in them, so that's done. Cross it off the list.
Now for the understudy. More fittings are coming my way.

gambesons and gorgets

 I think we are finally getting to the finishing stages of our work on this show.
All kinds of decisions have been made such as the decorative trim closures for this black velvet gambeson, and its accompanying suede gorget.
Now we just have to make a strap for the closures to be sewn to, that enables the actor to quickly get in and out of the costume, so that will be a suede strap with snaps. I still have to cut an under placket for it, and get the real belt when the boots and shoes department has it ready.

 This gambeson and gorget are also getting closer to completion. The leather thonging still has to be attached, and the straps for it have been prepped but still need to be riveted to the garment, and all those decorations will need to be properly placed, marked , holes punched and then riveted on as well.
We also have to attach the gorget to the gambeson, so it stays in place while being worn.

This gorget is also almost done. This one has the boot liner leather base that is pictured here. The pieces of belting were a bit tricky to position, and we have scored the back of them in order to get them to bend a bit more into the shape we want. Now we need to trim them and attach lacing as well as figure out how to attach it to the tunic that is worn under it.






I fit the velvet cloak on Thursday, so Denise is working away on it. Luckily no changes were necessary and it stayed on his shoulders very well. It still needs a fair amount of work to finish it, the hem alone is about 7.5 m and the hem allowance has to be trimmed down to 2" width, and hand cross stitched. Then there will be the same amount of fur hem to be dealt with, as well as catching the two layers together. Oh, and decoration and closures.....so there is quite a lot to do still.

finished uniform

Here is our finished uniform, minus the belt, which was being worked on at the time. 

I should also correct myself regarding correct terminology. I should have said Aiguillette instead of Lanyard when describing the braided cording on the right shoulder.  I was reading through "A Dictionary of Military Uniform" to clarify it for myself, as Alix the design co-ordinator called it by the proper name. Aiguilette "is a plaited cord ending with needles, points or aglets." 

According to the dictionary, in the description of lanyard, it says" the cord around the arm and under the shoulder -strap may be single, double, or plaited".

Since this is plaited with needles, it should rightly be be called an Aiguillette.

Next up in our uniform making this season is a uniform of a different colour so to speak. More about this later.....

next step

After the fitting, we dressed the stand up and left it for the designer to play with trim placement.
This is what we saw in the morning.

Originally the designer wanted to use the shapes inherent in the beaded fabric to create a scalloped edge. I thought the shapes were too big and didn't work, but the idea of leaving a border of the plain silk on the front edge was a good one.

Turns out we are ditching the scallop idea and using the fabric plain, with borders of the plain silk. Yeah!

The beaded silk will lay on top of the existing fronts. We'll figure out how to best attach it, avoiding stitching over the beads of course, on Monday. The trim will cover the edge of the beaded silk so that works in our favour. I imagine we will try to stitch the beaded fabric edge down by machine, and sew the trim on by hand. The trim is very wobbly and by the time you baste it on, it could have been sewn by hand . Same with the narrow braid that serpentines down the front, winding its way around the button placement.

I'll have to make copies of the coat front pattern and work out all the details concerning the size and shape of the band of plain fabric on the fronts and hem, the button placement and the serpentine pattern of the trim. Same process for the cuffs and pocket flaps.

The beaded silk will end at the first turnback of the skirt pleats, so the pleated area will remain the plain silk, on both the fronts and backs.

I will just cut new sleeves in the beaded silk as it makes no sense to double up the fabric where it is not needed. There are some alterations to do on the size of the cuffs anyway. The cuffs will also be of the beaded silk with a border of plain blue and a repeat of the trims.

This is a typical process here where the first idea simmers along for a while and then changes once the garment is three dimensional and on the body. I just wish we were at this stage two weeks ago, and the stress of getting it done in a week and half would be much less.

Oh well, I got another stitcher starting Monday so that has to help. I just need to get it all cut out so we can move ahead. I hope one fitting is going to be enough because there won't be time for another.........

As I was cutting into the beaded fabric on Friday, I kept wondering what the machinery looked like that made this beaded fabric. Boggles the mind really.

another coat, more trim

Another few pictures of one of our coats in progress. It is actually finished, but I lost the pictures somehow. Nevermind, I'll try to get some more later this week.

This is a "nice to work with velvet"- or velveteen.

That makes me wonder if all cotton velvet is called velveteen ? I'll have to look that one up.

This is cotton with a black cut pile on a white warp and weft. It has a soft stable hand, light, but not too drapey or shifty. The pile is quite short so it doesn't move around too much when it is sewn, but it does require more careful handing than a flat woven fabric. Some people adore working with velvet or rather they fear it less than other people do. They know who they are, and I am thankful for them- it has never been a favourite of mine although I love the richness of it . I'm happy to cut it but that's where it stops with me.

Applying trim to velvet can be a tricky situation because the pile of the fabric fights you.

(Susy can testify to that- and we don't like to talk about the black silk velvet casaque with rows of thick soutache that once almost brought her to tears)

With careful hand basting first, both Susy and Silvia have been able to apply most of the trims by machine. The trim must be basted on over a ham or the tailor's egg that we use. There must be enough ease in the trim to not distort the shape of the coat when the trim is sewn on. Even the pocket flaps are prepared like this because if you didn't, the flaps would end up with the opposite curve to the body of the coat, and be sticking out and curling up around the edges.

The basting must be very secure because when you go to the machine to stitch it, you are laying it flat on the bed of the machine, and the ease you put in the trim will buckle slightly as it goes under the presser foot. In some cases it will look as though there is too much trim but don't be fooled, you will need all the ease you allowed.

decorations

I find so many things when I clean up at work.
Here's an example of some skirt decorations that were made (and rejected) for a period dress that Libby was working on a few years ago.
I love that they are made with fabric and pipe cleaners- you know the fuzzy wired bendable kind.

I think they are lovely, so since I have a pair of panels, I think I will hang them on my wall for some colour next season.