Bye Bye Birdie -- here's what happened...

  During tech week of Bye Bye Birdie, I was tired. After Bye Bye Birdie was over, I was tired.  After I got over being tired, my laptop had some I-don't-wanna-turn-on-anymore issues that turned out to be a faulty adapter.  Now, 20 days later, I feel less tired and I have a new adapter. So.

   Conrad Birdie's gold jacket. was the last costume I posted.

 

I added some over-the-top, Michael Jackson looking, sequined epaulettes.  These were made with hot glue, cardboard, felt, lame', star appliques, sequins and some chunky gold curtain trim.  I also added gold gimp, gold star appliques and gold buttons to the jacket just to pimp it up. 

The pants are mustard yellow Dockers to which I  added some gold paint and spray on glitter. Interestingly, neither of these embellishments showed up one bit on stage, all those lights on him but nary a twinkle.  Take a pick with my crappy camera and they shimmer like they're sprinkled with fairy dust.  Go figure.  The gold shirt, black boots and belt we had in stock from the costume shop.

More tomorrow!

Conrad's Jacket

So I started this a week ago.This is going to be the gold Elvis-ish jacket that Conrad Birdie wears on the Ed Sullivan show. Since Birdie is supposed to be going into the military the 'feel' of the outfit is supposed to be military in nature.  I'm using a McCall's uniform pattern but I shortened it at the waist to make it more American in style and also because I was running out of fabric.

I was going to do a step by step pictorial of making this coat but then people had my camera, then I forgot it one day and before I could get around to doing in-progress pix of its construction it was pretty much done. All that is left to do is have the actor try it on and then attach the rest of the lining.

We wanted the jacket to have an overstated 'Hollywood' feel so we chose a shiny (but not metallic) yellow-gold stripe.  There are five gold chevrons on the sleeves so he looks Rock-Star important but at the same time does not denote any real rank.  The pockets were added afterwards and they and the collar were trimmed with gold sequined gimp.  I had already started putting in the lining and it was a big pain to sew the pockets on underneath.  I don't recommend it!  Conrad is going to have some gold lame pants that will have a stripe going down each leg made of the jacket fabric.

More Progress on Hook's Coat

So you remember my sketch from the other day?

Well this is what it was meant to be.  A stylized paisley-ish  crocodile and hook to adorn the cuff of the coat.

I am really loving my choice of gold satin.  It looks shiny and expensive without being tacky.  Well, as non-tacky as a bright red coat trimmed in fancy gold appliques could be. 

 

A close up of the front of the coat and pockets.

 

It's close to being done!  I have made a lot of progress as of Sunday afternoon.  The lining is finished and waiting to be put in, the cuffs are ready to be attached so I will work on that next costume crew session. 

Another Piece

I guess I have not mentioned that the production we're doing is Peter Pan although I did drop some hints.

 

So the fabric chosen for Captain Hook's coat is a red brocade-ish fabric and rather than use gold lame (Hook is supposed to be flashy but he's not Prince Poppycock who I would LOVE to make costumes for!) I chose a heavy gold satin that will be appliqued onto various pieces of the coat.  More to come!

Sew What Have I Been Doing?

This week I've been turning an ordinary man's suit jacket into a Hussar's Uniform -- that's the short story.  I've been helping out at my son's high school doing costumes for their rendition of Phantom of the Opera.  It's a lot of hard work but it's also very fun.  This jacket is coming out really cool.  When it is all finished I'll post another pic plus some of the other costumes I've done. 

 

 

Cut off th bottom in a military 'V' style.

 

Adding some shiny gold braid.

 

This gold gimp shifted and moved all around no matter how many pins I put in it.  My solution?  Blue painter's tape to hold it still and that worked very well. 

Almost done!  I added gold grosgrain ribbon for the placket and came up with some clever button loops which I then realized were not practical for a fast change during the play.  I'm going to replace them with velcro.  I'm also having about 30 buttons put on the front and I have to finish the chevrons on the front of the sleeve.  If I  have time I'll make a half jacket/cape thing too.