Black Stash Jacket part 2

I cut the front of the blue blazer using this tutorial.  Then I added navy blue bias tape to the edges.  

I want the jacket to have a military feel to it without copying any actual military uniform. Originally, I was only going to have just these three bars on the front (anyone know the name of this type of embellishment?) 

But I it looked incomplete so I added more bars that diminish in size.

I added royal blue, satin ribbon down the center of each yellow bar so it wouldn't look so blocky, then satin stitched around the raw edges.  This yellow polyester material frays like crazy!  Worse than costume satin!

Then I designed a cuff that echoes the design elements of the yellow and blue bars.  Again, I didn't want to copy any particular military uniform so I avoided using stripes that designate rank. We want this play and its costumes to feel as though children are playing out the story using things they might have found in an attic or grandparents closet or the like.  A kid might find a fancy jacket and think it looks military enough.

 The cuffs are only pinned on because I need the two actors who will be wearing the jacket to try it on.  Two characters wear the jacket: First, Lord Astor, who is captain of a secret mission to find 'star stuff.'  One of the reasons that I didn't want to use British Military style is because his mission is top secret and unofficial so the British Navy would not want it known they're involved.  The second character is Black Stash who steals the jacket from Lord Astor.

*Note, I ended up not using these cuffs.  I'll post a pic of the new ones as soon as I can.

Peter and the Starcatcher Jacket

Peter and the Starcatcher is a play that speculates about the origin of Peter Pan and Neverland.  The play is based on the books written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.  I have not read them yet but I plan to soon.  One of the characters the figures prominently in these stories is a pirate called Black Stash (for his formidable facial hair.)

 I am going to be building this jacket for both the Black Stash character and another character named Lord Astor (from whom it is stolen.) One of the more common things we do in our costume shop is repurpose or upcycle old clothes.  I am starting with a man's navy blue blazer as the foundation for Black Stash's coat.

Here are some sketches of ideas I had.

I decided that I would go with a series of graduated bars with pointed ends.  I've folded under where I'm planning to cut and laid the cardboard pattern pieces along the edge to see what it may look like.

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.