Saturday, November 3, 2007

I did say there would be crafts, didn't I?

So, two of the children of this house are involved in a local production of The Nutcracker. It's a semi-professional production, which is pretty exciting. Part of the requirements of being part of the production is that parents have to volunteer.

Given that I sew, and bead, and crochet, and do all sorts of crafty fun, I chose to be a part of the costuming department.

Given that I build Renaissance Faire costumes and therefore likely have a fair knowledge of sewing and embellishment, they asked me to a) embellish their Snow Queen tutu and b) build and embellish a new jacket for the Nutcracker (this year's Nutcracker has longer arms than previous gentlemen).

So. I have been photo documenting my work as I go with these projects for two reasons:

1) I needed an excuse to learn to use my new camera

2) I wanted documentation of the process for when I do this again, because I'm finding that I truly enjoy building dance costumes - probably more than I enjoy building Faire costumes.

Why embellish the Snow Queen? The tutu is too white:



I keep saying we throughout this - one of my housemates and I are really working on this together. She's helping with beading/trim work - but most importantly the headdress/armbands, which will be jewelry. I do some jewelry, but really - she's the jewelry person. My forte is sewing. She would prefer to not sew anything that's going to be on stage.

The color we're going to add is very delicate and subtle - at the director's request. The original may be too white - but even still, she doesn't want a whole lot of color. She wants light, but more preferable shine:



We've pulled off and replaced some of the old trim, and added in colored beads to some of the other old trim.



One small section before adding beads:



Same section after adding beads:



And lastly before I go off and work more - another fun picture: The Head That Drove Us Crazy Trying To Find. We found her at Sally's Beauty Supply. Why do we need her? For the headdress:

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