Costumes

I spent the last couple of months making costumes. Now you might be thinking that I'm a really great mom, making things for my kids to use on Halloween. But, if you think that, you are wrong; I am not really that nice.

No, I've been working on costumes for a couple of shows done by Vernal Theater LIVE!.

In September I did all the costumes for  You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown!  Mostly I had to buy shirts and dye them, but I did get to sew the two dresses for Lucy and Patty. (Patty is actually styled more like Sally (Charlie Brown's little sister) because 1. her clothes are just so cute, and 2. her fabrics were easier to find.)

Anyway, here are my Charlie Brown pics:

And now Vernal Theater LIVE! is doing Tumbleweeds, a melodrama. It is super-fun; the cast is doing a marvelous job—sooooo funny!. So you should go see it tonight, or this afternoon, if you can. (Look for tickets here.)

Anyway, I was asked to costume this show too, but mostly I just had to look through the costume closet and find things that fit everyone. And mostly the actors did this themselves—or they found pieces and props from home (or friends, family, etc.).

some of the citizens of Grimy Gulch

Snake-Eye McFoul and Deputy Knuckles

But I did make Throckmorton Fleesum's (our villain's) extra-tall top-hat (and line his cape with the fancy, shiny stuff).

David Gale is hilarious as Throckmorton Fleesum!
As for the hat, it's about 35% taller than a real top-hat should be.

And I got to make Tumbleweeds' (our hero's) shirt.

Tumbleweeds (Allen Steckler) has big plans
for the town of Grimy Gulch.
It was a pleasure working with Allen.

a white dress-shirt dyed yellow, hand-cut fringe,
and some hand-made appliques...
I think this is my all-time favorite costume piece that I've made.
(In fact, I am sorely tempted to make something similar
for Bruce, and a rockabilly dress for myself to go with it.
But what would we do with them?)

It has been fun to work with the cast of Tumbleweeds, and it's pretty fun to see my work on the stage. But my next project is just for me (well, mostly for me). These are my fabric swatches...

dark blue denim; ivory jersey with ivory lace; patterned denim;
burnt-orange ITY; blue ITY; possibly this houndstooth (browns and blues)

I've already made the first piece of this collection. Can you guess what I'm up to? Photos to come later...