Under the Sea...

...Formal-wear for Fish

Well, the play is over and, as promised, I am posting the costumes that I made. But before you think it's all about me, I have to tell you that the play was FANTASTIC! And all the costumes were amazing, as was the set, and especially the kids who performed. I will post about that later today, after I get all the pictures off of the phone. (Unfortunately we never once—in the four times we went to see the play, or during rehearsals when I was there sewing—never once remembered to take the real camera with us. :-( )

Anyway, here is my Formal-wear for Fish line:

the dragonette

I didn't add the blue lines all over the body for two reasons:
first, time; second, a real girl is lots shorter than a croquis, and I didn't want to overpower her with too much busy-ness. Having seen the play, I wish I had added at least a little blue to the bodysuit.
(headpiece by MaryAnne Spainhower)

One of the things I am most proud of is the dorsal fin that I was able to make stand straight out from her body—and made only with sewing supplies (fabric, boning, etc.). It never flapped flat against her back, but stood out through all the dancing of rehearsals and nine shows.

the blue and green betta

This costume was designed for movement, and it performed
exactly the way I wanted it to: flowing along as she moved.
I was afraid the organza would be so sheer that the color wouldn't show, but it was perfect. Yay!

the crowntail

another stand-out dorsal fin :-) 
(headpiece by MaryAnne Spainhower) 

(in motion)
This costume was also designed for movement.

the nudibranch
One of the blue suits didn't come in, and one of the yellow dancers was assigned a different role, so I changed the colors for the nudibranch. I think I would have like the blue better.

It's hard to see here, but the back is painted green and sequined.
I used flannel for the ... fin?  ...so I could dye it easily;
then I covered it with an iridescent mesh net. The whole piece is boned, and there are slinkies (yes, the springy toy) sewn into the outer edge. I had hoped it would have a more bouncy movement,
but I think the "fin" would have needed to be bigger.
(headpiece by MaryAnne Spainhower)

the lionfish

Once again, I couldn't put in as many stripes as I drew on the croquis; she's just too small. I actually opened up the seams of the bodysuit to sew these stripes in.

more outstanding fins;-)

the fish with the cool scales

This costume was also designed for movement, and the scales did flap when she jumped. Yay! And the dorsal fin, as you see,
is standing right out where it should be. Yay!
This girl was so sweet—a delight to work with as I sewed
every. single. scale, tail, and fin to her body.
(headpiece by MaryAnne Spainhower)

and the Siamese fighting fish

This costume was also designed for the flowing movement of the fins. The front of the bodysuit is hand-painted, and sequined,
and the fabric was tie-dyed and hand-sequined.
(Sadly, you can't really see the sequins in this picture.)
The only thing I wish is that I had made one of those amazing dorsal fins for her too, but I was out of the tie-dyed fabric.
(headpiece by MaryAnne Spainhower)

So those are all the costumes that I  made. I will post about the amazing play later—because it really was AMAZING!

The Sympathy of Siblings

Yesterday Michael was sick; his body ached and he had a fever. :-(
He even posted about it on facebook:

In case it's too hard to see, he says,
"Fever again. I wish I understood why I've been getting sick so much this year. I've probably been sick as many times as the past three years combined."

"Shivering without blankets. Unbearable heat with."

Poor Michael! It's true, he hardly ever gets sick, so he's been hit pretty hard these last few months. But at least he has a nice little sister to cheer him up:

Rachel responded,
"Unbearable heat
Yet shivering with no pause
Another fever"

"Have a haiku."

Bahahahahahaha!

I don't know if it made Michael feel any better, but it made my day!

It also reminded me that April is National Poetry Month, and it's been a couple years since I've run my poetry contest . . .

Sneak Peek . . .

   . . . Shh! Don't tell!

Brandon and Kaylie are in the cast of Uintah High School's production of The Little Mermaid. Which makes me a "Drama Mama." Which means I was needed to help where I could in the production. Which, for me, meant help in costuming. About a month ago I was asked if I could design fish costumes for "the eight dancers." I said, "Sure," and about a week later I went to a meeting where I was told that the director, Mr. Piner, wanted them to look like fish—not dance costumes.

And this was what I had to start with:

They had already ordered eight of these body-suits; two yellow, two silver, two bright orange, and two blue, but I had to wait a few weeks  for them to come in from China. 

I took on the challenge, started looking at pictures of colorful fishies as inspiration, and while I waited for the suits to come in I started illustrating.

Here's what I came up with:

the blue and green betta

magically photoshopped from white to yellow . . .

 

the crowntail

(which, I suspect, is another variety of betta)

the dragonette

the Rainbow Fish?

Actually, this one is not supposed to be Rainbow Fish. I was copying this totally cool scaled shirt (from the 80's production of The Nutcracker with Baryshnikov):

The coolest part about this shirt is the way it moves when he dances. See it here

But every kid who saw my drawing— every kid: my kids, all the kids at the high school . . .

. . . as soon as they saw it they said, "It looks like Rainbow Fish!" But really it is just the fish with cool scales.

the nudibranch, a sea slug . . . you know,

♪ Each little slug here, cutting a rug here, under da seeeeeea!  ♫

the lionfish

These were all the illustrations I had time to make before the suits and the fabrics were here and I had to start making patterns and sewing. So I still had two costumes to design, and not really any idea what I wanted to do, and I was creating patterns and sewing like mad, putting in eight to twelve-hour days! But one of my dancers showed me this fish that she wanted me to design her costume after, so I kept it in the back of my mind:

a photoshopped Siamese Fighting Fish 

(another type of betta; it used to be solid white)

And another of my dancers was re-cast as a Mer-Sister, so I didn't have to make an eighth costume (thank goodness!)

And that's all you're getting for now—until the play is either finished, or at least well into it's run.

You will have to see The Little Mermaid if you want to see whether my dancers actually look anything like the illustrations. 

And you should see the play in any case. The kids have worked hard and are doing a fantastic job, the sets are amazing, and so are all of the costumes! Tomorrow is opening night . . . It's going to be a lot of fun! 

26

Today is my 26th wedding anniversary. (You may cheer here; throw confetti, etc. ;-) )

Yes, I've been married to this man

for twenty-six years! 

And I still like him as much as ever. :-)

Happy Anniversary Bruce!

Happy Birthday Michael!

This year I am reminded that Michael could have been a leap-day baby, and he could have been an anniversary baby, but instead he was born right smack in-between those two days.

But the main thing is that I am super happy to have this intelligent and thoughtful young man in my family.

Happy Birthday Michael!