I know, I’ve said it before, and it probably sounds like I’m gloating a little bit. And I’m not gonna lie – I kinda am. Not only is it the coolest job ever, but my boss says I can use my exploits in the costume shop as blog fodder. Tee hee…. The downside is that I don’t really have any excuse to use a computer at work, so the actual physical reality of being at work sort takes me off the interwebs. That’s why missa hasn’t been around as much lately. But now I’m back, and I thought I’d share some more of the crazy things I actually get paid to do…
6 CommentsCategory: Blog
Sarah posted a totally, fabulously, fantastically AMAZING bit of research based off Drea’s equally fabulously, fantastically AMAZING database of wardrobe warrants. (Seriously, is this the best time for a costumer to be alive or what?) Go read them both. I’ll wait till you’re done with with Sarah’s points about the “pair of busks” entries….
2 CommentsSo I’ve been working a lot lately, which is great because paychecks basically rock. I’m really lucky to have several of the best jobs ever right now – the costume shop, which is the coolest place on earth, and I started doing some backstage stuff for shows that come through the college.
5 CommentsI love what I do. Normally, I bop around my little workshop like Hammy – with about the same attention span. But sometimes things get me down, like working on serious things (websites) and that gosh-darned eleventh century shmata which continues to defy me, and I start to lose my Joy. And then I was get email from people, and they had they Joy. And it’s making me sad. Laura has the joy, Rebecca has the joy, Mo-geek has the joy…. I decided to take my Joy back, by force if necessary.
4 CommentsI got to spend last week working a preview show by Hubbard Street Dance at the college. It was fantastic! I was technically just there as wardrobe, but they let help with the load-in and setup, and I learned 62,458,371 new things, which is always super-great. Yesterday I slept. No, really, that’s most of what I did. But I also got a little dolly sewing done….
2 CommentsSo, there’s some sort of mysterious rule of small business that says that the second you get into some sort of flow with the business plan you’ve committed to (my eBookies and patterns), a side job will pop up to tempt you with money. So you take it, because you need some of that, and then another side job pops up. So you take that too, because you’ve been living off savings trying to make a business and you’re worried that your bank doesn’t think you know how to use a deposit slip. And then another side job pops up, but this one promises to be regular income and the other two are one time gigs, and, I gotta tell you guys, regular income kinda rocks, so you take that too. So now I’m stupid busy with side jobs, but I have a plan for getting things done….
6 CommentsSo, if the flurry of short posts isn’t a dead giveaway, I’m having massive fits of ADD today. I went out into the garage (aka, sewing room) to make a corset for Tyler. I haven’t even pulled the fabric for it yet. I made a little smocky-poo for Piggy, picked beads for the green thing, walking in and out of the house 62 thousand million times, and knitted part of a scarf. You know those days?
Leave a CommentHappy Valentine’s Day! Let’s talk about something that makes my little costumer’s heart go pitter-patter: the Effigy Corset. I’ve had a major case of corset-brain lately (I think it’s a rebellion against that darned unfitted eleventh century thing), and I’ve been doing some research. You know what’s annoying about the Effigy? I don’t have a nicely gridded version of it drawn up by Janet Arnold. She spoiled us, you know…. I’ve no idea how to think without her beautifully scaled grids and neat technical notes. I so wish that the Effigy was covered in Patterns of Fashion. But it’s not, and I needed it…
Leave a CommentOh, that pesky Pfalzgrafin corset… It’s technically dated to 1598, by virtue of being found on the body of Pfalzgrafin Dorothea Sabina von Neuburg, who was buried then. It would be really-amazingly-super-conveneint if it was older, wouldn’t it? Seriously. I’ve really got an itch to do something from the middle of the 1500s. I’ve started the little chemise (I’m even trying to embroider the darn thing), and I’ve been messing around with recreating the Pfalzgrafin pattern based on the Basic Conic Block.
3 CommentsWhen I started working down to dolly sizes, I knew I was going to have some issues with the scale. I’ve been neurotic about fabric choices – I mean, what do you substitute for velvet that will look like velvet, and fall like velvet? Twelve inches of skirt is just does not have enough weight to bend velvet to the laws of gravity. What about embellishments? What about the $#*&^!! EYELETS?! Oy….
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