Rubberband girl: sewing more leotards, unitards and biketard

Well, after my first blog post about sewing with stretch fabric, I have continued to experiment with getting  a professional look on my leotards.
I had been using a variety of lycras (nylon lycra, milliskin, cotton lycra), meshes and lace and different pattern styles. Besides using patterns made by Suzanne Dieckman (SD square neck #6000 and sweetheart neck leotards #6006), Claudia Folts (CF camisole leotard and CF unitard) and Kwik Sew (biketard) I have been making my own minor changes to them.

I have been very happy with how Suzannes' leotards have turned out. While they are not the simplest ones for a novice to start with due to the many pieces, the pattern works very well. The dancer's I've made the leotards for have commented that they especially like that they do not bunch or ride up in the back.

SD # 6000, nylon lycra, front lined with light weight nylon powernet

I experimented with leaving the leotard unlined, adding a bandeau lining, a lining using the same fabric, and two different types of lycra lining. I also tried leaving the mesh unfinished and finished using a bias cut facing.

SD #6006, milliskin & mesh, unlined

finished leotard, unfinished mesh

leotard with the mesh finished

back view of SD #6006

I probably should have made the CF camisole leotard as the pattern showed first before deciding to change things. I found making the straps tricky as the arm holes seemed to come out very small and making the straps lie flat and neatly stitched did not work well for me. It probably is just a matter of grading the seams more, and practice.

Claudia Folts camisole front
bandeau lining

CF camisole back

The CF unitard went together like a dream. Maybe it was the amount of practice I had already had, maybe just a different pattern or fabric but I did not have as many issues with it.
I used cotton lycra for this unitard and washed all the fabric to prevent it shrinking. This unitard is also fully lined in the front.

CF unitard in cotton lycra, adult petite/sm

Back view CF unitard

Next I used a Kwik Sew biketard pattern but changed the neckline for this as it was to be used for worship dance. I also added the long sleeves from CF pattern as the Kwik Sew pattern was sleevless.
I was very happy how this turned out. I did not like the instructions on how to finish the elastic though as it lead to a gap at the shoulder. It is a good idea to sew the seams and add the elastic as one piece. The biketard was made of a white cotton lycra and I lined the whole leotard to make sure that it would not "show through".

Kwik Sew 2722 front view

Kwik sew 2722 biketard back view

All the patterns have good sizing, i.e. they do not run small or large but as indicated on the pattern. All have good instructions. I have decided that lining at least the front with a nylon tricot or light weight powernet for extra support works well (better than self fabric). It works best to line each piece individually, trim away as much fabric from the seams as possible and then sew together.
I think that I am now ready to start trying to change necklines, sleeves and accents.
I'll keep you posted!

Went to Tutuschool NY and made.. a ballet tunic and dance boots?!

It is hard to believe but summer is officially over. Where did it go? One minute it was May, school was letting out and then boom it was September.
Last year I went to Tutu.com's tutu school for the first time and although it was intense I learned so much that I had to go again.
This year I was able to go to NY city. Although it is called tutu school, I still did not take a tutu making class (I have made lots of tutus but learned from Claudia Folt's book not by taking her class) but I did learn how to make a handsome tailored coat or dance tunic and matching dance boots.
The classes were taught by Jeremy Bernardoni and Claudia Folts of Tutu.com at the Gelsey Kirkland academy of Ballet in NY city.

Jason Hadley

Part of the trip was a fabulous tour of the NY city ballet's costume shop, http://www.nycballet.com/Explore/The-Costumes.aspx where we saw many of their famous costumes. They were very generous both with their time and sharing of information but we were asked not to share photographs on Facebook or blogs. The photo posted here is from a NY times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/03/arts/dance/03cost.html?_r=0) so i figured that was okay.
After our visit at the costume shop, we went shopping in the Garment District. Still a great place to find just about anything but sadly it is under a lot of pressure from online retailers, and the high costs of running a business in the city. Iconic stores such as Tinsel trading, Gem Fabrics and other stores are or have closed their doors because their buildings were sold or they could not longer compete. Some, like Tinsel trading will be operating online and possibly have a small storefront in the future.
I found some gorgeous silk brocades, silk velvet in a rich burgundy, soft green silk chiffon, shot silk organza and a black and silver beaded lace along with vintage ribbons, colored horsehair for hats, stretch fabrics and trims for the coat I was going to make and other future projects.
Another perk of tutu school New York was that  we were given a tour of Gelsey Kirkland's costume shop and wardrobe. Jennifer, their highly talented and overall lovely person, kindly showed us around her work space and some of the new and vintage costumes she takes care of. Gelsey Kirkland ballet was fortunate to have been able to purchase costumes from the now defunct New York City Opera. Each costume is a work of art in itself and it was inspiring to be able to see them "up-close and personal". Jennifer transformed  costumes from Faust into fabulous Carabosse  (including black wings) and her minions costumes.

Now to the actual projects I worked on. I felt a little out of my depth as my classmates were all highly talented, "professional" costumers and I am a professional amateur.  The atmosphere in class was very supportive and stimulating since everyone was willing to help or share their expertise.
I had chosen to make  Jeremy Bernardoni's Nutcracker cavalier coat. Tutu.com supplied a wonderful dark navy cotton stretch fabric and powernet for the lining. I had made the choice to add the sleeves to an undervest although the design had inset sleeves. Traditionally the sleeves on men's dance tunics are put onto a vest to give the dancer a greater range of motion. Jeremy, who studied tailoring in Paris and was also a dancer himself, had come up with a very clever design which allowed for an inset sleeve that still provided enough movement.

Powernet under vest with fabric sleeves

 The lines of the coat are like a military dress uniform tunic, with a high collar and tails at the back.

Front of the un-decorated coat

back of the un-decorated coat

Undecorated the coat looks good but a real military dress coat and especially a costume needs some serious embellishments. Claudia Folts taught the embellishment class, which included a very thoughtful discussion about lines, taste, color and what I can best describe as the goal or role of the costume. What do you want people to say about your costume when they see it?
With that in mind, we set to work looking at trims, sketching and coloring an illustration and then off course adding some trim.
It was the end of day three of my intensive and I must confess to having been very tired. I picked out a few things but was not able to sew anything onto the coat.

Epaulettes for cavalier coat

Once home again, I finished the coat by adding the hooks and bars and then began the process of embellishing the coat. Traditionally the Cavalier's costume is based on a Hussar's uniform. These feature elaborate loops, cording and soutache tape works, but no (fringed) epaullettes. I liked the look of the gold fringe with a gold and navy braid so I added it. The coat will not be totally "authentic" but it is a costume so I think it will be okay.
At this time I have made a start on the embellishment but it will take a while for me to decided exactly what I'd like the coat to look like. I made the epaulettes and finished the neck but am still working on the back, sleeves and front. I will add photos once I am done.

Nutcracker coat with epaulettes

Since my last post I have been slowly working on my Nutcracker coat. I finally finished the back of the coat with scrolls and trim.

back view of Nutcracker coat

For inspiration, I looked at historical officers' dress uniforms and discovered that  I had made a "mistake". Most Nutcracker coats are based in a Hussar uniform but these uniforms do not have fringed epaulettes. My coat does.  I finally found some examples of uniforms (not naval uniforms which often do have fringed epaulettes) that I could use as inspiration and set to work designing the cuffs and front. These uniforms have elaborate scrolls and knots made out of soutache tape, braid or cord.
I finally found a "pattern" from a historical book which I could draw out and then use as a template to make my design.

Nutcracker coat cuff design

I recently finished making two cuff appliques and have attached them to the coat. I like the way it looks and based on my research it is fairly authentic. I made the cuff decorations as an all in one appliques so that it can be removed when the coat is laundered. The coat is made of a wonderful stretch cotton, so it is washable (!), comfortable, breathable and due to the stretch fits perfectly.

Nutcracker coat with cuff appliques.

After this I will approach the front of the coat, and of course keep you posted.

Stretching a bit: learning how to make custom leotards, unitards and things with stretch fabrics

I took the plunge, I am stretching to new ground. Like many people who sew and costumers initially we shy away from stretch fabrics. They look great but require a different type of sewing and the fabrics behave differently than other types of fabric: they stretch.
I had made a few things with stretch fabrics before and it had not been a success. This was mostly because I used the wrong needles, did not play with the stitch length and tension and hadn't done my home work.
There are some basic things you need to know about working with stretch fabrics:
1) use the right needles on your sewing machine. Use at least a ball point needle but ideally a stretch needle.
2) play around with some scraps to set the stitch length and thread tension correctly.
3) when laying out your fabric do a single layer lay-out, making sure you flip the pattern pieces to get mirror images.

Single layer fabric layout

4) use really sharp scissors or a rotary cutter to cut neatly. Lycras often do not ravel so if you cut neatly you will have nice finished edges.
5) use fine pins (I like to use the glass headed pins) and pin only in the seam allowances to avoid marking your fabric.
6) mark the fabric carefully with outward facing clips, a disappearing fabric marker or pattern tracing paper. It makes things so much easier to match up well and saves a lot of time.

Carefully marking where seams go saves time

7) use a walking foot or even feed foot to prevent "tunelling" when stitching down fabrics.
You can stitch stretch fabrics using a wide zigzag stitch and then straight stitch just inside along the seam allowance. There are several good tutorials on Youtube (here is one that is great for the "basics" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEOjwcI5M9U or this one from Jalie, less explanation but great if you are a visual learner http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTZReQxc9r8). I purchased a class from Craftsy:Sewing fashion Knits beyond the basics because it dealt with some more "advanced" techniques and I can watch it whenever I want and as many times as I want so I felt it was money well spent.

baste 1/4 seams

Seam allowances for leotards are narrow,  usually 1/4", so it is important to sew them carefully. You can serge the edges but it is a good idea to "baste" sew them first. Once the seams are sewn, you can serge them. Elastics can be sewn into the arm and legs.

Front view of the leotard

Use a zigzag stitch to sew the elastics in and then turn under. Using a dual needle you can stitch down the edges, to create a finished edge.

Back view of the leotard

After posting this I went back and found that a great web-site I had found that explained a lot about making leotards and also how to draw a sloper has been taken down. The web-site called : patternschool.com still comes up in searches, and many of the pictures of the basic leotard slopers appear on Pinterest but the actual site is no longer there. I hope that it will return but otherwise I may have to try to come up with something myself.

Wedding splendor

My brother was recently married to a lovely young lady. To celebrate this happy occasion I pulled out all the stops to create some lovely clothing for myself, my mother and my sister-in-law. My brother's fiance now wife loves the "Roaring Twenties", so I offered to make her a 1920's inspired veil out of silk and some vintage lace I had.
When it comes to historical clothing, I try to be as authentic as possible. There is a lot of "flapper style" and 1920's  style clothing out there that no self respecting women of the time would have worn to a party, let alone to her wedding.

not 1920's style

Dresses in the 1920's had dropped waists (i.e. were not body hugging or tight fitting) came at least to the knee, and did not feature midriff baring cut-outs, plunging necklines or no backs. They tended to be very "demure". Wedding veils were a a type of mob cap with flowers on both sides of the head or large cloche hats.

A bride in 192o's on her wedding day

Not everyone looks good with a lace cap and some big bunches of flowers over their ears (let's face it it is a "different" look). Since I had some authentic 1920's lace I was able to simulate something that was closer to the period. My sister-in-law loves lotus flowers so I made one large lotus flower out of silk organza, with Swarovski crystals and pearls for the centers. I also added some authentic 1920's style ribbon work flowers in pale blue and ivory. The lace was no longer white but a lovely creamy ivory and I made a silk covered head band as the base. My sister-in-law did not want a long veil.

laces loosely pinned to head form

Not long ago I purchased an e-book from Prudence millinery  explaining how to make couture fabric flowers and headbands, and I used these instructions to construct the veil's base. 

Front view of completed veil

Side view of completed veil

 

 

 

 

After making the veil I made myself a dress and made matching hats for myself and my mother. My dress was made of a very pretty polyester chiffon and my mother's dress was a grey Duponi silk.

Beginnings of dress and hats

My hat was a large flower, while the two hats I made for my mother were a similar flower in grey and black silk and a large horse hair bow with netting on a silk base.

Black and grey Duponi silk hat

Chiffon and silk cocktail hat with veiling

Horsehair, black silk and Russian veiling hat

The wedding was lovely: my sister-in-law looked very beautiful and my brother was radiantly happy.

Swans and flowers and tutus oh my

 I haven't posted for a while due to the large amount of work I have had on recently.
After finishing the Civil war ball gowns I had to hustle to full fill an order for Swan lake bodice overlays and plates for a customer, make a dress, veil and hats for my brother's wedding, sew 20+ costumes for a local dance recital, work on a gold metallic tutu for a customer and work on an enormous number of alterations.
First things first. A customer contacted me about Swan lake tutu decorations. I began by drawing a number of sketches for the customer so that she could choose what she liked and could afford.

Sketches of bodice overlays.

After that I ordered the rhinestones (Rhinestone guy's premium hot-fix crystals which are awesome), selected trims, cut the bodice overlay shapes, cut out 164 fabric "feathers" and the wing shapes.

fabric "feathers" for San lake plates

To make the bodice overlays, I pinned then sewed a false nude panel and silver rim onto netting, then glued hackle feathers and applied hot-fix rhinestones.

Swan lake bodice decoration overlays

To make the swan wing shaped decorations, I pinned and appliqued the feathers to heavy duty interfacing shapes, sewed this onto netting plates and applied the hot-fix crystals.

One swan lake tutu plate.

The basic technique and patterns for these tutu decorations are described in Claudia Folts book: "Finishing touches".
Next I worked on several items including a 1920's inspired wedding veil for my brother's wedding. I will write a separate post on that.
Next I worked on a large project of 20+ costumes for a dance recital. The theme of the performance was the parable of the sower and the seeds. The smallest children in the recital were to represent seeds being planted in the earth and then sprouting into beautiful flowers. My idea for the costumes were earth toned t-shirt, tights and tutus with petals that would drop down to "reveal" tulips, roses, sunflowers, daisies, clover and morning glories. The middle group of students were to be dancing princesses and the oldest dancers were to represent a gardener tending flowers (hyacinth and lavender).

fabric petals for 9 children's sprouting flower costumes

For the little children's costumes I ruffled large amounts of earth toned tulle, which I sewed to elastic waists, over which two rows of brown and colored petals were stitched. Ribbon loops were attached to the brown side of the petals, and when they were tied up with ribbon, the children looked like little brown seeds. Once the ribbons were untied, the petals dropped down to reveal their "true" colors.
For each of the dancing princesses I made flowered circlets with hand-made ribbon flowers on them, and tulle and ribbon streamers (the technique for this is also described in Claudia Folts' book, "Finishing touches").

Flowered "princess" headpiece with ribbon work flowers

For the dresses I drew out a new pattern combining elements from an old "Gunny Sachs" and "Daisy Kingdom" pattern. The dresses were made of pink, lavender and cornflower blue crepe with wide chiffon "princess" sleeves.

The beginnings of six "princess" dresses

Finished princess dress with headpiece

Lavender dress

Cornflower blue

For the oldest group of dancers, I made two Romantic length "petaled" tutus, with green tights, and top and for the gardener a yellow cotton and chiffon dress. The dancers representing the flowers had green velvet and ribbon work headbands, while the gardener wore a purchased straw hat. To reduce the fullness of the petaled tutus, I quilted the tulle along the hip line.

"Hyacinth" petaled tutu

"Lavender" petaled tutu

Green velvet and "lavender" ribbon work flowers

Finally I received an order for a custom made, gold metallic tutu. I loosely based the coloring and design on the Gold Fairy tutu I had made for a performance of Sleeping Beauty.  Key difference were that this tutu did not have as many layers of double hand pleating in it (three layers instead of 6), used some gold metallic mesh, a different type of enhanced sparkle net (purchased from Tutu.com) and a black basque instead of a gold basque. 

Gold mesh and gold enhanced sparkle nets

Original design + notes for the "Gold" fairy from Sleeping beauty

As for the original tutu, I did dye some of the tutu net and the pants a rich gold. I also, spray painted plastic tacks with gold metallic paint to hide them during tacking.

Bottom of tutu with hand-pleated god mesh and dyed to match panties.

The finished tutu looks very even and will be going out to the customer in the next day or two.

 

Completed gold tutu with black powernet basque

My plans for this summer are to work on custom leotards (I will post about this soon as I have started on the first 4 samples), go to Tutu.com's tutu school again (this time to learn men's costuming) and finally work on building some rental costumes for the fall.