Belles of the ball

Every year our local home school group has a civil war ball as an alternative to the standard prom. The kids love it because it removes a lot of the pressure to find a date, boys and girls dancing together etc. but they can have a great time getting all dressed up and just having fun.
What the dance does require is an authentic looking dress. This year I am making two to serve as rentals (for this but they could also be for the party scene in the Nutcracker) and my daughter needed a new bodice as she had grown. It is a good idea (and authentic) to make a bodice and a skirt rather than a dress. This allows alterations to be made more easily, and you can switch bodices for a fresh look.

My daughter in last year's  plum colored dress

I drafted new bodice patterns for all three girls and cut out toiles out of an old sheet, then went back made adjustments and cut out the lining fabric (a heavy 100% cotton twill).
My daughter's new bodice was inspired by Janet Arnold's "patterns of fashion" illustrations, Travis Halsey's "Regal" bodice and my own reworking. I changed the neck line and added sleeves.

My daughter's bodice in plum colored taffeta

The bodices for the other two dresses were a reworking of a Tutus that dance pattern (#2102) with a different neckline and sleeves. One will be in a pretty lilac taffeta, the other in a duck-egg blue.

Lilac plaid taffeta for dress 1

The lilac taffeta will have a draped front neck, as shown in the Janet Arnold illustration, while the blue dress is going to have ruffles, ribbons and flowers. These dresses will also have some lovely headpieces: one a simple hair band of ribbon rose, the other a lace and flowered "bonnet".

Beginning of the duck egg blue faux silk dress.

I worked on my daughter's bodice first as I had her to try things on. I have also been taking an online class called the "Couture dress" with Susan Khalje on Craftsy and learned some new basting and ironing techniques to get the underlining piece nice and flat.

One issue with taffeta (and other fabrics such as silk satin) is that you have to be very careful not to make mistakes, or when pinning, as it can mar the fabric. I made such a mistake on the purple bodice with the right panel so that it is is not 100% smooth. Also, to get the bottom cording into a nice sharp point, it is important to clip seams, carefully (hand) baste down seam allowance etc. so that everything will lie flat.
I spent what seemed like forever ironing the fabric, pinning, repinning etc. but the end result was well worth it. With taffeta's, satin's etc. it helps not to actually place the iron on the fabric but hold the steam iron above the fabric to "relax" it and then gently smooth and pull. Again a too hot iron can mar that type of fabric.

my daughter's purple taffeta bodice

My daughter's bodice looks good but the second bodice I made looked better.

Bodice 2 in duck egg blue

The sleeves on the duck-egg blue dress are lined and gathered. Once I've done another fitting I will begin to add lace, ruffles and other decorations to this bodice. The third bodice is a plaid taffeta and I tried hard to match the plaid but due to the shape and the bias cut panels it just was not possible to match everything perfectly.

Bodice 3 in lilac, plaid taffeta

This third bodice will had a pleated front as decoration. Both skirts will be cartridge pleated unto a basque style waist.
It is hard to photograph cartridge pleating. It is a technique which allows a large amount of fabric to be neatly gathered into a very small space.

Cartridge pleated skirt

"Bertha" and some ruffles for dress

The duck egg blue dress will have several layers of ruffles and a ruffles "bertha" in soft pink and gold lace.

completed duck egg blue bodice

Most of the pieces for the dresses are now assembled and once I have sewn them up I'll post some photographs.

Dress skirt ruffled and pinned.

The dresses will also have complimenting headpieces made with ribbon embroidery and I'll include a little write up of that. Enjoy!

Sending mom to the prom in style: mp dress part 3

 After my last post about the mom prom dress, I worked hard to get it ready. I sewed all the pieces together, added the sleeves, the hooks and eyes in the front and some hanger loops so that the bodice could be hung up easily.

front of bodice

back of bodice

I finished the skirt adding a stay tape to hold the pleats to the back of the skirt and also added hanger loops.

bodice and skirt front

back of bodice and skirt

The little hat also needed finishing. I had covered the buckram frame with a layer of cotton flannel so that any fashion fabric added could be pulled smooth.

Crown tip and brim covered with flannel "mull"

Initially I had wanted to make swirls on the top and side but after trying several things I ditched that as it was too much on such a small hat. In the end I opted for covering the tip with purple taffeta, black satin and using some patterned black satin bias binding to finish the edges.

Flannel covered crown tip and sating covered brim

After sewing the crown to the brim, I added a band of ruffled black lace (the same lace I used on the front of the bodice), a lace bow and decoration of feathers on the side of the hat.
Finally, I attached a band of horsehair so that Heather could pin the hat on and a ribbon to tie as well.

Mini top hat

Two days ago I was able to do the final fitting for Heather's dress. When everyone saw her in the dress there was a hushed, WOW from everyone. She really looked wonderful and elegant.

The bodice needed one or two final little tweeks and we agreed that it needed a touch of sparkle. The front hook and eye closures did not gape but the edge was noticeable. I think that if I were to make something like this again I would do it differently because such front closures are not as attractive as back closures. I added a strip of black lace along the neck line  and then hand beaded it with some beads and sequins.

I took several photos of Heather in the dress with her camera and with mine. When I returned home I found that my camera was broken ?! and the pictures I took with Heather's camera were not very good. I think it is time I take that photography class!!!

Just so that you have a vague idea what the dress looked like I am posting three photos and will replace these ASAP.

Back of dress

side view

Heather in her mom-prom dress with mini top hat

M.P. dress takes shape (part 2)

Since my last post, the mom prom (MP) has started to take shape. After our first fitting Heather and I ditched the draped bodice opting instead for a simpler bodice.
I then began to cut out the skirt and bodice. The two iconic Worth dresses that formed some of the inspiration for what I was going to make reminded me of something very important: making sure the pattern matched.

Worth flocked taffeta dress

Worth evening gown

Worth was a master of creating beautiful lines, that were pleasing to look at and flattered the wearer. He also had the advantage that the fabrics for his dresses were specifically made with the dress design in mind.
The flocked taffeta I was working with not only had a pattern, the pattern had a repeat. It was very important to make sure that the pieces matched or it would be ugly.
I started working on the skirt because it was "easier". It took some time but I was able to cut and then sew the skirt so that the pattern matched very well. The skirt could have had a train but it was left off so that is would be easy to dance in. The skirt was cut as a walking length skirt with the bottom edge faced in a black satin.

Back of the skirt with pleats

Next step was to work on the bodice. I started by cutting out the lining, applying bone casings and then flat-lining the fashion fabric to the back piece. Every time I cut a piece I would line it up and sew it before cutting the next to be sure that it all matched. The result was worth the effort.

back of the bodice with fabric carefully matched

Bodice front (inside part facing), quilted for strength.

I then cut and worked on quilting the two front pieces as I had learned in the couture bodice class I took at Tutu.com's school. Normally this is done on the back pieces of a (high end) ballet bodice where the hooks and bars go because these pieces have a lot of stress on them. This bodice does up the front instead of the back, so I felt it was important to  treat these pieces this was.  Tomorrow I will continue to work on the front of the bodice and hopefully finish it. I made the sleeves out of a plain black satin and laid out how I want to cut the front of the bodice. Again I am going to apply a technique I learned during Travis Halsey's class, called decorative fold backs (these techniques are detailed on a new DVD by Mr Halsey, available through Tutu.com)
One other thing I worked on was the little top hat. I began by making a wire and buckram hat shape.

wired buckram shape for hat

I then covered the crown and brim with black cotton flannel to create a smooth shape. I used some Fabritac glue to attach the flannel to the hat shape. Once it has dried I will cover the hat shape with black satin and add decorations in peacock feather colors (purple, dark green) and sew the brim and crown together.
More in my next post.

The "mom prom" dress

It is finally time to start on my friend Heather's "mom prom dress". Heather is our local MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) representative and she is going to their conference soon. New this year at the conference is the so-called "mom prom" with featured artist Plumb.

Since Heather helped me set up my blogs and has generally been a wonderful friend I want to make sure she goes in appropriate style.Together we came up with  a Worth inspired bodice and dress with a few "steam-punk" twits, including a miniature top hat and time permitting lace gloves.

I found a gorgeous black flocked taffeta,

black flocked taffeta

dug through my stash of fabrics for velvets, taffetas

deep plum taffeta

and laces to combine for the bodice.  I am going to use two patterns from Laughing moon Mercantile with some modifications: their five gored skirt and matching bodice pattern.

Today I did a first fitting and will begin constructing the skirt and bodice soon. We decided to make the sleeves out of a plain black satin, rather than the flocked taffeta and I am going to use some of the techniques I learned at  Tutu.om's tutu school to modify the front of the bodice. It will have some of the plum colored taffeta, some black velvet piping and a dark green flocked taffeta to create longer lines. The skirt will be made of the black flocked taffeta with a satin facing at the hem.
To finish off the ensemble, Heather will have a little top hat with peacock feathers and peacock colored accents (these colors and fabrics are mirrored in the bodice).
I need to get on to that now and will post photographs soon.

Tutu school = too terrific!

This year, thanks to my wonderful parents who gave me the classes and my family who took me there, I attended Tutu.com tutu school in Charlotte North Carolina.

It was an interesting educational experience, which despite being 5 days of grueling hard work was fun?! I am still trying to process the years of experience that is crammed into you in a very short time.
A good friend of my husband's, who had studied at both MIT and Stanford, was once asked "how much fun was that"? He answered, "well, if you think taking a sip from a fire hose is "fun" than yes it was". Tutu school is like taking a sip from a fire hose.

packed and ready to go 

Packing for tutu school

The first thing that needed to be done was pack up my sewing machines and other sewing paraphinelia into something that would fit into the back of our car. We managed to pack everything and set off before 8 a.m. for the long drive down to Charlotte.
The journey went very well and we arrived at 8p.m. at out hotel.
The next morning at 8 a.m.,  tutu school started in the hotel's conference room. My project was to make a Spanish skirt, while the other women were making mostly classical tutus, a few Romantic tutus, one ribbon candy tutu and two contemporary tutus.

I had previously taught myself how to make basques using the method described in Claudia Folts' book The Classical tutu, so I was told to sit in with the groups taught by Travis Halsey. He uses  a mathematical method to draft a basque and the resulting basque has hip seams as well as a back seam.
After cutting everything out, sewing and serging the skirt and ruffles, I needed to sew many yards of lace to the ruffle edges and then ruffle the layers. Next, the ruffled layers were sewn to the skirt.

Finally, the basque was attached to the top of the skirt and hook and closure were sewn to the edges.
The skirt turned out well for a first attempt and was finished in the two days set for it, working from 8-6 each day.

Sewing the third ruffled layer to the skirt

On the Tuesday I made a tutu bag for carrying tutus. I had wanted to spend some time studying the tutus that were in the room and photographing one or two but ended up not having time.

The tutu carry bag I made.

The last two days of tutu school were spent learning couture bodice techniques from Travis Halsey. I had brought some lace and trim  from home, some lovely fabric was in my kit and the school provided huge bags of fabric pieces to work with. One of the hardest part I felt was deciding what would look good together as there was so much to choose from. I found a small piece of gold duponi, some gold flowered brocade, a black mesh with red sparkly flowers and a black and red ribboned fabric.

bodice front

My assembly of the parts of my pattern was much simpler than some of the other students because I felt the bodice design did not need to be over embellished. The variety of couture techniques that I learned made the bodice easier to assemble while at the same time resulting in a superior result.

Beginnings of a lace applique for the front of the bodice

In the two days of the class, I finished the front and back, inserted the nude inset and piped the top edges. Since returning home I have piped the remaining edges and made an applique for the front. I also fit the bodice on E13 and will complete the bodice this week.
I would still like to add embellishments to the applique, make a matching headpiece and possibly add sleeves. I will post photographs once the project is completed.
We drove home, making the trip in one day which was good since we were all very tired.
I believe I would attend tutu school or some other intensive sewing course again if I had the opportunity since the wealth of knowledge that can be aquired in a very short time is vast.  The whole experience was intense and challenging and probably not something everyone would enjoy or could deal with. Going into the classes with the right attitude and expectations greatly helps.
To find out more about the training offered go to Tutu.com's seminars

Here are the Spanish skirt and bodice that I made at Tutu school:

Spanish skirt and couture bodice made at Tutu.com school

The Sleeping beauty awakes: creating a new ballet

Johann Studier and Beth Mochizuki rehearse the Rose Adagio

For the 2010-2011 season, Ithaca Ballet, was to stage a full length Sleeping Beauty for the first time (see this article).
Sleeping Beauty is one of the more popular and challenging ballets, with several acts.
Staging  a ballet of this size requires a huge amount of work by the choreographer, artistic director, set designers, costume designers, costumers, stage crew and dancers.
Scott Dolphin (www.scottdolphinstudio.com) took charge of the shows overall costume design because he had the most experience and expertise in this area. He contacted Cornell's theater department and arranged the rental of several gorgeous costumes for the King, Queen and courtiers.

Count and Countess costume

I together with my assistant Carrie set to work making a very large number of new tutus (24), refurbishing some of the existing tutus (4) and Carrie sewed prince Florimund's coat from a design Scott made.

Sleeping Beauty Act 1 Waltz costume

The wardrobe mistress began collecting existing costumes and sewing new costumes for the Act 1 Waltz and new bodices for the vision scene.

The ballet begins with a prologue in which there are several solos for Fairies who come to give gifts at the Christening of the Princess Aurora. For most of these we used existing costumes. For Crystal Fountain fairy we used the Dew Drop bodice and a Raymonda tutu. Fairy of the Enchanted garden was dressed in the Sugar Plum fairy costume and Fairy of the Woodland Glade wore the a Nutcracker Waltz of the Flowers demi-solists costume.

 Sleeping beauty: refurbished Golden Vine, Crystal Fountain fairy, Enchanted garden Fairy, Woodland glade Fairy

For the Fairy of the Golden Vine, we used the Nutcracker's Ballerina doll tutu which I refurbished

 Old Golden Vine tutu before refurbishment, it also doubles as Nutcracker's ballerina doll tutu

 by adding several additional layers of hand dyed tutu net. I also added a double hand pleated top layer of green embroidered mirror organza decorated with hand-made golden leaf and vine appliques. This top layer was tacked on as a plate so that it could later be removed when the tutu needed to be used for Nutcracker.
I later created a matching bodice in mustard yellow velvet with a jacquard inset, with hand-made gold leaf vine appliques, green mirror organza leaves and a headpiece with several appliques and leaves sewn to horsehair braid.

Sleeping beauty: refurbished Fairy Goldenvine tutu with new bodice

An evil Fairy, Carabosse, appears with her retinue and curses the baby princess. The good Lilac fairy appears (with her six attendants) and changes the spell.

 Carabosse's dress was a dress created by my mother and then altered for the dancer.

Carabosse, the evil fairy, Ithaca ballet Sleeping beauty

Scott created the design for Carabosses's new dress, and the costumes for her attendants.

Scott also created a new bodice and plate and refurbished the head piece for the Lilac Fairy while I made a new Lilac fairy tutu and six new tutus for the attendants.

four of the six Lilac Fairy attendants tutus ready for tacking

sewing layers of hand dyed tutu net to pants

The attendants wore bodices made for Raymonda. Scott hand dyed the pants and many of the layers of netting lilac for me and I mixed tulle in rose pink, lilac and periwinkle to create the right shading of the tutus.

Lilac fairy tutu with a lilac attendant bodice

The bodice and basque were made of a lilac velveteen, six of the nine layers of the tutu were double hand pleated and the top layer was triple hand pleated.

Ithaca ballet Sleeping beauty: Lilac fairy (design Scott Dolphin) and two attendants, tutus by Hilary Sharp

During act 1 of the ballet, it is the princess Aurora's sixteenth birthday. There is a large birthday party with her parents, friends, courtiers, towns people and several suitors in attendance. It is also the day that Carabosse's spell was said to come true. The local peasants dance a flower waltz; Aurora's friends dance and the four suitors dance the famous Rose Adagio with Aurora. It is called the Rose adagio because each suitor hands her a rose.

Beth Mochizuki as Aurora in act 1 of Sleeping beauty

For this act, Scott created a beautiful silk velvet bodice for Aurora, a plate and a headpiece. I created a pink tutu with several shades of pink netting and tulle and a top layer of pink sparkle netting.
At the end of Act 1, Aurora pricks her finger on a spindle and everyone falls asleep. The Lilac fairy and her attendants come to put everyone to sleep and a huge wall of thorns grows up.
One hundred years later, Prince Florimund is in the forest hunting with his retinue. The Lilac fairy appears to him and shows him a vision of a beautiful sleeping princess, with whom he dances.

Scott Dolphin still sewing on the day of the performance

Ithaca ballet sleeping beauty, tutus by Hilary Sharp, photo by Johann Studier,

For this scene my assistant Carrie and I created 12 Romantic length, Williamsburg blue tutus which were worn as over skirts over the old snow tutus. The wardrobe mistress created 12 bodices. On the day of the performance, we also made 12 small headpieces for the dancers by ironing Wonder-under (tm) onto some metallic flower fabric and sewing/gluing ribbon to this with silver fabrics flowers and Swarovski crystals on to them.
My assistant Carrie Lampman created prince Florimund's velvet hunting vest after a scetch and pattern made by Scott.

Brent Whitney as Prince Florimund, coat design Scott Dolphin, made by Carrie Lampman

 After Prince Florimund see the sleeping Aurora, he awakens her with a kiss.
The final act of the ballet is often called Aurora's wedding is is sometimes performed as a short ballet.
During the wedding scene, many story book characters come to visit including the White Cat and Puss in Boots, Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, along with Jewels (Diamond, Silver, Gold and Sapphire) and Princess Florine and her Bluebird.
For Act three,  I: 1) refurbished the Red Riding Hood tutu with a new top layer

 Red Riding hood before refurbishment

Refurbished Red Riding Hood tutu

2) made new tutus for three of the jewels: Diamond, Silver and Gold and refurbished the Sapphire with a new top layer. All the new tutus had 5 layers of double hand-pleated, hand dyed tutu net or a mixture of tulle. The Diamond tutu had layers of pale blue tulle added in and had a sparkle tulle top layer. The Silver tutu was graded shades of platinum, silver, and graphite glimmer tulle, hand-dyed deep pearl grey pants and lower layers of tutu net and had a double hand pleated top layer of black glimmer tulle and silver sparkle tulle. The Gold tutu was graded shades of antique gold, lemon yellow, and gold tulle, hand dyed layers of golden yellow tutu net and a double hand pleated top layer of gold sparkle netting. The top plate-like layer on the Sapphire tutu consisted of two layers of double hand-pleated  silver sparkle tulle, royal blue, Williamsburg blue and jewel blue tulle.

 Sleeping Beauty Act 3: New Diamond, Silver and Gold tutu and a refurbished Sapphire tutu, tutus by Hilary Sharp

3) Re-beaded the Blue bird's jacket and refurbished Princess Florine's bodice and tutu by rebeading the decorations and adding several layers of fresh tutu net and a double hand pleated plate style top-layer of Royal blue, Williamsburg blue and jewel toned tulle. The dancer added feathers, made a new feather headpiece and arm bands herself.

re-beaded Princess Florine bodice

refurbished Florine tutu

Sleeping beauty: Refurbished Blue bird and Princess Florine, Aurora's wedding Act 3

Scott made a new bodice and plate for the White Cat and we used our new Dew Drop tutu. Scott made Puss in Boots new breeches, I knitted the tail out of rust colored fun fur and Scott ordered all the masks. Finally Scot and I made new costumes for Prince Florimund and Aurora. Scott designed and created Prince Florimund's coat, Aurora's bodice and plate. I created the tutu. It was completed double hand pleated white tutu net, with pale pink tulle "sandwich" layers with an off white velvet basque and bodice. The lace on the bodice and the plate was a re-embroidered bridal lace with Swarovski crystals and pearls with additional hot-fix crystals added on.

Ithaca ballet sleeping beauty: Aurora Act 3 bodice
design by Scott Dolpin

sleeping beauty: Aurora act 3 (Aurora's wedding) tutu

The tiara was purchased.
The production as a whole was simply stunning and a testament to what a small (town) ballet company can achieve when it puts all its talented people to work together. Something of this size cannot be done by one or two people but has to be a true team effort, with everyone contributing.

Sleeping beauty: Beth Mochizuki as Aurora, Brent Whitney as Prince Florimund