It is not a dream: How to clean (ballet) costumes

 There was a time when people were afraid to wash: themselves, their homes, their clothing. As a result people well, ...stank. At some point in time we discovered that by washing our bodies, our clothing and our homes we not only smelt better, we prevented disease and clothing lasted longer.
In the ballet world there was (and sad to say still is) a superstition or false belief among some that washing is bad for costumes.
Incorrect cleaning could potentially damage a costume but not cleaning, well it is simply disgusting as dancers sweat, a lot. If an item of clothing is simply hung back into storage after wearing, it can accumulate mold and bacterial growth, besides the worst b.o. imaginable.
Can and should you clean costumes?
The simple answer is yes; the more complicated answer follows.
Besides general hygiene, cleaning a costume before it is returned to storage greatly increases the life expectancy of the costumes. Sweat, oils from the skin and other bodily secretions rot fabrics, especially natural fabrics (silk, rayon, cotton). Synthetics such as polyester, nylon and acetate will also deteriorate over time when not cleaned. This is more due to the bacteria and molds that grow and feed on the sweat and skin cells than the bodily fluids themselves.
A ballet tutu is largely made up of nylon net and the pants are either nylon/spandex or cotton bobbin-net. The basque (part at the waist) can be made from silk, cotton, cotton/rayon or nylon; again all washable. Bodices can be made of a wide range of fabrics, most of which can be washed but here it can get tricky. If the fabrics were not washed before being made into the bodice they could potentially run or shrink. Often spot cleaning or dry-cleaning can be used.
To clean a ballet costume first find out what it is made of. Next if possible remove any decorations. Often decorations are applied to a plate or overlay that is tacked to the tutu and the bodice.  Only Swarovski hot-fix crystals have a patented glue that is dry-cleanable.
For the tutu, soaping and then thoroughly rinsing the crotches with warm water is usually sufficient. A mild soap such as Orvus (OrvusWA paste, purchased at the tractor supply store) or hand soap such as Ivory works well. If needed (for blood, urine or other stains) you can make a paste or soak the crotch in a product such as Biz or Oxyclean. Rarely do you need to wash the whole tutu. If you do, soak in the bath tub or a small kiddy pool. Use a minimum of soap because the tutu net works as a huge bath scrubby and produces a lot of bubbles.
Always air dry costumes and if possible expose the items to sunlight for several hours. Just sunlight will kill both bacteria and mold if given enough time. The only down side of this is that (high doses of) U.V. light will over time break down synthetic fibers such as nylon, acetate and polyester.
For spot cleaning again Orvus or Quick and Brite work well. Quick and Brite is very good for wiping lipstick and other make-up stains off of tights and leotards.
For silk, adding a table spoon or two of distilled, white vinegar to the rinse water also helps to clean them.

Blue silk and lace peignoir from the 1930's, with original vintage buttons

I recently was given a large number of vintage items. All had been stored in a box in a basement and they smelled of mildew. I carefully hand washed every single item using Orvus soap, luke-warm or cold water and air + sun drying. Not only are they clean and no longer smell, their colors are brighter, the fabric is crisper and they will last for many more years.

A 1970's pants suit made of Indonesian Batik

Edwardian (1900's) black silk tulle with tambour style lace embroidery.

Cleaning ones costumes and Vintage items is simply protecting an investment of time and money.

What else is new?

I haven't posted for a while but I have been sewing a few things. I have been fortunate to have had a lot of (local) business lately both alterations and custom work.

African batik fabric, cut to be sewn into skirt

The custom work has been fun because I got to work with some gorgeous African Batiks. I made two skirts. One (which I did not photograph, sorry) required a careful matching of the intricate pattern. It turned out very well and was definetly not an "off the rack" item. The other skirt needed the "right" pattern to display the beautiful colors and unique patterns of the fabric. Together the cutomer and I choose a tiered skirt with a yoke waist and ruffled lower edge.  The skirt was more than a full circle which allowed us to show off the fabric's beauty but did not make a skirt that was so large to overwhelm the petite wearer.

Finished skirt

Today, I was able to hand over the skirt to the customer and not only did it fit perfectly, it looked stunning, so I was very happy with the result.
My next major project will be to start building tutus for my (rental) business. I have three dancer's who have volunteered to be models. Yesterday and today I drew new basque patterns using the techniques I learned at tutu school and I made some adjustments to the panty patterns I had made to get a better fit. I'll keep you posted about this process as I go along.

It's beginning to look a lot like....

I have been promising my dear husband (dh) a new pair of pants for, months. Either I have been too busy, too tired or just too unmotivated to get on with it.
Let me say, making a pair of well fitting, men's pants is hard! No wonder tailors used to have apprentices work for them for years. At a tailor's there are many specialized jobs: a cutter, a draper, a shirt maker even a button hole maker.
In this project I reverse engineered a pattern from my husband favorite pants, then set about making new pants from a quality linen.
One of the things that is difficult (and different on dress pants) to draft is the pockets. Jeans have patch pockets in the back and an appliqued pocket on the front. Both types of pockets were discussed in the online class that I took.
I started by thread basting all the seam lines and the lengthwise and cross wise grains. After that everything was transferred to a piece of organza; then I made a paper pattern and then I cut out a muslin.

Original pants thread basted

I fitted these on dh and found that I needed to give him some more sitting room, and straighten the side seam. After making these changes to the pattern I  ran into a major hurdle: the pockets.
Dress pants have inset pockets, front pleats and back pockets with welts. It is very difficult to draft a good pocket pattern from the actual pants. Also, these were Australian pants, and they have some interesting (and highly desirable) features, including a change pocket hidden under the waist band.
After trying several things, becoming terribly frustrated because they just were not right, I broke down and bought a men's Vogue pattern. It had the inset pockets, the welt pockets and most importantly the instructions! Reading those was such an "aha, erlebness". Nothing is hard once you can "see" the solution. After that I sewed those pants up in no time flat (less than hour).

the pants! are ready to try on

Voila! here they are. I tried them onto dh and  by golly they fit perfectly. Alas, once I put the waistband on they seemed a bit snug, so I had to let them out a bit. After finishing them, I pressed and hemmed them, hung them up and forgot about them. The next day, dh asked me: Well what do you think of my pants? I gave him a strange look because I did not realize these were the new ones?!
That means I must have done a good job right?

Illustrations: bringing ideas to life

I have not posted for a while simple due to life. The school year started again, I had several projects to work on for customers (Hurrah!) and I am still slogging away at dH linen pants.
One of my customers brought back some fabulous Batiks from Africa and it has been a lot of fun working with her to create some outfits.
I will post some updates photos of that soon. I also signed up for two online Craftsy classes: Shoot-it: on how to take better photo's, much needed here and The couture dress.Although I have not been able to do much with either class, I have had fun looking for and then buying the fabric for the dress, a lovely soft green Duponi silk:

Another positive step forward though is that I have started to take some drawing classes so that I can put some of my ideas for costumes on paper. Today we learned more about different types of lines. It may look very simple to try to draw a line on paper, but it isn't. After practicing straight, curved and wavy lines, we worked on creating Laura Birch inspired drawings of cat's

This is not my drawing but my sketch looks a lot like this.
My next plan is to start working on some costume designs for tutus I would like to build to offer as rental. My ultimate goal is to someday be able to make sketches and illustrations like this Leon Baskt illustration:

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.