The Singing Costumer

In 2010, our King of Medieval Fair informed the cast he was no longer able to participate as he was moving to New Mexico. So, the next fall when auditions came up and rehearsals started, I met our new King. And with this new King came a new time period which was roughly 250 years later. We were now the court of King Edward III. I was now Princess Mary Plantagenet. A princess can NOT be so out of fashion, so clearly a new dress had to be made. A home décor fabric, oddly enough, was my fabric of choice. No Sound of Music or Gone With The Wind curtain dress jokes please.  But yes, more then likely, someone somewhere has a couch covered in my fabric. It was the color I wanted, with some embroidery on it. The fabric softened after many cycles in both the washer and the dryer. The top-most layer was planned and the pattern pieces cut out. However, I couldn't decide what color to make the underdress or the kirtle. Our fair's esteemed leader, Ann Marie, graciously gave me a len

Minnie Mouse was not on my list of costumes to make. But I was asked to appear at a Minnie Mouse-themed birthday party with only 1 week notice, so I had to hustle! I didn't have ANY ideas, so I searched pictures for inspiration. I sent one to the birthday girl's mom, and she approved. So, now to get to work!!! Minnie has several signature elements to her look. 1. Full-skirted red dress with white polka dots. 2. A matching hairbow 3. White gloves 3. Yellow pumps For item 1: I took Simplicity 8523 for the blouse and made a few modifications. I first added the same fish-eye darts I used last time I made this pattern. I took the red polka dot fabric and a plain white cotton for a underlining and sewed them as one. I added width to the sleeve to make them quite full. Lastly, I added some lace trim to the sleeves and the neckline. The dress is in two pieces. I chose a simple circle skirt for maximum fullness. It is trimmed with lace matching the blouse. My skirt

Picture, if you will, this scene; It is October 2014. A young woman has just started a new job. She has learned that she can wear a costume to work on Halloween. Naturally, she must take advantage of this, and so she starts to think of ideas.  This dusty purple fabric for the skirt was my inspiration for Briar Rose.I don't remember where I got it, nor do I know the fiber content. It's a thicker material, plain woven, but it has some polyester in it, because it kinda melts under a hot iron. I simply made a few little pleats on the front, back, and sides to fit to the waistband. The blouse was a white button-up I bought at a thrift store that I didn't wear anymore. I took off the collar and dyed the shirt gray, then reattached the collar. The sleeves were already that elbow length, full gathered shape.  I draped the corset top on my mannequin. The fashion layer is wool blend I bought at either Joann Fabrics or Hancock Fabrics. The lining is a quilting