The Singing Costumer

This was supposed to be my Christmas 2021 dress. However, I had to toss it in the naughty projects pile for a bit. I wasted a lot of time fitting it to myself and I got annoyed with it after a while. Maybe there was a reason I chose red fabric instead of green. A red dress works just as well for Valentine’s as it does for Christmas. I don’t see a reason to force myself to continue when there was no real need. The need to push myself to finish my projects and the need to be kind to myself is difficult to balance, but not impossible. My pile of unfinished projects is diminishing over time. And I love that for me.  This pattern, Vogue 2903, is at a medium difficulty level. There are a couple spots I couldn’t quite get right. The princess seams going into the armscye were especially fiddly to get smooth. But I think I was mostly successful. This dress has a nice, full skirt. I did a lot of preparatory work which I normally don’t. I serged around each pattern piece separately. I hand dr...

     Let’s go back to the Before Times. Summer 2019, I saw that anyone could send in an audition to sing at the State Fair of Oklahoma. No pay, sadly, but I thought it could be good practice for me. I sent in a clip of my singing, and they asked me to sing. It was very exciting. I used a costume I had worn before and had a great time at the fair. Then a few months later, March 2020 happened. Ugh. Obviously, there was no state fair that year. But this year, they asked me to sing on the big grandstand! Naturally, I had to make a new costume. This ensemble is in 3 pieces; the dress, the over skirt , and the cummerbund .       I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on supplies and fabric, since I wasn’t being paid. Luckily, my local thrift stores provided some cool gold curtains and a tablecloth. The curtains are a very shiny, very light, smooth satin. And the table has a bit of a slub texture to it, and is a bit heavier. I think my total cost for this ...

I love all shades of purple. Lavender, violet, plum, true purple. I love them all. So my friend knew I would love a piece of purple silk from his mothers stash. I was so grateful and I knew I needed to make it into something special. This blouse was cut out in the last hours of 2020. It took quite a while to find a pattern that I could fit on the available fabric. Finally, I found Simplicity 1316. I cut out a size 14. I was worried that it would be too small, so I used a 3/8 inch seam allowance throughout instead of 5/8 inch. Well, that was a mistake. It turned out too big, so I had to redo each seam. That made this project take longer then it should have. But in the end, it turned out great. To finish it off, I bought a purple crystal floral button at Hobby Lobby. A bit of elastic and I had a perfect closure for the neckline. For this fancy vintage look, I paired the blouse with a skirt I made 2 years before. I think I made it for Christmas 2018. It was made from Simplicity 8250. It w...

This cape is wonderfully warm. But it is harder to keep your hands and lower arms warm. Coats are better for this purpose. I especially love the hood with attached long scarf. It adds the perfect amount of glamour to this otherwise quite utilitarian cape. I keep imagining myself as Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn or another star of that era. And then I laugh at myself and move along.  But also, I still want some black huge movie star sunglasses for when I need to hide away from the paparazzi. Someday, this will happen. For now, these white Target sunglasses I found on  clearance  for $3 will have to suffice. This fleece was from Joann's. For some reason, I thought I wanted a huge fleece blanket in a leopard print. Imagine that on a bed. Thankfully, I thought better of it, and the fleece just sat in my stash and marinated for a little bit. I don't remember if there was any particular inspiration for making this fleece into a cape. I believe I u...

For this cute blouse, I used Simplicity 8523. Only alteration I made was to add fish-eye darts to pull in the waistline. So much more flattering and added some curves to my not-so hourglass shape.  It made me look stumpy made as instructed.  Not a good look at all. So if you are short like me and not-so thin, that's what I would suggest. I like the gathers on the sleeves, but if I made another, I might reduce the volume so it's not so puffy. Other then adding the darts, I made it exactly as directed, and it wasn't difficult. I recommend this pattern. It's loose enough to slip over the head, but curvy enough to be flattering. This sweet kitty chiffon is from the Gertie line from Joann. Gertie is a sewing and fashion blogger with a fun, retro style I enjoy. You can find her blog at https://blog.bygertie.com/ This fabric is from several years ago, so sadly it is no longer available. But aren't these little cats just the cutest? This skirt is made...