Naked Influence

New costumes from old!

dawnee — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:18:24 +0000

Start with the usual suspects–an ugly beaded sweater vest, an old prom dress, a red velveteen jacket, trim and fabric.

Spend 4 hours beading Queen’s dress and 6 hours constructing King’s tunic, then show to happy kids! These are for our middle school production of Once Upon a Mattress–hence the mouse and hawk theme for the cursed King.

Now, only 68 more kids to costume!!

What I did instead of what I should….

dawnee — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:52:56 +0000

Or, how to avoid tears in the morning of the kid.

So, last night my 5th grader tells me that she needs to construct a box to hold her valentines. No problem. It also must have a theme. What? Okay. We pull out a shoebox and paper and stickers. I suggest ‘Around the World’, because we have some free stickers with state names. She has some musical stickers, so the box is dubbed ‘Around the U.S.A. with Music’. We decorate, make a lid, she says (distinctly, I might add) that she loves the box. We go to bed.

This morning over breakfast, it is revealed that she is not too happy about the box. We have 45 minutes to come up with a solution to avoid unhappiness and stomach aches. So we google. Most boxes are construction papery and valentine colors. This will not do. We see a cupcake card. I say, “Hey, I have ice cream buckets.” And we have our unique solution. Hers is turquoise. I did not get a photo before we dashed to school. I came home, and instead of sewing costumes or cleaning, I spent some time doing one for myself. I like it.

Start with….

Gather, hot glue and squish like mad….base

top…

cherry…Finito!

A refashion fashion show!

dawnee — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:07:14 +0000

Our opera house holds a fundraiser (2nd year) for renovations. It is called Project Runway Repurposed. The designers are able to choose from donated clothing and fabric and then make new garments to be worn in a fashion show that are then auctioned off.

I started with:

this pink sweater, floral shower curtain and a tweed jacket. I also had a lime green fabric remnant, with a large tulip print and a green wraparound sweater.

When I saw them, I thought ‘Mad Men’, so I decided to make a lady’s wiggle dress, and a girl’s dress. I decided to use the sweater to make little shrugs or jackets.

I really liked the neckline of the middle dress here…but wanted a bit of flair, so I added:

the kickpleat.

For the girl’s dress, I used this pattern, which apparently used to belong to Roseann:

Here are my daughters modeling the outfits…

My youngest (10yo) submitted two fairy costume designs in the Beginner category. I will post pics of that soon.

No excuses!!!

dawnee — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:55:54 +0000

I have been spending time looking at so many inspiring blogs and thinking ‘Hey, I need to post this or that to my blog”. I even signed up for the fabulous Wardrobe Refashion, so that I would be prompted to post my goings-on…

I , Dawn, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of “new” manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 4 months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed, Dawn.

I do have so many projects in the air right now…a Project Runway Refashioned show at the end of the month and both Once Upon a Mattress and Music Man shows this spring! Lots of fun (and stress)!

Parting photos:

Inspiration for Marion the Librarian

And the dress Laurey wears in the “Dream Ballet” in Oklahoma!

Hope to keep a resolution to post more!

Hmm…

dawnee — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:28:07 +0000

I am in the middle of organizing the basement (aka the hole under our house). I have finally gone through costumes from the past, and boxed and labeled them, so that hopefully I won’t have to dig through boxes to find something.

This if from a middle school production of 42nd Street. The actress and I loved this dress–after it was used for some time, I gave it to her!

Right now, I am gearing up for the following events for fall: Oklahoma!, our annual Madrigal Dinner at the middle school, and Schoolhouse Rock Live!

And, because I love the insanity, for spring: Music Man and Once Upon a Mattress.

Here are some inspiration photos that I have been collecting:I like the detail on the green suit…hope to modify for Oklahoma!

Also liking this one for Eulalie…

Well, back to the sorting!

Oh my stars!

dawnee — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:36:24 +0000

I am swamped…and actually liking it! I have a driveway full of mulch that needs a home by Friday; I have one more dress to sew for a local designer (more on that later); I have meetings for various projects scheduled (like Music Man):

I love this striped dress–maybe for Eulalie Shinn?

In other news, my attempts at breaking into the costume/wardrobe world in our movie industry here is proving futile. Most likely, I will be attending an expo on Sunday, and maybe I can make some contacts there!

Lazy days

dawnee — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:00:11 +0000

Enjoying the lazy days of summer…it seems to be going more slowly than normal, which I like. My eldest daughter sang with her previous choir teacher at Balloonfest today.

I made many of these costumes for our Annual Madrigal Dinner. This year, we are putting on Once Upon a Mattress, and I am super excited. I am inspired by the TV movie and Carol Burnett’s Queen….so you will see that in my costume versions.

I will be starting on this crown before the end of July! I love it!

Look what the cat dragged out of the bag…

dawnee — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:51:10 +0000

In addition to messing up well-known sayings, I have been going through my pattern stash (while watching Outlander; not as bad as one might think!). Anyway, I love my patterns! I often use them to inspire me.

I pulled out the following, to comment on the paper bag effect from the 60s–a stylish way to keep the neck warm?
Simplicity 5765

and Butterick 3302

So I giggle…but then I see this:

Is the paper bag effect making a comeback? Should it?

In, Like, FOREVER!!

dawnee — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:20:36 +0000

It has been ages…..to celebrate, I am posting a favorite pic! I came across this picture while searching for some inspiration for a ‘formal’ to make for a friend’s daughter for a production of Grease. I will have to post pics of that. I really have been quite busy with costuming and sewing, but real work gets in the way of updates.

I have so many goals for the summer: an Etsy shop, an online gallery for costuming (we have some film opportunities here in MI) and updating here. Oh, and to find a job again because I was laid off. Good while it lasted!

Time

dawnee — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:23:17 +0000

Well, I have completely overbooked myself, per usual. I am madly dashing about finishing up Madrigal dinner costumes, trying to wrap my head around set dress for “It’s a Wonderful Life-The Musical”, working a new job giving presentations about cyber safety to K-8th graders, oh and the ordinary laundry/dishes/childcare thing.

I interviewed for a part-time Language Arts position one town over, and I am their top candidate!!! This makes me so happy; I have waited for a contracted teaching position for so long.

Project on the mannequin:

I found a great (but really expensive) ‘velvet’ with gold cording pattern at JoAnn’s. I coupled this with a deep gold velvet curtain panel from Salvation Army ($1.50!) and some creamy gold chiffon. Pics when finished for a lucky 8th grade girl!