Zede cautions, if you costume a show it will take over your life. You will likely eat, sleep, and breathe everything show related. How does Zede know this? Mallory and her are not just giving out random costuming advice, they are coming from a qualified place with many years of costuming experiences. Having COSTUM vanity plates counts for something too, right?

Sometimes a production will have a really unique costume or a character with a signature costume piece that you will have to create. Sometimes you will have to build the costume from the fabric up, other times this special costume will start from a ready to wear garment.

Mallory asks Zede about some of her more memorable ready to wear garments she altered or added to.

Zede thinks back to a blue metallic bridesmaid dress with black velvet trim. She had that dress in every show for about 3 years straight. That dress held a notoriety with students and was a performance tradition – people were excited to be the one to wear the dress. She remembers taking up the hem, taking down the hem, gathering the skirt all around, gathering the hem up one side, and adding this and adding that to the dress. It was a perfect costume.

How do you alter something so you can use the piece again?

Zede states, “don’t cut anything off! ” If the garment has an unwanted trim or embellishment cover it up, don’t cut it off. If the skirt or dress length is too long try shirring it up (think Belle from Beauty and the Beast) or hem it but never cut length off. The same applies to taking in seams, leave the extra seam fabric in the garment. No one will see it and it will be there for another use.

Another helpful tip is to sew, not glue. It may be tempting to quickly glue an embellishment or trim but glue only lasts so long and can discolor over time. Mallory says it’s ironic that the glue is more difficult to remove and the sewing is more durable. Zede suggests sewing with longer stitches for easier removal. Sewing with a different colored bobbin thread will also make removing stitches easier. Don’t pick a color that is glaringly different, just different enough to differentiate which thread is which.

A favorite Zede costume trick is to add a separate skirt underneath a dress  or use a dress as a blouse by putting another skirt over the bottom part of the dress. Many different looks can be created this way.

Dyeing

In the words of Zede, “dyeing is miraculous!” Dyeing fabric of course. Dyeing can be a great way to age things. Zede loves using coffee, tea and fire on garments. Dyeing is a permanent process but you can dye something again.

When looking to create uniformity on stage with color, Zede has dyed costumes with different texture and fabric content (but same overall starting color) in the same vat. Some garments will be darker or lighter depending on fiber content. Materials like cotton, wool, nylon, etc… will take the dye differently but the colors will all go together because the same dye was used on all.

Rit dye is a good choice because it is readily available at many stores and has a multitude of dye types in it. This type of dye can dye both natural and synthetic fibers. The saturations may be different but again the colors will work together.

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THIS PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

THE SELF SEWN WARDROBE PLANNER

The planner is available in a universal style as well as a monthly theme that follows along with The Self Sewn Wardrobe Group on Facebook. Both planners offer helpful guidance in planning out your next wardrobe make as well as thoughtful prompts to keep your makes relevant to your likes, style, and wardrobe needs.

Universal Planner

This planner is a guide to planning and finishing any wardrobe project.  You define the project, evaluate your current wardrobe, and follow our guide to form a plan of attack.  You ll be on your way to a Self Sewn Wardrobe in no time.

This 17-page planner can be customized and printed over and over again.  You may want to print some pages more than once, depending on your project, for example, you ll probably make more than one pair of underwear in a month, but most likely only one coat in that amount of time.

This planner is available to Straight Stitch, Backstitch and Zig-Zag members of SewHere.com. Check out membership options here.

This is a printable PDF file that will be immediately available after purchase when you log in at SewHere.com/Profile.  You will not receive a physical planner.

Themed Monthly Planner

A new, themed planner will be published every month!  Each month’s planner will follow along with the theme in The Self Sewn Wardrobe Group on Facebook and include relevant planning and goal setting information as well as hand drawn sketches by none other than Mallory herself.

This planner is included in the Zig Zag SewHere Membership level. If you re interested in becoming a Zig-Zag member, the themed planner will be automatically delivered to the Downloads section of your SewHere profile each month!

This is a printable PDF file that will be immediately available after purchase when you log in at SewHere.com/Profile.  You will not receive a physical planner.

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Dyeing Continued

Dyeing can also be used to get a custom effect or create a focal costume piece. In her highschool years Mallory costumed The Will Rogers Follies which has a very iconic scene of everyone sitting on stools hand clapping. This scene in itself is neat to watch but with color coordinated gloves (one hand red, one hand blue) it’s even more fun. Mallory remembers Zede and her frantically dyeing (because of course this was a last minute directorial add) a bunch of white gloves to create this look.

Zede also dabbled in hand dyeing fabrics to sell in her shop. Mallory says they were so beautiful and unique they were more like art pieces. She dyed lots of different fabrics and specialized in flesh tones for doll making. She did use some of her hand dyed creations for some special costume pieces. Zede liked using them because they lent a gorgeous look to the costumes. These pieces were very much an artistic endeavor.

She recalls making a vest from onsnaburg fabric she dyed. She likes using osnaburg because it is an unbleached thick cotton fabric that she could buy in bulk and dye any color she desired or needed. She also dyed and constructed a long forest green skirt for her daughter Hilary. Hilary wore the skirt in the La bohème opera and of course it was repurposed and used in Into the Woods. 

You can also dye other things besides textiles such as leather, shoes (ballet flats, Keds, etc…), feathers and buttons.

Zede notes Kool-Aid will dye or stain things nicely too and creates a very bright almost neon color. She encourages you to test first because it’s color grab isn’t always consistent.

~Tangents~

• Mal shares an article overview about The Handmaid’s Tale costumes and how there was a psychic  called into the costume breakdown room where they age and make costumes because the room seemed haunted. Read the article here.
• Zede hunts down oodles of photographer developers gloves in St. Louis and has them FedExed overnight with one day to spare before The Will Rogers Follies.

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