Eat, Drink, and Be Merry

I am very excited to be designing a production for FringeNYC - a new musical named Eat, Drink and Be Merry. More details to follow!

Quick Tip: baby powder

One of the best tips I ever received was from a coworker once when I accidently got some machine oil onto a garment I was sewing . Baby powder will get out oil stains and spots. This works for spot found on clothing from last nights dinner, too!
All you have to do is to generously sprinkle the powder all over the stain. Let it sit for a few minutes. Then brush it off. If it seems the oily part of the stain has not come out, then repeat and launder as normal. I have even tried this trick on shirts I have washed already not knowing then was same type of greasy stain. To my surprise it worked!!



-- Post From My iPod

Quick Tip: A vodka martini please

Back in the days before Fabreeze, costumers would use a half/half mixture of vodka and water to take odors out of clothing. I still prefer using this combo, personally. It does not smell like perfume, and some actors are really sensitive to perfume scents. It really is odorless. Caution: anything that water would stain will also be stained by this combo. But the same would hold true of Fabreeze.
Just put my vodka martini in a spray bottle, shaken, not stirred.

-- Post From My iPhone

Quick Tip: Custom tattoos

I love being able to help people out. This week I received two calls for assistance in regard to the same issue. Made me think this would be a great piece of information to have on my blog!

In the Spring of 2008, I costumed a WONDERFUL production of Almost, Maine at Hudson Stage. The play is performed by four different actors, playing 19 characters. One of the characters has a tattoo, but because the actor was playing so many other parts, an makeup application was not possible. I found a wonderful tattoo paper at BelDecal online. The tattoo goes on in a minute and peels right off when you are done. The key is to cut around the tattoo as closely as possible before applying it to the skin. Did not have any issues with it coming off and looked very real!
The only issue I had was that the instructions that came along with the paper were a bit confusing, but hopefully they corrected that problem. Excellent product!

Quick tip: bobbin art

My students at AMDA are always surprised when they experience what I like to call "bobbin art" - the lovely mess of thread that happens on the underside of your sewing project sometimes. It's messy, your garment gets stuck, and its generally frustrating.
For the new sewing student it is boggling. When this happens to you - check your top thread. 95% of the time that is the problem. Of course you can prevent this by making sure you are threaded correctly before you put your foot to the peddle.
Happy sewing!


-- Post From My iPhone

iPod

My application addiction surfaces again!!! Using blogpress on my IPod to write this!!!



-- Post From My iPod

Angel Wings

Recently, I am designed and created costume pieces for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at John Jay College. Two of my characters wore Angel Wings. I had bought some inexpensive angel wings online, but it was clear that those wings were only going to work for rehearsals. I did not want the wings to be much wider that the ones they had already been using. I tried to find some commercially available wings that were taller, so they would be seen above their bodies, but no luck (at least within our budget). I made a decision to make my own.

I started with making a rough pattern on my actress using poster board. I pinned it on her during the fitting and marked how tall and wide I would like the wing to be.





















I used my rough pattern to draw out a shape that I thought that would work. I made a new paper pattern of the shape.




I decided to use buckram and millinery wire to make the base of the wings. I cut two pieces of the buckram for each wing. I then sewed millinery wire around the entire wing using the widest zig-zag stitch on my machine. This has to be done slowly and carefully. If you are not an accurate stitcher, you will end up breaking a lot of needles.



To add stability, I sewed diagonal pieces of millinery wire across the wing.



Next, I started to sew feathers on. I purchased 15 bags of white turkey feathers from ESKAY Novelties here in New York City. I alternated sewing the feathers on the front and the back of the wings, once again using a zig-zag stitch. I started from the bottom and worked my way up. I just had to be very careful not to hit the millinery wire as I was stitching.







I just kept layering feathers, till I made my way all the way up the wing. The top layers once again laid over millinery wire, so I had to be very careful. I was very happy with the end results. The wings were extremely lightweight. I wish I would have made a few more cross bars, especially at the top of the wings, just to add a bit more in the stability department, but really they worked quite well.



I cannot stress enough to be very careful when dealing with the millinery wire and sewing on a machine. Broken needles can fly off and can cause injury.