Cleaver Use of a Bodice

We got 2 of these dresses donated--Sisters, Jodi & Becky Yarrington, were bridesmaids in the same wedding.  Well, this style of skirt is genius for making a bustle.  That said, the bodice isn't ideal for the period, but could still be used....

So, they were flipped and will be used as the middle layer to the bustle!!

The stupid "shawls"--ie rectangular pieces of fabric that come with some of the dresses, are coming handy, as well.  They are making for perfect butt boys and tails!!

Now, the main part/front of the dress is a lavender bridesmaid dress that has many layers to the skirt--great for movement and dimension, but more needed to be added...

So, Elle added some beautiful beaded fringe to each layer, that will catch the light and be perfect!  

The bodice, already, had a simple beaded design, right below the bust, but more is and will be added to make this gown a show stopper.





















The red bodice, below, will also find new life as a to piece to a bustle.

Here is the piece, being attached to the actual bustle...

Like Decorating Christmas Trees!

This Dress came to us with the embroidery already part of the bodice, but we needed to bling it up!!

First, I went and hand stitched pearls to the centers of the bigger flowers. Then, I took a stupid little tool and placed each rhinestone, one by one, to enhance the embroidery.  The tool heated each rhinestone and was supposed to melt it to the fabric, but it would never let go of the rhinestone, so I would have to take a straight pin and hold the stone down before I removed the tool.  

To start building out the bustle, we took a skirt from a second dress (made of satin and tool) and split open the seam, to allow us to wrap it around the bustle.

Now that the base has been set, the decorations cat start being attached!  Fabric from stock is being manipulated into ruffles and flowers.  Reclaimed roses and bows from a wedding dress add dimension and "fluff".

Here is a side view.  The middle layer of the bustle, is made from a clever use of a Mother of the Bride dress jacket that was donated without the matching dress.

There still is a lot of trim  and finishing work to go...
























Below, Ellie models the jacket/bustle

Trim As Far As the Eye Can See

 Costume Shop employee, Ian is getting a little nutty as he glues the beaded trim to felt to make it stronger....

....so much trim!

Just Bedazzle It

Amanda is super stoked about the shop's new Bedazzler!!  Fear not, she is a trained professional--she was a kid of the 80s...the 1980s!!  ....not the 1880s, like when dresses are being designed from...#periodjokefail

Fabric Marks are Invaluable!!

Have some embroidery that doesn't go with the color sceme of your new project?  Fabric markers to the rescue!  Abby--a student in the opera, who was kind enough to donate some of her time in the shop, took the white embroidery and easily turned it copper...even, though, it was supposed to go green.  It wasn't her fault, though...it was Amanda's!!

Bead Work Made Easy

Above, Amanda is showing Ian how she wants the bead work, that has been removed from the dress to the left,  to be cut and added to the skirt of the dress from below.

This dress is the base for the lead female in the show.  It will be gorgeous!

Beading and Ruching...Ruching and Beading

So, there is a lot of detail that goes into Victorian dresses.  We, constantly, make the jokes that we are decorating wedding cakes and Christmas trees!  It really is impossible to have too much.

Here, Amanda, is hand beading to add life and color to the black halter dress that is the base for, this particular gown.  The dress already had some small black beading on it, but the larger beads in copper and gold, really add sparkle.  A cheap add, just time consuming...

To the right, is a close up of Amanda's work.  The Lt Copper fabric being shown as a peek-a-boo affect, is replacing an original white satin.

Ellie, took on the task of starting to construct the bustle piece.  Taking fabric, we already had in stock, she took both ends of the fabric and added gathers, that will hang as ruching on either side of the bustle.  You can kind of see the effect in the photo, above.

Here is the original dress.  It is still very easy to see it in the above pictures, but it still has a long way to go...

Boning

Shop Manager, Ellie is putting the boning into the final bustles. 

Run out of boning?  Head to the local hardware store and pick up a spool of fishing tape in the electrical dept.  It is used to 'fish' electrical wiring and pulling it to a desired location.

Pin the Bustle on the...

Costume Designer, Amanda, pins up the train of a dyed wedding dress to start the shaping of the first layer of the bustle.

1970s to 1870s

1970s wedding dress--once white, now beige.  Take the sleeves off and the bodice is beautifully intricate and perfect for our project.

Bustles-a-Plenty

Thanks to the early hard work of the costume shop staff, the bustles are almost done!!  

A very giant bolt of cotton Thanksgiving fabric was discovered in the fabric stock...like, a HUGE bolt...so, being resourceful, it was decided to utilize the fabric and make rehearsal skirts and the show bustles.  Since the bustles will never be seen, the fabric works great!!

Transformation

Here is where one of the dresses is headed--from the original on the left, to the bodice on the right.  Blue beads and stitching were added to the tone on tone green embroidery, already there.  Plus, the light blue fabric was added the bust line and over the shoulders to add a cap sleeve.

A Funny Story

I do need to share the story of this dress...

Donated by,Kinzy Janssen, the journalist who wrote the article about the blog for Volume One,this dress was supposed to be her wedding dress.

Visiting her fiance, while he was living in China, Kinzy thought she would take the opportunity to utilize an inexpensive market and have her dress made to order over there.  Unfortunately, she didn't speak Chinese and the seamstresses didn't speak English.  Using her fiance as the translator, Kinzy tried to get her idea of a simple, chic (think Carolyn Bessette Kennedy)dress across.  The seamstresses kept mocking up a princess style dress.  Kinzy kept trying to get her point across.  What was made was this...

She ended up buying her dress in the States!

A Glimse

A mock up of how different pieces can be put together...

The Dresses!!

Ok, so first I must apologize for my extreme tardiness on getting these pictures organized and posted.

There have been some changes as to how this blog will be presented.  Initially, I really wanted to label all the donated dresses with a letter and then label all the final dresses with numbers and have a list of the lettered dresses that went into them.  Boy, was that wishful thinking.  That would be damned near impossible!  Here is why--I was not afforded time in the costume shop, this past, semester and Amanda (the designer) had her staff start hacking dresses apart so we could get a solid head start on the project.  Dresses were changing and morphing without my being able to track them so, that dream had to be let go.

Also, my organization of which dresses were donated by whom and their stories got messed up due to the mass amounts of dresses being donated and the fact that they were being moved often and taken apart before I could fully document them.  I dropped the ball on that one.  However, all is not lost--As you view the photo album of dresses, please comment on your dress with your name, date worn, and your thoughts on it (loved it, hated it, etc...)  We got a huge donation from a, now closed, consignment shop in Eau Claire.  That donation is what really raised our numbers, but also helped get me unorganized.


At any rate, here is the link:
https://plus.google.com/photos/111454766284691669090/albums/5829367976153112641?authkey=CISO5qCpiKLv2QE

Enjoy looking at them.  There is some great, some good, some not so good, and some I have no words for...