Show Time!!:- Week 10

From working with my team this week it's made me realise areas I need to work on as a team player. I loved working on this.

Final Production Week:- Week 9

Last week was the last week of production for Panto. I know there is still so much to do but I'm glad it's coming to an end because everyone seems so stressed. Most of what was done this week was little things to finish off. I spend most of my time finishing course costumes like the dress from last week (making her double) and making cuffs for The Golden Ball room. I do think this is the biggest Panto we have done with number and in some cases complexity of costume. It's the first time that chore costumes have been all individual which slowed down production quite a bit.

Panto Week 8 Rage Aganist the Panto

I managed to complete my two costumes by the deadline which I was more than happy about. Considering the fact I thought we had until the beginning of Panto to get them all finished. I still managed. I would have liked it though if we could have gotten a break down our our deadlines so we could share out our time better so we could see how much needed done in the time given. It has been fun however doing this process. Seeing how one pattern can be changed and made up into another costume. Its a good trick we you don't have that much time but need everyone to look different.

I started on a girls costume which I thought went very well. The steel hoop to hold the skirt out was a plan to work with but it gave be an insight into how a Elizabethan skirt would work. It was interesting to see how much had to be considered when making it for example how to stop the top circle from caving in even with the hoop and how the hoop had to be split at the back for the zip. Sore hands and broken needles all that week.

 

To say that was angry at this next part is quite a big understatement however I'm trying to see the learning curl in it and what I have gained from the experience and also what to do when this will happen again. My second actor dropped out of Panto for other work with 1 and a half weeks to go to Panto. I don't like having time wasted when we have so little time left for Panto. But it does now mean that the girl playing the goose now has a costume to wear. It didn't need to much altering and I was glad it was still being used. It was also interesting to see how to make a man's costume looks more feminine and fit for a girl.

Panto Week 7 (Victim 2 Fitting)

6.11.2014-7.11.2014

I couldn't be happier with how the costumes turned out. I just cant wait to see them on stage. I loved the process of development between the two costumes to make them look different from one another while still using the same pattern. made me realise how easy it is to do when you have an idea of how patterns work.

Panto Week 6

31.10.2014- 5.11.2014

  I didn't realised I had to complete both my costume by the end off the 7th November. This has completely messed up my plan break down. We have 4 weeks less on the costumes this year from last year. But I can understand why this has happened as we got the designs later than we were meant to which made a massive impact on there manufacturing time they normal have in the department. I was very worried about meeting this deadline but I'm less panicked now. I wish we could have had a breakdown of when we had to have everything complete by which would have helped.

I have managed to complete Lorne's costume in full, both trousers and jacket and I'm very very happy with it. I only need to add the trim to Lorne cuff but that can be done later. It's complete to the point were he can wear it. I might need to add on extra poppers but everything else should be fine.

I started on Daniel's trousers and completed them today as well which means I have the jacket left. I also found out today that Daniel will be in tomorrow so I can fit him to complete the jacket for Friday. This has made things a lot easier for the fitting instead of using a dummy.

Fitting Number 2 with Victim One Week 5

23/10/2014-30/10/2014
I managed to complete Daniel's costume well in time to take up Lorne' costume again. Daniel's costume is good to go as soon as he comes in for a fitting so I'm not worried about completing that as at least he has a costume to wear for the show. His costume is more straight forward than Lorne's which is better since I have a shorter fitting time with him. I feel less stressed now that I did last week. I feel that Gillian this year is applying more pressure which is to be expected but I don't know if it is making me work better or not. At the minute I find it more just makes me panic and not enjoy making the costume. I'm just churning it out.

SO the second fitting when off without a hitch. No major problems only adjusting side seams and front seams so that he could breath better (Heaven forbid he should breath). The back darts for the trousers needed adjusting as well but no big problems. For the rest of the week I started strengthening the seams with a smaller stitch and adding in the piping and netting. I should complete the jacket at the end of this week and even the trousers if I can. Daniel is coming in on the 3rd November for a fitting so I need to complete Lorne's costume completely by then.

Panto Week Four

16/10/2014-22/10/2014

Unfortunately I stopped working on Panto Thursday and Friday after the fitting as I was required to go onto Country Wife has that had to be completed by the end of the week so got done of the fitting notes sorted in full apart from to mark up the pins.

It wasn't until the Tuesday that I realised the massive impart it had on my Panto costume deadline. My fitting was scheduled for Wednesday at 10 when I had nothing ready to fit. I was under the impression my fitting would be on Thursday afternoon. I managed to complete the jacket in full by the end of Tuesday so at least I could fit that but it then turned out that the director wouldn't let Lorne out of rehearsals for a fitting so that gave me an extra day to complete the trousers. Not only did I finish his trousers by lunch time, ready to be fitted next day but I also finished Daniels trousers ready for his fitting in a couple of weeks time. I felt very, very pleased with my progress this week.

My aim is to have Daniel's costume ready to be fitted by the end of the 23th October. There after I will be able to concentrate on and complete Lorne's costume by the end of October. After than I plan to move onto Daniel's costume to have it completed half way through November so I can move onto there hats and ruffles.

Panto Week Three (First Fitting) Victim One

9/10/2014-15/10/2014






















I had my first fitting with Lorne. In general I think it went really well. Nothing needed let out which was great, it's so much easier to take up and take in than let out, it also means I can use these pieces to back my fabric I use for the garments.

I moved onto Daniel's costume which is going to be a combination of the far left jacket body with the sleeves of the second one in from the left. The trousers will be bagger and pulled in at the bottom. The pattern was a lot easier to make up as Daniel and Lorne are very similar sizes so only the sleeves and trousers need to be made. I tried out some decorative construction ideas to pull the bottom of the sleeve in. For a chores costume and Panto it is overly fussy but it's a lovely techinque to keep in mind for another garment. Gillian gave me more ideas of how to speed making garments for when I'm making more than one. Such as not pinning the pattern down but use weights and tailors choke to draw round. If the person isn't available for a fitting just make it up to be fitted in the real fabric. I was very pleased with how quickly it came together.

After that costume was ready to go, I went back onto Lorne costume and started to mark up the measurements on the pattern. Only when I was half way through did I find out we don't need a master copy of the patterns. It was a waste of a day but I needed to do it for the sleeves because I learned to make an on grown gusset. That was a very useful technique to learn for panto and musical theatre because it looks better than a put in gusset. 

Panto Week Two

7/10/2014- 8/10/2014

Apart from making a mock up of the trousers which seem to go together very well and very quickly. I've been spending my time making up examples of different ways to making arm cuffs and top sleeve ruffles. There's definitely 100 ways to skin a cat and probably 100 times more on different ways to make up a ruffle depending on how you want it to look and lie. We found the gathering making the top layer lie too flat but makes it stick out right. However if you cut the net to the same shape as the ruffle it lies in lovely waves. (See in the second picture. This experiment has thought me a lot about how making different circles in different ways can change the lie of the ruffle. The third pictures circle was made up of a section of a whole circle so that most of its outer mass is converted into making the waves and not covering the sleeve area. if you just add fullness to a cuff sleeve you get the fourth pictures result. It adds fullness and width but it doesn't lie in waves like picture 3. The first picture shows my first try which is just an extended cap with a net ruffle underneath.

This shows the progression in the sleeve from my first one on the left to my latest one of the right. This has really helped my realise the importance of just trying things out before committing to a way of doing something because it can turn out better than you think its going to. I also spoke to Robin who said the sleeve cuff is actually scalloped.

Nice tip for fittings is to make up one side as it should look and use the other to make up the length or alterations you need during the fitting. This allow changes to be made without completely taking the garment to bits.

New Start to a New Panto

30/09/2014-3/09/2014

In-Built Gusset:- http://overflowingstash.wordpress.com/2014/07/07/fitted-sleeve-sloper-part-2-built-in-gusset/
There was so many thinks to consider today. This year I was full set on doing a dama costume but instead I went for a chore costume as it was more complicated and didn't have elements of things I'd already done. This year was a lot of tutus and things simpler to last year's tutu. I'm basing the jacket on a chauffeur jacket from 1920 with double breasted buttons. My victim for this costume is Lorn Mac Donald. I'm excited to make the hat and neck ruffles as it's something I've never done before and the jacket can be made in so many different ways depending on the fabric as I know they have to be able to move a lot as the theme is circus/comedian d' arte.

I might be considering making two of the same costume for Daniel and Lorn so that more of the chore members are covered as there aren't enough designs for all the chore which is 13 this year. I started to adapt the jacket which was a lot more challenging than I expected because I needed to reduce the size by 6 inches without distorting the pattern which is a lot harder than it sounds. I've found that talking things out with tutors to be very helpful as it helps me get my head around what I'm doing but also allows me to see where I'm going wrong. I didn't know that taking a large measurement out of the back is one of the easiest options to do. I've also realised how quickly you have to think of quick changes so that you can construct the fastenings to fit the needs best. I've also decided to put a normal gusset in to start with so that during the fitting we can decide what size we need the gusset to be before we implant it into the jacket pattern. Also having a jacket that's simpler to the jacket pattern is helpful so that you can see how its structured and put together.

Thanks to having the pattern the jacket is coming together very quickly as are the breeches which only need tweaked here and there to fit him. The two collars didn't take much effort either though we'll see how they look in the fitting which I plan to make on Thursday.