- Mundane Sewing Discussion -

[Blushing]

I'm just starting, again.  I've handpieced a few doll quilts (that have vanished in my moves, sadly).  I have some planned to work on, so I can play with my new-to-me Featherweight.  I will soon be starting a t-shirt quilt.  I needed something to do with tons of t-shirts with memories attached!

I will post photos, eventually.  Thanks!

Sometimes I feel like I have TOO many crafts and such to play with ... sewing, scrapbooking, garb-making ... yeah, I need more time and funds!   

[Lady Rosalind]

Update on the costuming for the play from hell:

I have just the hem left for the last Mammy dress, then everything is DONE! I have had a hell of a bad week, and it is nothing short of a miracle that let me finish nearly everything in the last three days. I'll post pics from rehearsals this week. We're a week from tech week, and I will be seriously glad when this whole thing is over. Thank heavens two of our most experienced costumers happened to be at the theater working on painting sets yesterday! They were able to talk me down off my ledge, and gave me some great advice, and helped me find some gems in storage to help out with the "normal" clothes for the actor and actresses.

Now I just have to figure out how to clean flour off of the green Scarlett dress, and out of the wig and hat she'll be wearing in that scene. I'm going to be at the theater until midnight every night, I just know it. It'll be worse than the oatmeal I had to clean up every night during the last play...

[LadyStitch]

{{{{{{{{{Hugs}}}}}}}}}  I feel your pain.     Try those key board vacs to help get the worst of the flour out, and maybe the sticky lint remover things. That might help.

[gem]

Do they have to use actual flour? I wonder if something else might be easier to clean up (baby powder, maybe)?

[Lady Rosalind]

Do they have to use actual flour? I wonder if something else might be easier to clean up (baby powder, maybe)?

Yes, they are using actual flour. Nothing I have said will change that, or the amount of flour being used. Honestly, last night at rehearsal, I wanted to just walk away from the whole thing. They have decided to not use the capes that I made (that they raved over LAST WEEK), nor the brown dress that I made (that THEY WANTED), and for the love of God, they almost decided last night to not use the GREEN DRESS! I backed them down off of that one, but I very nearly threw a temper tantrum at that point, as pretty much the last straw (LOTS of stuff like this). I also stopped caring at that point. They can do whatever they want to the damn dress. They open next Friday, and as far as I can tell, they are still changing things in the actual play. I won't work with these directors again. Things are out of control.

[LadyStitch]

Yeah I have to say this sounds like a play I would walk away from myself.  I've had one, well technically 2, bad directors  in my life, and one just bad cast.

I had a director that it says in the script that the girls are to show off cleavage, and extrude sentuality a la those old cave man/girl shows.  Did she do that?  No.  All girls had to have loose fitting, cover their collar bone type dresses. Each had to be different fabric, different style. So 8 dresses, none identical.  It was the most unsexy, sexy show I have ever seen.  BTW all the actresses were willing to show off as much as I wanted as long as the girls were supported, and the puppies noses were covered, but NOPE no dice. 
The other was when we had a director tell the set designer to paint the set burgundy, because it was her favorite color.  What she forgot was that she threw a tantrum to have this burgundy suit on the leading lady, not dress, SUIT.  We were 2 days from opening when the actress walked out onto the painted set and... disappeared.   I had to find a dress to fit her and would look good with the rest of the cast.  I ended up finding her this cute little black dress which fit her perfectly.  HOWEVER the director picked out of her own closet a 1980's oriental print dress that I wouldn't even look at in a thrift store.  (The play was set in 2002, btw)  I told her I would run it past the actresses.  The look on the cast's face when I walked in with it was somewhere between horror and disgust!   Add in that on OPENING NIGHT , after 6 WEEKS of rehearsal she told one of the actresses to use a texan accent not the british she had been working on.  Oh it was a train wreck!
The bad cast was a group of High school kids, that just didn't belive in dispiline, respect, or pride in their work.  They started taking it seriously when we fired 3 of them during tech week and brought in 3 other people.  The parents threw a fit but after they heard what their kids were doing. They backed us up.   I would work with that director again, but that group... not so much.

[Lady Rosalind]

Well, so far things are perhaps evening out... I am going to use scotch guard to protect the green dress, and the other garments that will be in the way of flour or pudding. Last night, we realized that the actress who gets pudding in the face needs someone else to get her out of her costume, or she will get chocolate pudding on her hands, then on the head kerchief, and apron. It's amazing how far that stuff travels!

I also got a look at the dress they thought would be a suitable "back-up" for the green dress. Pink. Sequins. Beads. Poofy skirt, and cinderella sleeves with lace. Not even close to civil war era. Honestly, all I could do was just shake my head, and reassure my fellow dresser and the producer that it was a backup we were using for practice, and that it will NOT be seen on stage during the actual performances, since I was going to be the one dressing her. This actress, while good, has no concept of the fact that these things should not be changing at this point unless it's an actual emergency. The replacement capes are firmly Halloween capes, complete with spiders, webs, and bats. It that's way they want, fine. It's the opposite of what the script calls for, but whatever.

We did have a not-so-minor wardrobe malfunction. At one point, one of the actresses grabs the shirt neckline of the other, and it tears away a bit to reveal the top of her bra. Well... when the actress grabbed it, the other turned away too fast, and the entire left side was revealed. This was after me warning that the rip needed to be controlled carefully to avoid this specific problem. Oh well. I am going to reinforce the bottom of the torn area, so it doesn't rip further, and she's going to wear her hot pink bra instead of a nude one, so it's obvious that nothing is really showing.

Now, if I can just keep them on track, things should go a little better from here on out. 

[LadyStitch]

i wish you luck and i send much alcohol your way

[Lady Rosalind]

i wish you luck and i send much alcohol your way

LOL, I'm bringing just a titch in for after the shows, while I'm doing laundry and helping the food prop master clean up.

[LadyStitch]

Heh one theater I worked for gave each actor a vouchure for 1 free beer for the pub next door, and two for the techs.    It was in the contracts.  They knew how to spoil their people.

[LadyStitch]

BTW the PP is a director and after telling him of your plight he wanted me to express his appologies from all the good directors out there who know how to talk to their techs and respect them.  IF he ever got a chance he would love to have you help costume a show with him just so you can know what a good director does.

[Lady Rosalind]

BTW the PP is a director and after telling him of your plight he wanted me to express his appologies from all the good directors out there who know how to talk to their techs and respect them.  IF he ever got a chance he would love to have you help costume a show with him just so you can know what a good director does.

That's so sweet!!!! Tell him "Thank you!" It really does make me feel better. 

Tonight is the Director Review (which is happening about 3 weeks later than the previous show). Should be interesting.

[LadyStitch]

Have your flask of strong alcohol ready.  The first show I did our director threw out half of what we had done. 5 pitchers later, and a good night's sleep, we were ready to fix it but, it wasn't pretty ....

I will pass your comments along to the PP.    For every bad director out there, there are those directors who do take care of you, and respect you. To be honest of all the shows I have done I have only had 2 really bad directors. If you need to vent just come here, or even renmail me.  Trust me I will understand.

[Adriana Rose]

I have found that doing ANTHING for theater or involving too many theater people has the feeling of herding cats.

[Syrilla]

I feel your pain Lady R, and hope for the very best of runs!