Halloween Costume 2025

My neighbors had a Halloween Party and since I actually could go, I decided to make myself a costume.  I went as a witch, but more a spring witch. (I wear so much black and I'm trying to embrace color)  

I used the Metamorphic Dress pattern from Sew Liberated. The bodice was short on me, so I redrafted it to be longer.  I also took in the center front and back and added that to the sides to correct the neckline for me.

The fabric is from my stash.  I had bought the bird fabric to make a spring coat years ago, but never got around to it.   The pocket is from a vintage linen. 

Then, I did a lot of research and made a hat.  I bought white felt to build the base and covered it with fabric I had from the dress and some satin.  The edge was bound in bias tape that I bought ages ago.  Full Disclosure:  my first attempt was too small, so I tried to make it bigger and it became too big, so I scrapped it. I was at the end of my fabric, so I decided to make patchwork, and honestly, this was a very happy accident!

And this is me in the costume!  I also painted some Dr Scholl Vans to match the blue/lavender in the costume.

Here is a close up of me in the hat with my partner

Would I make this again?  Well, I have since made another version of this dress in brown and lavender for Thanksgiving.  I've worn the brown one more, but I have worn this a few times.  I do have plans on making a few more.

Repairing Embroidered Chiffon

 

Can you find the repair in the embroidered chiffon?

This picture has the needle showing you the one end. It is single thread weaving and tiny stitches. The trick to make it hidden? If you can, start from one embroidery point to another.

Sometimes, you can't.  So, just find an anchor point to make it look organic.

Sister Scrunchion!

 My pal Petrina Bromley recently both adopted a dog and has a new TV show ( Son of a Critch)  She is playing a nun.  She commissioned me to make a nun costume for Scrunchion, her pup.

Here is a clip of her in the show.

So, I started with 2 navy t-shirts for a 3-6 month old child and a pair of navy shoelaces.  Using a sweater of Scrunchion's, I figured out about how much smaller to make t-shirt 1.  

 

 Then, I shortened the sleeves and ran a drawstring in the bottoms. This was a cut in half shoelace. I used a old white T-shirt for the neckline, which I hand sewed in.

  Yes, I used a water bottle as a mannequin!

 I made a mock up of the habit.  This was eventually t-shirt 2

Look how cute she is!!!

And here is the Social Media post!

Thank you again, Petrina, for the challenge!  I LOVE ANIMALS!!!!

Alterations for a Saaya Yamabuki Cosplay

In this video, I'm showing how to do some basic alterations and how to sew hook and loop tape. I also talk about keeping stockings up. The outfit is from Ez Cosplay

Glasses 10-23-2019

These glasses needed a red frame.  So, I taped the lenses and painted them with nail polish.  They have held up well.

Dancing with The Stars 2016

While I was the supervisor for Cirque du Soleil's Paramour, I had the pleasure of going to Los Angeles to help with our act on Dancing with The Stars.

I was able to pull a lot of the costumes from our stock.  (We kept extra tuxedo pants and shirts, just in case something blew out.)  Jennifer Love Costumes made us new vests.

I was able to meet with Chris Silcox and Remi Bakkar, our acrobats for the event on Thursday before we flew out.  Our fittings went well and we only had minor notes.

While I was packing the Friday night, I started thinking about that their might be commercial break promos, which is called a bumper, and what if they want a different look?  So, I also packed 2 tailcoats, 2 cummerbunds and extra shoes, along with a small sewing kit and stain remover kit.

I flew out Saturday night after our matinee.




















Sunday, I set up while there was a camera blocking rehearsal.

Monday October 3rd, after a long day of camera rehearsal and practicing in the parking lot, we presented.

Early Tuesday morning, I flew back and was in for the evening show.

This is a picture of a bunch of folks that were involved in the production.  And look, it's me on the left!

Easter Bonnet 2019

It all started with a email from our associate choreographer, Richard J Hinds, asking if I could make the Come from Away Easter Bonnet for Broadway Cares, "What if we did something like the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign but have it say “Welcome to Gander?” Thoughts?"

"I'm into it"  And I started doing some preliminary notes.

Ricky suggested a Canadian Maple Leaf instead of a star, which was great, because I wanted to change the atomic star.  He then sent me a picture, asking if we could have this dress.



.

I said "OHHHHH!!! I see your Canadian Flag dress and raise you..."

And, so it began.  I ordered a showgirl helmet.  And some mailing tubes, remembering that I wanted to keep it light.  I made the frame at home.

Hmmm, not tall enough!

That's better.

Let's paint it!

I brought it into work the next day,  because Allie Dillard was going to help, by working on the sign part, as I worked on the leaf and the dress.

 Freehanding the leaf was harder than I thought, so I made a pattern.

That works.

I cut it out and painted it.

I then poured glitter on the wet paint.

I added glitter paint to the frame.

Allie came up with using paper cups to do the "Welcome" of the sign.

She also worked on graphing out the sign, first with paper.
I drew in the graph for her to work on the letters.

Here is Allie painting the letters, while I made the dress. 
We both wound up painting out the grid.

Then, we painted on the glitter.  We used Elmer's and poured each letter separately. 
Yes, we tried to stop the spread of glitter by using a tarp!

We added glitter duct tape.  It isn't very sticky, so it had to be hot glued down.

I glued down the "welcome", while Allie strung the lights.

We hot glued everything together.

Look at it twinkle!

Our Model, Natalya Czosnyka came in to try on the bonnet and dress.

 I figured out where the stripes went.

I fought with the printer to make the center and finally decided that I was going to do it myself.
I traced the bird on  my computer screen.

I painted it and scanned it into the computer.
I then flipped the image , so I could use iron-on transfer paper.

Time was running out.
So I used Elmer's glue to add the emblem
and added a glitter border and then more glitter.

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We then went to the dry tech for the show.  The balance was off again.  Allie ran to our theatre to get weights, but we were finished by the time she came back.

So it was on! 

Strips of washers were made, but we wound up making it too heavy.  So, we pulled out some of the weights. 
We added a washer to the front.  Success!  It was balanced again!

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Go to 34 seconds in to watch the bonnet in action.

What is in Natalya's hand?