my friend coopie posted several questions in the comments area of my previous post, which i thought i would answer in an entry instead.
Hi Rowena,
Do you begin your process by fitting each performer with a sloper? Bodice and skirt only? With sleeve of course! Or do your only do slopers for the "difficult" shapes and sizes?
i use slopers almost all the time, because i'm usually dressing people i've never made clothes for before. in the case of "trouble", i moved the women's waists up almost 2" via foundation garments, so i had to verify their measurements. i have occassionally made things without first doing a sloper and i've almost always regretted it. making a sloper takes almost no time and very little fabric, and to me it is actually almost contemplative. i think a sloper is a great project for a beginning seamstress, there are no seam finishes, no hems or facings, you can use whatever color thread is in the machine, you know it's not intended to be worn so the only pressure is time. i find that very freeing, especially because i know that it is going to make it possible for me to cut my good fabric without fear.
I have become more daring of late and have been drafting simple garments----blouses,skirts,some dresses etc.without a sloper fitting.The results have been good. So far.
It is often faster for me to flat pattern directly at the table, provided I have a well fitting sloper. Variations on sleeves and collars for example.
And skirts of course are often quicker to draw directly on the fabric.
agreed! i hardly ever actually make or print out a pattern for a skirt, in fact i sometimes don't use patterns for tops either. i like draping, so i often start with just a rectangle of fabric and work out the design on a form.
I love the red dress! Does the dress it's self have a collar? The pattern would suggest so. Does that provide additional support for the detachable collar? If so is the white collar cut in such a way as to hide the red?
yes, the bodice itself has a collar, which gives more lift to the removable collar. but the truth is that i didn't decide on that collar for sure until after i had it on the form. the fact that it was detachable gave me the freedom to change if it didn't look well around the singer's face. the bodice collar does show when the white collar is in place, it looks like a second or undercollar but from the stage it barely reads.
i love this dress too! several times i considered bringing it home, the singer and i are similar in size, and with just a few adjustments it would fit me very well! alas, the singer is not a nursing mother, and getting to the "girls" would mean pulling the skirt up to my neck--i'd do it, but it would wrinkle the skirt horribly. ;)
How many fittings do you usually need to realize your designs?
i usually can get it done in two fittings, with tweaking as we go thru tech week and see the pieces in action on stage. however, i often end up with way more fittings, because some directors want to see each and every change, addition, alteration, BEFORE it hits the stage. for "trouble" i had several fittings for the women's chorus dresses because i patterned part of them, and draped the rest. i'll be posting about these dresses in a week or so. for the character of sam, i had several fittings simply because the singer is a BIG man and i ended up having to fit him in pieces--shoes were a big issue, as were hats--so i had to fit when i had things complete or found them.
Will you be including a more complicated example in your blog?
hmmmm, i am not sure if what i do is complicated, but i plan to post about all the costumes in this production, so you can tell me later which ones were complicated. :) next season, depending on what productions we do, i will have several opportunities to do complicated pieces, by comparison the ones from "trouble" don't seem very complicated. for "trouble", the complications were more about the construction (tailored suits, tuxedos), than about the designs themselves.
I do so enjoy your observations and reflections. And it's hard to express the delight I take in knowing that someone else on the list works in the theatre!
Thanks for sharing!
Coopie
thank you so much for the nice compliments!
but now i have to make a confession: i am a fraud. i am not really a costume "designer"--ok, i am because i am doing it, but really i am a choreographer, and a union stage manager. i ended up doing costumes because circumstances provided the opportunity, so i grabbed it. but i have no formal training, i only know what i have learned from working in costume shops as overhire, and from working with designers in my capacities as choreographer or stage manager. i have been fortunate, i've been surrounded by many talented people who have generously shared their knowledge and wisdom, and i hope thru this blog i can "pay it forward".
