PROM: A Perfect Narrow Hem

 Prom is such a fun time. with fun dresses, fun people, excited for a fun time!  I am always excited at this time of year to get a call or email or facebook message that goes a lot like this:  "Hi, I have a prom dress and I was wondering if you could fix it for me so that it fits perfectly, or hem it so I can wear it with my fabulous new shoes, or add something to make it even better!  When can I come over?"

The only problem with this one was the length.  It had been given to her by a taller friend (a great gift for any friend :) and she needed it hemmed pronto!  Prom was only a week away!  You bet, bring your shoes and we'll have a fitting!  So we got it marked and here is the "Before" picture.

So with a little help from my handy-dandy smallest rolled hem foot, I whipped out this beauty of a narrow rolled hem.  No other type of hem will do as beautifully as this narrowest of hems.  Lining gets the same treatment.

She had just got her hair colored before she came for her pickup.  Getting excited to go on a fun date with friends to prom!  The length was just where she wanted it to be - you could even see a peek of those cute silver shoes!  She plans to wear a white bolero shrug with the dress but did not have it for these pictures.  No worries - check out the rest of the pictures - so darling with the dress! 

Rockin' the dress in prom pictures!  So cute and yes that hem is perfect, don't you think?

A good hem can make all the difference...  :)

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PROM: Adding "Sleeve" Straps

Prom time!  I have loved the alterations I had to do this year!  I met some great girls at the high school where I costumed Singin' In The Rain.  They told their friends about me and I was blessed to do prom alterations for 4 out of 5 girls in this prom date group (incidentally some of the boys that were their dates were also involved in Singin' In The Rain - you may recognize some of them in the "after" pictures if you look closely... ;)

Here are the "Before" pictures of the 4 girls' dresses in this group.

She sent me this picture from the dressing room, asking me  if I could help her make straps.  Doesn't it look kind of coral-hot pinkish?  

Full length shot of the dress, before we add straps.  Just a look at the inside.  It was lined, but trickier than most dresses to get into.  I think the length will be fine for her.

Yes, her length is fine.  And it fits her everywhere else perfectly!  She just needs some coverage up top to feel more modest.  She would like a wide type of strap put on, almost like a sleeve.  It would give great coverage.  Now my job was to make it look like it was "born there".  (That is my cute 4-year-old peeking through the studio door, he loves seeing the beautiful dresses that come in for me to fix, and he knew her from SITR.)

Bodice shots - front and back - with pins marked for strap placement.  

Her mother had done some homework for me and brought several different 1 yard pieces of fabric that were possibilities to work.  Hot pink tulle was a must.  But it was too pink for the dress!  The dress has kind of a coral undertone to it, so she had brought me a piece of light coral organza also.  We layered them and determined it was a match!

One layer of coral organza and two layers of hot pink tulle was the perfect combination!

I fashioned 2 tubes out of the fabric layers and sewed gathering stitches to each end.  I then pulled up the gathering stitches very tight and squished the ends of the straps between the placement pin markings on the bodice.

I attached the straps to the dress and it was time for her fitting!  Everything was pinned into place exactly where it belonged!  (It's funny because this front picture looks like the straps do not match the color well.  But trust me it did, as the rest of the pictures will attest).  

Here is the image of the straps sewed into place (inside the lining - to help it look "born there") , laying flat on the table.   The pins at the top are the shoulder line that I marked when she was wearing the dress.  Now I need to bring the wideness together to our determined width.  So I gathered them up right on that shoulder line and secured it with a straight stitch.     

Straps are complete, shoulder is narrow now, and we are ready for the next fitting!

Front view and back view.

Exactly what she wanted!!  Looks perfect on her, and so much more flattering!  It adds personality to the dress that suits her, too!!  Born there?  I would say - yes!

Happy beautiful girl!  And look - the hem length is perfect with those shoes!

Prom day - taking pics!  Love this one of her with her mom!

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SINGIN' IN THE RAIN costumes: DON LOCKWOOD'S "RAIN" JACKET

Probably the most popular or at least well-known scene from "Singin' In The Rain" is the scene where Don Lockwood sings.  In the rain.  Am I right?  Even if you have never seen the movie or the play, you know the song.  

Here is our cute Don Lockwood, he let me quickly shoot this pic between scenes.    He is such a great kid - and he had CRAZY costume changes for his character.   I  never saw anyone work harder!

Google images:  from the 1956 movie with Gene Kelly.  His classic belted grey flannel suit  is iconic, to be sure.  What's funny though, is that if I wanted to get good pictures for design details, I could not get them very well from this scene.  But what I discovered was that those original costumers played a cute trick on all of us.  This suit is worn by two other characters before Don's rain scene.  The director Roscoe Dexter wears it and the producer R.F. Simpson wears it.  (It must have been a super popular style and they all wanted one...)  Anyway, I got the best details from those characters.  Don't believe me?  Go watch it for yourself!

   

There were no versions available of this suit jacket anywhere, online or otherwise, so I knew I would have to create it myself (so sad... ;).  I found a suit at the Goodwill for $10.99 that was huge so I could alter it down, and use fabric scraps to construct the important details.  This suit would be getting wet at least 7 times, so I made sure it was not made of wool, or it would definitely be ruined by all the water.  I tried it on our actor, and made the markings I needed.

I first hemmed the suit pants to fit our actor and cut off the excess, then pieced them together into a long strip.  This would become the belt.  Not shown, but I actually cut it in half again longways, and sewed those strips together to make a really long skinny strip.  Then, I cut an identical size piece of dark grey denim, and sewed it to the back to create my stiff belt.  You'll see more of this in a few steps.

I cut off the sleeve hems and removed the buttons.  I will make cuffs from these pieces later.  Then I turned the center front under.  To make a new center front that not only fit better, but was now higher, to look more like 1920s.  I folded under the hem to make it a little shorter and hit the right place on our actor's hip, to look "right".

Before I officially cut anything off, I soaped (my version of chalk is soap chips) out my character "lines".  These were details that would have been part of the original coat pattern but I had to "apply" them to make it look like it was done that way.  I made sure the new bottom hem was going to be perfect, and that what I cut off would be a wide enough piece to create those said chest pattern details.  I checked that my belt piece would go around and overlap like I wanted it to.  Yep - check.  Now to cut everything off.

Here you can see the hem cut off - I serged that edge and turned it under, then topstitched it down.  The sleeve cuffs are attached and topstitched at the edge to keep them standing up (Yah, it's not pretty construction that I normally do, but it's costuming, you can get away with that...)  The new center front line is stitched in place.  I pressed the new collar roll line so it looked more natural to be higher.  

Then I added the belt.  All important for the right "look".  You can see I backed that strip I cut off earlier from the hem, with a stiffer denim.  I created a nice pointed end for the belt overlap and that is where I started my wrap around the jacket waistline, leaving a little hanging off, to start.  I just pinned it every few inches, then when I got around to the other side, I tucked it under the center front and stitched it down.  

Here are those details finished.  Also, I added buttonholes, then buttons later.  And remember when I had the bottom hem folded under and said that I would use what I cut off to make those "details"?  Well, that narrow cutoff piece became these cool strap-things that flow from the shoulder into belt loops - cool huh? 

I don't know why but this upside-down view helps us see the details better.

Whaddya think?  Not too shabby a transformation for a Goodwill suit, eh?    

And he is just a marvelous Don Lockwood - he does the suit proud!

Let's see him in action, singing in the rain...

No wonder Kathy Seldon found him irresistible, right?!

{FYI, I was the Costume Director for Ponderosa High School's "Singin' In The Rain".  This play was directed by the fantastic Geoffrey Reynolds - look for us on Broadway one day ;) ;) }



Thank you for joining me on my costume journey...stay tuned for more!

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