The Wedding Singer

The Wedding Singer opened last night and it's gonna be a hit. I started working on this show almost a year ago. When they announced the 2009/2010 season this was the only show I really wanted to be a part of and I was thrilled when the director requested me to do the costumes.

My first meeting with her was last August, so I've had a lot of time to think about it. Unfortunately they didn't cast the show quite so early so I was somewhat limited as to what I could do. But I did a lot of research and studied the script and worked on some costume plots and ideas.

About a month after my meeting with the director, I had another meeting with both the director and my friend Aly, who was going to be the choreographer. The dancing sounded like it was gonna be awesome and Aly suggested that I audition for the show as well.

So I ended up as costumer and as a principal dancer in the ensemble. Crazy.

This is by far the biggest show I've ever costumed. Not the biggest cast (Spirit of the Iao) and not even the most costumes to build (Sound of Music), but definitely the most costumes overall with some crazy things that needed to be done in/with them.

There were about 45 tuxes, 8 wedding gowns, about 4 quick-changes on-stage, a 12 person stripping sequence, 7 sparkly yarmulkes, 2 stunt doubles, 4 80's iconic couples, 7 bridesmaid's dresses, lots of hammer pants, 7 80's celebrity impersonators, not to mention many other crazy things.

This would have been a lot of work had I just costumed it, but since I was in the show I had to sew around the rehearsal schedule. I probably would have come out of this experience saner if I didn't have a regular job. That would have made things a lot easier.

It is nice to be in a show when you're the costumer. I can't blame anyone but me for what I was wearing (except the bagels, those weren't my idea). It was also easier to understand what needed to be done in the costumes when I could see how all the scenes and dancing actually worked. So there were advantages on both sides to being in the show and costuming it, but I hope I never do this to myself again.

If it were a smaller show with much fewer costumes maybe, but musicals probably not. I think after this I might have to take a season off from costuming...but knowing me I'll be right back at it sooner rather than later.

The Wedding Singer, Part I

The big show this summer is The Wedding Singer!! I am both costuming it and dancing in it, so I'm gonna be massively busy this summer. Here are a couple things I've done so far - we just had our first rehearsal so it's early yet. I'll try to post more if I remember to take pictures:



Fuchsia Scrunchie!



Taffeta bridesmaid dress!



Character collage! Obviously not a costume. This was for character development - I went abstract because I'm a dancer in the ensemble.

More 80's fabulocity to come!

Mini-Bloomers

I follow the Craftzine.com blog, and while most of it is knitting projects (I don't knit) or things for kids (I don't have kids) every once in awhile something pops up that intrigues me (that's how I found the Drunken Cupcakes). Last week it was Madeleine Mini-Bloomers from Colette Patterns.

I've made bloomers before for several different shows, but I would just take a regular elastic waist pant pattern and add elastic at the hem. The Madeleine Mini-Bloomers pattern was specifically intended for bloomers so the pattern was somewhat better than what I've made.

The elastic waist band was made with two rows of 1/4" elastic in separate casings rather than one 1" elastic band - helpful because sometimes the larger elastic can get twisted in the casing.



Also the ties on the hems were made with ribbons run through casings with buttonhole openings - very cute.



Here are the bloomers that I made:



While I have no idea what I'm going to use these for - maybe just to wear around the house - but the techniques that I learned will surely help me sometime in the future.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes!

St Patrick's day is nearly upon us and like a good little Irish lass I am throwing a party full of Guinness and other Irish delicacies.



For dinner I'm making Beef in Guinness, mashed potatoes, and mini walnut soda breads. For dessert I am making the famous (or infamous) Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes, or Drunken Cupcakes as they are called by my friends.

The recipe from Smitten Kitten makes chocolate, Guinness cupcakes with Jameson's whiskey ganache and Bailey's frosting - hence the Irish Car Bomb, which if you haven't experienced one is a shot of Jameson's and Bailey's dropped into Guinness then chugged before the Bailey's can curdle.

The cupcake recipe only calls for a cup of Guinness, so be prepared to drink the rest of the can/bottle. Also, I don't know how anyone can cook with Bailey's without sampling some for themselves, so the baking experience is a party in and of itself.



The ganache (dangerously chocolaty stuff - shown above) is poured into wells cut into the tops of the cupcakes.



I tried to be artistic and make shamrocks with the frosting but then the tip of my piping bag broke and oozing frosting forced me to take a more practical approach.

These cupcakes are amazing. They are moist and filled with chocolaty goodness. Plus they are full of alcohol - and that's always a plus in baked goods.

Buttercup Bag

From the Buttercup Bag pattern from Made By Rae:



Because I like a sturdy purse I added fusible interfacing to the lining, upper outer band, and handle. Because of the added interfacing on lining (and because I'm lazy) I sewed the lining in by top-stitching only.

Pete

Meet Pete:

Pete and I are headed to Egypt. This may be taken literally or it may mean that I’m going crazy, you’ll have to stay tuned to find out.

Pete is my friend Aly’s Choreography Lamb. I made Pete from a free lambkin softie pattern from allsorts. Pete is a “choreography” lamb because he is made from a “choreography” sweater (ie: a sweater worn while choreographing) which had a special meaning to Aly and was used in the creation of Ren’s quilt.

I will try to provide updates on the adventures that Pete and I have based on internet availability during our journey. However, you may just have to wait until we get back to find out what happened.

Mini-Lonestar

While making Annie's graduation Lonestar quilt I made one lonestar and decided that it was too small for the quilt I wanted to make. So, I made a second, larger lonestar. Since I had already completed the smaller lonestar I decided to use it to make a baby quilt for a coworker who was having a baby.

She knew it would be a boy so the blue lonestar would work great. I had planned to have it complete before this past Wednesday because we were going to have a shower for her at work, but she had the baby early, so I had extra time. I finished the quilt tonight, so I think I'll try to visit her this weekend.



For the quilting I stitched-in-the-ditch for the lonestar and used some decorative designs from my Fons and Porter's Quilter's Complete Guide and increased the size to better suit my lonestar.