I love making costumes. Sometimes I use commercial sewing patterns and sometimes I make my own.
My deep dive into Victorian costuming started after I read Gone with the Wind at the age of fifteen. I decided then that I needed a corset in the worst way, so I checked some books out of the library, studied them, and made a corset out of upholstery material and baling wire. It wasn’t bad for the mid-1970s and the resources available, to be quite honest.
Then, many years later, a friend who enjoys participating in theatre productions suggested that my husband and I might get a kick out going to the Great Dickens Fair in the Bay Area. You don’t need to have a costume to attend, but I’m a costume gal, so we had costumes–all of us. My husband, my daughter, my son, his girlfriend (now wife) and myself of course. I would come home from school and spend the evening sewing costumes–three Victorian dresses, two tailored coats, two dress shirts, two pairs of slacks, two brocade vests in a matter of two months.
I truly enjoy tailoring men’s wear so the Victorian jackets are the real deal–horsehair canvas, pad stitching on the lapels, inner pockets to hide anachronistic cell phones–as are the trousers and vests. The dresses are also fairly accurate.
In addition to Victorian costuming, I also make family Halloween costumes. It started when my daughter-in-law, needed a costume to fit a Disney princess theme at her work. She became Merida from Brave. The next year my son asked if I could make him Pennywise from the movie It. I did, making the costume from bits and pieces of other patterns. I even made the shoes using cheap running shoes as a base.
The next year he asked if I could make Captain Hook. Could I make Captain Hook? You bet. It’s actually one of my favorite makes, and it, too, is the real deal with all the tailoring details and an inner pocket for a cell phone.
I haven’t had much call to costume over the past couple of years, but now that I have grandkids, I can see a whole new era about to begin. My sewing machine and I are very excited!