And finally, our finished Cyd Charisse!

While there are a bunch of things on this costume I’d tweak if I could, and I could definitely put MOAR GLITTER/SEQUINS/SPARKLIES on this sucker, I’m happy with the result. Everything fits as it should.

Jasmine in the photos is the dancer it was made for, and I made it in a knit fabric so it could stretch and move with her. I shortened the shoulder straps to 13 inches, and I put re-enforcing fabric under the stretch sequins so that it gave her better support. (Before I did that the top was threatening to spill her out, and that isn’t acceptable!!) There is a built in elastic bra lining which, honestly, probably gives no support whatsoever, but it helps the silhouette of the overall top, and keeps her in when she moves, so that’s all that matters.

I used a bit of the stretch elastic and added a snap to make a quick choker. If I had had time, I would have made her a sleeve for the left arm with all the bands/bracelets Cyd wears. Hell, given another month I probably would have done a ton more to this, but I think my boss would have finally thrown up the red flag, as I had taken quite a bit of time on it already. (We won’t tell her I worked on it at home. Lets be honest, this dress took a lot of planning to work out the kinks, and it deserved the time, whether I got paid for it or not!)

I can’t wait to go to the play and watch her perform! I’m super excited, I hope everything works out well!

Cyd Charisse Dress Day… I think I lost count…

Yeah, wow, more than 40 hours later, we have something that is actually a DRESS! I can’t wait for the dancer to come and try this on. I’m hoping that everything fits alright. I’m not happy with the elastic sequin straps, but there isn’t much I can do about it. I took the leotard pattern and made a lining for the back, as well as the front, so that I could sew the movable upper straps into the bodice cleanly. Instead of making a lot of flaps and sewing them down to the bodice, I’m going to suggest the outlines with more of the fabric glitter and glue.

I need to sew on the last gemstones on the back and front, and then glue glue glue!

Cyd dress, Day 3

I’ve snapped a couple needles today attaching the sequin trim. I think I’m going to put the trim on every other piece of the skirt, to save more time and materials (and needles… I jump EVERY.SINGLE.TIME… I have nightmares of needles in the eyes!!!). My goal tomorrow is to complete every piece of skirt and the torso pieces as well, because I have realized I can’t really put the main body of the dress together until I get all those flaps done. At the moment that is 16 pieces I believe. At least I have everything cut out at this point!

I also have glitter EVERYWHERE. EVERYWHERE I tell you. AHHHHH!!! WHAT WAS I THINKING! Oh, but look how sparkly it is! And no beading required! I will just have to sweep and vacuum like crazy when this is all done. I’m using a fabric glue from Joann’s, with Tulip green glitter over it. After two hours of drying, there is minimal glitter shedding.

But there is still SOME… I will probably be finding glitter everywhere for a while. In my ears… my hair…

No one should poop glitter. Sigh.

By the way, if anyone is wondering what the heck this is from, watch this video:

Cyd Factory!

As you can see, I’m plugging away at the Cyd costume! I have all the pieces done for the plain “modesty” underskirt. I have 14mm square gemstones that I’ve started sewing onto the “over” panels. I am going to make a stencil for them, and use puff-glue and glitter to make the designs. This is a fast version of the costume after all, I don’t have time to bead 32 panels!!!! Plus as a rental, you want to make a costume as tough as possible.

I’m using the green knit fabric and some interfacing to help them maintain shape, I’m going to sew the skirt panels to a belt that I will attach sequin edging to. I can’t wait to see how it looks when its all finished!

So much going on! Quick update for May:

And so starts my busy season! ALL THE COSTUMES! ALL AT ONCE! I’m doing a quick and dirty version of the green flapper dress that Cyd Charise wore in Singing in the Rain. So far I have a green stretch knit, sequin trim and I’ll make the gemstones with puff-glue and glitter rather than hand-sewing on a million beads. I love the dress, and I wish I had months to do it all by hand like some of the fabulous cosplays I’ve found online, but I’m on a time-crunch.

I’m still working on my Cesi “Doc” Eirriss costume (I got my orange twill and my coverall pattern, Hopefully I can start cutting SOOOOOON), as well as gathering the materials for my Padme Picnic dress (A sweet soul on the Jedi Council forums sent me a bag of 4 petal off-white sequins… OMG SO AMAZING!) I’m on the hunt for the right crinkle chiffon, ribbon, etc. I’m going to use metal clay to create the brooch with Swarovski crystals, and crochet my own snoods.

I can’t stress networking enough. It is SO IMPORTANT. You might find a piece to a costume that you never knew you could get! WEEEE! I never thought I could get those sequins, and BAM! Now if only I could find the ribbon for the forehead piece…

Oh, and historical re-enacting season is upon us, lets not forget the historically accurate costumes I will be working on during the spring/summer months!!!