Finished at last!
More than 40 yards of fabric, over 16 yards of sequins, almost eight spools of thread, five needles, three machines, and more hours than I can count and the costumes are Finished! After all the whining I’ve done, I’m afraid you won’t be satisfied unless these costumes look like they belong on the Rockettes. But, what can I say? We are from humbler stock. Just remember that sewing 1 yard of sequins = easy. Sewing 36 yards?? Not so easy. Threading one elastic? No problem. Treading 36 elastics? Ugh! So here they are…I didn’t sew the leotards, but I did everything else. I use confetti dot fabric a lot for costumes because it’s cheaper than sequins and easier to work with. It can gum up the machine if you’re not careful, but oddly, the serger has never had a problem with it. Now for the excuses…Mia will be wearing black jazz shoes instead of the white socks, by the way. And those pant legs actually do match up, she’s got them tweaked with her little tiptoe pose. I love the back detail on this leotard. Amy’s class is also doing a jazz dance to “Santa Clause is Coming to Town.” Her leotard is a red velvet and the skirt is more confetti dot, silver obviously. The hats are cheap felt (found online) and I sewed a row of white sequins along the white part that will hopefully show up better on stage than it does in the picture. And the back. (She just got out of the shower so her hair’s wet.) My last class is doing a Hip Hop number to “Night Before Christmas.” Fortunately Amy was the exact same measurements as one of the dancers in that class so she stood in as my dress form and my model. She was a good sport about it though she did get a bit nervous when I started pinning the hems. I’ve been sewing for my girls for nine and seven years and I’ve never, ever stuck them with a pin. Yet every time I have to pin anything while it’s on, they start whimpering and shrinking away from me like I’m going to suddenly go beserk and run them through. Sheesh, you’d think they’d have a little trust after this long. Anyway…Hip Hop costume front: The leotard is a solid silver that doesn’t photograph well. It’s picking up the floor, the wall, and the pants here but in reality, it’s a very clean silver. I’m told the girls really loved them when they got them last night. Here’s the back. Amy also found it necessary to pose. One of the reasons my daughters attend this studio is because this dance teacher believes that little girls should be little girls. The classes are not geared toward competition so there’s no pressure and everyone is very low key. If one of my girls decides dancing is her calling in the next few years, I may try to find a studio that focuses more on career-type training. But for now, they just want to dance and this suits us just fine. The other reason I chose it is that the teacher insists on modesty. That’s why the shorts and skirts are relatively long and there are no bare tummies or bottoms sticking out. The choreography is age appropriate and never calls for the girls to strut or shake their booties. We shared a recital hall with another studio last December and I was horrified to see three and four year olds prancing around on stage in tiny green bikinis shaking their fannies. It’s inappropriate at any age, but to see toddlers dancing that way was, I thought, very sad. So anyway, DONE! And I’ve unburied the dining room table. Yay!
Finally! I am so relieved. Now I can concentrate on other things. Like the three writing jobs I’ve been neglecting, or Christmas, or cleaning, or the children. Oh yeah, I have children! I’d almost forgotten.
Mia’s class is doing a jazz dance to “I Just Can’t Wait for Christmas.” The fabric that was such a pain to sew is stretch polyester and it does have a nice shimmer that matches the leotards. The sash is a gold sparkle confetti dot with an iridescent sheen.
The shorts are a crushed panne and I have no idea what the crop top is made from. Probably polyester. Isn’t it awesome though? It’s got the silver and various shades of purple all jumbled together. I had originally planned to do this costume out of a camouflage fabric but then I found this at Joanns and couldn’t pass it up. This is my favorite costume even though it took the longest to make.
2 Responses to “Finished at last!”
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November 29th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Wow. Great work. Congratulations!
November 30th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
The costumes look great! I’ll bet you did a happy dance when you got the last one done. I would have. Actually, no one would ever ask me to sew…it’s not one of my talents!