Hmmm... the first memory I have is with one of those little plastic child-size Singer machines with a real needle, and playing with that. I must have been about 6 at that point. As a child, my parents were convinced that I'd become a fashion designer, as I'd take old shower curtains and other fabrics and turn them into costumes.
My grandmother would help me out as a child, when I spent summers with her in the Midwest. In middle school and high school I did make a number of my own outfits... skirts and dresses that I actually wore. In my early 20's I took a design course at Wash. U. where I learned how to create a flat pattern from a sloper. I made a French Maid's costume one year for Halloween... I used a pattern, but did all the sewing entirely by hand. When I got married, I made my own wedding dress, since I wanted silk, and simple, and didn't see anything I liked that I could afford. My sewing has been a bit sporadic over the years, as I like to do a number of different things with my hands. I like ceramics, painting, gardening, and sewing (both machine and hand). At the moment, I'm working on an 18th century pair of stays. This past fall I found some fabric at a church flea market, that I thought would make a nice 18th century outfit, which I've wanted to do for a long time. I'm still working on the quilted petticoat, but have the gown done. I know it's not totally accurate, but I figure it's a first try and I can learn from what's wrong with it. I'm thinking that I may have to get into re-enacting just to have an excuse to wear all the stuff I'm making and want to make! Anyone know of any good groups in the Philadelphia area? Oh... I don't have any cats at the moment, but I'm definitely a cat person (and may end up adopting two stray kittens that have found a home in my mother's garage). Kristin On 5/22/06, Kahlara <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I remember from a young age having a "dress-up" closet made up of less than perfect vintage clothes my mother had picked up at the second hand store. There was one very yellow gown made of either silk or satin with a tulle overskirt and lace over the bodice that I remember well. So I guess I was interested in costume early on. My mother also made my costumes for ballet recitals, horse shows and halloween as well as some every day clothes, so she helped start my interest in sewing and making costumes. I used to make crude doll clothes, and as it was the fashion at the time, crochet ponchos for my barbie dolls out of doilies. My mom was just beginning to teach me to machine sew when she died so I am mostly self taught, scorning Home-Ec class to take drafting, and wood and metal shop. I've dabble in costume somewhat, even had a load of fun designing the set and costumes for a theoretical production of "Much Ado About Nothing" for a class in college, but it is only recently that I have gotten really interested in doing truely accurate period costume. And I have 4 cats, 2 horses, 2 gold fish and 1 dog. The cats provide way too much "supervision" and quality control. Annette M --------------------------------- Love cheap thrills? Enjoy PC-to-Phone calls to 30+ countries for just 2ยข/min with Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
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