In discussion with a couple of friends at the weekend, we fell to talking about when we started sewing. One friend is a re-enactor, the other a former wardrobe mistress for the National Theatre among other things. Both of them had started very early, making clothes for themselves and for dolls. And they did it for pleasure! (And I am a professional costume maker.)
Now I never made clothes for dolls that I remember. As a teenager I occasionally, and very badly, made the odd skirt or blouse for myself. I started work in the maintenance wardrobe of the RSC at 24, and the first serious making I did was in a rep company a couple of years later when I found it was part of my job as a wardrobe mistress to make the pantomime costumes. (I hate pantomime!) I got out of that very quickly, and went back to maintenance, eventually got married, had a son, and went to college as a mature student of 40 to learn to cut and make costumes. I discovered I was good enough never to have been out of work since I left college 20 mumble years ago.
But I still hate sewing up the costumes! I love the working out of what the customer wants, the choosing of the fabrics, the making of the patterns and cutting them out, (skip the next bit - the sewing up) love hand finishing, trimming, and fitting. But please could someone tell me where to get a magic wand to sew everything together?
Oh, and coincidentally to the sewing conversation, we wondered if it was a given that costume makers, whether professional, gifted amateur, or occasional maker, have cats? All the ones I know do.
Suzi (about to sew the 5th Mary Queen of Scots costume, and putting it off!) _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
