Another busy weekend down as I settle down to write this up! What another amazing weekend! I spent the weekend out of town celebrating years of dance (20 years of dance for Belladonna!) and drinking coffee and surrounded by positive wonderful women. I love how rich my life is, just filling my soul in so many good ways. PS – if you want one of these beautiful necklaces please check Bella’s etsy shop here for new necklaces. And my dear friend Donna and went to Shimmy Sista for shopping and Donna’s cymbal workshop followed by rehearsal. SO ALL THE DANCING- ALL THE TIME.
I also ate a caramelized walnut that looked a vaguely like a brain and with this picture of food comes the promise I will always keep it weird for you all.
And I’d like to take the time to introduce one of my cats- who is completely over me blogging tonight:
Okay- shennanigans over- all those words really mean- “not a lot of time to costume”- but I did manage to finished the beading on the belt swags on Thursday, I managed to get all the beads strung and then used up the last of the larger chain swags. My wonderful husband offered to go Friday to Michaels to return the unused beads and get some more chain. God bless that man- love of my life. Below are the swags set up for the last little bit of chain! I knew working Friday night so I wouldn’t have a chance to go get any- so I was very grateful he got it for me to wrap this up. Also- I am not sure I introduced my pillow? it’s a thing- and it’s horrific for beading- because it hurts my eyes- but it is perfect for what I need. So we are going with it. Judge me- I don’t care.
I came home from work and got ready for my gig, packed up my toys and headed out! I frequently take my projects with me since I have no idea of I will have substantial down time or not. Frequently this results in some variation of this: hookah sewing supplies and all the boxes of date maamoul- this is also the perfect place to sit to flip coals- so I’m the “coal bitch”- I’m extremely good at it if I do say so myself.
Since the swags were mostly done- the next biggest hurdle is that black center piece so I took my pliers and went to town bending up the little medallions
Once complete- I added the remaining chain- attached the medallion/button things to the belt and moved on to the fastners (All of them).
These are the hook and bars that I use (technically not hook and eye because its the long flat bar) and the big 7/8″ snaps. You CAN use regular hooks- I just prefer the flat hook and bar- use whatever works. Remember the smaller the hook/bar- the harder it is to fit it when getting dressed- you’re in a hurry and sweaty- twisting sideways over that ONE wonky chair and the coal heater in the back is trying to singe off your eyebrows. It happens- just make life easier for yourself with the larger hooks.
One of the things I really recommend too is making sure you have a solid 3+ overlap. 3-6″ is sort of the range you want to look for in terms of over laps . If you have 2″ or shorter you wind up with a lot of pressure in a small spot on your neck and it just makes for an uncomfortable costume. #learnfrommymistakes
Fitting the snaps/hooks is a trial and error process- I really prefer to set the end hook first- the bar second (or two if there are) and then snaps- do what works for you- it may be snap first- but I personally prefer using the end hook first. – then sort of filling in the blanks.
Please DO use more than one method. I’ve had a bar pop off- and the snap held me- and I’ve had a snap give way and the hook and bar held. It never hurts to have 2- I usually do 2 hooks and 1 snap. It makes me happy- and has never failed.
Final thing- do some jumping jacks in your costume- make sure that puppy is really in place- put your arms over head in a wildl violent manner- jump up and down- does the bra pop up? does the belt pop up? does your skirt shift? TRY IT OUT- NEVER. EVER. EVER.EVER go out in a costume you’ve never bounced and jiggled around in beforehand. It’s just a bad idea. You’ll feel so much better when you do it.
Final parts of costuming are the finishing touches- and they are easily the WORST part about finishing costumes. Not a formal survey- but seems to be a general consensus that this is the worst part- and in a perfect costuming world- I prefer to line my costumes with adorable and fun linings- then add the hook and eyes and snaps. Usually I get about half of it lined- throw the snaps and hooks on and call it a day. Maybe next week I’ll get to share that with you!
Short story long? Do what works for you and what you have time for- knowing that once they go on- and you dance in it- you’re likely to never touch it again other than repairs to get it functional. So proceed apace.
I have a few more little things to and line it and adjust some small details and she’s ready for next weekend. I had a trial mini run this weekend and I am very pleased with how this turned out. It’s not shiny, which is relevant to dark restaurants but regardless- I am extremely pleased and I am happy I got to share a this process with you all . I will have a wrap up post and some show pictures next weekend!! In the mean time:
Till next time fearless costumers!!
BrickHouseDesigns 