Portland Pilot's Dance Team

Basketball season is in full swing and the Pilot's dance team sent over a picture of the dresses we made for them this Fall. The dresses are athletic mesh lined with a white nylon tricot and finished around the neck, arms and base with a matte spandex. Our neighbors at KW Screen Printing did the logos and numbers on the back with a vinyl transfer. It was our first project that we sent to the printers in the middle of the build and it was a great success!

PartyDancerz!

Pamela of PartyDancerz contacted me because she was having a difficult time finding someone locally to make her dance costumes within the budget of a fledgling small business. I have never really made a cheer uniform before, but I knew that the pattern drafting was straight forward and I'm a whiz at sewing lycra, so I bid it out and the rest is PartyDacerz history!

The uniform is fundamentally a sport bra and the skirt is a circle skirt built onto a pair of trunks with a yoke waist, the secrets are all in the details, such as the rouched sideseams on the waistband, or the point at the center front. The top went through multiple redesigns and ended up a very nice halter. I graded the patterns to universal sizes and I mix and match the top and the bottom pattern sizes for each dancer.

I am excited that we will be collaborating on future dance costumes! For more information about PartyDancers and to book them for your events check out their website .

Leta's Bollywood Dance Costume

Dance costumes are a lot of fun to make. I really enjoy all of the glitz and detail of dance costumes compared to Regional Theater costumes, which tend to be based in reality. Leta found us on the internet and contacted us initially with a picture of the costume she wanted made and was delightful to work with because of her organization. After our initial meeting I sent Leta a list of the materials and yardage requirements as well as a list of suggested fabric stores to visit. Within a week we got together again for a fitting on the mock up and I was able to get started in the real fabric immediately.

Having all of the trims and and fabrics so early in the process made it really east to apply a lot of decoration with the pieces still flat. This helped us save time in construction by applying the trim by machine rather than by hand.

Due to the nature of Leta's routine, and most dance routines, fit was extremely important. It was crucial that the bra and trunks had a firm and supportive yet flattering fit.

So much FUN!

Spring's First Wedding Clothing!

Bride and Groom Tim and Alley put an add on Craigslist looking for custom made wedding clothes for their Steampunk style wedding in a zeppelin over San Francisco and I was so intrigued I sent them a link to M-Horton.com to take a look at Iggy's Steam Punk Wedding Dress as well as other designs. In our initial meeting they were really prepared with drawings, research collages and swatches of the fabrics they are interested in. This is a collage for Tim's waistcoat, which led us into some fun drawings and ideas!

We are talking about a high neck waistcoat with a double breasted V front and a lacing cutout up the center back. Tim has purchased his pants and shirt and is looking for just the right cravat and the vest fabric is still being found.

Allie found a rendering on the internet of the general idea of what she wants and complimented it with photo shop, magazine clippings and drawings. Allie is going for a unique corset shape, a waist cincher with a scooped back that conceals a train of trailing ribbons. We are also building an underskirt out of a fantastic light weight and buttery ivory wool which will very nicely compliment the forest green charmeuse overskirt. To finish it off we're working on what I call the "magic shirt" which is a delicate halter neck chiffon piece built on a foundation of the ivory wool. It poses a unique challenge and I'm currently thinking of building it to attach to the bra, check it out:

Allie is finishing off the look with ivory arm covers and goggles!

I really love making unique and beautiful clothing for creative people!