The Red River

My parents used to take us on day trips. Once my dad said, I’m taking you swimming. Something he never said or did. But once, he actually did. He took us about 20 miles to the Red River.  In my 10 year old mind, I could have been Red River Colorado; instead it was only the river that separated Oklahoma from Texas.  I remember my Dad  fishing, while we played in the muddy red water.  We came home with clay red under wear and socks. And so much sand in our shorts  it chaffed us. For some reason, this trip was not fun.  The ride back was no fun either. We rode in the back of the pickup camper shell. It was hot even with the slat windows cranked open.  The air was ripe with the smell of fish and dried bait.  I was glad we never went back to swim in the Red River again. 

Hamilton sewing project.

Our friend Kevin asked for some help with his first contest, Mr. Club Changes.  Kevin is an actor and teaches at a local Fine Arts Academy. We attended two of his plays at local community theatres. He and his husband Chris enjoy going to Club Changes.  Kevin was inspired to enter the contest.  Kevin likes the new Musical Hamilton, I must admit, I was not familiar myself when I started the project.

I remembered Hamilton from the Tony Awards.  Kevin has chosen the character King George. The musical selection is King George who sings “You’ll Be Back” in the show. I asked him to send me a few pictures.  I was instantly over whelmed at the detail. What had I gotten myself into?  I generally do not make men’s costumes.  I told him I would call him after work that day. It was a Tuesday. The contest was on Saturday.  We spoke by phone and I got an idea of what he wanted. I told him yes, I could do it but it was short notice. I would have to start right away. I was able to get fabric that evening and found a selection of trims that might work.  Scott was helpful in helping me picking up on the details of the reference photographs. The costume needed to look authentic and professionally made. It would be a true challenge. I was pressed for time and I didn’t want to let Kevin down.

I found a pattern for a revolutionary war era costume.  I would change a few coat details but it could work. The costume would be three pieces. Coat. Vest and Pants. The shirt would need to be white and ruffles could be added. Kevin got out easy, he would need socks, shoes and wig/crown for the character. I would also have to find fabrics that would be regal. The costumes from Hamilton were red satin or possible silk. But on a budget I found a red suiting fabric that would work.  The trims would need to be wide.  I found some ivory woven trims and used gold fabric paint to transform them in to gold. After the jacket was completed, it would be painted with gold glitter fabric paint to give the look of gold threads. I worked in the coat first, as I knew it would be the most time consuming.  The sleeves were cuffed with large folded cuffs trimmed in more large gold painted trims.  I added stiffness to the cuff with interfacing.  The coat also had red buttons and gold ribbon loops on the opposite side of the front opening.  This was also mimicked on the sleeves as part of the decoration. The red and gold really made the costume take on a regal look.  I now had to make the vest and pants.

Rather than build a complete vest, I used a manufactured vest and refaced it with the same red fabric as the coat. I used fusible web spray adhesive to bond the fabrics together. I trimmed it with gold bias tape and top stitched the arm holes.  You have not lived until you have to sew new button holes over the top of existing button holes.  (That was supposed to be sarcastic.)  I used double fold bias tape was used to hide all the raw edges.  The same gold painted trim was added to the vest.

The pants were made by following the pattern. I added elastic inside the waist band so they would be easy to put on. I added 1 inch elastic to the calves, since the style is short pants.  This worked out well. 

I found white ruffles with red edges.  I created trapezoid shaped ascot, which was tied in the back with strips of bias tape.  I added ruffles two inches apart in rows across the ascot.  I used the same ruffles on the sleeves of a dress shirt. I added two rows sewn together along the inside and outside of the sleeve.  This ruffle would be showing past the cuff of the coat. The double rows added fullness.

The costume was finished on Saturday afternoon, and I was very pleased with it. I worked very hard on it.  I had never tried to make something like this. Kevin was pleased as well.  He did very well in the contest, and his talent was the highlight of the contest.  Needless to say, he won!  

Hamilton Costume

Broadways Hamilton, King George

Costume created by Mattie Madison 

Jacket construction - back

pattern cutting

Costume pattern

Kevin Paris as King George

Ruffles added to a white dress shirt

Vest refaced in Red with gold piping

Trims were painted with gold fabric paint. They were originally ivory. Then were hand painted with glitter paint to make them look like gold thread. 

white shirt and jacket before pressing and lining was added.  Event he lapel flower was hand made.  

I made a new dress

ME and my friend Chris

I made a great Wonder Woman dress last week. I have worn it twice and it has been a hit in both events. I have noticed that there has been a surge in graphic print clothing.  These fabric pants have been an inspiration lately. 

Korina, Mattie and Scott.  I am wearing my Budweiser dress.

BACK OF DRESS

I saw some Budweiser sleep pants that were made of a knit material similar to fabric that is used for t-shirts. They are very soft and comfortable.   It is light and breathable and best of all it has some stretch. I bought the men’s sleep pants in a 2xl.  I wanted to have the larger size because it had the most material to work with.  I then deconstructed the pants by cutting all the seams and trimming off the elastic waistband and draw string. I set these aside to use later.  I laid the cut fabric out flat, and face to face.  I then laid out my favorite simple knee length pattern.  This dress was sleeveless because, there is only a limited amount of fabric.  But if I wanted to do a long sleeve, I guess I could have brought two pair of pants.  I was able to make a dress out of this printed fabric and I serged the seams. Hemming the dress was easy, as only the neckline and arm holes needed to be done. The bottom of the dress was already hemmed, because it was actually the bottom of the pant legs.  I used the waistband section of the pants to make a stretch belt. I also stoned it with red rhinestones stones just to dress it up a bit.

Top with ties at shoulders

My Wonder Woman dress

It was just a little different with the wonder woman fabric dress. I deconstructed the pants only to find, that because they were woman’s pants that they were too short.  Oh no!  So I added some red fabric and made the yoke of the dress red.  It surged together well.  I deconstructed the remnants of the waistband farther. I removed the drawstring.  It was a red flat woven cotton strap. It had a single white stitch pattern on it.  I used the two sections of red strapping to tie a loose bow on the top of each shoulder.  It created a cute and feminine touch to the dress.  I was very pleased with how my Wonder Woman dress turned out. 

a thought

When I was a kid, my dad liked taking us fishing. We would get up ready early and stop for bait. We would also stop for snacks. Usually that might be a loaf of bread and peanut butter or cans of potted meat and crackers.  Cans were sealed and did not have to be kept cold. That was most convenient.  I used to take cracker crumbs and feed the schools of minnows in the water. And sometimes the duck too. My daddy said it was wasteful, I saw it as sharing. 

showcase my creativity

I’ve been trying to be more creative in my show costumes. I have been learning some better drawing skills for garment design.  I’m so proud of how quickly I have been able to sketch designs now.  Understanding the human form has been helpful.  I will try to add some pictures to this blog of my work with movement and form.

 I have been sewing more. I was kind of in a slump for a while.  One of my more recent concepts was an Asian inspired dress. I found an amazing heavy weight stretch fabric. It was white with a metallic colorful floral print.  Scott helped me mix the music. I ordered some hair accessories and even rhinestoned  chop sticks to put in my hair. I used the color red for a strong accent color. I wore bright red jewelry and red gloves and shoes.  I felt so amazing.  I even camped it up a bit and passed out fortune cookies when the crowd tipped me.  I played coy and placed them in their hands.  I really had a good time with it.  I felt beautiful and felt like no one could ever do what I do in that moment. I think that is the key to being a successful drag queen.  You have to find a way to do what no one else can do.  I felt original.

I have many other concepts that I want to try next. This will allow me to push myself.  One such idea is a star wars theme. I want to be Princess Leia. And I have some ideas for the music.   I also want to be Maleficent. In fact, the costume is now done and it looks great. The only set back is that Scott has been out of town, and I don’t have music for it yet.  Hopefully we can sit down work on it this weekend. 

I love to sew show gowns and character costumes. I have a Dorothy wizard of Oz costume that I made last year. I found a musical parody version and made the costume to go with it.  I even had a basket and stuffed dog Toto.  It was so much fun.  I even had ruffle socks and red glitter shoes that I ordered online.

I also made two puppets to use for a show. I did the opening casino medley from Sister Act the movie.  We ( the puppets and I ) were all dressed the same.  I learned to lip-sync and puppeteer with both hands.  It was so challenging. But I got really good at it.  A friend told me that my puppets were the best he had ever seen.  I too, thought they turned out great and looked professional.  The hardest part is putting on two puppets, it takes some help to make sure they are straight and the clothes are hanging correctly.  Scott was helpful the two times I did the act.  I have aspirations to do a similar concept where it is me and two puppets dressed as nuns.  I have the fabrics, I just need to get busy on the construction. 

Annie Jr- a learning expreicence

I was asked recently to help with a school production of Annie Jr.  My friend Kevin is the drama teacher at a local Fine Arts Academy.  I met him about a year ago.  He was at a drag show and we became friends.  He wanted some help with hair and makeup for his play.  The students were in charge of creating a look for each character.  I borrowed some wigs from a friend. It really made the characters looks very professional.  The kids had a four day run. Over all it was six performances. I enjoyed helping the kids back stage and getting to know the teachers from the school.  There was only one hiccup when a particular student was resistant to my suggestions.  She had some attitude about it. I spoke to Kevin, the director and he was able to speak to the students. It felt good to know he had my back.  It was resolved quickly.

We made it through the production without any other issues.  Except with the light went out.  On Saturday, I arrived at 1pm for the first show. The theater was dark, and it seemed odd.  I found one of the teachers, a friendly woman who was the stage manager for the play.  She told me a car accident nearby, knocked out the power for the nearby down town area.  The theater was on backup power only.   Kids were half in makeup but unfortunately the 2pm show was cancelled.  There was some confusion about if the 7pm would happen. The electric company was working to restore full power.  The kids, who had been double cast, were willing to let other take the role for the night, because they had family coming to watch. I thought that was very considerate.  I went for a late lunch with friends and by 5pm the power was back on.

  I worked with mostly with the principle actors. I help them don wigs and touch up makeup.  I got to know a few of them, and could tell they were very talented.  As a group the orphans were so stinking cute.  You could tell they put their hearts into it.  The Miss Hannigan actress was very professional. She had a big personality that really fit the character.  My favorite was the actress that played Lily. She was so nice backstage and looked so pretty with a face full of makeup.  She let me work on her wig and it really looked great.

It felt good to show my makeup skills and be among students who have a similar passion for creating characters and bring it to the stage.  After all that is what drag is to me.  I am an actor too.  The fine arts school is amazing. They nurture the students’ abilities in acting, dance and singing.  We didn’t have any schools like this when I grew up.  If they had, I would have wanted to attend there.  I guess not everyone has those advantages.  The closest I got was being in one act play.  I must not have been very good, I only got minor roles.  I wish my teacher had shown more interest in me. It’s great to see how Kevin relates to his students.  The world needs teachers like him. I hope he is pleased with my help.  It was a learning experience and I enjoyed it. 

I have some pictures, but I don't feel I should post them. The students are under 18 and I don't have permission. 

my sewing history

A little bit of my sewing history.  I started sewing at a young age. Maybe 5 or six.  My mom would cut fabric for blouses or sometimes pants.  I would take the scraps and make things that I thought would be useful.  She taught me how to sew by hand using a few simple stitches. I paid no mind to matching threads, but used whatever I could find in my mother sewing things. She had a pair of black handled scissors made of heavy metal.   I used them to cut the fabrics in to shape, I imagined was a good size.  I made small pouches about the size of an envelope. I remember one was made with red fabric, and sewn with white thread.  I would add a button to fasten a button to close the pouch.  Unfortunately, I learned that the stitches were too far apart and the money would fall out.  Like many sewing project, it was trial and error.  I would keep trying to make things, including clothes for my teddy bear.

My mother used an old black singer machine that I was not allowed to touch.  It was heavy and painted with gold scroll work and the SINGER name across the arm. It was electric, but belt driven. It had a funny looking plug with prongs on the machine end of the power cord. Another wire that led to the power pedal.   I’m sure she bought it second hand, perhaps at garage sale.  I really don’t know. And sadly she is not here to ask. I would sit and watch for hours. I was trying to figure out how it worked. Thread turned in to fabrics into garments. My mother made clothes for herself, mostly because stores did not carry plus sizes. And those stores that did, cost too much money. This was a problem, I can relate to.

 I learned that turning the wheel raised and lowered the needle.  The more you depressed the pedal, the faster it would sew.  Even today, I love to sew fast.  I imagine, it similar to the rush a driver may get from slamming on the gas on the straight away. I learned how to thread a bobbin. Which, as a kid, I thought bobbin was a funny word. Mostly because the guy at the full service station was named Bob.  He was friendly and good at pumping gas, but he didn’t seem like a guy who would sew. ‘Bobbin’.  I guess little things like this are funny when you are five years old.  My mother sewed for years. She would make curtains and jackets. She made scrubs for nurses at her work. She made aprons and smocks too.  She many times would buy fabrics for blouses and spend the money on store bought things like the pants.  

I learned to mimic patterns, the way she had. She might buy a blouse and copy style using other fabrics.  She would sometimes make her own patterns.  Today, I can look at something and go, I bet I can make that.  Then I will go home and make my version of it.  I learned a lot that way.

When I moved out, my mother had stopped making clothes. That was about 1997. Her eyes got bad and she couldn’t see well enough to sew anymore. She one day I asked if I could borrow her old machine.  This machine she had  then was bought about ten years old.  She gave it to me. She said, “if I need it again. I will ask for it back.”  I had the feeling that maybe she was not ready to give it up permanently, but it would be permanently.  I don’t recall her ever sewing again.  I used that machine to make some of my first dresses and costumes.  Like most everyone, they were very basic. I was teaching myself as I went.  I sewed on that machine for three years. On Christmas 2000, GW bought me a new one. Imagine my surprise!  Soon to follow was a cutting table. No more laying it out on the floor, like a cave man.  I was developing a skill that would allow me to make extra money and show off new garments that I had made myself.  I went from sewing homemade dresses, to a level of  creative custom dresses and costumes.