JLDA - Commission costumes 2, the Flintstones

After being commissioned to design and make the Geisha's, Jamie-Lee commissioned me to design and make a pair of duet costumes for a jazz piece by two of her elite dancers based on the Flintstones! These were due at the same time as the Geisha's due to the date of the competitions. 

This was a brilliant opportunity as it was more conceptual, and after working with Jamie-Lee on the design to make sure it was exactly as they wanted, we had the finished design of one sleeve with one short leg and one full length, with cut-outs at the front and back below the collar, in rainbow animal print lycra. It was also the first time I have gotten to make and use lycra bias binding which was a lot more fun then I thought it would be. Below are the costumes on final delivery!

JLDA - Costume Commissions 1, the Geishas

As you may have guessed from the title of this post, I was commissioned to design and make Geisha inspired costumes for the Jamie-Lee Dance Academy, and not just any but for a group of girls for a dance competition. This was an interesting challenge for me in designing a set of geisha costumes that needed to be as authentic as possible while still allowing the girls to dance a ballet routine in them - to keep the authenticity factor I ended up designing the fabric, as well as trying to get the gap between the back collar and nape of the neck. There was also making sure that there was a very clear crossover and 'obi' effect. Through designing the fabric I also discovered a brilliant company based in the Leicester that prints on a variety of fabrics and, bonus, does a bulk order discount which worked perfectly for this due to the amount I needed! Designing the fabric myself also worked out to be a blessing in disguise as fans were needed for each dancer, and so I was able to print out the design onto paper and attach it to sourced fans to get the required effect.

The Jester

In a first for me, I was commissioned to design and make a childrens dance competition costume! She is going to be performing as a Jester for the Jamie-Lee Dance Academy. After submitting the designs and getting approval, I started on the costume. This was not only my first time stitching lycra together in this way, but also has a hat that required stiffening and a prop that needed covering.  Initially the costume didn't have the yellow belt, however due to a growth spurt during the making process extra height was needed for the costume - and I do like it better.

The hat I decided to stiffen the same way I did the Tripitaka hat for Red Dragonfly Productions and used binca, making a short binca headband then stitching on the binca points, before effectively making a pillowcase effect using the lycra with the additional unfilled length of lycra at the back allowing the stretch to get it on over her head and stay on.