Rubbish Sewing Machines on ebay!

Well, my machine has given up the ghost. Right in the middle of a project it stopped never to be started again.

Now to be fair i only paid £54 for this machine when I first got to the UK. I was assured by the notice that came with it that it was all in perfect working condition. It’s no more than 6months so it is still a little bit annoying.

I am in two minds as to whether I should name the seller, but since there is no model name, it just came from Joy’s sewing machines, i think I have no choice.

From the begining it sounded like and sewed like a toy machine. It was never very good and was very picky about what thread it would allow through – something i have never experienced in a decent machine. Never the less I have soldiered on and sewn – taking much more time than necessary on projects as i had to stop and rethread every 20cm or so – frustrating.

The only thread it likes is gutterman which is fine but a very expensive hobby. It came with a roll of thread that was supposedly used on the sample that was under the presser foot, but when I tried to use it it just kept breaking – because it was rubbish thread.

Now on Tuesday night when it died, my partner Aaron looked on the net to find out something about it. Something I should have done before buying it.  he couldn’t find a single piece of positive feedback. Everyone on Sewer’s Forum has had the same problems. Most of them have tried to get something done about it by Joy’s to no avail. I have decided that since it would cost me £60 to get it serviced (plus parts) it wasn’t worth it and bought a new Janome. (This arrived this morning and I will let you know how it goes when I get a chance to have a play).

All I want to say is when looking at amazingly cheap sewing machines on ebay, check for the company “Joy’s” and if they are attached to it, run screaming in the opposite direction.

A statement of Purpose and Ethics for Costumers

The Costumer’s Manifesto: (A statement of Purpose and Ethics for Costumers)“I am a Costumer, I make clothes for imaginary people.” —Celestine Ranney, 1982

I. When I costume, I am not a fashion designer nor a clothing manufacturer, but a builder of character, concept, and physical movement.

II. I, above all, work with Actors: I help them build their character from without, even as they build it from within. I do not complain about the shape of their bodies. I create the shape we need, and/or build a visual representation of the character that suits the existing body. I am aware of their movement needs and I facilitate them.

III. I work under the guidance of Directors: I help them visually represent their conceptual ideas in physical form. I create clothes for the inhabitants of the world they envision.

IV. I am inspired by the words of Playwrights and Scriptwriters: I try to bring alive the script by transforming the words of the text into visual metaphors. Words, especially poetry in the text, need a visual equivalent that supports the mood of the script without distracting from it.

V. I collaborate with the other Designers, seeking to bring our collective vision together so it works in harmony. Costumes do not exist in a vacuum, but on a set, among properties and furniture, sound, and light, as part of a consistent visual representation of an invented world.

VI. Whether I am in the position of stitcher, cutter, dyer, crafts worker or designer, I remember that what I am doing is contributing to the greater whole of the production, and must be done with an aesthetic sense in keeping with the performance, not merely my own whims. Designers, therefore, need to communicate the shows design to all the other costumers involved in the process as clearly as possible, so that when design decisions are made at any level of the process, from buttons to butt padding, they reflect the needs of the show or film as a whole.

VII. I assist the Audience in understanding the story and characters. In performances where spectacle is required, I make the costumes astonish and entertain, but when the audience should be more aware of the other elements of the performance, I will try to make the costumes recede to the background, without personal vanity.

VIII. I study the history of fashion and dress, no matter what my position in a costume studio, so that I can better replicate the styles of clothing of the past when needed. However, I will remember to avoid mindlessly copying old fashion plates, but instead keep in mind the key elements of character and concept, and select or adapt those fashions to suit the individual production.

 IX. I am aware that my work consists primarily of adapting and reinventing pre-existing styles to do a functional purpose: cover a body. I know then that what I build is not legally subject to copyright law, and I will not winge and whine if another designer is, in turn, inspired to reuse elements, even a majority of those elements, from one of my designs in their work. I will accept this as flattery if anyone does so. 

X. Costuming is a fun profession, and I endeavor at all times to keep it that way by remembering the feelings of all my collaborators. At no time should actors feel their bodies are being criticized in a fitting, nor should a student, worker or volunteer be treated as slave labor, nor should a director or another designer be bullied into an unwanted design decision. A desire for excellence is good, but the desire should never be pursued to any degree that ignores labor law, common courtesy or civilized collaboration. —–Tara Maginnis, 8/18/2002

The Beautiful work of Mr Phillip Rhodes and Ms Jocelyn Creed.

Any designer knows that without talented craftspeople to make your vision come to life, there is no point putting pen to paper. I have been fortunate enough to have worked with many of these people and I am very grateful for their work.

All of these gorgeous hats were made for me by a friend of mine. The very talented Mr Phillip Rhodes – Milliner Extraordinaire, gave his up his time to make these beautiful hats for a production of “Hello Dolly” that I designed again for an amateur theatre company in Melbourne Victoria.

This was a very low budget production and the wonderful thing about Phillip’s hats (apart from how spectacular they are) is that these ones were all made using off cuts and scraps of fabric from the dresses we made. It is very true to say that Phillip’s work finished the frocks off perfectly.

Many people worked hard on this show with me. Another friend of mine – Jocelyn Creed – made all of Dolly’s frocks. Both Phillip and Jocelyn are professionals that were happy to make these for nothing for me because, apart from anything else, they love what they do and in Australia there is not a huge opportunity for such talented people.

It is very frustrating to see talent like this go unused.  There is so much talent of this calibre in Australia and a large percentage of it is being wasted.  People such as Sarah Douglas, Claire Lambe, Sue Ferriman, Kelly Farrow and Rosalinde Surace all of whom spend there time doing work for lots of gratitude but little money while we should be celebrating them as great artists.

We need to start celebrating and appreciating the work of these people and all of the other costumers world wide who are yet to get their due..

“GASTON!” From Beauty and the Beast

This video is also from the 2006 Whitehorse Musical Theatre Production of Beauty and the Beast.

In the number “Gaston”, there are only human characters. Even though this was a nice break from all of the “creature” outfits we had to make, there was still a lot of work involved.

Every costume was made from scratch. This is included hats, shirts, trousers/breeches, waistcoats, jackets, bodices you name it. We even bought or had boots made especially – a very costly but very effective thing to do. I always think that a lot of costumers forget the shoes. It more than likely comes down to budget restraints in amateur companies, but you will find that some large companies – for example The Melbourne Theatre Company- often don’t put the time into footwear that they should and as a result end up with a slap-dash finish. I know I am going to get crucified for saying that but hey, it’s only my opinion.

Keeping to a “Disney-esque” style, I mixed periods a little in Beauty and the Beast. I tried to stay mainly around a cartoon version of an eighteenth century look. The Villagers and the “Silly Girls” are basically 18th century combined with some modern fabrics and hairstyles. You will find touches of the Victorian period all through as well as some Elizabethan styles among some of the male villagers. This doesn’t always work I guess, but I think that by using similar fabrics and colours, I was able to create a “familiar” look set in a “non-period”. Obviously this is only suitable for certain shows, but it was something I enjoyed doing and look forward to doing again. I think that in a lot of musicals, period accuracy doesn’t always have to be the most important element of a costume design.

I have to say an enormous thank you to Shane Munsen, who – as well as playing the role of Gaston- styled an enormous number of the wigs for me.  While I am on the topic, this show wouldn’t have come abouts without the help of a lot of my friends who gave their time and talent to make this show look great. You know who you are.

A video from Whitehorse’s Beauty and the Beast – costumes by me

This is “Be Our Guest”, a number from a production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” that I designed the costumes for in 2006.  It was for an amateur theatre company in Melbourne, Australia.  

The budget wasn’t bad for an amateur company, but it was still limiting for the amount and type of costumes we had to make. Many things (the knives, forks and spoons, Cogsworth, Mrs Potts in particular) were made from “yoga mats” which are basically PEV foam but it is much cheaper to buy them from places like The Reject Shop for $2 a mat than from a proper foam supplier for $15 a sheet which is not much bigger than a yoga mat.

This does come with the problem of using contact adhesive which gives off some pretty horrible fumes. This foam can also be heated and moulded into different shapes – also giving off fumes but yielding a great result. We were lucky enough to have the use of a spray booth to do this in and with the assistance of masks and protective clothing we were able to come away from this relatively unscathed.

The beauty of this foam is that once it is joined – particularly in spherical shapes, it is self-supporting to an extent and doesn’t need any inner structure. This makes life very easy when having to come up with multiple costumes. This works up to quite large shapes. The Cogsworth costume was made entirely of this foam and except for the addition of a door made from timber and perspex and one support across the “hem” at the back of the jacket, was almost completely self supporting. It did require shoulder straps so that it would swing as he walked, but all in all it was a light and usable costume.

Mrs Potts, was made by a friend of mine, Kelly Farrow. The bottom of the “tea pot” is made with a “crinoline” base that she altered the bottom half of to come in towards the actresses feet. It was covered in polyester fibre and then in the fabric of the outfit. Her “bodice was made from the yoga mat foam and then covered in a layer of polyester fibre and the fabric of the outfit again. My description makes this sound like it was simple, but it was a lot of work and she managed to get it looking beautiful and hanging very well.