Most of my friends probably don't realize it, but I find sewing clothing quite boring. Seriously! But let me explain.
To me "clothing" is something I would wear just about every day: shirts, blouses, skirts, pants, etc. Even given my sewing skills I would much rather buy such things than make them. In fact, before I really got started with A Touch Of Magic Costumes I was commissioned to make a western-style shirt for someone. It turned out well and they really loved but, but I didn't enjoy the process at all. It was tedious and boring and I didn't feel any sense of satisfaction.
Costumes are a completely different story. I love playing pretend, indulging my creativity, and imagining something beyond our reality. There is a challenge in taking an idea, concept or character and bringing it into three dimensions, breathing life into it. My birthday is October 30th (I am NOT telling what year), and one of my nieces and nephews said that I must love dressing up so much because I was born the day before Halloween. Even if I'm not wearing it I love seeing the finished product. There is so much satisfaction in figuring out how to make something real that was previously only imagined.
I have been asked to make wedding dresses by a few people. I'm even looking forward to that! Again, there is creativity and it's something that you don't see around every day. Because of the design and the occasion I don't consider these to be "clothing". One couple is wanting to do an anime-style wedding with appropriate tuxedo and dress. Coming up with original designs will be challenging but still quite fun.
Want me to make something that you've seen in a comic book or movie? Bring it on! Want a day-to-day dress? Go to Wal-Mart.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
You Need A Starting Point
When I'm costuming, I have to start somewhere. Yes, I have patterns. But since most of my costuming is custom work based on a specific character I rarely have a pattern specific to the need. I'm not yet at the point of completely creating my own patterns with a computer program, but I've gotten darn good at taking existing patterns and modifying or mixing them.
Costuming is a creative process and you have to know where you're going in order to make a map to get there. For me it helps to have sketches, whether I make them or have them made. Here's a picture of my current "idea wall" with several of my works-in-progress.
And here's a close-up of the sketch my husband made with notes about my steampunk Cheetara costume.
My husband is quick to state that he's not an artist and that this is not to scale (those are not my proportions). But the sketch gives me an idea of where to start. With a picture at hand I can go through my patterns and find something that will meet those needs. Though the costume is still being created, you can see how it's starting to look like the picture.
Here's a sketch provided by one of my customers, based on an episode of Star Trek: Voyager.
And here's that costume in progress.
There's still a good bit of work to do, including modifying it to have that "dip" in the cleavage. But again you can see how a basic sketch give a costumer an idea of how to get started.
The difficult part is actually creating something from a sketch. And that's where the skill of the costumer comes into play!
Costuming is a creative process and you have to know where you're going in order to make a map to get there. For me it helps to have sketches, whether I make them or have them made. Here's a picture of my current "idea wall" with several of my works-in-progress.
And here's a close-up of the sketch my husband made with notes about my steampunk Cheetara costume.
My husband is quick to state that he's not an artist and that this is not to scale (those are not my proportions). But the sketch gives me an idea of where to start. With a picture at hand I can go through my patterns and find something that will meet those needs. Though the costume is still being created, you can see how it's starting to look like the picture.
Here's a sketch provided by one of my customers, based on an episode of Star Trek: Voyager.
And here's that costume in progress.
There's still a good bit of work to do, including modifying it to have that "dip" in the cleavage. But again you can see how a basic sketch give a costumer an idea of how to get started.
The difficult part is actually creating something from a sketch. And that's where the skill of the costumer comes into play!
Monday, June 25, 2012
Just Call Me "Tink"
Last week I was helping with a kids' drama camp. After a few days the children noticed that I always wore something with Tinker Bell and it became a game to them to "find Tink" on me. It was easy not to disappoint them as I am a teeny-tiny bit obsessed with a certain Disney pixie.
Did you ever wonder why I call this blog "Creatively Tink"? All of my friends (and even acquaintances) know that I love Tinker Bell. Over the years I've even taken on the nickname "Tink" and will answer to it as readily as my own name. Even so, very few people know the sheer depth of my love of Tinker Bell. Sure, they see me with clothes, purses and such, as well as see me use her as an online avatar and screen name. But you don't really understand until you set foot in my house.
And since you can't do that, let me share it with you. This is actually the first time I've posted a large part of my Tink collection online. Let's start with some wall pictures.
But that's only the start! There are very few places in my home that you can go without running into Tink.
You can even find her "hanging around" in a few places.
Warmed up now? Let me show you some of the shelves and true gatherings of my collection.
This shelf? All of those are journals and notebooks, every single one with Tinker Bell.
It doesn't end there! How about the kitchen...
And the bathroom...my husband painted it in a Tinker Bell theme, including glitter in the paint!
Okay, so that's the inside of the house. But the Tink experience actually begins before you ever walk inside.
And then there's what my husband has called the "Tink-mobile"....
So that's what you'll see around my home. What about me? Yep, I have some personal Tink items.
Pretty impressive collection, right? Well, this is only part of it! I have about 10 more bags and purses, numerous pairs of underwear and socks, dozens of shirts, and a couple of bins in storage containing items that I don't have room for. We've tried counting everything a few times but always gave up. Our best estimate is that I own somewhere around 700 individual items related to Tinker Bell. Yes, 700! I think that I've gone just a bit beyond "really liking" Tink. In fact, I am sometimes bemused when someone sees me wearing something with Tinker Bell and they say "Oh, I love her also!" Somehow I doubt that their "love" quite reaches the point of my obsession. Yes, obsession is probably the best description for my little problem.
Hi, my name is Stacey. And I'm a Tink-a-holic. Better yet, just call me "Tink".
Did you ever wonder why I call this blog "Creatively Tink"? All of my friends (and even acquaintances) know that I love Tinker Bell. Over the years I've even taken on the nickname "Tink" and will answer to it as readily as my own name. Even so, very few people know the sheer depth of my love of Tinker Bell. Sure, they see me with clothes, purses and such, as well as see me use her as an online avatar and screen name. But you don't really understand until you set foot in my house.
And since you can't do that, let me share it with you. This is actually the first time I've posted a large part of my Tink collection online. Let's start with some wall pictures.
But that's only the start! There are very few places in my home that you can go without running into Tink.
You can even find her "hanging around" in a few places.
Warmed up now? Let me show you some of the shelves and true gatherings of my collection.
This shelf? All of those are journals and notebooks, every single one with Tinker Bell.
It doesn't end there! How about the kitchen...
And the bathroom...my husband painted it in a Tinker Bell theme, including glitter in the paint!
Okay, so that's the inside of the house. But the Tink experience actually begins before you ever walk inside.
And then there's what my husband has called the "Tink-mobile"....
So that's what you'll see around my home. What about me? Yep, I have some personal Tink items.
Pretty impressive collection, right? Well, this is only part of it! I have about 10 more bags and purses, numerous pairs of underwear and socks, dozens of shirts, and a couple of bins in storage containing items that I don't have room for. We've tried counting everything a few times but always gave up. Our best estimate is that I own somewhere around 700 individual items related to Tinker Bell. Yes, 700! I think that I've gone just a bit beyond "really liking" Tink. In fact, I am sometimes bemused when someone sees me wearing something with Tinker Bell and they say "Oh, I love her also!" Somehow I doubt that their "love" quite reaches the point of my obsession. Yes, obsession is probably the best description for my little problem.
Hi, my name is Stacey. And I'm a Tink-a-holic. Better yet, just call me "Tink".
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