A Short Costume History Part 1

Having been deemed as the writer with the most costuming experience, I am here to share with you–

A Short History of My Own Costuming Experience.

Part One: High School

It was in high school that I started making costumes for reasons that didn’t involve Halloween or theater productions. In fact, it was at this time that I started making costumes at all—previously, all my costumes had been purchased or made by my mother.

I made five costumes in my high school career.

The Jedi and Maid Marion costumes were made for themed dances. The pirate was a Halloween costume, and the others were just for fun.

By this time I’d had a few years sewing experience, but I certainly wasn’t very good—I knew how to run the sewing machine and how to put the pieces together, but I didn’t understand anything beyond those basics.

None of these costumes survive to this day. There’s not much to be said for them, either. They survived for what I needed them for, and were then promptly stuck in a box in my parents’ basement. The Jedi costume was taken apart and reassembled with new pieces at some point in the years afterward, and now the only part I have of it are the gloves. The same thing happened to the pirate costume, as pieces were lent off to sisters for productions and other needs. I still have the shirt from the Slytherin costume, and I think I’ll be reconstructing it somehow to make it spiffier. As for the two medieval-looking costumes, I have no idea what’s become of them. Presumably they are still in a box somewhere in my parents’ basement. Maybe someday they’ll be dug out like an archeological treasure, when I will look at them and say, “Oh man, these really are as bad as I remember.”

This is a list of sewing tips that I wish I had known when I made these costumes:

•Use proper sized seam allowances
•Finish all your seams
•Use thread the same color as the fabric
•Use patterns that you know fit you, or else make a mockup to be sure and fix the fit is necessary
•Be aware of how using stretchy knit fabrics versus non-stretchy woven fabrics will influence the fit
•Don’t try putting grommets into knit fabrics. It won’t work.

Stay tuned for part 2, in which improvement is imminent!

This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 3:59 pm and is filed under DIY, discussion, random. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.