#alteration

Now that our beautiful Bride is married, I can finally share the photos of her gown. This was a tricky alteration because the dress had to be taken in by two dress sizes. To add to the challenge, there was intricate embroidery over the bodice, which we had to work around. There was also a little Flower Girls dress, which just needed a nip & a tuck. I am hoping that when she has time, she’ll send me one of the official photos, rather than the candid one I have of her putting her shoes on ;)

This was a rush job that we had last week. This beautiful, full length gown is from Coast, we had to hem and press it for a ball that evening.

Let’s start the day with a hem

This Prom Dress alteration was a hem, bodice and sash reduction. We hand finished the gown and steamed it ready for the fitting.

Today’s project was a design change. We were asked to remove the train from a formal gown so that it could be worn for Prom.

Transformation of a cherished bridesmaids dress into a cute sun dress! We altered the size of the gown from the bust, through the waist to the hip, removed the straps and took quite a bit off the length.

Another Bridal Gown alteration. This one needed the bodice taking in, the bust reduced, the hem shortened, and the front section had to be reshaped. It turned out beautifully

This beautiful Prom Dress has been our work in progress this week. We have shortened the hem and removed the train

Elastic athletic shorts alteration for cheerleader ensemble character, Grease! Jr. (teen), Windy City Performs; costumes by Auden Granger

Due to budgeting limitations and large summer camp cast numbers, costume items were used in one production run by two youth casts (double-casting, with trade-off shows) and a second production run with two teen casts (also double-cast with trade-off shows). This meant many items had to be purchased that could fit two sets of larger bodies and then be altered for two sets of smaller bodies, or vice versa. 

The teen casts performed after the youth, so the items had to be sized down and then back up. 

Subsequently I purchased mostly elastic items that could be flexibly sized. Production prep time meant no ordering was possible and sizes were dependent on what was available in the span of one week. Uneven co-casting meant items could not be exact transfers between one cast and the other (for instance, the teen Sandys were not the same size and needed different sized skirts, so one skirt was worn by the Sandy in cast 1 and a Pink Lady ensemble girl in cast 2). A lot of this type of alteration was done to size items for the teens. 

These shorts, which were used unaltered for the youth cast, had to be taken out for one of the teen actors (with no additional purchases possible). I ripped the side seams of the shorts and sewed in green ribbon (purchased and used for hairbows). The shorts are stretchy but the ribbon is not, so I added stretch by using elastic thread and leaving slack in the ribbon. The “racing stripe” matched the complementary color that appeared in the other cheerleader costumes. 

Quote by Chloë Frayne

The fourth piece a modified boubou!
So we had a bunch of old boubous lying around and thought it would be nice to revamp them rather than throwing them away. So for this boubou I decided to simply shorten the length and the sleeves making this my first alteration . Fashion is all about imagination!
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