The time has finally come and I couldn't be more excited!!! The Kansas City Ballet rolled out their new season of the Nutcracker and I was so proud to see the 6 party girl dresses that my sewing partner Mrs. P (she is a costuming expert) and I made (we also made 2 capes not pictured). It took us 2.5 months and tons of hours to crank out these dresses. I mean TONSSSSSSSS of work---I was averaging 4 hours of sleep some nights. I sewed more in those 2.5 months then I think I did for most of the year LOLLLL! These weren't your average dresses. Each dress was unique in it's bodice and skirt detailing. They also had big fancy sleeves and trims. They were made of the finest silks and taffeta. These pics don't do them justice. The amount of details in each dress is insane. They're made with very vivid colors so they really "pop" on stage! The amazingly talented Holly Hynes designed each dress and gave us a beautiful drawing of each. We went to work making them by first creating the patterns (did all of our drafting which was fun) and once we were shipped all of the fabrics we got to work making the dresses. Again, there's a TON of detail in each dress so it took lots of work. The costuming world is a unique one and is a bit different than dressmaking so I appreciated the insights! I'll have to share those with you all one day when I get the chance. In the meantime I'll just bask in this moment. This was by far the MOST demanding work I've done all year so as you can imagine the sense of satisfaction and pride is indeed greater! It's so humbling! It was such a blessing to be a part of such a HUGE event! Also, you can see more photos at this slideshow here.... http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article47873580.html
(Here are 4 of the 6 dresses we made-- the middle one excluded--someone else made it)
(All 6 of the dresses are featured here---seated girls on both rows. The colors are REALLY RICH the photo doesn't truly capture it. I love the color palette used for all of the costumes. They are absolutely beautiful!)
(another dress here....)
(...and you can see the green one here)
(Backs of some of their dresses. We made them big fancy bows!!!!)
(And if you needed a little proof to know I'm not making any of this up (LOL) here's a pic of me working on the bodice of the blue pinstripe dress you see in some of the pics above.....)
(Holding the finished green and pink dress before shipping them all off)
Wow! What an honor! Your gift has made room for you, placing you before great people, and opening many doors.
ReplyDeleteThey look amazing. I've read elsewhere that silk shows colour really well under lights, and these dresses are gorgeously rich even in the photos. What a lot of work!
ReplyDeleteDid you also get to make the pants under their dresses? I'm impressed that they sent such quality fabrics for costumes! They look lovely and fit beautifully!
ReplyDeleteHi Vicky! No we didn't make the pantaloons, someone else did. She did an amazing job with those :) There were SO many sewers and others artists on this project it was insane!!!
DeleteWOW!!!!!! Did you get to see the production? Those dress pics are insane! Congrats! What a great story!!!
ReplyDeleteVictoria, they look amazing! Congratulations on a beautiful achievement. I looked through the slideshow and there are many beautiful costumes - it must have been such a treat to be part of something so beautiful well done.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, beautiful costumes! A job well done and now, hopefully, a well deserved rest ;-)
ReplyDeleteJudging by what I have seen you do. I am not surprised that you could accomplish this! Fantastic work! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteWow - congratulations on this achievement. The costumes are breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! Beautiful job!
ReplyDeleteVery, very nice Victoria and congratulations on a job well done!! The dresses are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!
ReplyDeleteFabulous and Congratulations!!!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful creations. Sounds like you really enjoyed yourself.
ReplyDeleteMy computer's decided not to show me any of the words on this page, but I love the pictures!
ReplyDeleteMy computer's decided not to show me any of the words on this page, but I love the pictures!
ReplyDeleteI have seen all your hard work in person. You did a great job! The dresses were lovely and extremely well made. My daughter was in the production. Some of her friends wore your dresses. My daughter was in that scene, but didn't wear one of your pieces.
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