Peter Pan and Tinkerbelle

I was asked by my good friend Julie Newell, who teaches Vaulting (acrobatics on horseback) to make a Peter Pan and Tinkerbelle costume based on the movie version. I had watched it once, so dug it out to watch over and over until I had a really good idea of what too do. The costumes have to be really tough to withstand the treatment they get and constant washing. I knew I wouldn't be able to use net and sequin fabric, so made them out of different types of lycra, especially metallic. I made the base of Peter Pan with dark green plain lycra and appliqued lots of leaves in different colours and stitched on with zigzag stitch in different colours and lots of metallic thread. I cut out different leaf shapes and also appliqued leaves out of my artificial flower collection which were left over from making the headdress of the Hungarian National Costume, a picture of which can be found on my page.

 

 

I made the legs and arms out of flesh coloured power net and cut some patches out of the trousers and inserted power net in these. When I was happy with the overall look, I added some strips of brown stretch fabric over the costume to represent the straps over his body and around his arm. Here is a picture of the finished costume

 

 

Peter Pan Costume

 

With Tinkerbelle, I decided to make big leaf shapes and make the veins in the leaves using zigzag stitch and lilac metallic thread. I then glued on Swarovski crystals. the skirt part was made with double layered lycra to make it tough and stand out and I edged the leaves with the lilac stitching. She has metallic green pants and power net legs and the top of the body and arms are made out of power net too. I trimmed it with some beautiful dark green sequin trim made up of tiny flowers that I bought a while ago, hoping for a chance to use it. I sewed some ready-made white sequin wings on the back, as it would have been impossible for her to do acrobatics in big wired fairy wings.

 

 

Tinkerbelle costume

 

 

 

 

Here is a photo of the two of them with Julie and some of the other vaulters. There is a lovely video clip of them in action on my page.

 

 

 

 

www.chrisdavoile.org.uk

Making a Wicked Costume

Hello everybody, I am glad to be back blogging again after an extended Christmas, New Year and Birthday holiday break. I have not had any major costume work to do, except for the Costume I am telling you about here,  so have been filling in my time with a few alterations and tidying my sewing room ready for the 40 Dalmations I have been asked to make for March.

On checking out the pictures and info on the Elpheba Costume, I found out the original cost about £14,000!! How was I to try and make a similar one for the sort of money that a 'Dance Mum,' would want to pay? As I am a hoarder, I have lots of shiny and glittery remnants that I have collected over the years, so I started to forage and found plenty to get me started. I cut out a bodice in a medium weight, cotton type fabric and a circular skirt that I was going to leave plain, as it would take far too much time to start decorating that too. I cut various shapes out of the fancy fabrics and appliqued them to the bodice, experimenting with adding sequin net layers over these too. Then I covered the lot with a black lace layer and appliqued various bits of heavy lace and flock over this. I added some boning along the bust seam to give the bodice a better shape

 

I did the same with the sleeves and once I was happy with the look of it all, I sewed all the pieces together and added some frills to the cuffs and around the collar which were made out of torn strips of green and black chiffon. I added some pieces of black elastic cord to the front of the bodice to give an impression of a complicated bodice. I cut out some strips of net and shiny lilac fabric to make the frills for the side of the top bodice. I am very happy with the result



Elpheba type Costume
 



 

 

Apart from the 40 Dalmations, which are going to be quite a laborious and messy job, I don't know what work will be coming my way this year, I just hope there will be lots of creative commissions to keep my blog interesting for my readers who have an interest in costume making.

 

My next blog will contain photos of some of the Troupes I have created recently with details of how I made some of the costumes. Thank you for your continued interest.

 

Chris Davoile

 

www.chrisdavoilecostumes.org.uk 

 

 

 

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The Red and White Queens

At long last the two Queens are finished and have been delivered to Allesley School of Dance to appear in their award winning number Alice's Nightmare which is going to be part of their show taking place at Bluecoat School Coventry on 14th December. I have made all of the characters in this number, photos of which are on my Facebook Page - Chris Davoile Costumes Coventry. If you are interested in future projects, I would be grateful if you would LIKE my page, it is nice to know that there are people out there who appreciate what I do.

The Red Queen has got to be the most elaborate and eye-catching costume I have ever made, again I was reluctant to let it go, but I have decided to make one for hire in a size 12/14, which can be hired as a pair with The Mad Hatter, which fits a S/M man or M/L lady. The skirt is made of red taffeta with an overskirt of beautiful sequinned fabric that I bought from a stall in the Rag Market. The front bodice is made of black taffeta and the back bodice is black lycra to allow for stretch, as the dress will be worn by other dancers in the future. I cut out velvet and gold hearts and applied them to the skirt with bondaweb and fabric glue. I made a false bodice panel out of gold fabric stuffed with a layer of wadding and then sewed a brown cord down the front in carefully measured lines. I attached some black and gold ribbon and gold beads off a discarded bracelet of my daughter's because they really stand out. the ribbon on the puff sleeves, I made out of taffeta strips and drew on black hearts with a permanent marker pen. the collar is made out of very stiff fabric also bought in Birmingham.

The Red Queen
chrisdavoilecostumes.org.uk

 

 

 

 

The White Queen was made in a similar way with a beautiful sparkly net over a satin under skirt. both Queens have net underskirts to make them stick out. The bodice is made of lycra covered with stretch lace and the front panel made with silver and with silver and white fabric and trimmed with mock strip sequins and edged with lace and a stretch silver trim. I attached some crystal trimming all along the top of the bodice. The sleeves are made with the star net edged with silver trim at the wrists and with a puff sleeve insert at bicep level. I bought a long white wig to finish her off.

 

 

The White Queen
chrisdavoilecostumes.org.uk

I hope to have some photos of the dancers in their costumes in a future blog, as the costumes look much better when worn.

 

I attended the Dress Rehearsal for Frozen on Saturday and I was really happy with how the costumes looked. I had my photo taken with some of them and hope to include it later. I just have some skirts to make for a lyrical dance to 'Silent Night' which I have made with net that has shiny silver spots on it so that it looks like falling snow. I can't wait to see what they look like under the stage lights.

 

I have nearly finished a troupe of 12 Black dresses for a tap number for Elite Dance Academy who also have their show on 14th December at the Albany Theatre. I will include a photo in my next blog along with a Beyoncé style black lace dress that I have designed and created for a friend with the figure to carry it off.  All will be revealed later, hopefully not literally ha ha! I think my stitching is secure enough!



 

Alice in Wonderland Costumes

I have had a very busy couple of weeks making a beautiful Alice Dress and 11 Card Soldiers  as per the latest film starring Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter. The Dress is made with Organza over turquoise taffeta with a white lace edged petticoat. I have made it almost exactly as the film to fit a 26 inch chest. The dancer tried it on and danced in it last night and it fitted perfectly. I made some striped stretch fingerless gloves too using white stretch mesh and drawing the stripes on with a permanent marker pen.



Alice in Wonderland Dress
 

I made the cards out of dark red vinyl lined with red lining material. They consist of a tabard with a hole cut out for the neck. I made a helmet out of stretch jersey and designed a heart shaped mask with a cut out for the eyes. I used back permanent marker pens to draw on the hearts and details on the mask. I made leggings and long sleeve top in the jersey fabric, attaching some heart shaped gauntlets to the sleeves with numbers and a heart motif. The vinyl is quite difficult to work with, you feel like you have been in a wrestling match by the time you have sewn up the eleventh tabard. I was surprised that my machine managed to cope with the quadruple thicknesses of the sides, but you just have to take it steady and almost go one stitch at a time on the risky bits. I managed to not break any needles, which is quite an achievement. To get the masks on correctly, I had to try each one on and pin it to the helmet whilst I was wearing it, which was another struggle.

Alice in Wonderland Card Soldier Costume

 

 

I had the original caterpillar costume back to alter, so I have taken a couple of pictures. I had forgotten how much detail I had put into it and how heavy it is. The head is made of a plastic wire netting frame covered in wadding and the body has curtain wire running through channels to give it the caterpillar shape.

 

 

 

 

 

Caterpillar Costume

 

My next blog will be about the Red and White Queens.

 

 

chrisdavoilecostumes.org.uk

Anna from Frozen Costume

 

 

I have just completed the Anna Costume, which is the last one in the troupe. The painting of the skirt has taken much longer than I anticipated. I tried to use a stencil, but kept getting smudges, so had to do it all freehand in the end. I used four different colours of fabric paint and the flowers are in a pearl paint, so that they will catch the light. I added a pale blue wavy edge to the skirt in a semi stretch fabric so that it would bend round with the hem using a zig zag stitch.

Anna Costume from Frozen
Chris Davoile Costumes BlogSpot
chrisdavoilecostumes.org.uk

The skirt is made of two half circles, but tapered down to reduce the size of the hem because I want it to flare out nicely when the dancer spins round so the the flowers can easily be seen. It is lined with a polycotton lace edged petticoat with a matching pair of bloomers.

To get the pattern on the stretch velvet bodice, I drew the pattern onto some bondaweb, cut it out and then ironed it onto different colours of lycra

 

You then have to peel off the paper backing and iron the pieces onto the velvet using a protecting cloth checking that the glue has firmly adhered. I have stitched a couple of bits for extra security.

The top has been edged with gold lycra strips and I have attached pale aqua lycra sleeves and neck. I made the V Shape out of gold lycra stiffened with heavy interfacing, taking care to match up the angles. I then sewed this onto the top then attached the skirt. I tacked the point down onto the skirt so that it won't keep sticking up.

 

 

 

I managed to find a lovely soft fabric for the cape in exactly the right colour and a pearly trim to match, which I thought would look far better on stage that the trim in the film. I then added a padded bonnet to complete the outfit

 

 

 

I have since trimmed the hat with some lilac feather trim. I dyed some white using a purple felt tip pen broken open and soaked in a bowl of water, as I hadn't any lilac dye and this was cheap and easy. I dried it with the hair dryer and hey presto :-

 

 

 

My next blog will be about the cards and other costumes from Alice in Wonderland

 

chrisdavoilecostumes.org.uk