How Pinterest Changed the Way I Design

The internet has done wonders for my ability to research my designs. While I have a good many reference books for historical costumes, I usually don't need to pull them out any more. Now I can just go do a Google Image search for whatever I'm looking for, and pages of photos appear in a heartbeat! But even with the convienence that Google offers, I would still spend hours copying the images to my hard drive, sorting through them, and spend even more valuable ink printing out the photos into a collage to share with my director.

Until I found Pinterest.

In case you haven't heard about this site, or have just been ignoring it, I'll explain it as simply as possible. It's a social bookmarking site that uses images instead of links. Or as I like to think of it, a web-based bulletin board. Which is what the name suggests - you're on the internet, you see something you like, and you hit a button to "pin" it onto your account. And you can create different "boards" to divide your images into various ideas or interests.

For me, this is a perfect way to collect my thoughts when I'm researching on the web. Now when I find an image that inspires me, or is a good reference for my costume design, I hit the "pin it" button on my browser's toolbar and write a little note reminding myself why I picked it, and then off it goes onto my Pinterest account where I can find it all in one place when I'm done and ready to do my renderings. I make a different board for each show, and if I want I can even add the production photos later on to compare my original thoughts with the final product. And my favorite part is that I can share those boards with a web link so my director and the production staff can see my ideas and even comment on them!

I've only started to do one show using this tool, but I'm really excited about the potential this site has to make my job easier and more productive. If you want to see what I'm working on, you can find my boards at http://pinterest.com/kmfachet/. And don't forget to click the red "follow me" button the right of this page!

Double-Whammy Tuesday: 4AM & Miss Nelson is Missing!

I have a whole week where I don't have to be anywhere for my projects, so I'm taking the time to update what I've been working on these past months.  Time moves so quickly! 

So back in November, right before Thanksgiving, I designed a fun little show called "4AM".  This was for the lower school of NSCDS, so the kids are all around junior-high age.  It was a one act play about sleep, dreams, and anixeties (that's kind of a short version, if you want more there's an official website you can link to).  It was easy and fun at the same time, and simple characters meant I got to go all out on the "Monster Under the Bed".  Yep.  Because it ends up being a cuddly monster, the director and I decided on a muppet-type look that wouldn't be too scary, but still looked mean.  And because it was a school play with younger children, the face needed to be open for the boy playing the part.  I'm really happy with how it turned out!   I grew up on the Muppets so it was fun to get to make my own.  Check out the googly muppet eyes and nose.  And I also took a cue from Jim Henson and used a marabou boa for "fur". 

Here's a slideshow of more photos from the show, or you can view them directly in my Picasa album

Next up is "Miss Nelson is Missing!", just performed last week.  Another fun kids' show, this time with the upper school (high school age).  This play was based on a series of children's books about Miss Nelson and her unruly class.   With this design, I needed to capture the cartoon illustrations of the books and translate them into real people.  This meant alot of bold colors, simple and large patterns, and cartoon-ish touches like oversized glasses and ridiculous hairbows.  The best part was creating the iconic figures of Miss Nelson and her evil counterpart, Miss Swamp.  Compare the book illustrations to the photo, and I think you'll agree that this also turned out well!

And for more photos , here's another slideshow (or you can view these in my Picasa album)

So what was I doing in December, between these two shows?  No, I wasn't enjoying the holidays, because that would mean I finally got some time to myself.  Instead I enjoyed a burst of creativity for my little side project on Etsy, where I make vintage-inspired handbags.  I also had the opportunity to partcipate in a holiday market selling said handbags, sponsored by a new gallery space in Berwyn called 22.  I encourage anyone in the area to check them out!

Looking ahead, the next couple of projects on my calendar are "Alice's Adventures with Poorly Cooked Cafeteria Seafood" in February, and then Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Gondoliers" in March (at least I think it's March).   This is going to be interesting!

"The Complete Works..." - Finished Product!

A few months ago, I blogged about the Steampunk Shakespeare concept I was going to use for "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)" at NSCDS.  I also posted this rendering of the costumes as a preview.  The show finished up in October, and I now have the final production photos to share with you!  I tried to stay as true to the concept as I could, but as with all shows that are shopped instead of built, the show evolved around the materials I found as I went along.  In the end, it was a bit more Emo and Goth than Steampunk, but I fell that starting with the Steampunk concept really helped me step out of the boundries of a normal modern-dress show and take risks with the design.  I'm very happy with the end product, and the kids LOVED their costumes... win-win!

If you'd like to skip the slideshow below, the photos are available to view full-screen on my Picasa album.

Not a Costume: Custom Bags for WBEZ

October is always my busiest month, so that's why I'm just now posting these photos from a project I did back in September.  Through the wonders of Facebook networking, I was introduced to a friend of a friend that works for WBEZ - Chicago Public Radio.  The station needed bags made to store and transport highboy tables used for special events.  It was a large project (no, literally - these bags were huge!) but I was happy with how they turned out, and my client was happy, too! 

And the Winner Is...

Well... no one, actually.  The 2 readers that left comments weren't interested in the giveaway for various reasons.  (But thanks Sarah and Kim for your support!)  I did get some feedback offline, however, so thanks to everyone who read and enjoyed my post about Halloweens past.

And if anyone is interested in a Flapper dress, it's still here... 

No-sew Costume Challenge!

When I was a kid, my mother would always make my Halloween costume for me.  And being a kid, I didn't appreciate how awesome those costumes actually were.  I just wanted to get one of those really cool costumes that came in a package with all their bits and pieces put together for me, just like the other kids at school.  One year I actually convinced her to let me buy a costume - I picked this awesome Black Widow Queen costume with spiderweb details and a neat belt shaped like a bat (don't ask me what bats and spiders have in common).  It was AWFUL.  No one knew what I was (no, a Black Widow Queen is not a witch!), and it felt like I was wearing a nightgown.  Plus it practically disintegrated the moment I took it off.  That was the last time I ever bought a costume.

Before

After

I remembered this story recently when I saw a magazine article describing "no-sew" costume ideas, all of which involved a t-shirt, iron-on transfers, and/or silly prop to create a clever play on words - Iron Chef (hat & clothes iron), Fork in the Road (black shirt, white dotted lines, plastic fork), Pumpkin Pie (orange shirt, pi symbol... OK, the nerd in me likes that one).  It really got me thinking... If you don't sew, are your only costume choices a nylon pyjama set disguised as a costume, or a t-shirt with paper taped to it?  I set out to prove that the answer is no.  So I picked a costume idea, gathered up the materials I needed, and came up with a no-sew costume that beats the pants off of anything you could buy, for a fraction of the cost, and only took me 30 minutes to finish. 

Follow the jump to get a full tutorial on how to recreate this on your own, PLUS there will be details on how to enter a drawing to receive this very same dress for your own Halloween costume!

The Scottish Play, or, Why we never, ever say "Macbeth" in a theater...

I had orginally planned to post some photos from a recent project today, but then something happened at rehearsal last night: someone fell off the stage.  Into the orchestra pit.  And thank god there was a safety net because that was not a fall someone should have walked away from.   And why did this happen?  It wasn't because he was goofing off; it wasn't because he didn't pay attention to how close to the edge he was; it was all because someone said "Macbeth".

Theatre folk are a superstitious lot, and even those that claim they aren't superstitious will still obey the taboos out of tradition.  You may have heard of many of these already - don't say "good luck", especially on opening night; don't whistle in a theater; always leave a light on the stage (known as the "ghost light") - Wikipedia has a good list of superstitions, and you can find more with a quick search if you're interested.  But the absolute number one taboo that should never broken is saying "Macbeth" in the theater.  Which sucks if you're performing the play, or like last night, a play that references it.

Why the taboo?  Again, Wikipedia has a great article describing the history of Macbeth's curse, but the simple explanation is BAD STUFF HAPPENS.  Like someone falling off the stage.  Or another person (okay, the same person) falling when a set of temporary stairs collapses.  There's tons of stories out there, many in urban legend "friend of a friend" style, that give good reason for avoiding speaking the play-that-shall-not-be-named.  That's why pretty much everyone I've met in the theatre world refuses to say it, even if they're not superstitious.  Even if you don't think anything will happen, why bring down the wrath of your castmates on your head?  You can say "The Scottish Play", "The Bard's Play", "MacB", "Mackers", or any other variation you can think of, just never, ever, EVER say "Macbeth". 

Before you go, share your own horror stories about the Scottish Play, and enjoy this video from "Slings and Arrows" giving their opinion about the whole business.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go spin around three times and spit.  There's another rehearsal tonight and the pit is still open...