Creative Costumes

Today was our monthly quilt guild meeting.  While our members have a variety of talents, at least one of our members is a creative dynamo.  Susannah works with the local dancer's guild on costumes for their wonderful presentations.  Alice in Wonderland is coming up this weekend and we got a sneak preview of some of the costumes these lucky dancers will be wearing.  As a side not, daughters of two members and the granddaughter of one of our guild members will be in the ballet.

Susannah moves too quickly for me to catch her in a still pose.  But you can see the gorgeous butterfly wings that will be attached to the unitard.  There were several different versions she displayed, explaining that they rarely had enough fabrics to make everyone the same costume.  Nor would they all want to look exactly the same!  You may also be able to get an idea of the headpiece Susannah has on - the feelers and eyes for the butterfly.

This headdress goes with a unitard in blues and greens for a lizard (I think).  What a creative way to get the long tail and headpiece to go with the outfit.

Susannah's on the move again but this is the flamingo outfit.  The head of the flamingo, with the beak pointing towards the wall, sits on top of the dancer's head.  Susannah was explaining the modifications to the costume so the dancer could see when she turned her head.

One of the flower costumes with petals that have wire inside them so they can be curled up once the costume is on.

Not sure if this is Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum.  No matter, it's a cute costume.  The top and pants are attached to a circle that holds the fabric away from the dancer's body.  The top fabric is a lame of some sort that chewed up needles, according to Susannah.

Just a sampling of the delightful costumes she shared.  What was even more incredible were the other materials used to enable the costumes to hold their shape.  Wire, fishing line, and all sorts of intricate construction and the results are wonderful.

We're blessed to have such a creative person in our midst and her cadre of sewing helpers to make these costumes come to life.

Cheers!
Margaret