Hot Salsa in Cold December

Hello darlings!

You may not know this but I dance. I love dancing! And I try to come out and dance as often as possible. Unfortunately, that "often" happens very seldom. But last Saturday I attended the 3d Annual Winter Ball hosted by Steps Dance Studio where I take my Latin dance classes. It was a joyous event in a gorgeous venue spiced up by a delicious food menu and hot Latin vibes. On top of that, me and my fiance, along with our group mates, performed our salsa routine at this ball. We performed the same routine as we did at the Canada Salsa and Bachata Congress 2013 earlier in October. Canada Salsa and Bachata Congress 2013 is the biggest festival of Latin dance in Canada so it felt very special to be able to perform on that stage. Here is the video of our dance routine from the Congress: 

I enjoy performing a lot! So I was only happy to perform our salsa dance at the last weekend's Winter Ball. After long months of tedious practice it feels very gratifying to showcase what you have learned. Here are some photos from the Ball's performance:

 

 

Besides my performance costume (which is quite revealing to say the least), I wore this champagne lacy dress I made for the past New Year's Party. 

Me and my fiance social dancing

Its shiny material and lacy outer shell are still more than relevant. Besides, its flare and cut out back are very appropriate for social dancing. And believe me I did plenty of the latter! So it worked out that I greeted 2013 and bid my farewell to 2013 in the same dress. It served me well! 

To new dresses in 2014!

Halloween Costume Fun

This year I got so excited about this fun holiday that I took my costume-making to the next level and created full body costumes for myself and my partner. I took forever to decide which particular costumes I liked best and then left myself only 4 days to complete them.

Eventually, I decided on Jasmine and Aladdin. Since I had no time to draft full patterns, I got creative using the patterns in my stash and adapting them to recreate the shapes of the Disney characters' garb.

To make the pants, both for Jasmine and Aladdin, I used McCall's patterns 2586, the drawstring cargo pants. However, I flared them out quite a bit to make them look more Eastern-inspired. I added 6 inches of fullness to front and back panel of each pant. The result was roomy full harem-like pants.

To make a vest for Aladdin I used, the basic man's shirt block and cropped and rounded it in the front. I added gold trims to the armholes and all the way around the neckline and hem.

To make Jasmine's top, I used Simplicity Pattern 1875. That dress had the perfect top for my costume. I cropped and embellished it. I added chiffon ruffles to the sweetheart neckline of it. I found a purple agate stone that looked exactly like Jasmine's! I attached it to the centre front and added the golden braid trim to the top of neckline and sleeves' edges which I cut of the matching colour chiffon.

I then stitched the second row of trim and swirled it around the stone. I like how it created the illusion that the stone is set into a golden frame. I also added the golden beaded decorative trim at the hem of the top. 

The top is fully lined, stiffened with interfacing and has boning to keep it up. The back of the top is adjustable because it is laced closed (I used the same trim here as on the Aladdin's vest):

To sew an over skirt/belt for the bottom of my costume I used a part of Butterick B5811 pattern. It's peplum skirt, shorter in the front and longer in the back, was perfect for my purposes. I changed the waistband shape to create the triangle shape at the centre. As for the petals of the peplum, which I cut out of the same chiffon as the sleeves, I roll-hemmed them on my serger without attaching the side panels together so that they would flow freely. I decorated the bottom edge of the waistband with the same trim as the top hem and added an emerald stone in the centre.

Isn't it interesting how with slight modifications you can create a historical look using the current patterns? I had lots of fun with it! Here is the overall look of my epic costume-sewing quest!

Happy Halloween everyone!

The Making of Magic

As promised, this post is my report on the 60 Years of Designing the Ballet and the Tutu Project exhibitions at the Design Exchange. Ballet is a childhood obsession of mine, which never really left me, simply moved aside to the back of my mind making space for the clothing design obsession. These days, the two obsessions have found perfect partnership in regular visits to the National Ballet of Canada and in constant admiration of the choreography, costume and set design. The DX exhibition is dedicated to the process of creation of the magic of ballet.

As the elevator took me up to the exhibition hall on the second floor I felt that I got magically transported to cloud number nine. This exhibition is pure heaven not only for ballet lovers but also, and especially, for costume designers. It features objects usually found only backstage and offers a close up look at some of the costumes worn by principle characters in major National Ballet productions. Here are some of my favourites:

a headdress from the Nutcracker

a fragment of a dress from Sleeping Beauty

Juliet's costume from Romeo and Juliet

Other costumes on display include head pieces, wigs, boots, pointe shoes (in cross section too!), a whole wardrobe from the Nutcracker, a bolero worn by Mikhail Baryshnikov and, needless to say, a great multitude of tutus including one worn by Karen Kain, the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada.

The highlight of the exhibition for me was the "show Bible" for the Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet. 

The "show bible" is the most important document in the wardrobe for each particular production. It documents everything from the sketches of all the characters of the ballet to the fabrics swatches, trims and buttons to be used for each costume, to the instructions on how the costume was built. It is referred to when costumes need to be remade or repaired. I drooled over the bible for minutes on end and took tons of photos. 

The following two videos from the National Ballet of Canada website do a wonderful job at explaining the process of building a costume. 

What an exciting peek behind the scenes! 60 Years of Designing the Ballet exhibition gave me a privilege I do not normally get when I climb up to my seat in the 5th ring of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts! It definitely helped me acquire a new appreciation of the grandeur of work that goes into each production.

The exhibition is on until the 2nd of September. When you come, make sure to wander around the first floor of the DX. Here, you will find a fun and colourful parade of various tutus designed by artists, designers, and members of the community. This part of the exhibition is free to see and is very inspiring in nature.