Costume Design & Fabrication
Alice in Wonderland themed dresses; Cheshire Cat, White Rabbit, and Meadow of Flowers
Cheshire Cat
I made ears & jewelry too
Bodice construction
Finishing touch on the bodice; sewing on the button
Preparing the pink & purple fabric for the skirt
I cut a circle skirt for each color fabric
...then cut them into strips for the stripes
I made resin jewelry with wire & paint to accessorize
Meadow of Flowers
I cut grass shapes from some green fabric
To keep it from eventually fraying, I painted it with acrylic medium & water
Once dry, I trimmed again with scissors
I made the bodice, then applied some of the grass pieces
I made a green circle skirt
...and applied the rest of the grass pieces to the bottom
I then made flowers with fabric
Daffodil
I hand-sewed each flower into place to complete the "meadow"
Octopus themed dress made for a Lucasfilm holiday party at the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco
Costume dress to perform a Tahitian Aparima
Sewing the fabric base for the neckpiece
Adding faux leaves to the neckpiece
Adding faux flowers to the neckpiece
Finished neckpiece
I made a flower hairpiece to match
This is a sweatshirt I made from scratch. It was from a concept that my daughter & her best friend thought of for Halloween called "Tiny & Tall"
The back view of "Tiny & Tall". The biggest challenge of this piece was making it to fit two girls of very different heights.
Blue outfit that I designed and constructed for my daughter
For the shorts, I layered lace over a lycra blend
Handmade pleated neckline detail
Handmade hat with upholstery fabric detail and shrunkenheadman logo (Illustration/Animation club from SJSU)
Dress that I designed and made for my daughter
Shoelace detail in the back
To add texture & volume, I sewed this yarn along the bottom inside as a sort of mock petticoat
Birthday dress I designed and made for my daughter. layers and layers of chiffon
I made many little chiffon roses and sewed them along the bodice
I completed the look with a green belt & more chiffon roses, as well as chiffon rose hair accessories
Zoe was invited to be an extra in the movie "Wish I Was Here". I made her this dress to wear during the very brief scene. Alas, when we arrived on set, she was a bit young & shy, so we watched from the audience instead.
A tank top that I designed and made for my daughter
"Silly Sweater" collaboration with my youngest daughter
She was going to have a "Silly Sweater" party at preschool, and wanted to draw a snowman to put on a hooded poncho that I designed and made
Izzy's snowman drawing
I transferred her drawing to fabric, then sewed it to the homemade poncho
Holiday trim
Baptism gown and headpiece. I made one for my youngest daughter & one for my niece
Headpiece made of silk and pearls leftover from my wedding dress
Detail of handmade silk flower
I embroidered the edges of the silk roses with my sewing machine
"Eliza Schuyler Hamilton"
Covering buttons with fabric
Cutting the fabric for the bodice
Making the sleeves
Finished bodice
My sewing studio, mid-project
"Anne Bonny" Pirate Costume, with a coat that I designed & constructed
Covering buttons with fabric and lace
Cutting fabric from the pattern I drafted
Front coat pieces
Back coat pieces
Boot covers
Sewing different types of pleather together for the pirate look
Hand-sewing the metal details
"AJ Carmichael" from the Umbrella Academy costume
For this one, I re-purposed a giant old suit. The tie is chiffon, so that the wearer of the costume can see through it. The "Head" of the costume is actually a hat for the wearer
The elements of the costume's head before putting it all together
Bits and pieces
The fish is from a toy store. I suspended it from the top of the dome with fishing line
"Gandalf" from the Lord of the Rings
"Galadriel" from The Lord of the Rings
"Legolas" from The Lord of the Rings
"Aragorn" from The Lord of the Rings
"Arwen" from The Lord of the Rings
I drew a decorative peacock on the quiver that I made to go with the Legolas costume
Decorative stitching on Legolas' boot covers
I made covers for my son's rain boots to make them look like leather for the Legolas costume
Christmas sweatshirt that I designed and made for my daughter. (As well as her handmade reindeer antler headband)
Hand-stitched detail
"Captain America" costume that I made for my son
"Batman" costume that I made for my son
"Gambit" costume that I made for my son
"Wolverine" costume that I made for my son
Making superhero costumes is one of my favorite things to do
"Supergirl" costume that I made for my daughter
Pattern pieces that I drafted to make my son a "Green Arrow" costume
"Green Arrow" costume that I made for my son
"The Flash" costume that I made for my son
"Spiderman" costume that I made for my son
My son, acting the part
Earth-Bender (from "The Legend of Korra") costume that I made
Air-Bender (from "The Legend of Korra") costume that I made
Earth Bender, Sky-Bison, and Air Bender
"Sally" from the Nightmare Before Christmas
I drew graphic patterns in Photoshop, and sent them to spoonflower.com for custom fabric with which to make the "Sally" dress
Patchwork pieces
After I sewed the dress pieces together, I added faux stitching with embroidery thread for a more stop-motion puppet look
Mushroom costume for my daughter
I started with sun hat, and removed the cap to re-adjust the proportions
I used yellow fleece for the mushroom cap, and cut random rounded shapes for the spots
I stuffed the spots with fiber fill to add dimension
I topped the hat with foam, and then covered it
I pleated chiffon to look like mushroom gills
I painted the gills with chalk dust for contrast
The Mushroom hat