Covered Buttons

A lot of brides say to me when they have their dresses altered that they would like it to be made more personal. A fantastic way of doing this is by adding covered buttons. They add a vintage and sophisticated feel to a dress whilst making it more your own. 

Covered buttons are available at most habadasharies and can be bought in a number of sizes in either plastic or metal. 

The first step is to plan where you would like to position the buttons. Pinning the buttons on at different distances will give you ideas of how it will look. Measure even distances and mark with pins or tailors chalk.

Once this has been done you can work out how many buttons you need to cover.

At the back of the button packet there will be a template to use to cut out the correct size circles of fabric. As I was using lace, I also used an underlayer to create a base colour for the buttons. In this case I used excess lining fabric after altering the hem length, but any similar fabric would also work.

Once I had cut out the under fabric I placed it on the lace with part of the lace pattern that I wanted to be seen. By then using a running stitch around the edge of the circle I secured them both together.

Now here is the fiddly bit. This may take a few attempts but bare with it.

Place the top half of the button in the centre of the fabric circle and start to pull both ends of the running stitch to gather the fabric around the outside.

 

Once you are confident the button is in the correct place pull the thread tight and tuck the fabric underneath the teeth on the inside of the button rim. (I use the point of my scissors for this as the metal teeth can feel quite sharp)

Make sure both layers of fabric are being held by the teeth as this reduces bulk and makes the next step easier.
Place the back of the button on top and then push firmly for it to close.  Depending on how thick and bulky the material is will make this relatively easy or hard. 

Now you have your lovely covered button!

The buttons can then be stitched onto the dress as previously marked up. If stitching next to a zip ensure that the buttons are not too close to it that it prevents easy opening and closing. 

Buttons can be added part of the way down the dress, to the bottom of the train and I also like the idea of putting smaller covered buttons on cuffs of long sleeves.

Enjoy!

Hi all, and happy new year!

It has been a very long time since I have blogged... so here is a task I was given over christmas to repair my dad's worn out jumper.

Elbow patches are not only sported by geography teachers and quirky university professors but have for a while now had a strong presence on the high street.  Here is how I made some for my non-fashion conscious dad, just a way to get a little bit more life out of a tired jumper.

First of all you want to create a template of the size of the patch you would like to create. To do this fold a piece of paper in half, then half again to get an even shape.

Open out and place on the jumper to check that is correct, trim as necessary.

To add extra strength to the patches I used interfacing between the layers, cut these to the size of your template.

Do the same for an under layer and the top layer which will be on show (I have used tw different colours so it is easier to see what is happening) with the outer layer, add seam allowance to this.

Pin together with the interfacing encased between the two layers.

For decoration I then stitched the layers together in a darker thread. These stitches can just be used to hold the pieces together whilst you are slip stitching though and removed before the patch is sewn to the jumper.

Turn over and slip stitch the top layer to the bottom layer encasing all the layers and creating a neat, clean edge.

Pin to the jumper in the required position and stitch to the jumper in whichever way you like. I chose to make a feature of it.

Another way of doing this is to add seam allowance to all pieces, stitch right sides together leaving a gap, snip into the seam allowance so a smooth shape can be achieved, then to pull them the right way through. Stitch the hole together and then continue to sew the patches onto the jumper.

I hope this is helpful and inspires you to think about how you can increase the life span of your clothes in our throw away society.

Lizzie x

Sadly my Jane Slayre project has now come to an end. On thursday I had the final year show where all of our hard work was displayed on stage in front of hundreds of people.

I would like to say a massive thank you for all my friends and family for all their support and especially to Sherri Erwin for a great narrative to work from! Also a huge huge thank you to my models Hayley Graham (Jane Slayre) and Fred Hollingsworth (St. John Rivers) who never complained and were so enthusiastic the whole time.

Thank you to my friends and family for taking photos throughout the show. 

Photograph from Huddersfield Examiner

 Photograph by Mick Walker www.mickwalkerphotography.co.uk

Photograph by Mick Walker www.mickwalkerphotography.co.uk

At the graduate show I was awarded a prize for Historical Silhouettes with Contemporary Textiles and will be graduating with First Class BA Hons Degree in Costume Design with Textiles.

Boots

When designing a costume the whole of the costume needs to be thought about so not only the clothes but also the accessories. I think that accessories really make a costume, they fill in the extra gaps that make a character into a believable person. For example the character of Bella in Twilight (which I have watched far too many times for shame!) wears a number of rings and bracelets throughout all of the films, which is what a normal day to day person would do, we all have a favorite thing that we wear to death.

Anyway, I wanted to make sure I applied this to my characters that I was designing for in Jane Slayre. Jane for example has a crucifix necklace (presenting themes of religion, repelling vampyres, stereotypical anti vampyre ideas) as well as some boots that are semi practical and a bit of fun as well. My idea was that these boots would appear around the time that Jane and St. John start training together with St. John giving them to Jane as a gift. Following the idea of practicality I wanted something that resembled army boots, with a good grip but also a heel to add more femininity to the costume. Buying some boots from Ebay I then went to Etsy (fantastic if you are into crafty things) and bought some screw in studs. By piercing holes in certain places around the top of the boots I was able to screw in these studs and add my own little contemporary touch to some simple boots.

 Hi, and welcome to my blog, I'm aware that there may be a few new people having a look at this so I hope you enjoy it.

Jane Slayre, my final major project is taking up all my time and now that our final costumes have been handed in (pictures to come, or have a look at my twitter page @LizzieMNorris to get a sneak peak at backstage at the photoshoot) I have been concentrating on my final boards, boards with the design, indication of a scene, working drawings (shows how the costumes are to be made/ constructed) and all that other stuff that would be used within industry. So let me introduce you to my chosen characters....

The Vampyres

The narrative of Jane Slayre starts with her living in the home of her Aunt Reed, taumented by her cousins especially John Reed I designed these two characters as lavisly dressed and in vibrant colours. Gold is used to show wealth and similar colours used between Mrs Reed and her son John to present their connection. I had a little fun with John, which my tutors were surprised at but then understood when I explain (humerous situation) with modern themes showing through his clothing (vibrant jacket) but still retaining the Victorian silhouette, I chose to give him a tongue in cheek camp appearance, portraying the themes commonly seen in presentations of Vampyres of exploring sexuality.

The Zombie

Helen Burns was a difficult character to design for, but also the first that I actually illustrated and finished successfully. Jane's best friend at Lowood School, she falls ill and is re-animated as a zombie, lots of green goo and attempts at eating flesh, the usual zombie things. I wanted to make her attractive to follow the comic book themes but also show her decline in health through her clothing, using the colour of green as my designs progressed her clothing became more green. I was very limited with the silhouettes used for Helen as Victorian school clothing was limited but in the end, this image being my favorite, I decided upon a pinnafore over a long sleeved dress creating the idea of modern themes. Another important aspect to her costume are her boots, I have used army style boots a lot through the project, but Helen's representing the idea that she is being slowly recruited from being a school girl into a zombie.

The Love Interest

Mr Rochester was difficult. Edward Fairfax Rochester employs Jane as a Governess and over time they fall in love. Rochester is not mutated in any way, out of the charcters that I chose he is the most 'normal' so designing for him was difficult in trying to retain a contemporary tone but at the same time keeping him apart from all the other characters. Dressing him in matching suits and slim fitting lines to show his muscular stature I felt I was able to present him in not only a logically attractive manner (Victorian women loved a rich man) but also in a sexual manner, following through the iconic themes from super hero narratives of muscular men.

The Were Wolf

Bertha Rochester, Mr Rochester's estranged wife hidden away in the attic of Thornfield. Bertha was also difficult to design for, with an animalistic feel I wanted to retain the Victorian silhouette but give the appearance that she had been wearing the same clothes over and over and had ripped them to shreds with her fits of anger. Using faded colours to present age but previous splendor, and gold to create negative tones linking her to Vampyres her costume was created. Bertha is a character that if I was able to, I would go back and re-design as I feel that her costumes are not quite there yet and need more work on them.

The Vampyre Slayres

Miss Temple, Jane's first instructor in Vampyre slaying and teacher at Lowood School. I wanted to ensure that she had themes of Vampyre Slayres about her but also simplify her costume in comparison to Jane and St. John. With minimal embroidery I was able to achieve this but also using the same material as Jane and silver elements, the bodice and under sleeves, retaining the links between herself and Jane. Again if I had more time I would have liked to revisit her charcter as I feel it would benefit from further development.

 St. John Rivers was a lot of fun to design for, stern and silent he retains an attractiveness that no-one could have thought would belong to a clergyman. A good friend of Jane's he teaches her to slay Vampyres more effectively, educates, supports and encourages her. Creating this strong willed character was a lot of fun, as you can see I was able to spend a lot more time designing for him as he was a character that I knew I would be eventually making for. I have already spoken briefly about my choices for St. John in a previous post so I'm sorry if I do repeat myself.

Historical silhouettes that I used range from the time period to before the time period chosen, in particular the frock coat shown. I liked the idea that this was a family Vampyre Slaying coat (I wanted to have fun with this) that had been passed through generations to keep the wearer warm on their late night missions. being such a large piece of clothing it was my main focus on his costume with computerised embroidery winding around the front left skirt panel towards the centre back. (Photos to come of the final costume)

Jane Slayre. Below are three illustrations of Jane, each showing a slightly different stage in her costume progression. Black on black was the main theme for Jane, creating modern, and sophisticated themes. Creating a practical design for a female Vampyre Slayre in Victorian dress was possibly not the easiest task, but with the use of a draw string idea I was able to bring the skirt back and above the bustle to reveal some rather slinky bloomers underneath. Jane's costume has a number of contemporary inspired aspects to it, including beaded sleeves, visible zips enlarged embroidery scale, and not to mention the use of PVC and Leatherette. By using Victorian floral patterns I was able to retain the traditional feel but at the same time with the use of contemprary fabrics and altering the scale of these patterns create a larger than life mood.

The mantle designed and made for Jane came from the recurrance of mantles mention within the novel. I wanted to make sure that there was an element of armour within it, so designed it quilted at the neck and then cut into triangular shapes and then progressing into embroidery with silver foiled leather triangles. (Photos of the final costumes to follow)

I hope you have enjoyed my designs, and my brief descriptions of them. Official photos will follow shortly and to see the costumes on stage come to The University of Huddersfield, Costume Design with Textiles Graduate Degree Show on the 20th June, to buy tickets use the link below.

www.thelbt.org/Costume-Graduate-Degree-Show-0

Lizzie

I've been so busy with uni work it's been insane! But I thought I would put up some pictures of what I have been doing.

My final year project is Jane Slayre (the story of Jane Eyre but she is a vampire slayer, so a bit more fun and less depressing!) Taking the novel adapted by Sherri Browning Erwin I decided to design and make costumes with a comic book influence (think Captain America crossed with themes from Unbreakable) and then adding a little more excitement into the costumes to present my embroidery and comedy just for fun. 

The course gets us to design for eight characters and then make either one, two or three costumes depending on how complicated they are. I am making for the characters of Jane Slayre, our herroin who grows up in her aunt's house surrounded by vampyres, then goes to school where the horrid master is creating zombies from any of the girls that die (there is a fight scene with zombie green gloop splashing everywhere) She then goes to meet Rochester at her governess posistion and then when she fleas Thornfield (on her wedding day to Rochester she not only finds out that he is already married but that Bertha Rochester is also a werewolf- standard) she gets saved by the dashing St. John Rivers who is also a vampyre slayre. This leads me to St. John Rivers who is my second character that I am making for, tall and attractive Jane and him share costume influences to create connections between them. 

Below are a couple of designs showing in particular the transistions between Jane's costume from 'casual' to preparing to fight with her skirt lifted up. After Jane is St. John, this is not actually the costume that I am making for him but I haven't finished his designs completely yet, so they will be coming soon...hopefully.

During the first term sampling and toiling is very important, this is one of my samples for Jane Slayre's bodice, following the idea of superhero stripes within costumes I have used an historical floral pattern, enlarged it and using computerised embroidery reverse appliqued the pattern onto the boidce pattern piece. Matching up the pattern at the side seam was really hard so it is something that I am going to have to make sure is perfect when I do the real thing in a couple of weeks, also keep my fingers crossed that my model doesn't drastically change size!

The idea of this floral design was translated from a sample sleeve that I completed by hand (I soon realised that computerised machine embroidery was the way to go!) Although I really liked this idea, I decided to opt for a plain sleeve and then have a sparkly beaded undersleeve to create a contrast and the idea of armour.

Below is an image of part of St. John's frock coat, as he is my secondary character I have not sampled as much for him as I did for Jane but I also think this is because I knew as soon as I started designing him where I wanted his costume to go and how I wanted it to look. I'v added some photos of some samples that I made for him as well.