Oh, the Secret Garden!

I had a great time as Costume Director ... and now I'm glad to be finished. 33 children were in this production, and most of them had several changes.
I sewed, planned, shopped, and coordinated to get all the costumes finished by Opening Night, October 20th.
I planned and shopped during the day when I could and then sewed after I put the kids to bed at night. I've seen a lot of late night M*A*S*H, The Office, and listened to a book on tape to help the time go. Here is a before and after of one of the dresses. I bought it at the thrift store and then modified it for the play.
Chris was very good about the mess in my work area, a.k.a our bedroom. As long as he could find the bed at night, he was OK. But there were a few times it was so covered in lace, fabric and cloths that even that was a challenge. Here are a few pictures from it all.













In the end, there were three racks of cloths like the one shown. I took a picture of some of the cast members during Cast Pictures to give you an idea of how they looked.
I had a blast with this project and feel really blessed to be able to do it.
As a side story, My favorite character in the play is Martha, seen in the cast picture wearing a cream blouse and red skirt. She is optimistic and helps in healing the whole story. She is a maid and wears very simple cloths but the whole time that I worked, hand sewing, beading, adding lace, velvet etc., I wished I could have made her something beautiful that would reflect her spirit. But that would be out of place for her part so I sewed costume jewels into the hem of one of her smocks, because she was a treasure. I told the girl who played her after the production was over and she was so delighted. She said she was bummed her part didn't have any fun cloths like some of the other characters, but she sang fabulously and played her part well none the less.
And so it is, I think with our part in life and where we are to affect and help the lives of each other around us.