Some questions about costuming
Nov. 6th, 2004 10:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puppetmakerThis is from a list I am on about costuming. The writer was inquiring about costuming for kids 6 to 16. These are my answers and I would be interested in what other people thought on the matter.
1. What were some of the considerations you had to take into account when designing and constructing the costume?
( Ex. finances, room to grow, etc)
For younger children a biggie is where is this costume going to be worn? Is this going to be used every day by the child? Sometimes the costume becomes their lets-pretend-clothing.
Can they go to the bathroom easily or will they need help?
I don’t worry about room to grow because if need be I can make another a size up. Usually about the time they size up, they have other ideas about what they want to wear.
Finances I don’t worry about because I tend to work with cheap and washable materials for kids. I also don’t tend to detail kids costumes since they are going to be worn by kids
Safety I do worry about
I consider the age of the child and whether there is even a change of part of the costume could be hazardous. Cloaks are attached with Velcro so if the child’s cape is caught the cloak will give before the child’s neck.
Halloween vs. Play cloths vs. science fiction convention costume call.
Halloween-I live in the NE so I tend to make the costumes warm. This way they don’t have to wear coats over the costumes.
Play cloths-I try to have some basics for them to use to create their own ensembles
Costume Call-These are usually worn indoors and for a long period of time. If they are a recreation then they have to look closer to the real thing so I have fewer short cuts than I do for the other two. Also these tend to be one shot uses so they don’t need the durability that play clothes need.
2. How did you adapt to meet those challenges? I wrapped this into question one
3. What do you wish you would have known before you started the process that would have made the experience easier? (If only I would have known.....it would have made this whole thing go so much easier)
It is easier to sew Velcro into a costume if it is not sticky backed Velcro and there are plenty of quick ways of temporarily holding something in place so you can stitch it.
4. Was the child involved in the design process or construction phase?
If so how? And how much?
No. Not much at all. It tends to be that the kids will come up with the idea for the costume and then come to me for the costumes themselves. They can make requests but all finally decisions are mine. They know I will do a good job and make it look right. I will also make it as comfortable as I can given what they want to do.
If they want to learn how to make them on their own, I am willing to teach them. Then they can try whatever they want to do. For the older kids, there is a great book by Readers Digest on Sewing which breaks it down to simple components but the newer version dropped the chapters on tailoring which were helpful to me.
5. If you are a caregiver of a child with special needs as I am. (I am a parent of a three year old little girl with down syndrome) How have you adapted costumes around mobility devices and assistive equipment?
I would tend to make the costume fit the person rather than the person to fit the costume. This had been my philosophy since I started costuming for myself.
One of the best Star Trek recreation costumes I ever saw was a woman who was in a wheelchair and she recreated Captain Pike with the help of her friends. It looked great and they built the rig for her chair.
I am grateful for my knowledge of the fiber arts.
1. What were some of the considerations you had to take into account when designing and constructing the costume?
( Ex. finances, room to grow, etc)
For younger children a biggie is where is this costume going to be worn? Is this going to be used every day by the child? Sometimes the costume becomes their lets-pretend-clothing.
Can they go to the bathroom easily or will they need help?
I don’t worry about room to grow because if need be I can make another a size up. Usually about the time they size up, they have other ideas about what they want to wear.
Finances I don’t worry about because I tend to work with cheap and washable materials for kids. I also don’t tend to detail kids costumes since they are going to be worn by kids
Safety I do worry about
I consider the age of the child and whether there is even a change of part of the costume could be hazardous. Cloaks are attached with Velcro so if the child’s cape is caught the cloak will give before the child’s neck.
Halloween vs. Play cloths vs. science fiction convention costume call.
Halloween-I live in the NE so I tend to make the costumes warm. This way they don’t have to wear coats over the costumes.
Play cloths-I try to have some basics for them to use to create their own ensembles
Costume Call-These are usually worn indoors and for a long period of time. If they are a recreation then they have to look closer to the real thing so I have fewer short cuts than I do for the other two. Also these tend to be one shot uses so they don’t need the durability that play clothes need.
2. How did you adapt to meet those challenges? I wrapped this into question one
3. What do you wish you would have known before you started the process that would have made the experience easier? (If only I would have known.....it would have made this whole thing go so much easier)
It is easier to sew Velcro into a costume if it is not sticky backed Velcro and there are plenty of quick ways of temporarily holding something in place so you can stitch it.
4. Was the child involved in the design process or construction phase?
If so how? And how much?
No. Not much at all. It tends to be that the kids will come up with the idea for the costume and then come to me for the costumes themselves. They can make requests but all finally decisions are mine. They know I will do a good job and make it look right. I will also make it as comfortable as I can given what they want to do.
If they want to learn how to make them on their own, I am willing to teach them. Then they can try whatever they want to do. For the older kids, there is a great book by Readers Digest on Sewing which breaks it down to simple components but the newer version dropped the chapters on tailoring which were helpful to me.
5. If you are a caregiver of a child with special needs as I am. (I am a parent of a three year old little girl with down syndrome) How have you adapted costumes around mobility devices and assistive equipment?
I would tend to make the costume fit the person rather than the person to fit the costume. This had been my philosophy since I started costuming for myself.
One of the best Star Trek recreation costumes I ever saw was a woman who was in a wheelchair and she recreated Captain Pike with the help of her friends. It looked great and they built the rig for her chair.
I am grateful for my knowledge of the fiber arts.
