Still a work in progress.  This is where we’re at.  Hopefully this one sticks!  I took the liberty of placing the actor in Jamie’s beautiful scenic design.  I went to Fabric Depot yesterday for fabric swatch shopping and picked out a very textured drapey metallic knit that I think will work perfectly!  Measurement session for all 10 actors playing this character starts in 1 hour…

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I finished it! I made this silk charmeuse chemise with french seams and a hand-rolled hem to showcase the straps and yoke I crocheted from a 1920′s pattern. I’ve been working on this for months! I found the crochet pattern here.



This was my first time with filet crochet and my first time with silk charmeuse but it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself!









   

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I have super exciting news to share with you: I’m going back to school!

I got my letter of acceptance from the Theater Arts Department at the University of Oregon a few days ago – I’m going to go back for my MFA in Theater Arts with an emphasis in Costume Design!  There are not enough exclamations points in the world to convey how excited I am!

I had the pleasure of meeting Professor of Costume Design and History, Alexandra Bonds, a few weeks ago.  Prof. Bonds was gracious enough to give me a tour of the department and introduce me around to some of the other faculty, students and staff.  I completely fell in LOVE.  The theater arts department is housed in the second oldest building on campus, called Villard Hall:



Isn’t it beautiful?  It was built in 1886.

The building was recently renovated (added on) to include larger, more modern facilities, including the Hope Theater:



I am super impressed by the quality of the work that comes out of the department and I can’t wait to join in on the fun this fall!









I tried, but I couldn’t find any decent photos of the costume shop.  Believe me: it is AMAZING!  It is giant.  It has large windows with a second (or was that third?) story view, multiple cutting tables, a dye room, a fitting room, a fabric room – EVERYTHING.  It is by far the largest and nicest shop I’ve ever set foot in.  Next time I go back I’ll try to take pictures so you can see for yourself how impressive it is.  (I’m planning on going to a showing of The Crucible next week at the UO so we’ll see if I can’t sneak a few then.)

I have 6 months before I start the program.  Right now, I’m working on finding some (affordable) art classes where I can practice figure drawing and fashion illustration.  I’m also reading every book I can get my hands on about costume design, fashion history and theater tech.  I really want to rock the socks off this program!

In other news, I think my Sew It All TV episode is airing on PBS soon!  I only say this because I saw this photo posted on their website:



I’m waiting to hear back from the Sew It All folks about my air date.  They promised me a DVD so maybe that will be showing up in the mail, soon, too.  Exciting!  I’ll let you know more details ASAP.

<3 Erin  

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Look at what came in the mail yesterday:



See the headline, “Discover the ULTIMATE HELPER Sewing Birds” there on the left?  That’s my article!  The full title?  Sewing Birds: Love Charm, Health Tonic and Lady’s Companion.



I always love writing for Piecework, and you already know I like to wax poetic about sewing birds.  It is a pleasure to be in the company of such accomplished contributors in this issue.  I loved Karen Ballard’s article on patriotic knitting bags and accessories from WWI and WWII but I was especially thrilled with Robert Haven’s article on Tambour beading.  I’ve been meaning to try the technique for some time now!

Here’s a good example of Tambour beading, in case you’re not familiar with the technique:



A chain stitch is worked from the back of the piece using a small hooked needle and the beads are attached on the front.    Here’s what the back looks like:



Sequins are common but you can also use the technique with bugle beads and seed beads.  The technique even works well for plain, bead-less embroidery.  I associate Tambour beading with flapper dresses and Liz Taylor, but that’s just me.  Mr. Hand was fortunate enough to study Tambour beading and Embroidery at L’Ecole Lesage in Paris.  I am so jealous.  What an amazing experience!  I’ll have to add that to my bucket list.

In any event, the last time I wrote for Piecework was back in the July/August 2011 issue.  I forgot to post about the article, apparently, because I can’t find it anywhere in my archives, so I thought I’d mention it now.  I wrote an article on the history of Victorian fish scale embroidery.  The front cover of that issue, as you might recall, looked like this:



I also wanted to mention that Piecework is now available in an online edition, which might be nifty for those of us who can’t make it to the newsstand to pick up the latest issue.  I love Stitch magazine and, of course, I live for Threads but Piecework is pretty amazing, too.  In a perfect world, Piecework would focus a bit more on fabric-based arts and a bit less on yarn-based arts but the historical perspective Piecework brings to needle arts in general is unparalleled in the market.  I’m proud to be involved with such a vital force in fiber arts history!

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New costume renderings to share!

I made this set for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” which happens to be one of my favorite plays of all time.  I know Irene Sharaff won an Oscar for Best Costume Design for the movie version with Liz, so these are big shoes to fill, kids!

The scans are a little blurry but I think you get the idea of what I came up with:



         

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