The following are a set of suggestions for practices that I have found
useful over the years, as well as some general sewing tips. They are currently
in not particular order, and I will be adding to them as new things strike
me. If you would like to add a Tip or Trick of your own, or view tips
and tricks from other Sempstress readers, please do so here:
The Sempstress' Tips, Tricks, and General Advice:
- Either Line, Flat-Line, or Face *everything*
- Believe in well-dressed seams - either pipe them, or run gimp along
them, or something. There are very few reasons to hide a perfectly good
seam while costuming. (I make one general exception to this: I almost
never do a thing with seams at the armscye.)
- Grade
(or at least trim) all your seams - everything will lie better.
- Get to be on very good terms with your iron.
- On fabrics where it won't show, like upholstery velvets with a short
nap, run a line of stitches about 1/8 inch to the inside edge of your
seams to keep everything nice and flat and tidy.
- On fabrics where stitching will show, disguise those same edging stitches
by using them to apply gimp, ribbon, soutach, or whatever strikes your
fancy.
- Sketch things out before you start cutting. You'd be amazed at the
parts of a design that you just don't think about until you either draw
them, or encounter them in a very unhappy moment of sewing.
- Call your mother often.
- Do your research, but don't rely on words that other people have written.
Look at pictures.
- Remember that comfort is more important than vanity - you'll have
to wear that costume, corset and all, all day. No one can really see
a one inch difference in your waist, so don't lace yourself in there
too tightly. (You'll never be able to eat lunch.)
- Don't eat those great huge barbequed turkey legs while wearing a costume
with a white forepart.
- Learn to walk in your costume. Wear it around the house a little while
before taking it to the faire. If you don't look comfortable and natural
in it, the best costume in the world is ruined. Wear it well.
- Buy a fan. That goes for the guys too. You'll thank yourself around
noon. (And if anyone knows how to make those feather fans, please mail
me.) For the ladies, when you're in danger of literally wilting from
the heat, a little ice put (preferably discreetly) down the front of
the corset works wonders.
- Always remember that your cat will want to lie down on the single
most expensive or well decorated bit of fabric lying around. Either
hang things up, or lie them inside out. (Here we have the oldest of
my two cats, Sivitri, modelling my newly finished skirts. She actually
plops down on things while I'm still sewing them and proceeds to shed
like mad.)
- Embellish, embellish, embellish. When you plan your embellishments,
remember to include elements that will be visible from a distance (a
contrasting color forepart with an open skirt, for example), and some
that will be visible up close (like the beading on that forepart). Try
to make sure that your trims, and the designs they make, are large enough
to be seen from a distance, but not so large as to look clumsy up close.
A good way to do this is to make sure that your distance-visable elements
are simple and geometric - the triangle of the forepart, parallel lines
of trim straight down the front of the bodice, etc, and that any ornate
designs are limited to small work in stitching or beading.
