Fall 2012: Props for Sweeney Todd

Pretty quickly after my last post I got called in to do about 2 weeks of work at the PCS props shop, stitching for Sweeney Todd. I made a, (purposly distressed, ragged and tattered), drop from thrifted bedsheets that opened the show, I made a set of curtians for Pirelli's wagon, 2 sets for the pie shop, (only one got used), 2 pillows for Mrs. Lovett's parlor- only one got used, but it was the one that looked better and had a 'hidden' pocket for Mrs. Lovett to hide her money in, and finally a sailor duffle bag for Anthony to carry.

I enjoyed working in props- it's located in an industrial area in a big shop shared with the scene shop. I walked 2.3 miles to get there, (occasionally I was rushed and took a car share car, but I usually walked). The environment is friendly and bustling. It's also very dusty, since there's major set constructon right through the door. It took a bit of getting used to and reminding myself that I was working on furnishings, not clothing and that they wouldn't be wearing anything I made there. 

This is a show photo of the drop- it doesn't look particularly pretty and it was pretty much slammed together, which was what it was supposed to look like.  It won't be getting any glamour shots in the portfolio section.

I have photos of the pillow that made it onstage, but they're on my old phone. I'll try to remember to get them posted. That project was challenging because to create a pocket required extra fabric and we had so little and it had such a large pattern that I had to creativly adjust the repeat on the side with the pocket and use a similar fabric on the interior of the pocket to help stretch things.

The curtians were fairly uncomplicated. I did need to be a little creative because there wasn't quite enough fabric for most of them. I had to look at their setting to see if serged  or selvage edges would be noticable, how long did they really need to be- things like that. The set that was used for the pie shop was also dyed. It went from a yellowish color to a pale olive color. Items of interest: the prop shop has some 20 year old rit and a good but small water heater- they use their single washing machine to dye in and the water's hot enough, but only for one go an hour or so. 

On my last day of props work I got a call from the costume designer, ie, my old boss, saying that someone on the wardrobe crew had a family emergency and wouldn't be able to run the show, could I make it to a run through that afternoon and then start tech the next day? I said I could, and that'll be the next entry.

Thing a week?

I've been working on a Spring Summer Clean, going on a couple job interviews (retail work, for the holiday season for extra income), and I've gone into PCS a couple of times to help orient/train my replacement. Here and there I've been making this purse, (shown in progress), slightly adapted from this book. I've been collecting bits and pieces of fabric for a long time and I'd like to use some of them and the book has lots of bags and other projects, including some cute stuffed animals, so I'm ready if there is a baby shower :)

Since this picture, I've added the closures and gotten 1/2 through the binding of the top edge.  Mom, if you read this, I'm still using up that ultrasuede!

I think the next project will be a skirt. Then I really should get to the slip dress and skirt I said I'd make my sister. Unless I have a very boring Fall, that should be enough major projects to get me through to the holidays.

8/19 thing a day

I scanned in some swirly bits that I drew. I'm not entirely satisfied with them, but it's a start. The idea is to remove them from the white backgrounds and be able to layer them over/under other imagery.

sort of like these book covers:

This one has ribbon shapes and antler shapes     like the stars on this one     the way the gate and vines are done

Edit 8/29: the sketch uplodes now, after resizing

 

Thing a day-

Today (8/18) I uploaded a whole bunch of photos, created two new photo galleries, and filled in some titles and descriptions.

Yesterday (8/17) I spent an hour or two on a photo walk. Those photos are in one of the new galleries

8/11-8/16 -didn't do anything in particular

8/10 I made some designs in Photoshop. I keep thinking I should make a logo or some sort of image- Everyone says you're supposed to 'brand' yourself, so here are some variants on a theme. The idea is that I could put text in the white space and have the layered color frame it. I don't know quite what text to go with yet. 'LK designs' something like that? I like the gradation of colors in the green/blue versions, but I don't love green so I think if I still like the idea later, I should work up something in blues and in red/orange possibly.

8/9-I worked on another cover mockup, but I wasn't satisfied with it. I did re-teach myself how to make text follow a path, which I used to only be able to do in Illustrator. In general, I think I need more fonts.

8/8 thing a day

Today I revamped the 'Interests' section and uploaded photos. I should still do the editing on the titles and descriptions but I have to pick up some books on hold at the library.