Sewing Children's Renaissance Costumes

If I were going back to school and were asked to write an essay, "What I Did This Summer," the project I would describe is the sewing of these two Renaissance costumes for the children's production of "The Taming of the Shrew."

This summer I had desired to do a lot of sewing, although I hadn't anticipated that all my sewing time would be taken up by two costumes. This production certainly does not require such well-constructed costumes, but I desired to grab this opportunity to stretch myself in an effort to learn how to sew dress (fancy) clothing. Someday I hope to have the ability to sew a baptismal gown, prom dress, wedding gown, or priest's vestments, but I will achieve that skill only by practicing on projects that aren't as important.

Mary (5) as a Wedding Guest

Mary's dress is the example shown here in pink.

For the Wedding Guest gown, I used McCall's Costumes pattern number M6141. I purchased satin (polyester, not silk), not knowing that satin is an incredibly challenging fabric with which to work. I cut my pieces, began sewing, and promptly ruined fabric. Lessons learned: satin both puckers and runs very easily.

Quickly, I called the seamstresses with expertise at Sew Much Fun to ask what I was doing wrong. I was informed that I required a Teflon-coated foot for my sewing machine, as well as Teflon-coated needles. This required packing up the four children and taking them into a fabric store, giving a stern talk about behavior standards, and then attempting to talk to a seamstress about my troubles. My serger doesn't come with a Teflon foot, so the woman taught me the trick of sewing two pieces of satin together with tissue paper, which is what I ended up doing for all my serger work.

The sleeves have a "drape"
which will either swish beautifully during Mary's wedding dance or will get in her way.

Making this gown was my first experience with a fully lined garment. Now I understand why lined garments are so expensive: let me tell you, they are worth all the added cost. Making a lined gown is akin to making not one gown, but two, and having the two fit like a glove with each other.









I sewed Mary's sleeves too long. This was not an immediately obvious 'fix' because the sleeves are lined, so I could not simple cut them shorter and hem them again. I decided to roll the cuffs to the inside and use double-sided tape to hold them in place: I hope this holds for the performance. By not sewing the repair, Mary can grow larger and I can let out the sleeves. (See above how the drapes hang longer than her arms: technically, they are supposed to fall to just covering her hands.)

All the seams are covered with lace, which I ended up hand sewing onto the gown.

The bodice presented a difficulty for me: I created it only to discover that it was far too low cut for Mary. I think I placed the white inset too low. What could I do now when all the seams were already covered with lace? I ended up creating a v-neck insert of several rolls of white silk, which I hand-sewed into place.

The back of the dress provided me with such a steep learning curve and many opportunities to replace my flaming temper with quiet patience. First of all, the back called for "black flaps" and I debated skipping those. The back flaps turned out to be important because they provide modesty for the girl: if the laces went straight into the gown itself, the girl's skin would show through the holes.

Second, the back flaps called for using grommets. This was my first experience with grommets and it went so badly that I gave up halfway through. I sewed new back flaps and used my machine's feature for sewing button holes instead of grommets.

When I had sewn my back flaps with their lovely button holes onto the back of the gown, I began lacing the gown together and discovered that I had created an uneven number of button holes. A little imperfection that cannot be fixed!

Then I discovered that the bodice was too large for Mary by about four inches' circumference. I did not want to cut the garment, so I ended up creating something like darts, folding the bodice and hiding the fold under the back flaps. I adhered the back flaps down with double-sided tape, then sewed them down with a basting stitch only to the lining, not to the satin. As Mary grows, I can easily take out that stitching.

Mary's headpiece I made according to the instructions of a fellow seamstress who is helping tremendously with the costumes for this play. She had us take a hand towel, wrap it tightly like a snake, sew two ends together to fit on the child's head, and then wrap it in a decorative fabric.

John's costume as a tailor took some creativity. Also, I wanted him to coordinate well with his fellow tailor.

John as Tailor No. 1

I created John's britches out of a pattern for pajama pants. I shortened the pants, then added in a triangular panel on the sides of each leg to create the "poof." The waist and legs are cinched with elastic.

The blousy shirt is on loan to me: it is actually a petite woman's blouse.

White tights and his black Mass shoes

The jacket is also from the pajama pattern. I added decorative cuffs with some some scraps of stiff, ivory-colored satin, which I edged with a gold-toned lace. When I finished the jacket, I discovered that the sleeves were noticeably too long. I ended up folding the sleeves into the cuffs, then using a basting stitch to hold it in place: later when John grows, I can take out the basting stitches to lengthen the sleeves.

I created John's hat using the flat cap pattern from The Renaissance Tailor. I used a shimmery green velvet with two layers of felt for stiffness and a dull green velvet (former draperies!) for the lining, attaching a peacock feather for the finishing touch.

Creating the hat was so interesting. I never before would have known how a hat is constructed, but now I feel like I understand the rudiments. My first attempt turned out way too big. My second attempt turned out way too small. When that happened, my patience was pushed to the limit, let me tell you! That night I just had to walk away from the project and tell myself--uncharacteristically!--that it would all work out, although I couldn't see how. I had no more fabric, a deadline fast approaching, and not much heart left. But the next day I ripped all the seams out of the too-small hat, did more measurements, cut the hole bigger, and sewed the third hat: which fits!

I am so pleased with how these costumes turned out. I learned so many skills that place me a lot closer to being able to sew a 'real' fancy garment. I went into this project knowing that the sewing had to be for my own enjoyment of the process, as the kids certainly couldn't be grateful enough for how many hours went into this.

It is hard for me to believe that it was about eight years ago when--pregnant with John--I visited my friend Sarah who taught me my first sewing project: an elementary baby bib and nursing cover. I encourage anyone who wants to learn to sew (or learn anything new) to give it a go because even we old dogs can learn new skills. (As an aside, I remember that Sarah had two girls and one crawling baby and was pregnant with Number Four. I was so unaccustomed to being around children that I was completely overwhelmed, couldn't keep track of All Those Kids, and felt like they were here, there, and everywhere. Now I look back and laugh: there were only two kids and one easy baby who crawled at our feet!)

I have wished that I could be helping the other mothers sew costumes the way that one mother has done for several rehearsal days, dragging in her sewing machine and supplies into the theater. I expressed to her my feelings of regret and wondering how on earth she could sew for all these women while watching her children to which she laughed and explained that she can't! Her mother-in-law came three Wednesdays in a row to babysit her young children, which freed up this woman to help. Hearing that made me feel so much more normal, as I cannot sew with my youngest tots around. Virtually all the sewing required for these costumes this summer has been done late at nights for almost three months. Chris can attest: he even dragged a chair into my sewing room so he could keep me company there at nights!

Starting tomorrow, all the actors need to wear their costumes for all rehearsals. We shall see if any adjustments need to be made. We shall see if Mary can dance in such a voluminous dress!