Malotke Sews

Made a waistband and marked the center back & where the snap closures would be on the front. Next I took the fabric for the skirt and started to pin pleats, switching directions at the center back. After pinning the pleats I sewed the front panels and then sewed across the pleating so that when I attached the waistband the pleats would already be put together. Once the pleats were sewn I then pinned the skirt to the waistband. Because of the thickness of the fabric and the overlapping of layers I needed to hand sew the skirt to the waistband. In the picture above I still need to sew on snaps for the closure in the front and finish the hem. I will probably also sew the waistband and skirt again, it's very heavy and I just don't want anything to happen accidentally since the Queen is very active in the show.

So in typical Brianna fashion I decided to do my own thing with making the sleeves for the Queen's Forest Dress. Using the measurements I drew out a sleeve on cream fabric. I wanted to keep them simple and bend slightly a the elbow - which is how I got this shape. I made it a little bit bigger at the top to do gathering stitches and a little bit wider at the bottom than needed to account for the lace ruffles I would add (which will take up room on the inside of the sleeve where the Queen's arm is). First I cut out the two sleeves from the curtain fabric. Then I ran two sets of gathering stitches across the top. Next I sewed green silk to the hem of the sleeve (the green matches the King's vest back & facings). After this was done I cut out the lace and sewed them in pleats along the hemline. Last step was sewing the sleeve's seam together. The sleeves are not sewn into the armhole in this picture, they are simply pinned to the mannequin to see how they ...

Some inspiration and a progress picture. As soon as I read the script I knew exactly what I wanted the King & Queen to wear in their scenes when they "live in a forest." I knew I was going to make the Queen's dress and some part of the King's ensemble to match. After some sketching and decision making, I decided the Queen would be in a more simple dress with elbow length sleeves and the King would be in tan breeches, a white long sleeve shirt with ruffles, and a long vest that matches the Queen's dress. And the whole time I was designing their looks I knew exactly what fabric I wanted to use and it was already a part of my fabric stash. Here is a little backstory on the fabric I chose: when my parents moved into their house their dining room had this wonderful floral wallpaper and curtains to match! Well my parents hated it and were going to redo the entire room. I asked for the curtains because I just adored the pattern on the fabric. I didn't have...

Here are a couple of my sketches I have done for Farinelli & the King . While they're not in color, I am pretty proud of them. I have definitely come a long way in my sketching abilities compared to my Freshman year of college where I still needed to trace fashion figures.  In my mind the two most different characters in the show are Farinelli and La Cuadra. Farinelli is light and thoughtful while La Cuadra is cold and stern. When I think Farinelli I think silks, pastels, and soft floral patterns. As for La Cuadra I imagine deep rich reds mixed with a lot of gold trim, large ruffles and shine added to any surface (rings, buckles, buttons, etc.). Anyways, I am very happy with my sketches and between those, my notes, and inspiration pages/ mood boards, I was able to create some lovely costumes. Apologies for the softness of the sketches.

Here are some of my mood boards I created for the show! For inspiration I looked at the inside of palaces, artwork done during the time periods, as well as lots of research through my books for clothing silhouettes and textiles used. General mood board for the production. Inspiration for the King.

Due to the costume stock from the places I've pulled pieces for the show, I will be making 3 men's vests. I'm pretty excited to make costume pieces for the show. For my show I didn't make items but did alterations and little tweaks. So after establishing the style of the vests I dug through my fabric stash to find the different colors and patterns I would want for the different vests. For my first vest I chose a black with white thin stripes for the front panels, a grey for the back, a different grey for the lining, and then a solid black for the facings.  Inside look at the vest. Snapshot of the vest. Ready for a fitting! Different angle of the vest. I decided to stop at this point and do a fitting so I could then make any alterations necessary. After the fitting I will need to finish the armholes, add buttonholes and buttons, and finish the hem.

At the theater, ready to take measurements! Diving into research for clothing in the 18th century has been a blast! First off I have always loved the Baroque time period with the elaborate dresses and hairstyles. The French court had a strong influence on the fashion of the period and the styles were made to make the wealth differences between nobility and lower classes very obvious. For Farinelli & the King , the show is mainly set in the early 18th century with the ending set in 1757. With this time change there wasn't such a huge difference in men's fashions, but women's fashions were noticeably different, especially with panniers getting wider. The show opens Thursday, October 3rd! I'll be posting more progress pieces as well as mood boards and sketches. I'm very thrilled to be able to have made a decent amount of costume pieces for this show.

I am currently working as Costume Designer for Station Theatre's production of "Farinelli & The King." It's set in the early 18th century and based on real historical figures. I am totally in love with clothing from this time period and have been excited to do this show.  There are 6 men and 1 woman, with two of the guys playing multiple characters. There are also a handful of extra people on stage that don't have speaking roles, as well as a pianist, that will need to be in costume. So far I've had fittings with the main actors and am waiting on the non speaking roles to be cast so then I can do measurements and costumes. Because of my love of this era and the lack of rentals available, I will be making several historical garments for this show. I am breaking out my fabric stash though to help with my budget, and to be able to donate the completed pieces to a theater than has adequate storage capabilities. Station Theatre doesn't have  a set ar...