Malotke Sews

Board in the lobby during "Farinelli & the King" showcasing some of my mood boards. My online portfolio on Wix has had some updates! I've added some images from "Farinelli & the King" and a new page to showcase my mood boards and sketches. Check it out here: Malotke Designs

I've added a new page to the blog! It's titled " What They're Saying About Me " and will include pieces from reviews the shows I've worked on that mentions costumes. Here are the  Farinelli and the King   Reviews: " Brian Hagy richly lights the sumptuous costumes by Brianna Malotke and well-crafted scenic details of Yvonne Tessman." -  Jeffrey Eric Jenkins " Finally, the costume design was remarkable. Intricate and beautiful pieces adorned the cast, and, more than performances, pulled me into the era. I must pay my respects to the detailed research and work that was put into gathering such wonderful pieces." -  Jarrod Finn " There is a large and capable supporting cast - all beautifully costumed by Brianna Rose Malotke." -  C-U at The Show Facebook Post Here is a  link  to the MP3 of WEFT's local radio show " C-U At The Show " and their discussion with the director and some of the cast. They discus...

I pleated the fabric and then laid it on the mannequin to see if I was getting the right overall look. After checking how the pleats looked I went ahead and pleated two sets of the gold fabric that fold over themselves giving me a total of 4 rows. I thought an easy way of handling the pleated fabric would be in it had a muslin backing along the top. I then made a neckband and a small section of muslin to attach to the neckband. I thought the muslin backing would help make the gold pop. I then sewed the layers of pleated gold fabric to the section of muslin. After I made the fur layers of pleated gold I decided the neckband looked a little dull. I then added the gold fabric but horizontally to the neckband. Lastly I added snaps to the back for closures. After sewing 4 layers of the gold I thought it needed a little more to it but I waited to see how it looked with the entire outfit on the actor. Once I tried it on the actor I trimmed the bottom row and then added ...

Here are almost all of the wigs used in the show. I have used wigs in a few of my shows so I'm not a total novice, but it was slightly overwhelming to do so many wigs for "Farinelli & the King." In total I had to find, purchase, and style 10 wigs. Some actors had to wear more than 1 for the show as they were playing different characters or older/younger versions of their character.  While it was a lot of unexpected work, I did enjoy working with the wigs. A lot of them just needed to have their curls fixed and re-pinned. I did however need to powder a couple to decrease the shine from the synthetic look. I wish I had taken a wig class or something while in college, it's been a lot of fun learning process, but it'd be nice to have some solid guidance.

For the King's look on stage when he gets dressed to go off to war I needed to make a sash that would be perfectly regal. His look consists of the vibrant blue jacket, a blue sash with floral details, a silver metal breast plate, and this golden sash that ties around his waist over the armor. (Plus the rest of his outfit) Armed with the waist measurements (plus the breast plate armor) I made a long rectangle for the part that ties around the King's waist. I then made a separate wider rectangle to drape and make the bow like part of the sash that gets shown off to the audience. I pinned it in place and hand stitched it. Once finished I added a silver branch broach to where the bow part attaches to the waist.

For the Queen in "Farinelli & the King," I knew I wanted to make her glamorous despite the settings she's in during the show. She goes from the palace in Madrid to an Opera house in London, back to Madrid to then live in a forest, to loosing her husband and being in mourning. I had initially wanted 5 costumes but due to timing and limitations of costume changes, I had 3 and then a long black velvet cloak for her scene in London. This post is about her very glamorous all black ensemble for when she's in mourning. Puffy sleeved, black satin 80s prom dress ready to travel to the mid 18th century! Here's the back of the 80s dress after removing a very large flower and bow. To make this dress work as the main piece I decided I needed to eliminate some of the pouf in the sleeves. I took the sleeves in about 2 inches. To go with the solid black dress I decided to drape a skirt that the actress could tie around her waist. I used pleats, sewed a black sat...

First I turned the jacket inside out and then placed it on my mannequin. Then I chose the fabrics based on what I thought would look good on stage and not just up close. For the front panels I selected a darker blue brocade. I pinned it in place so that I did not have t sew through the jacket but could stick to sewing the lining to the seam allowances and the already lined and interfaced front pieces. After deciding on the font panels I decided on this rich blue velvet for a wow factor. In the show the jacket gets used a prop a few times and gets taken off by the King and placed on another character's shoulders, and then later it gets carried on stage and put on the King as he gets dressed. So I wanted to make sure that anytime you could maybe catch a glimpse of the inside of the jacket that there was going to be something wonderful to look at and that's why I chose the bold blue velvet. All in all it took a couple of hours to do the draping, cutting, pinning, and hand ...

Here are a few photos from Wednesday's Dress Rehearsal!  Opening night was yesterday, Thursday, October 3rd, 2019. Photo credit: Jesse Folks The King (L) in his night clothes, the Queen (C), and La Cuadra (R). I made alterations to the King's nightshirt to make it smaller as well as adding lace to the collar. I then added some large gold buttons to the robe. For the Queen I pulled her petticoat, skirt, bodice with over skirt, wig, and jewelry. For La Cuadra I pulled his ensemble and made a matching gold and lace jabot and coat cuffs. For the Queen (L) I took a very sad dress with holes and rips and gave it some love. I patterned and made new sleeves, redid the waistline and hem, and then added green trim around the neckline. I also made the pleated over skirt for her ensemble out of old curtains. It has hooks and eyes for the front closure. For Farinelli (R) I pulled his ensemble with a general color scheme of green, cream, peach, and soft gold in mind for the t...