Pictures from "Doubt: A Parable"

I finally got a chance to show you my costumes on actual actors and actresses from Doubt: A Parable. which was presented by Clayton Community Theatre. I am rather proud of these, I tried to make them as authentic as possible.

Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius have sharp words for each other, but Sister wins! Hooray for the nun!
Fr. Flynn and Sister James confer in the garden
Mrs. Muller meets Principal Sister Aloysius in the tense meeting in the principal's office, where Sister lays out her concerns
Father Flynn as he speaks to his congregation about having doubts

Father Flynn teaches the boys basketball, and afterwards invites them to the rectory to have a bull session

My challenges in this project: researching and executing the construction of the bonnets. These are not as deep as the actual ones that the nuns wore, the director didn't want them deep because this theatre is lit mostly from above, and their faces wouldn't have shown as well. I actually made one prototype, which took me hours to make, then made two more which took me 20 minutes each to make! I used heavy buckram for the crown and brim, covering it with black broadcloth.

Getting my computerized embroidery machine to embroider the center logo for the chasuble, it was plagued with thread breaks all through the process. I think it happened because I was using a stiff backing. I'll use a softer one in the future, and hopefully things will work out better.

Finding just the right purse for Mrs. Muller. Never did find what I wanted.

Find just the right hat for Mrs. Muller. I finally found a rather beat up navy blue hat, she loved it and wanted to keep it. It only cost $4 at a thrift store, so I let her keep it. Once she put on the crunched up hat, it fit her perfectly, it was darling on her, and she loved it. Unfortunately, I found it after they took these pictures!

Making the rosaries for the nuns. My daughter, Monkeygirl, agreed to take on this task, and she did a great job. I had to shop at MANY, MANY craft stores to find the crosses, finally found them at my 3rd Michaels. The nuns wanted to keep their rosaries as mementos, one girl is Jewish and the other is episcopalian or something like that, don't know what a Jewish girl will do with a rosary, but it is a nice memento.

Fr. Flynn got no memento.

Fr. Flynn's cassock had 24 buttons down the front. Finding 24 buttons alike at any fabric store is an ultimate challenge! These were not all alike, but were similar enough not to scream out that they were different!

It was fun to do this show, thanks to my friend the director to ask me to work with this group, I enjoyed it a lot! Unfortunately, we had woefully small houses for each performance, and these people put their hearts and souls into each performance. I wish it had been seen by more people, they missed a very good show!

He.e.e.e.l.l.l.l.o.o.o.! Is Any one out there?

Sometimes a bloger's life is lonely. Am I writing and spinning my words into cyberspace for just myself to read? Is there anyone interested in reading what I spit out?

A blogger can be considered the ultimate self-centered creature. That's what I thought when I first heard about blogging. Why would anyone want to read what I write? But then my daughter got me started on it, urged on by her BFF, who is an excellent blogger. For me, it is a way to hone my writing skills (I teach writing at a community college.) Sometimes, I catch myself making the same grammatical mistakes I just cautioned my students not to make, like writing run-on sentences, etc. etc. etc.

I've read some very interesting blogs, written by people with a special love for special topics. My blog focuses mostly on sewing, quilting and costuming.

But, is anyone out there? I never know, because only a few people comment on my blog. Come on folks, you don't have to be a registered blogger to comment!

I found out that my cousin who lives in San Francisco reads my blog. It is her way of keeping up with this branch of the family! And the other night, while waiting for "Doubt" to begin, one of the actors said, "I read a blog today written by someone who must have seen the first night of Doubt, she liked the show and gave me a good review." I told her, "I have a blogspot". Then we found out that she found my blog through Google, and had read my review of the opening of her show (read "Another Opening, Another Show" where she read the review.)

So I guess there really are people out there who read my blog. Since it is my photojournal of things I work on for different shows, it is a way for me to send lots of friends pictures, since they live far away and can't get here to see the shows.

But make a comment once in a while, OK? Do it as an annonymous person, I don't care! Just let me know you are out there!