Kitchen Costuming

This is a request from my other son, Shaun, about this site and some of the things he would like to see here.  Shaun like many others out there knows little what it might take to make a decent costume.  Here are some of his questions…

•  What tools are needed?
•  What type of thread works best ( I know some threads come apart in the wash)?
•  How do you know when to hand stitch something versus sewing with a sewing machine?
•  How much could it cost if I were to try to make a costume from home?

What tools are needed?

Well this really depends on what your project is.  Are you making a hat, shoes, a garment, props that go with your costume, or all of those things?  I hope as I cover each of the projects I have on my plate, I will be able to give you specifically what tools will be needed.  If you really want to tackle costuming, a sewing machine is essential.  Singer has some nice inexpensive sewing machines.  I tend to like brands that I know have been around for awhile.  Do some research on the internet of various brands and styles and look for feedback from customers.  You might be able to find a sewing machine at a thrift store, but buyer beware.  Just because they run when you plug them in doesn’t necessarily mean they will sew.  I had a friend who picked up a working sewing machine at a thrift store for what he thought was a reasonable price only to find that the timing was off.  To have it serviced plus what he paid at the thrift store, cost him more than if he had bought it new. If your mom used to sew, maybe she would be willing to let you have her machine or at least use it.  Don’t forget to oil it or have it oiled if it hasn’t been used lately.  I suggest if you want to buy a new machine that you don’t get one with a lot of fancy stitches.  I have a few different stitches on my machine, but basically I need straight stitch (backwards and forwards) and zigzag for stretch fabrics/edge finishing.

Where to start? Part II  What type of thread works best?  Upcoming post!

In my attempt to get more content on this blog, I decided to create a new category that barely had anything to do with costuming or props.  It is not that I don’t like sharing those things with my readers, but there is a lot that goes into some of these blogs making them of almost epic proportion. It can take days or even weeks of preparation to even write something (Why have a blog if it isn’t updated frequently?).  And of course, I know my audience (of two) is just sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to see what I come up with next.

Okay, so I thought about this all day yesterday (even as I was mowing the lawn). What would be a good title for this category?  I wanted this to be like a daily journal where I could exercise my creative writing skills and basically be about nothing in particular.  The thought that I latched onto for most of the day was to call the category “Kitty Litter.” Sounds strange, I know, but when you live in a household with 8-9 cats, thoughts of kitty litter never quite leave your mind (or your feet, the bed… or anywhere else).  Anyway, my reasoning was a little skewed, but it was so perfect that this is where I could deposit all of the “crap” that didn’t quite fit into Kitchen Costuming.  The rest of the day was spent on trying to come up with a cute acronym for CRAP. As my mind worked overtime with things like “Cookster’s Ranting Against Passivity” or “Central Repository About Props,” I gave myself a massive headache (of course, that could have been from the huge dust bowl I funneled into the air mowing the lawn earlier). At one point, I considered doing a blog like the new “Daily Wag” on Martha Stewart’s website written by her two French Bulldogs.  I have lots of cats that would love to get in on the action and let their voices be heard.  But then I remembered how opinionated they all were.  I can see them fighting over who gets to write for the day, and I would get bumped to subscriber of this blog.  CRAP would now stand for “Cats Rule Amongst People” and the only content would be cats in tiny Harley Davidson garb or pirate costumes.

I decided the category should be called Blog Shorts.

In AZspidey’s quest for proper replication of his Ghostbuster costume, I needed to add zippers to his combat boots.  Since the correct color of the zipper appeared to be black with silver metal teeth, a 24 inch heavy jacket zipper was the only one we could find that met that description.  Of course we only needed about a 9.5 inch zipper, but silver metal is not easy to come by in that size.  For those of you who are going to try this yourself and are not so picky, zippers do come in brass in a more appropriate size.

You will also need an awl and waxed thread (made for the awl) that can be purchased at Tandy Leather Factory  www.tandyleatherfactory.com .  I suppose you can use a really heavy needle, but the awl is much easier to handle. A 12-inch ruler, small bottle of white glue, a hot glue gun, chalk (or something else to mark with), a regular needle and thread are other items you will need.

Preparing the boot for the zipper…

To begin, I lined up the zipper on the boot with the edge of the zipper touching edge of the boot seam line (figure 1). 

Figure 1

I measured in 3.5 inches along the top of the boot from the eyelet edge and marked it with chalk.  This measurement could be a little more or less depending on the size of your boot.  With a ruler, draw a line with chalk along the path where the zipper teeth will go, stopping approximately one half inch above the stitches on the boot (figure 2).  Make sure you are marking the inseam not the outside of your boot.  Once you cut on this line, you are now committed to the zipper going there (unless you want to buy a new pair of boots).

Figure 2

After cutting the first line, go back and trim about 1/8 inch on each side.  I just rounded the cut as I got to the bottom (figure 3), but you can cut straight down and the just clip off when you get to the end.

Figure 3

After cutting leather, the edge of the leather may not have absorbed the dye, so I went back and painted the edge of the cut with black acrylic paint (figure 4). 

Figure 4

Figure 5

I just happened to have Ceramcoat paint, but any acrylic paint will do (figure 5).  If your boots are vinyl and not leather, you can probably skip this part.

Sewing in the zipper…

We are almost ready to sew in the zipper.  Since the zipper comes apart at the bottom, I sewed around the teeth creating a stop (this was probably just being overly cautious).  Use the smaller needle that comes with the awl.  Once you have threaded it, only pull the thread out about one inch (figure 6). 

Figure 6

Dip the end of the thread in white glue, wipe off excess and let dry. Now, place the zipper inside the boot (I was able to push the entire end of the zipper underneath the arch pad).  By holding the zipper in place, starting at the bottom of the cut on the side closest to the heel (this is really important that you start on this side first), push the awl through the leather and the zipper.  With the needle still inserted into the hole, grab the end of the thread and pull it out until the length is one and a half times longer than the length you will be sewing. As you are pulling the needle back out (figure 7), a loop will be created on the back part of the stitch (inside boot).

Figure 7

 Put the thread through the loop and pull the needle back out; tightening each stitch as you go (figures 8 and 9).

Figure 8

Figure 9

Sometimes the needle loops on both sides, if the awl comes out and there is not just one thread, you put the back thread through the wrong loop. It looks like you really messed up, but is simple to fix.  Loosen the loop and pull the back thread out of the loop, tighten up the slack on your awl and start again.  I did this several times.  Sometimes it is hard to see which loop to put it in (technically it is the side of the needle that doesn’t have the groove in it).

Move the needle over about 1/16 inch and repeat stitch process all the way up to the top of the boot. The shorter you keep the thread coming from the spool into the stitch, the easier this is (Figure 10).

Figure 10

On the last stitch, with awl still in the hole, pull the thread out to about 4 inches and cut off.  You should now have two threads coming out the back (or inside) of the boot.  Tie these in a knot and dab them with hot glue.

Continue sewing other side of the zipper starting where you left off at the bottom and going across the zipper.  You can use the same hole you started with, just go the opposite way (you will have to make a wide stitch across the zipper teeth).

I did not cut the excess off the zippers until I finished sewing, but you can cut them about 3 inches above the top of the boot if they get in your way.  You will need to create a stop at where you want your zipper to end.  Before you make the zipper ends shorter, figure out which metal tooth will be at the top of your boot by zipping up the zipper. Mark teeth on both sides with a marker pen. Because the zipper is on an angle, one side will be longer than the other. Count down two teeth on the shorter side and sew with needle and thread around and around that tooth until the zipper pull stops.

 Finishing the zipper…

Now that the zipper is sewed in, you will need the hot glue gun.  Put a tiny dab of glue between top of boot and zipper. Squeeze a small amount of glue on zipper next to teeth starting about ¼ inch above top of boot.  Smooth glue out with tip of glue gun until you have covered about an inch down. Do this on back and front of both zipper sides.  You only want a thin layer here, so don’t go crazy with the glue.  You do not want to get this all over the teeth. On the teeth that you marked earlier, squeeze a little blob of glue (a second stop protection). Let cool, then cut zipper ends off flush and angled with the cut of your boot.  If you don’t like the looks of the “glue” stop, you can either paint them black or use a black permanent marker like I did. Woohoo!  Now you’re done!

Finished Boot

Like many mothers, I have several pictures of my kids in Halloween costumes throughout the years.  I’m sure most of the other people’s children grew up to be doctors, accounts, or retail managers and now enjoy seeing their grandkids in costume.  This is a phase we never outgrew because as my kids got older they became very interested in films for different reasons.

In the earlier pictures, you can tell that mom had control of the costuming because my boys were subjected to having to wear fufu fuzzy bunny and kitty garb (Thank God then they didn’t care what their friends thought). Both these costumes were made from fake fur found at a local fabric remnant store that I continue to shop at even today.

Later when they were given a choice, they opted for something more apropos to Halloween.  Unfortunately this particular year, they both wanted to be the same thing (Yikes!).  Not only did I have to make up the pattern for the costume, they had to be hand drawn, but hand painted also.  The fabric painting craze had not yet begun so these were created with a regular tube of acrylic artist paint.

Now we are beginning to see the seeds of film costumes sprout: a young Batman and Spiderman perhaps?

Ghostbusters hit the theaters almost twenty-five years ago and well…let’s just say, we are revisiting this time period in a big way (at least with one son)!

 In-between Ghostbusters “then and now,” the boys went from being Davey Crocket to Ninja Turtle, Leonardo.

 This is how my son, Todd, goes all out today…

Welcome to my blog!  I really hope you will be able to find some helpful information here when it gets up and running. Please have patience with me as I am just learning how to manage this site.

This blog is evolving because I saw a need on some of the forums to help people be able to make their costumes and props at home.  I am by far not an expert professional costumer, but I have been making costumes since my kids were young.  I will have more information on that later, but if you like to make your own costumes and have any thoughts on what you would like to know on this blog, please leave a comment. I will certainly try to help you with whatever your needs are.

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