Wizard of Oz takes over my life

I love it when I get so excited about a project I just can't stop working on it.
The Wizard of Oz has become just that. I have had so many Ah-Ha moments in the last week.

Today I'm supposed to be working on Empireroom Designs, but I just can't stop researching Wizard. One idea just flows onto the next & I find myself back at the computer Googling & eBaying like my life depended on it.

I have really been struggling with the concept for the Cowardly Lion.
Tinman & Scarecrow got sorted last week after I came across come YouTube videos for the London Production. Be blown away by Dorothy's miraculous dress change at 1.39.

After watching some of their 135 videos, it all just fell into place & with some tweaking & trial paint effects there were the designs. See last weeks blog.

But the Lion hasn't been sitting easy with me. It's the whole idea that even though he's Cowardly, he is still a Lion & no-one has a problem with that. I felt the need to make him a little more person-ish, a bit more accessible, harking back to Wicked story lines,  but I didn't want him to be lame.
So here's my inspiration over many weeks & months

I really liked this Lion mane, but I didn't want our Lion to be in a full fur suit.

I also loved the Lion from the TinMan mini series, but it still wasn't quite right.

Then I found this gorgeous fraidy cat from the Carousel Theatre For Young People. I really connect with his human-ness, but it wasn't my vision.

Then when I was supposed to be packing up to leave school at 4pm yesterday, it came to me.

Perhaps not a blinding flash, but certainly ideas started tumbling. I raced up to the storeroom to seek out the leather surcoat that Merlin wore in Pendragon. A lovely burnished brown leather, aged behind the back of a 4WD.

Then I thought about jodphur pants that would give the effect of the Lions muscular legs without being a fur suit & ridiculously hot. 

I 

 Once I got home, I took of my rain sodden leather shoes in favor of my good ole Teddy bear slippers. And then I remembered seeing some monsters slippers online.

Add some fur trim fingerless gloves, a stringy mane from my first picture & hey presto, I had a Lion design I was pretty happy with.

Then I tried looking at crows again. Nothing in any productions really inspired me, but when I saw this adorable mini raven costume I was done.

Our three crows will wear a black hoodie with attached peaked beak, felt winglets & feathers,  black baggy rough edged shorts, long orange & black stripe socks, & oversized  bird feet slipppers.

They will be so comfy! 

Next time I'll share my amazing transforming Poppies into Snowflakes & the delectable Jitterbugs.

Stay tuned for more Empireroom bridal millinery. Silk bows are on the horizon.

Oh yeah…. Jennifer Hawkins wore one of my Teardrop veils for her Hen's night last weekend. 

No business like Show Business

It's been a big week of creativity & culling.
I spent a lot of last week rearranging my workroom.

In my line of work it's impossible to throw anything out. 
You never know when you will need that piece of fabric, trim, cardigan, button, tool. So you have a ridiculously large stash of everything.

But with the new focus on millinery & accessories I decided a large amount of fabric could move to the garage, freeing up space for millinery supplies to be a hand.

Being a professional hoarder often means your work space can get out of hand, but my semi New Years resolution, to clean up after every project has stuck. I'm finding it liberating to pack everything away & have my work table & sewing space clear every few days or weeks. 

In my creativity this week I designed lots of costumes for the Wizard of Oz, 

made a year 12 formal dress 

& designed a new bridal comb to add to the collection.

The lovely Miz Mimi also joined our little team at Empireroom. You'll see her sporting our upcoming designs.

Don't forget to join our list at Empireroom.

2013: The Year of Big Changes

How did it suddenly get to be a quarter of the way through 2013?
I mean, it was sudden, wasn't it?
It just snuck up on me.

There was a cruisey January where I caught up on all my sewing & started on the Historical Fortnight Sewing Challenge.
Then school started.


Then there was Kyria's gorgeous black & white wedding dress.


And then fashion season was upon us.











I originally thought I was just crewing High School Musical starting March 9, so I booked myself silly working for the Myer Autumn/Winter 2013 launch,

the Victorian  Racing Carnival Autumn parade

& L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival 2013.

Next thing I know the hire agreement for HSM has disintegrated & suddenly I was required to source some costumes. Before I knew it, 12 outfits for Sharpay & Ryan, blew out to about 40 costumes, & I found myself working almost everyday from February 22 through to March 26.

What a ride! Come Easter I was beyond exhausted & my husband had almost forgotten who I was, but I was clear about where I was heading in the next part of the year & into 2014.

After a lot of soul searching I decided it was time to move on from the Carey Musical Theatre Association after 15 years of costuming their annual musical. It's something that probably should have happened 2 years ago, but you know how it is with habit.
I love the work, I love the kids & I love the volunteers I work with, but the organisation has changed over the last few years & I was finding it hard to cope with the new methods of operation.
The thing is when you finally take the plunge & make the right decision everything else just seems to fall into place.
And that's what has happened with me.

The stylists I worked with this season asked me to create some millinery pieces for their parades while doing alterations. A few veils, several fascinators. 

The first two were easy projects & started me thinking that this was what I could really do. 

I enjoyed it, it was relatively easy & it didn't stress me out of my brain like wedding dresses tend to. This led to an in with the millinery buyer at Myer.

Then I worked with Karla Clarke at Harpers Bazaar on the L'Oreal Red Carpet Runway Bridal extravaganza. We came to a bit of a brick wall with the millinery that had been supplied for the parade & I suggested I could put a few pieces together. A few pieces turned in to 31 with a 72hour turn around. 

The pressure was immense, but I enlisted the help of my friend Maddie & we managed to make beautiful pieces that complemented the wedding dresses by Akira Isogawa, Collette Dinnigan, Rachel Gilbert, Aurelio Costarella & Toni Maticevski.

And so begins the next phase of Empireroom.
Stay tuned.