I’ve just finished a charming commission: costumes for a piece of musical theatre called Home: Weaving Scottish Songs into a New Zealand War
The show tells the story of two Scottish immigrants, Maggie and Johnnie, over the course of World War I, through traditional Scottish folk songs.
And best of all, for me, they wanted reasonably historically accurate costumes!
Here is a sneak peek at Maggie’s costume:
My design sketch:
Maggie as a farmers wife, and a maid
And the reality:
Maggie's skirt and blouse - based on images of WWI soldiers wives in Te Papa's collection
And a maids apron to go over it
I've made a cute little cap to go with it too
I’ll post about the costume in detail in a few days. And show you Johnnies costume!
If you are in Hamilton, Auckland or Waipu over the next week do go see the show:
Hamilton Garden Arts Festival (English Flower Garden)
Mon 20, Tues 21, Wed 22 February at 6pm
Titirangi Theatre, Lopdell House, 418 Titirangi Road, Auckland
Fri 24, Sat 25 February at 8pm
Waipu Coronation Hall, 47 The Centre, Waipu
Sun 26 February at 4pm
I love how it transforms from “civilian” to maid with the addition of the apron.
What a cool project! I love those pieces. They look just like the clothes people wore at the time (that’s a big thing for me with period drama) and I can’t wait to see Johnnie’s.
Ooh! I like that! It is amazing how easily it transforms from the pretty dress into the maid’s uniform. One thing I love about your creations is how much it looks like you just have a time machine and reached into history to pulled something out!
The apron transformation is fantastic! It looks so authentic from the time period!
This is so sweet. 🙂
I just made up the blouse in cheap cotton, following your tips, adding an inverse pleat at the back and bias binding rather than the facings. Thanks for the note about the sleeves – the pattern has them way too long. I also altered the cuffs and didn’t bother with the waist tie. I pleated rather than gathered the front top into the shoulder. The blouse went together well but when I make it up for real I will make the vestee higher on the chest and make the blouse much longer. I did simple machine decorative stitches on the top of the vestee which looks well.
I can see me making several of these as the pattern is so versitile. It would be easy to add tucks and nips for a more fitted look.
Oh, I’m so glad to hear that my tips helped! I did forget to mention that I also made the vestee higher – I wanted a more modest look for Maggie.