RE-Fashion

My cousin Kim sent me this amazing article that has pretty much everything you need to know about one of my favorite subjects: Re-fashion! It even has a link to a woman who made a dress out of a table cloth! Sound familiar?

Thank you, Fair Companies.com!

I Played My Drum For Him

Ask the Little Drummer Boy. He gave of what he had, and never gave up when he couldn't afford to go to the mall and spend hundreds of dollars for brand new gifts for the baby Jesus.

Ted and I looked around to see what we had this fall and saw things we've collected: Champagne and wine corks (no surprise there), leather scraps, and feathers from the birds in our neighborhood: wild turkeys, bluejays, Canadian geese, and tufted titmouse. After experimenting with a few different prototypes, little Christmas Tree ornaments emerged from our combinations and the Pocono Angel was born.

The next challenge was sending them in the mail without ruining the feathers and by using only recycled brown paper bags and cardboard.

Soon, we had over 30 made and our family and friends now had little personalized ornaments to hang on their tree.

Pa rum pa pum pum!

Reuse your T's

Happy Holidays, readers!

For your gift this year, I'm linking you to Huffington Post's list of reuse ideas, mostly for t-shirts. I want the book called 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt by Megan Nicolay!

Here's to a creative and eco-friendly 2011!

Dulcinea Beauty Tip #1: The Aldonza Manicure

Okay, this is not really a "beauty tip" and this post would have been better timed before Halloween, but I came up with this idea when I was looking for details to make myself really dirty at the beginning of the show, Man of La Mancha. To become "a creature who'll never do better than crawl", I wanted to be covered in years of gutter grime so my transformation would be more dramatic. I knew we would be "getting dirty" by covering ourselves with burned cork before each show (see upper right photo with Lauren Ford, "Antonia"), but would it stay in the cracks of fingernails and toenails?

For about a year now, black has been back as the trendiest nail polish color, and not just for Emo, Goth or Alt Rockers. During rehearsals, I was wearing black on my nails and as it wore off between manicures, I wondered if I could wipe it off in a way that it looked like residual dirt. I must admit, I was inspired by the makeup in the Lord of the Rings movies (so many closeups of Frodo and the ring couldn't reveal clean hands) and was happy to know that this effect wouldn't require frequent applications of black shoe polish or something worse.

1. Apply one layer of black nail polish all over nails (and toenails if feet are bare).
2. Allow to dry.
3. Soak paper towel or toilet paper in nail polish remover and wipe nails down, avoiding the cuticles, leaving polish on edges only.

Soon, other cast members wanted this "Aldonza Manicure" to add details to their dirtiness. (Pictured here are Sal Sabella, "the Padre", and me out after a show, showing off our gnarly nails)

Who knows? Maybe we'll start a whole new fad!

More Divawear...

Another performance at Symphony Space with some amazing celebrities (I performed between a video of Stephen Colbert and Leonard Nimoy!), another reason to create another "Divawear" design.

This was a top I made from 2 identical silk scarves that I found in a ten cent bin at a thrift store in California (I bought 10 of them, stay tuned for the gown...) and then sewed together. I added a draw string and my Divawear tag... et voila! "Wow" comments from Jane Curtin, Carmen de Vavallade, and Eugenia Zukerman!

p.s. Strappy sandals from Payless, dark wash skinny jeans from H & M...

Actor Crafts

ActorCrafts is here, just in time to start your holiday shopping!

Shop for jewelry, clothing, and gifts this Saturday November 21st at the Holy Cross School (332 W. 43rd St. between 8th and 9th Ave.). It's all designed and created by New York City actors (it's good to multi-task!) and the festive sale never disappoints!

Shop between the hours of 10:00am and 6:00pm.

T-Shirts Re-Mix

T-Shirts. One symbol we'll leave behind as our legacy, punctuating our lives with events and eventually fill up the bottom of our drawers in faded piles of our history.

According to the PBS documentary, T-Shirt Travels, literally tons of our discarded clothing is shipped overseas to Africa where their sale has put the local clothing manufacturing out of business. In this striking documentary, African children were shown wearing oversized t-shirts depicting M-TV and brands of beer. It made me think that there must be a way to reuse and recycle our T-Shirts in a less destructive way.

In my previous post, Your Own Gypsy Robe, I wrote about a way that I can still wear my Show T-Shirts.

But now, new (and often overpriced) t-shirts have the look of old, worn favorites so why not make your old, worn favorites into wearable fashion? Or take your husband's/boyfriend's/brother's old white t-shirts and dye them to the color you want? (See you earlier post, Do or Dye)

The first example pictured is a North Shore Animal Shelter t-shirt that we got when we adopted Maya. This was the easiest fix as it was a size Medium and I shortened the sleeves (cut at an angle with the longest part at the top of the shoulder), cut out the neck, and then cut off the hem and turned it into a belt. One of the best things about t-shirt material is that it doesn't fray, even when washed. This means hems are optional.

To make an oversized shirt into a more form fitting tee, cut off the sleeves right at the hem. Leave the bottom hem, neck, and sleeve hems intact. Then take a shirt that you like the fit of and lay it over your favorite. (see photo below) Fold the sleeves in along their hem and cut along one side of the old t-shirt about an inch outside of the line of the t-shirt on top. Fold it in half and cut the other side to match. Shorten the sleeves by cutting parallel to and in from the cut that was the seam. Make the bottom part of the sleeve the shortest. Pin the newest sleeve cut right sides together to the shoulders (over the shoulder seam) and sew (the most difficult step). Then turn the bodice right sides together and stitch up the new side seams, making sure that hems match.

Now you have remaining fabric that can be used to create your very own design. Shown here is a leaf design that I hand sewed diagonally across a purple tee, a t-shirt that my husband was getting rid of that I dyed yellow, used the above process to make it more fitted, and created a long wrap-tie from the remaining material, and my favorite, a self-dyed tee (red) that I made into a fitted tank, skipping the sleeve step, and then machine-sewed the remaining material in a design on the front and shoulders. (rock and roll under a black pinstripe sportscoat)

Now cutting up your old t-shirts isn't reserved to the fringed and beaded looks of the early 90's (Yikes! What were we thinking?). With a little imagination and minor abilities with a needle and thread, the sky's the limit.

Recycling in Urbanopolis

If Suspended Cirque can create an entire costume plot for their Aerial multi-media Circus at Galapagos out of reused, recycled, and found items, we can all find ways to incorporate such creativity into our own daily lives.

I'm playing violin as the character of the dying Phoenix in their spectacle Urbanopolis this weekend (to sold out shows!) and I am amazed each days at the attention to detail that Joshua Dean has put into his costume design (FYI he is also the co-creater, director and a lead performer/aerialist/dancer). Using newspaper, feathers, toille over exaggerated hoop skirts, Suspended Cirque incorporates leotards and mixes and matches from previous shows to create new looks. They bring renaissance living to a new level!

I just play the violin...

Good Ass Jeans

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

You finally complete your wardrobe with the perfect ass jeans (you know, the ones that make your ass look great) and the style changes, ie. boot cut to skinny jeans 3 years ago. Now you have all these jeans that fit great, but are out of style (see the explanation of perceived obscelescence in thestoryofstuff.com).

Don't throw them away! I've converted at least three pairs into skinny jeans myself, some hand sewing and some on a machine. Follow these easy steps to update your favorite jeans to the fun summer skinny must have (rips in the knees and worn out thigh fronts are back, fyi).

• Turn your jeans inside out and try them on. Using pins, straight or safety, pin along the seam that is the simplest (usually the one along the outside of the leg), making sure that the flap that is created is as flat as you can make it. Usually, start about mid-thigh. Don't pin them too tight. The fit all the way down the leg should mimic the fit around the hips.

• Take them off and lay them flat on the floor. Repin, adding more pins to complete and straighten out the line that you will sew. Make sure that the seam is as flat as it can be.
• Sew along your this line, either by hand (a backstitch can work) or by machine.
• You can trim the jeans close to the seam, but you'd never have the option to go back to the way they were and why not stay ahead of planned obscelecence? It doesn't make that much difference to cut off your options, so to speak...
• Turn your jeans right side out and wear with your favorite thongs or stacked heels and tank tops!

For more photos and instructions, check out Wickepedia on this subject or cutoutandkeep.net a website full of craft tutorials.

First Renaissance Lady

My husband and I recently visited the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and were re-inspired by all the policies he put into effect and the way he motivated people to do good in many different ways.   His early writings contemplating justice and questioning the status quo were the most moving to me.

But as I walked the halls and saw video footage that I'd never seen before, I was equally enthralled by Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, who has always seemed to me overshadowed by her husband's charisma, acting out the role of the perfect wife.  It was a room in the library dedicated to her that I first learned that she was  an artist and cartoonist and a few samples of her scrapbooks and diaries showed her adorable caricatures expressing such joy.  One even depicted how her husband had to wash  his socks in the sink of the hotel he was staying at while he was on the campaign trail!  Looking at her drawings, I felt like I knew her, suddenly, in a way I hadn't before.  

Though she most likely never had to scrape together an income in the same way as those who make their living in art, she expressed, created, and treated life as an adventure.  

 And looked great doing it.  

Here's to you, Jackie!

 

Do... or Dye!

Sick of your clothes?

Or did you find the perfect blouse but it comes in only white or off-white?

Here's the answer.  

Don't pass them over.  Dye them!

A box of RIT Dye or Tintex Fabric Dye (available at most drug stores, grocery stores, or everything stores like Target), costs less than three dollars.  The only tricky thing is finding a large enough pot in which to dye your clothes without dying your kitchen at the same time!  Once you've tackled that obstacle, you will be surprised by the possibilities!

The dress pictured here (bought at a thrift store in Washington State) was a strange 80's bright blue that I knew I'd never wear.  After dying it in a vat of Wine colored Tintex (and adding a beaded belt high up on the natural waist), it became this amazing purple that had a wonderful sheen to it.  At the same time in the same batch, I dipped dingy slips that I've since worn to weddings, for performances, and as a raspberry sundress on a summer day.  Great tip:  Favorite used-to-be-white t-shirts can be salvaged and given a new life by dying them.

For the truly adventurous, try mixing and matching colors.  In general, it works like water colors and the color wheel:  blue and yellow make green, red and blue make purple, yellow and red make orange etc.  but it's definitely not an exact science, which I sort of love!

When it comes to dying, fabrics are like men.  If they're synthetic and fake (polyester and spandex) the love won't stick (color will be light and inconsistent).  Natural weaves (cotton, wool, nylon, silk, rayon), however, fall quickly and deeply and a tumble in high heat (the dryer) will set them forever.

Follow directions on the box and go ahead and choose a bunch of stuff in your house to dye at one time.  Why not see how color can spruce up your life... and for a mere three dollars?

Myles of Style

I never watched Design Star, but one of the winners, Kim Myles, has her own show now on HGTV and she's my new hero.  

The show I caught yesterday had her making a very chic chandelier out of clear plastic Christmas balls.  She really explains how color and texture work.  I say yes.

Check out Myles of Style.

Your Own Gypsy Robe

There is a tradition on Broadway.  

 Gypsy Robes are made up of scraps and pieces from and representing hundreds of Broadway Shows of yore.  The actor/singer/dancer in the chorus of each show that opens who has been in the most Broadway Shows gets to wear the Gypsy Robe with a scrap from her or his show most recently added.   

I remember my first show T-Shirt.  I wore it with pride, created outfits around it, never dried it in the dryer.  

Fast forward __ years and umpteen shows and bands later and I had too many t-shirts crammed in the back of my drawers, most oversized and style-free.  What is a Broadway Diva to do?

Why, make his or her own Gypsy Robe, of course!

You can make a quilt, of course, but why not surround yourself with your memories while you're getting ready for your next show?  

This project is not for the faint of heart.  It takes hours and the guts to cut into your beloved t-shirts.  First, find a robe, new, one you own or at a resale shop.  Mine was a second hand terry cloth with a nice weight to it.  Notice I cut small shapes out of remaining t-shirt fabric to fill out the design. Leave plenty of fabric around each emblem to fold under in a hem and then pin on your robe, rearranging and pinning it until it looks right.  Handsew your theater history in place using a slip stitch.

Et voila!  Your own Gypsy Robe!  

Oh, and also, make sure you leave room for your next show t-shirt...

(pictured here is my gypsy robe  on the stage of the Barrymore during warmup with the cast of "Company")

It's a Girl! And another girl!

My friend  is having twins!  

And I was invited to the shower and I hadn't shopped yet.  I was about to log onto her registry, but then I thought, that's not What Leenya Would Do.  See what I've gotten myself into?

If you don't want to sew baby clothes from scratch (pretty fun as it's all in miniature!), find some simple white cotton onesies or p.j.s from a baby store.  You can even buy them in packages of multiples so if you mess up, you're okay!  Or if your friend is having twins, you can make 2 outfits!

There are so many ways to personalize your friend's baby clothes.  One of her friends painted onsies with the Actor's Equity Logo!  Fabric paint is pretty easy to use and set with heat.  You can make a stencil, sketch with pencil first, or just paint free hand.  (see my former post, Inspiration for more details)

I like the look of appliques of colorful t-shirt fabric swatches (shown here), hand-sewn in large visible contrasting thread.  Or just  use embroidery alone.  I made each little shirt slightly different.  It was fun to think of them wearing them as I stitched each flower.

Another idea is to give a gift certificate for baby sitting.  That's worth a night out for your parents-to-be and could be fun for you, too.

Ornaments that Document

The year that Ted and I bought our first little country cottage together, we wanted to give gifts that would also serve as announcements but of course, we didn't have a lot of money left that Holiday season.  What I did have, though, was a bag full of leather scraps that I found in the Garment District, a small box full of random jewelry fasteners, and some fabric paint.  Ted had a leather punch and some good wood glue.  I found some festive ribbon and after about three days of our little assembly line, we had about 45 ornaments to send out, each slightly different.  The paint is metallic and quite opaque and worked perfectly on the leather.  We ripped paper squares for a rustic look and glued them to the back for documentation.  Et Voila!  Homemade Christmas Gifts done! And it's fun to go to apartments of friends and family and see little likenesses of our Gingerbread House (that's what we affectionately call it) hanging on the tree.

Show Off!

Go on, admit it!  You're popular!  So why not display your Christmas Cards for all to see?  

There are probably many ways to make them part of your Holiday decor, but here is one of the simplest:  Tack a fun ribbon across a room and hang your cards like they're clothes of love and praise out to dry in the light of the season.  

The Original Renaissance Girl

I came across these photos of my Great Grandmother, Amber May Fowler Rideout.  She was the original Renaissance Girl.  My childhood beds were covered in her bonneted-girl quilts and I now have my parents' wedding ring quilt in our bedroom.  I've talked to several relatives and each has a quilt from her somewhere.  How many quilts must she have hand-sewn?  I can't begin to imagine...

My Father reminded me that she also knit amazing thick zip-up sweaters, very stylish in the 50's, for many of her grandchildren, even with matching hats.  I remember seeing photos of my Father and his three brothers wearing slightly different but matching sweaters in the snow.  I have one of the sweaters now and it is so substantial, I can wear it in place of a coat!

Every birthday for the last 10 years of her life, I'd receive a different doll in the mail.  She embroidered a different outfit for each one:  One a pink and white 18th Century Lady, one a red and black Senorita, the next year a Princess in blue and white.  Each even had undergarments and perhaps a hat or matching tiny purse.   They must have taken forever to embroider with a tiny needle and the finest yarn she could find.  Her dolls were too small and delicate to live the fast-paced life that my Barbies lived, so they remained admired on upper shelves and I can only really appreciate them now. 

My grandmother raised many children on the rural plains of Alberta, Canada and I can imagine that ingenuity and creativity meant actual survival for her.  I'm guessing bargain shopping wasn't really an option and my efforts to survive in show business and a big city probably pale in comparison.   I remember meeting her once when I was about four, but I wish I could have really talked to her.

Thanks for your hand-made works of art, Great Grandma!

Inspiration

Where do you get yours?

In this post, I'll be talking about finding ideas for designs for painting Christmas gifts.
With fabric paint, you can personalize just about anything:  Napkins, aprons, jeans, t-shirts, things you can buy inexpensively and spruce up in your own way.  Metallic paints (available at most arts and craft stores) provide the best color saturation and show up on most fabrics.  With such paint brands as Lumiere by Jacquard and Delta Glitter Stuff for fabric, the sky is the limit.  Add Aleene's OK to Wash-It Fabric Bond glue and fake jewels and beads can be added to the mix.  

So now you're staring at your blank canvas and have no idea where to start.  But you can find inspiration for your designs almost everywhere you look.  Here is a photo of one of my house plants.  Leaves and berries are the basis for so many patterns.  I visited a Victorian "castle" this weekend and was overwhelmed by the ornate designs that covered each surface, most with vines and leaves and flowers of some kind.  Pictured to the right is wallpaper that I saw in an art deco hotel.  It has such an interesting take on paisleys and swirls I had to document it.  Below are photos of details of the stone wall surrounding the Bethesda Fountain in New York.  Usually, the fountain gets all my attention but for some reason that day, I really studied the other stone work.  I realized that I have walked past these amazing designs for years without noticing that though the wall is fairly symmetrical and seemingly repetitive, each of these little stone carvings is slightly different, it's own gorgeous ornate design.  

So the best thing to do once you've decided on an inspiration is to find a practice scrap.  I like to paint freehand, but stencils and sketching out your design with a washable pencil is a great option.  Mistakes are difficult to wipe off.  I compare this process with music improvisation, where turning your mistakes into brilliant choices and uniqueness is key.

Finishing requires air drying (read the directions on the bottle for drying time) and then ironing to set.  The end result of a painted design is less time consuming than embroidery and can be more striking or more subtle, depending on your color choices.  

Pictured here are my own projects and experimentation with this design technique:  a jean jacket and jeans.  They have held up to machine washing.  For my Holiday gifts this year, I am considering sewing some napkins (use 100% cotton fabric)(lots of hemming, but pretty easy once you get used to the first one) and then painting the corners in simple designs, each slightly different like the Central Park Wall stone work above.  The thing about cloth napkins, too, is that it cuts down on the amount of paper towels that fill land fills.  I love using them every day.

Have fun!  Let me know where your design inspiration comes from!

NPR backtrack

National Public Radio featured a fabulous interview this weekend with Tina Seamonster who hosts a website about homemade gifts.  She also talks about searching Google for instructions, some including video footage, on hundreds of craft ideas.  (Feel free to leave links in comments for your favorites) 

I loved all the comments posted on NPR.org about this subject... Apparently, homemade and creative gifts are now all the rage.  Who knew?  

Oh yeah, we did!

It's That Time Again.

So you've just finished putting away your Hallowe'en Costume (homemade from thrift store finds  and recycled items, of course) and we know the election results...  Time to start making our holiday gifts!  

And why not?  If there was ever a time to make your holiday gifts, this is it!   Many a Christmas season past, I procrastinated my holiday shopping until well into December  and while waiting in some line for an hour and a half I would make a pledge that next year, next year, I would plan ahead and make my gifts again like I used to when I was  a kid.  

I was just talking with my cousin Molly about this over dinner last night.  Our Moms were the ones who got us making our own gifts, partly because money always seemed tight, but also because handmade gifts can mean so much more than something storebought.  Making gifts takes time, but it's time spent getting into the Spirit of giving and less time spent waiting in lines shopping.  Even diehard shoppers can lose the spirit in holiday shopper crowds.  

First, make your list and check it twice.  Of course your parents, siblings,  and your spouse get something unique from the money you save making gifts for others, but 30 or so of your family, friends and coworkers would be titillated by a small one-of-a-kind gift.

I have so many great family Holiday  memories involving glitter, felt, and the occasional applehead doll.  Mom and I would set up a little assembly line and an ornament that hangs on a relative's family tree thirty years later would be created.  Could the same be said about that click of your mouse at Amazon.com?  

The year we purchased our cabin, Ted and I made ornaments out of leather scraps that I had saved.  I painted them with fabric paint to look like our little "gingerbread house".   Ted bored holes in their tips and red ribbon looped around for tree hang-age.  I still see them in friends and relatives' houses during the holiday season!   They are such a great reminder of a milestone in our lives and they were extremely inexpensive to ship.  

This last year, I recorded a CD of holiday music on Garage Band on my iMac.  I was able to make   thirty five copies with a festive label and CD case that served as a holiday card of sorts.  I also was able to email mp3's from the CD to people as a Holiday E-Card.  I can picture that this would be a great gift idea from young parents.  Even if you go into a studio, for just a couple hundered dollars you could record your child singing or talking and relatives could cherish it for decades. 

How many of you reading have too much stuff?  Me.  I have too much stuff.   My husband and my parents have too much stuff.  There's nothing wrong this year with sending a card that indicates that money has been donated in your loved one's name to your favorite charity.  Or why not send a homemade gift certificate offering a personal  service (tailoring, accounting, balloon tying)?  Or a movie night?  It's time to get creative, people.   No worries.  Next season you'll be able to purchase the newest useless expensive gadget from Brookstone or Christie's again.  Why not use this season to search your soul?