Pride & Prejudice Overload

I finished sewing the dresses for Larisa, who is playing Lydia in P&P, in the nick of time. The lame pattern had these cute, inefficient draw strings at the neck and the empire waist…. that just produced a gaping hole with white skin showing on the back.  So I sewed the cord in place, chopped it off and put in a zipper.  Whew.  No ivory skin beaming forth.   I also made a green gown that had four handmade roses on it… which were also finished the night before the show.  WHEW, again.  The cute lavender dress kept blowing open in the back because the snaps and hooks wouldn’t hold up to Larisa’s flamboyant movements.  So I added some hooks and the squeezed them all tight with pliers…. and the dress stayed shut… but was very difficult to get off!

There is some sort of anti-family-photo regulation with the shows, so only the staff photographer can take any pictures.  So we’ll have to wait for those, which are always fabulous, by the way.  I just hate waiting.  AND I forgot my camera for before and after the shows… so I have no pictures.  But, alas, another dad posted pictures on facebook and I lifted one so you could see just the top of the cute lavender dress:

This is post-production hair that has been flattened by matching bonnets, by the way.  And that is Matt, aka Mr. Darcy…. and Hannah, aka Kitty, in the background.

So the Friday night show was a packed house and they had to bring in more chairs.  With such a lively crowd, the cast was also lively and the show was fantastic, if I do say so myself.  Larisa’s portrayed the giggly 16-year-old, Lydia, who runs away with Mr. Wickham…. the floozy.  But I must say, she portrayed her quite vivaciously and was the true comedy relief of the show…. bouncing, smiling, fluttering, primping, swaying, flirting, and on and on.  Makes a mama proud…. well, her ACTING ability…. not the floozy part.  :o)

My Latest Pasttime

Larisa, our almost 16-year-old, is in the play Pride and Prejudice this Fall as Lydia, the giggly, obnoxious sister who runs away to be wed.  It should prove to be an entertaining show.  The cast is amazing.  Lydia requires four dresses, mostly day dresses that are quite plain, just princess waistlines and floor length gowns.  Larisa was given one dress but it was made for a person with dramatically different measurements, so I’m still waiting to see if I can give it some major adjustments.  This could be dress #1.

Lo and behold, a Gunne Sax dress of my mother’s was pulled for the archives from the late 1970s!  It is creamy ivory with long sleeves and satin trim.  I let out a few seams and added some pale turquoise satin ribbon at the high waist and sleeve cuffs and VOILA! Dress #2 down.

The pattern above was purchased yesterday after piles of lovely creamy fabric, satin and intricate diamond lace were given to us by the drama department.  It is to be all off-white with a touch of lavender at the waist, neckline and sleeves.  I plan to do the bodice and under skirt in a shiny material with a pattern of teeny squares scattered over it.  The over skirt and the sleeves will be out of sheer cotton.  It is truly lovely.  Dress #3… on my sewing table.

As for dress #4, there is no vision or material or vintage Gunne Sax gown to account for.  I’m hoping Larisa can make a trip to the costume basement and gather another beauty.  But with several shows of Pride and Prejudice, I’m sure the pickin’s will be slim.  We have six weeks, so I could sew another dress, but that is not my number one option.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Larisa will be wearing gown #2 to a Pride and Prejudice ball next weekend.  It is a lovely period occasion where everyone is whisked into 1809, dance steps taught and juice sipped from gloved hands.  I’m totally bummed that I will be out of town for this but I’ve already begun strict instructions to take lots of pictures! (so I can post here!)