The pattern making part on this was way too simple to bother photographing, mainly strips of fabric. The complicated part was figuring out how to make kids resemble trees, have them be able to move in these costumes, how to have them fairy comfortable in them and look like they are part of the scenery... Basically after all is said and done these are sort of like Gumby costumes in tree form..
My first task was finding fabric that could potentially resemble trees. That required a much loved trip to the NYC garment district (any excuse will do to get me there, but a real reason is so much better!) I happened upon some fabulous wide wale corduroy that almost looked as though it was painted. Perfect! But not enough. Had to go shopping for more corduroy in different colors in different stores. But how many trees in the forest look exactly alike? Right?
Here's my kid trying on one of the first costumes, luckily one of the tree kids was almost the same size as one of mine and I could perfect the sample on her. That's a plastic bucket on her head beneath the fabric. The part with the branches will fit over that and there are branches to hold in their hands.
Here are two tree actors in one of the first fittings with their tree heads on. They seemed pretty happy and comfy! 
On the stage blending in with the scenery. 
And helping out the bad guy. Scary don't you think? LOL 
Relaxing before the show... That's gaffers tape on their heads. At the last moment I had a panic attack and thought with horror about them falling apart on the stage!!! So a handy roll of gaffers tape made me feel so much better...lucky I had it left over from my previous life. 
Happy campers...er..trees taking a bow!PS If you would like to see more pictures from our play, you can take a peek here.
8 comments:
Amazing! How did you get the buckets to stay on their heads?
I have really enjoyed your costume making posts. Amazing! What an imagination you have Natalya. I am soaking it all up. Your kids are so blessed to have you for a mom!
The photo album is fantastic. I have loved reading about your costume making exploits. I look forward to it every year. The children will remember these costumes their whole life.
It was interesting to follow the process of creating the tree costumes! I was wondering how the branches stood still on the children's heads while moving, but now I know... I'll have a look at all the photos when I have more time, but they show that it has been an impressive show! I didn't understand who directed the play??
The trees are fabulous! I like the way they blended into the scenery. Very cool!
Most lovely trees in the world! :))
très beaux costumes!
très beaux costumes!
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