New Blog

I have decided that I have not kept up with this blog as frequently as I had hoped. I started it my senior year of high school and was never able to give it the attention it deserved. My posts are sporadic and all over the place. I have decided I can dedicate time and energy to a blog right now and because of that have opted to start fresh. I will no longer post on this blog. 

Starting from scratch, I will be working on a completely new blog. My new blog is Malotke Sews. It is more about my process as being a Costume Designer. The blog is more progress oriented and less just inspiration based. I hope you continue to read my new blog, but enjoy the few years I have spent on this one. 

Thank you for reading!

-Brianna Malotke

Costume Design for a Cast of 40+

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I have been very swamped the past few months with a huge costume design project. I was lucky enough to get to be the Costume Designer for "Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" for the Champaign-Urbana Theater Company. With a budget of $500, two months, and a cast of over 40, I needed to make this production come to life. 

I had a lot of fun working on the show, especially making the dancers' looks. I'm going to try to post some progress pictures for the pieces I made from scratch. I loved working with quick changes, multiple costume changes, and a cast this large. My first show as a designer I only had 2 actors (they played all of the characters of course) to work with, so this was quite a step up from that show. I look forward to working on more shows like this in the future. I was very thankful to have a few people help work on some pieces for the show and to have some help backstage for changes and costume needs.

Stay tuned for more pictures! You can always check out my portfolio for more pictures too!

Ensemble in motion.

Close up of the Pharaoh's cape while backstage.

  

During "One More Angel," we had a hoedown feel to the cast.

Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn by brimalotke

Update!

It feels like I haven't posted in forever, but I've been insanely busy with costumes for Oklahoma!

We open the first week of August and we're trying to do fittings with EVERYONE this coming Saturday. However, because of my work schedule I won't be able to be there and since I work Friday as well all of the costumes I've been working on need to be dropped off tomorrow morning...so I'm feeling a tiny bit of pressure. I've had the costumes since Monday morning but I haven't really had a chance to work on them between work and unpacking in my new apartment. I'm sure I'll get it all done it's just a matter of how late I'll be staying up or how early I might need to wake up to finish...

As of now I've seam ripped some ribbon trim, a lace ruffle trim, and 2 sleeves. 

Next I'll be cutting and sewing the 2 sleeves on to the blue dress. Then I'll probably go ahead and sew the purple gingham skirt back together (My boss had seam ripped all the seams so that they could be sewn to make the waistband a little bit larger). After that I will either sew this ruffle thing on the bodice of the 3 look or cut and sew the ruffle for that look. After that it'll just be a matter of closures/trim. So overall I feel pretty good about my time and where I'm at with these projects. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance (probably Saturday/Sunday since I close tomorrow).

Okay Oklahoma!

 

Progress Update on Oklahoma!

All the prairie dresses are sized, organized and mostly pulled. The female ensemble's dresses are pulled, along with children and the dancers' prairie dress looks. We still need the dancers' ballet and can-can looks. We also found a great dress option for one of the leads. This week has definitely been eventful and lots of progress has been made for the costumes for the show. The show starts in about a month and I think we're doing pretty well overall. We've sized the cowboy shirts and we've pulled some leather and suede vests and jackets for some of the guys to try. I'm excited to see everything come together.

Pants Galore!

Some of the new donations!

Since I've moved from St. Louis to Champaign, IL I've interviewed at a couple places, unpacked my things, and tried to improve my website and portfolio. I've accepted a management position since here in Champaign the costume design positions are insanely slim and not really paid. I'm about to start working as a costume design assistant for Oklahoma! and I really can't wait. Since Wednesday morning I've been helping (It's kind of like being the Costume Shop Manager Assistant) the Costume Shop Manager (who is also the designer I'm assisting, go through the costume shop and organize everything. Since the shop is also where the costumes are kept it's not in the best shape. People leave stuff on the front tables instead of putting it away, or they put it in the wrong box, or they move stuff into the wrong sections. It's crazy how people put things everywhere without thinking. Next week starts measurements of all the actors and actresses and then BAM we'll be pulling costumes.

Most of the brown pants
ready to be put away.

In preparation for pulling for such a huge cast, we've been going through the shop's costumes. Wednesday I moved all the prom & wedding dresses to a new spot and then shuffled the period section around until it was less chaotic and crowded. Yesterday and today I've been focusing on pants. We both thought it wouldn't be such a huge task...well...the boxes all were labeled but what was inside them was wrong. So I've been going through the new donations and labeling & sizing them. Then I went ahead and went through almost all of the rest of the pants boxes to make sure everything was labeled, sized and would go in the right color box. It's a very time consuming job but it's neat to see the entire stock of pants and to get an idea of options for the show.

One of my favorite boxes to go through is the "Loud Pants" box. It has crazy patterns, colors, and more. It's just a cheerful box and has some great options. I was able to add a couple new pairs to the loud box and if any more need to be included then we'll need another box, which is a great thing in my opinion. I wish we had this many women's pants options, but I may just have to try some of these on for fun! Or somehow bribe my boyfriend to come to the shop and model some pairs for me so I can blog about them and have decent pictures to show off. 

*Side note: I've started a tag on Instagram for whenever I post neat costumes from the shop (or other places) & it's #mycostumefind so check it out for more finds!

Just some of the "Loud Pants."

Kimono Sleeve Robe

For "Ariadne" my team constructed a blue velvet, blue satin lined, robe with kimono style sleeves and blue floral embroidery details. It's stunning. The picture you see to the right is me trying on the muslin mock up....which I get to keep! I plan on first finishing all of the seams and then hemming it. Next step will be to wash it because I want to try my hand at dying it. I think I want a rich maroon color, but we'll see what happens. I plan on adding some details like the embroidered flowers or some strips of patterns. I might even throw a lining in for the heck of it since we have the patterns still. But I might be starting a different project before doing all of this to the robe.

What Does A First Hand Do?

The real question is what doesn't a first hand do?
So far with my experience at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis I've learned a tremendous amount and I think I now know what the role of a first hand is in the shop setting. It's a little bit of everything. I do some small patterning (for example cape hoods), a lot of cutting out fabric, I do hand sewing, sew garments together, do alterations, help in fittings, keep everything organized and make sure it's all labeled, and there's a lot more. It's hard to narrow it all down but it really is a little bit of everything- whatever the team needs done.
I'm enjoying my time here with OTSL. It's very fast paced, you're always working, and the people are fun. I'm still leaning towards becoming a costume designer (ideal goal is costume design for movies or TV) but working on operas is pretty wonderful.

Going on Week 3

I'll keep it short this time, but it's been amazing working for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. I'm insanely grateful to my professors who have allowed me to pursue this wonderful opportunity. I am loving working here and I enjoy seeing all of the progress. I've been very busy between work and the extra classes, finishing up my regular classes at Purdue, and then the regular adult life stuff such as grocery shopping, working out, and making sure the apartment is tidy. I'm hoping to post a lot of progress stuff this coming weekend. It's rough to stay up to date with having only 1 day a week off but I shall do it and write some neat posts. 

Opera Theatre of St. Louis: Being a First Hand

I've finished my second day as a first hand for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. It's been pretty great and very busy! For my first day we had orientation and then I spent the next few hours working with my draper at collecting fabrics and getting information on different pieces. I patterned a cloak piece and then cut out 3 of them! Two of the cloaks needed extra pieces so I cut those as well. I did manage to get a hood cut out as well using an already constructed hood as a pattern. For today I managed to get the other cloaks' hood cut out and even the 4th cloak's hood cut out after we washed and dried the fabric (it had majorly shrunk).

Working on Macbeth.

I also pressed and rolled a lot of fabric today since my draper didn't have more patterned. I did mark and cut out a tunic for Macbeth. I also helped cut some other fabric to get ready for our last cloak. We had meetings after lunch so I didn't have a full day's work. I did hand sew some tags in one of the cloaks that have an unattached hood. It was how I spent my last 10ish minutes at work. 

Overall I'm really enjoying working as a First Hand. I don't think I would enjoy being a costume technician as a full time career, but this is pretty exciting and I like working on multiple productions at once. It's fun and keeps things going. I'm excited to participate in the apprenticeship program here as well. It'll be a very busy 2 months and I'm really glad I have this opportunity in my life. It's just a great experience!

Senior Collection & More!

My Shot for the Program.

Hello Everyone!

The fashion show is 33 days from now and I'm not freaking out at all, which is slightly surprising. I have a model practice tonight and I'll be able to see my line up and see how everyone's patterns look together. I'll also get to see the fit again and if I need to make tiny alterations. I'm pretty excited to see the clothes and shoes and what I've done so far come together. As of now I still have to cut & sew 1 pair of pants and 1 corset. Besides that everything is already cut and in the process of being completed. My goal is still to have everything done before spring break, which is in 12 days. 

Besides my senior collection I'm proud to announce that I've landed an amazing job for part of the summer. I will start late April and work until mid June at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis at a 1st Hand. I'm really excited and can't wait to start! I'll be working on 4 productions and I'll get to do little apprenticeship type classes- millinery is 1 of them! But I think it's a wonderful opportunity and I did everything to make sure I could accept it, which included getting permission from all of my professors to spend the last 3 weeks (including exam week) off campus. I'm very lucky to have their approval and I can't wait to share my progress and projects! So stay tuned for some really awesome things!

The Grand Budapest Inspiration

The Grand Budapest Inspiration by brimalotke

One reason I think I would be perfectly happy doing costumes for films is that whenever I see a movie I am always thinking about the outfits and how they work for the character, or don't. I am curious as to how things are constructed or why they were chosen. Is it supposed to be historically accurate, or is it just pleasing to the eye? I like seeing how everything comes together and how the pieces work for the characters, and thus work for the actors in the piece. I love seeing classic movies and how the fashions are of that era perfectly and then seeing movies now done for those time periods to see what they did right or if they overlooked details, things like that. 

The movie, "The Grand Budapest Hotel," is probably one of my favorite movies for numerous reasons. Mainly it's the colorfulness of it and how it's shot and pieced together. However, the costumes are brilliant, they are perfect for each character and to the time periods in the film. Everything is ornate and elaborate when needed or torn and dirty when it should be. It's wonderful and there's so much to see in the movie, all the tiny details and such, that are important. There's a lot to draw inspiration from in this movie and I encourage you to watch it to see for yourself, everyone walks away from  something with a different perspective.

2015 in Review

This year has been a whirlwind of amazing times for me. Of course there's been some not so wonderful times, but I've done so much this year it's hard to believe it.
In January I headed off to London for a semester abroad at the London College of Fashion. I made some friends and got to travel to other great places like Scotland and Paris. When I came home I got to see my school's fashion show and my friend model my sustainability piece. 

A collar I patterned, sewed, and stitched
on an apron for "Hay Fever."

Then I was off for the summer to Illinois where I interned with the Champaign Urbana Theatre Company and got to help out on a few shows for my boss and her freelance costume design jobs. I was also lucky enough to land an internship for Fashion A Magazine and have been writing for them and doing social media posts since June.

In August I started my last year at Purdue and began working on my senior collection that will be shown on April2nd, 2016. I interned with the Purdue Costume Shop again this fall and was even lucky enough t be he costume designer for a small production. It was wonderful! I've finished the year with seeing John Oliver in Chicago and getting to spend some quality time with family. I'm really looking forward to this coming year, mainly the whole graduating college part but who knows what will happen after that!

 

Goodbye 2015 & Hello 2016!

 

Enjoying tea time in London at Sketch.

 



"As You Like It" Show Pictures

I'm pretty happy that I finally got some show pictures of the dress I made in action. If you want to read about the construction of the dress I made for "As You Like It" then check out my earlier pieces "Costume Update!," "Costume Bodice Progress," "Costumes: Bodice Details," and "Costume: Bodice & Skirt." 

I got to create the dress using the designer's sketch to drape a mock up and then after a fitting I was able to finalize the plans and edit the patterns. I made the skirt with box pleats and the boned bodice has piping around all the edges that I also made. I didn't make the bloomers, the petticoat did happen to be the one I had made the previous year int he costume shop but both the petticoat and bloomers were pulled for the look. I did however make a new hip pad specifically for the actress. 

It was pretty neat to actually make so much for the show. I love that I got to make a whole look as well, it was a great experience and I learned a lot. I've also added some of the show pictures to my online portfolio: Malotke Designs.

"Herschel: Make Yourself Useful"

Caroline Introducing herself.

Finally some pictures from "The Hoes Progress" where I was the costume designer for the half "Herschel: Make Yourself Useful."

Caroline & William on their way to Bath, England.

William transforming into
himself from a stage hand.

Discovering stars and more!

Costume: Bodice & Skirt

To finish the bodice I cut bias strips of a paisley type fabric and with cording made piping to go around the edges of the bodice. I then sewed the piping on and hand basted the unfinished side to the bodice. 

 

Skirt wise I had done the math to find the number of pleats necessary and such for her waist measurement. After marking the corduroy I pinned it all and then sewed the pleats. I then sewed on a grograin ribbon waistband and it was ready for the fitting with the actress.

In the fitting we found out the designer wanted a higher and more cinched in waist, which resulted in me taking in the back of the bodice quite a bit and also moving where the snaps would go on the skirt for closures. I also marked the hem line for the skirt. 
After the fitting I was able to take in the bodice, finish all of the work on the bodice, mark and cut the skirt hem, use the blind hemmer on the skirt, and then put hook and bar taping in the back of the bodice. One of the last steps was cross stitching the skirt and bodice together so that it would be a dress. 
I will be attending the play this weekend and I am looking forward to seeing the costume in action. I had made the petticoat last year in my internship, I made the hip pad for her, and I made the dress from "scratch." I draped, patterned, cut fabric, and sewed all of the pieces together. I even used the grinder in the scene shop to grind down the boning for the bodice. This costume was essentially all done by me (minus the design of course but this was for work int he shop).
Overall I love it and I am just looking forward to seeing the show and seeing her in full character! Hopefully I'll get some good pictures to share and to use in my portfolio!

Costumes: Bodice Details

For the costume shop I draped a bodice for a character in "As You Like It." So here's a little bit more on the process. I have previously written about my beginning with the bodice in "Costume Bodice Progress." I realize that was forever ago, so this one might be a little long and I'll try to break it up. 
Pictured left is after I had taken my patterns and cut them out of coutille. I laid those pieces onto my corduroy so that I could trace and cut the pieces out. After cutting out all of my pieces I was able to sew the pieces of taping to where I had marked it out on the coutille. After the boning taping was in place I then had to flat line them, as in sew all of the pieces together about 1/4" away from the sew line.
Next I would sew the center front to the side front pieces and the the back pieces to the side back pieces, leaving the side seams and center back untouched. Lastly I sewed the straps on and made sure all of my seams were pressed. I would hand baste the side seams together for the fitting so that if there needed to be changes it could be done easily and efficiently. I also put the boning in and hand stitched the bottoms shut, enclosing the boning. You can see the inside of the bodice to the right before the boning was placed in the bodice.

Life in a Paragraph

I've been so busy lately with school and my 2 internships (Costume and Fashion A Magazine) on top of my jobs to really focus on my blog. The next couple of weeks will be insane but after that I will have plenty of time to write for myself on my blog and post a LOT of costume related pictures with tutorials and explanations and such. So get ready for awesomeness coming around the beginning of December!

Costume Bodice Progress

On Tuesday in the shop I got to take the notes from the fitting we had on Friday and make the adjustments to my patterns. There were only a few small changes made; see the taped areas, those are the new additions. I trued my lines up and got to make the final changes. The pink lines are where the boning will be added. I got to go through a few books and do some research on how they did the lines for boning from the 1830s. I got to have a lot of say in where the boning should go and working with my boss we came up with the lines shown in the picture. I'm pretty excited to see how the bodice turns out. I cut out the new pattern pieces out of coutille and on Thursday I should be cutting the pieces out in flannel and hopefully corduroy as well. The end game is to sew the boning to one layer and then all 3 layers together before piecing the bodice together. This allows the bodice to be easier to modify and alter in the future. I'll post more after I have more done.

Costume Update!

I'll be posting more on the individual projects I've worked on in the shop but since I just had my 1st fitting for "As You Like It" I wanted to write a little about that costume. For the character "Audrey"I needed a hip pad and since none of the ones in stock had the right look I made one. As for the skirt I started out draping it in muslin and then after the fabric had been washed and dyed, I just did the pleating through math and marking it on the fabric. Then created the box pleats and sewed the waistband on the skirt. 

For the fitting I had the canvas muslin bodice, petticoat, hip pad, and then corduroy skirt. The alterations needed are to take in the petticoat, attach snaps or hooks for the hip pad, finish the skirt with fasteners, and then to take in the bodice when I go to make it out of the corduroy. The final step will be sewing the skirt and bodice together to make the dress. Overall I'm really happy with the outcome so far and I'm glad my first legit fitting with the shop went so well.