Wearing of the Green

May your blessings outnumber

The shamrocks that grow,

And may trouble avoid you

Wherever you go.

~ Irish blessing

Happy St. Patrick's Day, readers!  

(Image via: Pinterest)

I thought it only fitting to blog about something green today; however, I couldn't seem to find any recent project using that color!  For sure, I will have to fix this...Green is such a lovely color.  To me, it just sings spring!  So, how about a past project or two featuring green:

The first show I ever had the chance to design and costume by myself, with many thanks to the assistance of a dear friend of mine, used lots of green!  From the leaves on tunics to Tinkerbell's skirt, Peter Pan (2012) was all about the greens and greater outdoors.  Directed by upperclassmen at Our Lady of Mercy High School, the Children's Theater productions were always a lot of fun and performed for the various Catholic elementary schools in the county.

Tinkerbell (with actual bells stitched on her skirt!)

Tinkerbell's costume was probably my favorite, as well as the most time consuming.   Peter Pan's, all of those lost boys', the Darling family's and other characters' costumes were fun to pull together, too.  I could never have done it without Jenny's help!

Peter Pan.

So when my dear friend, Jenny, asked me in turn to do a favor for her, naturally, I agreed!  Her senior ball dress was a gorgeous 1963 vintage find; the only problem, however, the skirt portion was see-through.  To fix that, I made a gathered petticoat lining with a pleated net flounce which was then stitched to a bias tape waistband and whip stitched to the dress lining.  It was quite the challenge at the time, but the final result was worth the work!

Before.

After - much better!

Back view.

The petticoat layer does not add any bulk at the waist and is removable.  Success!