costume - cheers and rawr
So we got our costumes for the dance recital this week. And ours is just incredibly gorgeous. Leotard base, but with this lovely flowing dress over it, gathered beneath the breasts and then full and flowing down to just above the knee - very flattering to my bulges. All in swirls of blue and purple with accents of green and yellow - sounds weird, but trust me, it's gorgeous.
And I'm realizing - while I know how to sew in general, I've never tried to sew sequin strips onto my costumes before. Mom always did that. And this has flesh-toned elastic straps which are adjustable, and then when you adjust them, there are slightly wider strips of purple sequins to sew over them. I do know that sewing elastic is different than regular sewing. I am assuming that I should zigzag, as I read was good when sewing spandex and such - but the straps are awfully narrow. I'm not certain I'll be able to do so. And also, I'm not even certain the machine will play nice - the sequins /mostly/ lie in one direction, but not uniformly, and I'm wondering if the presser foot will snag constantly and make me crazy. Or do I need to hand sew it? Do I have to worry about the needle piercing and destroying sequins? Doubtful, but I just don't have any first-hand knowledge here.
So also, the top angles in and up much more sharply than my bras do. I don't recall having had this much trouble with my bras and my dance costumes before - but then again, I was barely an A cup before. I'm a D now. And the cups are cut quite a bit wider (for obvious reasons). I could just go with a flesh-toned one and not care, but... well, I couldn't. I could go with it, I mean, I just can't not care. I would feel like it looks awful, even though my rational side would know that it won't be visible from the audience. I'd rather actually find one that plays nice with the costume line. Or get a body stocking that actually vaguely resembles my skin tone - but I don't know if they even make them in whale size.
I will be going to the local dance supply store to see if she has any advice (rather eccentric lady, but she's been in the dance world for decades), but I'm also deeply broke right now and have had several unexpected expenses of late, so I'd rather not spend a ton of money - and a body stocking is likely to cost more than a bra (dance stuff always does).
I had originally thought I could just get away with the clear-strapped kind, but the cups are also a problem. Maybe I should go see if they have any half-cups - though they may not make them, in Ds.
Rawr! These are the times when I hate being so solitary in this world. I'm actually debating talking to some of the moms of the girls in my class - but they're all 12! They all /wear/ bras, but they really don't need them - and at that age, you can easily find ones cut any way you need to fit under whatever you like (since you don't actually need the support or anything). Hmm, I should maybe talk to Jessica though - she danced professionally for several years, ballet even.
Argh. In the meantime, I should go to bed. Being sleepy always causes more fretting.
And I'm realizing - while I know how to sew in general, I've never tried to sew sequin strips onto my costumes before. Mom always did that. And this has flesh-toned elastic straps which are adjustable, and then when you adjust them, there are slightly wider strips of purple sequins to sew over them. I do know that sewing elastic is different than regular sewing. I am assuming that I should zigzag, as I read was good when sewing spandex and such - but the straps are awfully narrow. I'm not certain I'll be able to do so. And also, I'm not even certain the machine will play nice - the sequins /mostly/ lie in one direction, but not uniformly, and I'm wondering if the presser foot will snag constantly and make me crazy. Or do I need to hand sew it? Do I have to worry about the needle piercing and destroying sequins? Doubtful, but I just don't have any first-hand knowledge here.
So also, the top angles in and up much more sharply than my bras do. I don't recall having had this much trouble with my bras and my dance costumes before - but then again, I was barely an A cup before. I'm a D now. And the cups are cut quite a bit wider (for obvious reasons). I could just go with a flesh-toned one and not care, but... well, I couldn't. I could go with it, I mean, I just can't not care. I would feel like it looks awful, even though my rational side would know that it won't be visible from the audience. I'd rather actually find one that plays nice with the costume line. Or get a body stocking that actually vaguely resembles my skin tone - but I don't know if they even make them in whale size.
I will be going to the local dance supply store to see if she has any advice (rather eccentric lady, but she's been in the dance world for decades), but I'm also deeply broke right now and have had several unexpected expenses of late, so I'd rather not spend a ton of money - and a body stocking is likely to cost more than a bra (dance stuff always does).
I had originally thought I could just get away with the clear-strapped kind, but the cups are also a problem. Maybe I should go see if they have any half-cups - though they may not make them, in Ds.
Rawr! These are the times when I hate being so solitary in this world. I'm actually debating talking to some of the moms of the girls in my class - but they're all 12! They all /wear/ bras, but they really don't need them - and at that age, you can easily find ones cut any way you need to fit under whatever you like (since you don't actually need the support or anything). Hmm, I should maybe talk to Jessica though - she danced professionally for several years, ballet even.
Argh. In the meantime, I should go to bed. Being sleepy always causes more fretting.