Sew....a needle pulling thread!

The last two weeks of February, I had the opportunity and privilege to assist on a costuming team of approximately 20 ladies from 9 states, constructing period and fantasy apparel for the Oxford High School cast of "Beauty & the Beast."

Belle reads a book

Belle entreats Beast to let her father go

Gaston concocts a plan to win Belle's hand in marriage

Gossip spreads quickly in the provincial village

Ready to tell Belle "be our guest!"

The enchanted objects of the castle dream about being human again

Belle is won over by the Beast' s kind change of heart

And everyone celebrates with song!

We began making these costumes from scratch mid-February, and the show went live the third weekend in March. Here's the catch: the extent of my sewing experience coming into this was practically nil (save some basic mending, or putting cap sleeves on a strapless dress). It's a good thing that so many of the other girls were experienced seamstresses! They taught me so much in those short/long two weeks.

Like how to design and make a period French ladies' cap:

In fact, it turned out so well, the other girls had me model it for a small photo shoot by the ironing board--because it "looked right" (and there was, of course, ironing to be done ;)  ).

I was working in the "townswomen" division of labor, so that meant helping make petticoats, shifts, caps, aprons, kerchiefs, jackets, gowns, stomachers, and stays...all tailored for individual members of the cast.

Working and living with so many girls was fun for a change, although quarters were fairly tight. Imagine a slumber party at night and work party during the day, times a few weeks. You get the idea...

Parents of cast members were generous in donating meals for us. Since I knew the kitchen well, I ended up helping supervise the receiving and keeping of meals. That was one thing that was nice about it being so cold outside: we could use the screened in porch as an extra "ice-box"!

Below you can see a few pics of our happy team at work.

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Yes...the first couple of days I spent helping wash and iron new linen fabric

Sewing petticoats! We would often listen to music (Celtic, folk, contemporary, or musicals) as we worked

My "teacher" :D She was so gracious with everyone, and patiently helped wherever there was a snag

With plenty of visiting time over our work, we all became great friends!

It was exciting to see the different outfits come together

...and even more fun to have cast come for fittings and see it on!

Such a great group of kids to make costumes for!

Two full weeks of working with friends in a labor of love for the community; and I learned to sew. Not a bad deal!

(Me), Mary, Kebkah, Danielle, Meghan, Michaela, Hannah, Jessie, Shiloh, and Rebecca -- roughly half of our team :)