Playtime and Overtime

Christmas Carol is officially kicking my ass. I have never felt quite this far behind on any other show I've worked on. As is common on shows with many poor or lower class characters, a bulk of the work I have to do doesn't trickle in until the last few days of the build. Drapers and stitchers are finishing the hem, trims and other assorted notes on costumes that then need to be painted into, dyed, darned and otherwise made to look well worn, years old and sometimes down right filthy. Sadly, an effected and detailed job on such clothing is a multi-step and very time consuming process. Doubly so on costumes that need to LOOK old, but have to maintain an integrity to last several years of the same production. This final level of detail falls into the last two or three days of a build. Corners need to be cut. The attention to detail is sacrificed and I leave work feeling as though I am not putting my best work forward.

Thankfully the tech process is slow and as the costumes appear on stage we will receive a list of specific notes regarding who needs more distressing where. Still, the amount of time provided to accomplish the task at hand leaves me worn and depressed.

Many of the other elements are wrapping up nicely. Past illuminated crown looks AMAZING, particularly in the dark (of course it does...it glows!). A ragged top hat for a sleezy character is becoming more satisfyingly sleazy with every dab of paint. Christmas Present wreaths of holly, both at the peak of his time and at the wane of his day and much lighter and organic than previous incarnations. And Marley's chains no longer require a contortionsist act and much cursing on the part of wardrobe to put on the actor.

It's good work...it's just rushed, crunched and stressful.

Though the overtime pay is indeed a treat.

Despite the work load I've still managed to take two workshops in new dye techniques this week...making for longer work days as I stay late to make up the hours missed in this, our heaviest period of the costume build. Yesterday was an intro to silk screening. Today was a play day with a new discharge paste.

Yesterday's silk screening workshop was more like a glorified stenciling class. Technically the tools used to transfer images were indeed silk screens. A nylon mesh treated with a photo emulsion to create beautifully detailed images. Only the technique described for their use was a far cry from tradition silk screening. Gone was the frame to secure the image, the well for the paint and the squeegee used to even transfer said paint. In their place was one strip of painter's tape and well worn foam brushes. The dye used sounded incredibly versatile. An instant set silk dye...no heat, steam or chemical additives necessary to set the color. Only, as a thickener shaving cream was used in lieu of more tried and true thickening and print pastes. The shaving cream diluted the dye into limp pastels. The foam brushes wouldn't evenly apply the "paste" over the screen. The one strip of painter's tape did not secure the screens to the fabric as strongly as was needed for the multiple passes required by the poor foam brushes. The class was very much geared toward a hobbiest too imtimated to try true silk screening, or too strapped for cash to invest in the more pricey materials. I left feeling as though I had just sat through a lengthy sales pitch for a product I have already grown out of.

Today's class was taught by the same person. So I entered with many reservations. I'd seen her work. It's breathtakingly beautiful, immaculely executed and expertly composed. But I feared she was serverely dumbing down the techniques she utilized.

I left the class with a new tool to add to my arsenal. A pigmented discharge paste that would have cut the amount of time I spent on the kimonos for M. Butterfly in half. The product strips the color from the fabric (think bleach, but much more precise and nowhere near as toxic) while coloring the area in the same step. The colorfastness is suspect...but a few runs through a washing machine will provide the info I need.

I left the class and headed to work in very high spirits. Inspired and excited. Only to be crushed upon entering my dye shop to find instructions left for my over hire had not been followed (i.e. do NOT start working on one garment until I returned and hunted down more information...work on this, this, this, and this instead). A dress needing a gentle fading on the shoulder, hems and cuffs had been dipped in bleach and stripped of most of it's color from the waste up. It took her the rest of the day to paint back in the color and detail she leeched out.

But so this week has gone. Excitement and pride followed by crushing frustration and stress. Only two more weeks are left on this seemingly never ending project.