The last couple of weeks have been insanely busy, with preparing for Fiddler and various other things, and I feel like I produced more than is going to be shown in these images. However, a lot of costuming decisions were also made to make my life a little easier (for example, the girls are going to share outfits; think hand-me-downs) and most of the boys’ stuff hasn’t even arrived yet. But here’s the latest.

Getting to work! Turning my floor into a sewing studio. Patterns everywhere. Happy to say that by the end of this post, all of those patterns are now clothing, and all the pattern pieces are safely tucked back in their envelopes.

Laying out the pieces for Golde’s skirt. There are so many, I have to put them in order so I don’t mix them up.

The blouse for Golde’s costume. Patterns from the 70’s are a good substitute for 1905 patterns, and generally much cheaper.

Never made a blouse like this before – I was mighty proud of the ruffle detail!

Golde’s outfit. For easy removal, the buttons are going to be fake and the shirt will actually open and close with velcro, much like all of the buttondown items I’ve made for the show thus far. Her skirt has a waistband, but I’ve actually since decided to remove it and put elastic instead, for east and convenience. Plus it saves me the time and energy of getting an exact fit.

A little break to look at Albus, my sister’s dog, who wanted to help out by plopping himself onto the fabric for Yente’s costume. (I’m glad I had already finished cutting everything I needed out!)

The above is two-third of the costume for Yente. She’s a widow, so I went all black, but I broke it up with a little detail at the collar. It’s actually a clip-on earring that I found in the costume room. Now, this costume could go one of two ways. The shirt could simply be tucked into the skirt, or it can be untucked, with a tie around the waist. I probably won’t decide until the costume is fitted. The shirt will also have velcro in the back of it by the time it is finished. I’m glad to have this project done. It’s one of the ones that was in my head for a long time, but hadn’t materialized yet. The other third of her costume is a coat that I found in the costume room that she’ll wear during all the scenes except for the wedding, most likely.

These two costumes are for Shprintze and Bielke to wear to the wedding. However, if I find myself pressed for time, they will become part of the ensemble. I have been working diligently on the boys’ costumes and the ensemble, but neither are quite ready for photographs just yet! I’ve also done a few more blouses like the ones in my previous post (if you look at Chava’s costume, I’ve made that same blouse in a few different colors, both for Tzeitel and Hodel).

And that’s the progress. Less than a month to go, and I’m feeling like I’m in a good place to get this all done in time!