Fabric upon fabric, the sewing machine buzzing, precision with every thread, button, and accessory. Chasing down and sizing up actors all in a time crunch. These are only some of the things that people experience as part of the costume-making and designing for the shows for Eye of the Storm Productions at Huntingtown High School. Layla Robb has been involved in sewing in costume design at Eye of the Storm Productions and has recently worked on “Cyrano De Bergerac,” which was this year’s fall show. Wanting to know more about what’s included in her job, and what they do to prepare so close to the opening show date, I interviewed her, and here are just some of the things that she mentioned.
Her passion for costumes and fashion bloomed from looking up to her grandmother and a fashion designer, Lee Anderson. Lee Anderson has a very different art style when taking different types of materials and piecing them together uniquely. Her dad also taught her how to start sewing, which sparked her love for it. Specifically, making costumes for shows, a very important factor to look for when designing the costumes is time relevance. For example, the current show, “Cyrano De Bergerac”, which takes place in the 1640s, must have clothing pieces that are period correct and blend well with the storyline. Some of the things that people do daily to prepare for the show are sizing actors, finding, and organizing fabrics, pinning, sewing, and designing whole costumes. They also have to look online for different things they can’t make, such as shoes.
If you’re looking to become a seamstress, or clothing designer (specifically for shows), some qualities you will need or will be useful are sewing, creativity, and good planning and organization. A piece of advice from Layla is to also listen to the heads of costumes or of that project and to never give up. Practice always makes perfect. Being in costume making for a show also helps you with things outside the company, like sewing can become a very useful trade. Being in costume design can teach you a lot of things about teamwork, commitment, and perseverance. And, of course, sewing and more sewing. However, like everything, there are challenges. “Communication is important because if actor’s costumes are too loose or too tight, it could restrict their movement, trip them, or they could possibly rip. Their safety is most important so it’s crucial for them to communicate with their seamstresses.” This shows that good communication is needed between actors and the costume producers.
Not only the work itself, but the bonding experience and laughter throughout the costume room is ecstatic. “The costume room is one of the most fun, happy, and chaotic rooms you could imagine We love it here.” It is a great option for people to get socially involved and make connections with new people. Would you join costume design for EOTSP?
