Takeaways – 2026-08-21
This year at Costume College I attended 5 workshops, 3 lectures, and taught 2 workshops. Workshops Taught:
- Handsewing Basics
- Buises, Brows, and Cuts
Workshops and Lectures Attended:
- Needle lace
- Evening wear for your hair
- Bachelor Buttons
- Crocheted basket
- EVA Foam Brooch
- Fitting Pants the Easy Way
- Dress the Era: Improvise From your Closet
- Quilting in Historical Costume & Household Goods
Everything went well in both the workshops I taught. Students commented they learned a lot and I even got an email from one saying they enjoyed my stories! In the bruises workshop, I met someone with experience in puppetry that was helpful since one of our shows this fall will be using puppets. I was also given a refresher in teaching hand sewing left-handed.
Needle lace is very tiny when done at the correct scale! I learned a stitch that was, for me, the easiest (1 out of the 4 taught!). I think the best take-away for me from this workshop was a reminder of what it feels like to learn something new, even if I have some basic knowledge. It also reminded me of the importance of ergonomics when doing hand sewing.
The other 4 workshops reinforced skills and provided items that can be used in upcoming shows. Well, maybe not the crocheted basket. That, however, can be a project to teach crocheting to students. Costumers often need other handcraft skills to complete costumes. Chainmail, for instance, can be crocheted from appropriate materials. I hope to use the headpiece and brooch in shows this fall.
I was also reminded about how confusing it is in costuming since the same item can go by different names, depending on use, era, etc. Bachelor Buttons turned out to be a way I’ve made cuff links in the past, albeit by a slightly different method. This was a good example of seeing someone else use a familiar technique in a different way, adding another tool to the toolbox. Sometimes it takes finding the vocabulary a student is already familiar with to scaffold up. Here are some examples of items I made in the workshops noted above.
