Mrs. Potts' Spout, and More

I used a sleeve pattern from a shirt, but I expanded it.  If you saw it flat before being sewn you'd see that it flairs out wide to the elbow point, then comes back in.  Also, it has to be larger than a typical sleeve since it's so thick --  I cut out 2 from fabric, and one from quilt batting.  Sandwiched the batting in between the layers of fabric, stabilized the batting by sewing straight down the middle. Sewed the whole thing up, then added a cuff over the end of the sleeve from tiny bit left from making the skirt -- note that  the cuff flares out like a spout.

I sewed velcro to the blouse she'll wear, and also to the strap of the bodice she's wearing, so it's attached both above and below, yet can be removed when she becomes human at the end of the show.  It sounds so simple when I type it out here, but it took much of the day.  I was home alone, trying it on myself to see how it worked -- not the ideal way to figure these things out. 

The entire Mrs. Potts costume is cute, but incredibly fussy to get a kid in and out of.  Also, the idea of putting elastic in the bottom of the skirt to draw it in as a teapot didn't work -- the elastic wanted to stay bunched up after it was released during the transformation back to human.  Oh well.  We used plain twill tape to gather it in, then un-gathered it for the final scene.

Lefou needed a shirt at the next-to-last minute.  No shirt patterns for young boys?  Okay, let's use the Simplicity 4927 It's So Easy dress pattern that's in the pattern stash.  Shorten the body and revamp the side seams, lengthen the sleeves (added tuck at the bottom to make them less flappy -- he can roll them up if they're too long, or leave them full length).  Cut back on the fold, add slit to front neck.  Discard neck facings, using bias tape instead.

Last night was partially spent ripping the yellow ribbon off of The Beast's jack, replacing it with gold ricrac.  Also, the tech director found the bag of gold buttons.  So, new, improved version of McCall's 6143:

We also spent some time messing around with the idea of a cummerbund made from the lining fabric, but it didn't come together quickly enough.  

Also adding buttons to Gaston's vest, which came from an OOP vest pattern from ... who knows when ... along with some of pseudo-suede fabric from our source for free fabric.

And, today is the Big Day.  Thalia was there at 7:45am to start loading in the set.  Tonight's the performance!