Public school costumes and homeschool chatter

As I worked this past weekend finishing up my costume project for a local middles school, I spent some time with some very dedicated public school parents.  The kind of parents who not only show up to see the show but who build the sets, purchase meals for the whole class, patrols the backstage area keeping kids out of trouble, and hugs any child who is clearly about to have a meltdown. 

As parents do, they chatter. They wanted to know more about me, how I came to costuming a public school show and then asked about my own kids... and then... dun dun dun.... homeschooling.

It's hard to talk about my kids without mentioning homeschooling, it is a large part of who they are.  It explains why my daughter is my business partner at 21 and not in college because she is done.

I will tell you this though, the further homeschooling is in the past the easier it is to talk about.  Also, it seems that people are much, much more open to it. Even public school parents.  It is, however, a fine line to walk because it is human nature to feel judgment about your decisions when you are faced with someone who rejects it. It is always the hardest part of being the lone homeschooler in the room with public school parents, someone often feels judged, just because you didn't do the thing that they are doing.  Maybe they wish they did do it?  Who knows?  I just know that emotion exists, I can't quite figure out where it comes from.

All in all, the questions still are:

Why did you homeschool?

I could never homeschool. (I realize this isn't a question, but it kinda is.)

Do you really think that everyone can homeschool?

I guess I am a pro at this conversation. 

I homeschooled because my kids were in bad shape emotionally and needed to be pulled out of school.

I didn't think I could either, but when necessity hit, I figured it out.

NO... not everyone can homeschool, but everyone should approach their kids education as if they are homeschooling because at the end of the day, it is the parent's job to make sure the kid is educated.  With this group, that last statement is a no-brainer.  They really are ON IT!! They are IN IT! They are involved and taking ownership.  Can't ask for anything more.

And with that, here are some more distanced grainy photos of our costume job (not my children).

Almost done costuming Spring 2018 shows

I have been literally under a pile of clothing, pretty much since I moved into the house the first of the year.  First, I updated a wedding dress for a bride.  Then I costumed Fahrenheit 451 for the Community Theatre.  Then I did a job for a school in Atlanta (the commute was a killer... based on the time of day I needed to be there it was 90 minutes each way.)  And now I am finishing up my main project for the season, Into The Woods, at a local middle school. 

You can see some of our costumes here: http://rs-costumes.blogspot.com/2018/04/costuming-with-my-daughter-projects.html

In one week when this is done, I can get back to my store booth spaces.

Still alive, the Zika didn't get me

I finally kinda feel like myself after the flu last winter, and my mini vacation.

I costumed a few shows last winter, and kept up with my board duties, and that pretty much kept me offline.

Here are a few pics of what I have been doing.

Stealing Home (partial cast)

Amazing Mayzie

Gertrude Mc Fuzz before

Gertrude McFuzz After

Children's show, Rumplestiltskin (faces cut out)

Rainbow tree in Puerto Rico

Plants in Puerto Rico

Whew, that was a lot of work!

I ended up spending the winter costuming a big middle school musical, and a small community theatre show.  And I got the flu and was sick for 10 days.  I can't really post a because of age and permissions.  Here's a blurry one with bad resolution!

Busy working on a middle school musical

I am in the final week of preparing costumes for Seussical the Musical for a local middle school.

That is literally all I have time to type.

Anger and Loathing... at the thrift store.

Update: Sept 2016.  Better. The main person that seemed to be sending employees over to specifically police me is gone. The still do things like act like the customer being there is keeping them from getting their jobs done... but the harassment has waned.

I left a yelp review today.  Not something I do very often.  It is for:

Park Avenue Thrift Outlet

134 S Clayton St

Lawrenceville, GA 30046

Here it is.  They really made me lose my cool this weekend.  They suck. 

I shop here regularly because I make costumes for a not-for-profit. I usually donate the costumes I create. This store gives me the best bang for my buck, and I tend to find interesting pieces. However, the staff makes me not want to come back. 

I feel like they see customers as a hinderance to doing their job. They are busy forcing as many items onto the rack as possible and if you are flipping through a rack, they will just push by you and close the little opening you have made to look... sometimes catching your fingers.   They might say excuse me, but it is after they have pushed your cart into your stomach. They are rude and downright mean. 

The final straw was this past Sunday. I had been shopping for an hour and had grown tired. I'd heard them announce many times to not put hangers on the floor, and to take the items off of hangers before coming to the cashier... I know the drill, I have been there many times.  I found a quiet corner where I could do this job of separating the clothes from the hanger and I was berated in a hostile way.  They

How I got on the board of a Community Theatre

So after I decompressed from homeschooling (vegetated for about a year), I gave a though to what I had liked and what I did not like about the activities I'd participated in as the kids grew up.  What I loved the most, was working on costumes, so I volunteered for a few local theatre and eventually, found one that would allow me to costume and learn at the same time.  That was just what I needed.

A year later, and a few hundred costumes later, I was asked to join the board.  Hmmm... Ok.  Not easy, but important.  Cool.

So that is where we are right now.  I love this place.  I love the people.  I love how we entertain, encourage, and include the community.  I want to help raise money for our little theatre, so we can be a big theatre and we can get more kids engaged, we can get more community members creating.  We can make more people like me more involved in the community.

With that said, here is the link to my fundraising page.

https://www.gagivesday.org/c/GGD/a/liveartstheatre/p/ahermitt

This is just one of several fundraising pages for Live arts.  Today is GA Gives Day (Nov 12).  Please give if you are moved at all.  I thank you and Live arts thanks you.

Ps. If you want to visit the main GA Gives Day page for Live Arts, please note that I worked on most of the costumes show.

Thanks.

(main page: https://www.gagivesday.org/c/GGD/a/liveartstheatre/)

Purging and simplifying

At the end of my last post I mentioned that being in a small apartment made me want to simplify at home.  After being in this house for 15 years and raising my kids, and homeschooling them here, I have accumulated more stuff than a girl can possibly need.  Even after giving away a lot of the homeschool curriculum and such, I am still overwhelmed with stuff.  Having the spare apartment in NYC makes that crystal clear when I come home.

So I have been home in Atlanta for just over two weeks and working on costuming a show.  It opened this weekend, and I am finally coming up for air.  Right before I started sewing, immediately after I got home, I cut the contents of my closet by 2/3.  I kept 1/3 of the items in my closet.  It was quite a feat, but I had to do it while I was still excited about it.  Since then, I have not done laundry, but have had something quite decent to wear every day, and could probably squeeze out 2 or 3 more outfits before I had to wear winter clothes or something exceedingly fancy.  So, I now know I did the right thing by paring down my closet!

I have spent all of last few weeks furiously sewing for Cabaret.  I am so pleased that so many people are mentioning the costumes in their comments and reviews.  We are so proud!  The show is definitely rated age 16+, I'd probably say 18+.  It is of course about a seedy night club and the happenings of people involved in it as Hitler came to power.  Suggestiveness, scant costumes, and violence.... but it is more than anything else, historical, and a reminder that if we look away from atrocities happening to other people, we are also perpetrators... AND it is just a matter of time before those horrors are turned on us.

I haven't had the time to take photos of costumes and did not get permission from the actors, so I will be posting costume photos later.

Almost done costuming another show

The Complete Works of Shakespeare ...  Abridged!  I made 2 and altered the rest.  A guy is playing the women's parts!

Gertrude (made with no pattern)

Lavina (also made with no pattern)

Ophelia

Juliet

Cleopatra

 I am still working on the nurse costume... and kilts for Macbeth!  So if you are wondering why I haven't produced any art work in a while... here's why.

Homeschooling your kids can lead to post homeschooling passions.

I went right from making costumes for the Dorothy /Alice show to making costumes for a Shakespearian show.  I am very happy about that. Next to murals, (or set painting, which I have to get in better shape to do) this is my favorite form of art, I think.

Right now I am exploring period proper clothing, modern relaxed clothing that is an homage to the Elizabethan era, i.e. the time of Shakespeare.  I am also exploring outfits that take a humorous twist on clothing of the time period.  The mashup will be interesting.

Interestingly enough, I would have never become interested and involved in costuming, were it not for homeschooling.  Following my daughter's interests led me to making costumes for her drama club which I absolutely love. This led to her becoming more interested in costuming as well, and seeing it as a possible side job to her acting aspirations.  She has implored me to keep it up, as she sees it as something we can do together when she is done with her education.

That makes me very happy.

Costumes or art? Definitely both.

I've been really busy since depositing the kids back at college. I have been doing volunteer work for a community theatre, and my job right now is to make costumes for a show that is quickly approaching, so I haven't had the opportunity to write or do art-work.  Or have I?

Some of the costumes I have created have turned out to be some interesting works of art.   Here are some of the things I have made.

Wonderland flower.  a few fake flower bouquets attached to a sin visor. 

Wonderland flower dress.  Green pillowcase dress with tulle tutu

Tin man hat.  A plastic funnel, grey and shiny silver duck tape and some christmas garland

Tin man suit. Silver sweatsuit I found, with wire sewing into the hems to make it rounded.

Using Halloween Costumes for Drama Club

I spent the whole day on drama club duties. The homeschool program my kids go to is having three plays this year. The first on is Secret Garden, the second is Once Upon a Mattress Jr., and the third is a musical called Just So.

Our first play is coming up fast so I have to collect all the fees, order all the t-shirts, and arrange for rehearsal meals, cast dinners, and parties. When I wasn't doing actual drama club duties, I was scouring websites for costumes for the productions. For the second play especially, Medieval, Renaissance, Lord of the Ring, or Maid Marion Halloween costumes will serve our needs just well. I especially like the one in the above image.

I realized that Halloween Costumes make great drama and play outfits last winter when my daughter was in the Bugsy Malone Jr. Play, we were able to get great flapper outfits for the showgirls, as well as gangster outfits too. I noticed that the halloween costumes are of much better quality that what was available when I was a kid. In fact, many of them can be washed and worn again and again.