Three Dancing Princes

 

A fun project that landed in my lap just as the Crufts project was drawing to a close...

 

Jacky rang me in a bit of a panic.  Her usual costume source had let her down, and she needed three sets of 18th C style coats and waistcoats for three lads in a dance production.  Lots of jolly fun, but the timing was crucial and the days were numbered.  This one came to me on Friday 7 March, and needed to be on stage on Sunday 16th for the dress rehearsal!  EEK!

Jacky rang on Thursday morning, and came over straight away...  She liked what she saw of what I could do, so I emailed her the contract with pictures of pattern and fabric that afternoon.  I also ordered the patterns, the 'bling' (gold braid) and buttons.

On Friday I had an email saying the pattern was out of stock, so I rang round and found it in two other places and ordered it and 50 more blazer buttons!   Our chosen pattern:

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Jacky brought the lads over  on Saturday afternoon for measuring.  Meanwhile I was sewing the soldier kit for the re-enactment wedding...  The first copy of the pattern arrived, and so did the bling.  I started drawing up copies of the pattern and altering them for the boys on Sunday, after the wedding fitting, and ordered the fabric...

On Monday I dug some lining fabric out of the stash and set to and cut everything I could.  Then everything ground to a halt until the fabric arrived.

This turned up on Thursday at ten to twelve.  I cut everything out on Thursday afternoon, and got the bling sewn to as many bits of the blue and the pink coats as possible, and pinned to the green one (which isn't needed until NEXT weekend!).

So here you go: Bling nailed to coat pieces, ready for stitching!

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Sewing the blue and pink coats came next as these had to be ready for fitting on Friday 14 March...  The blue one makes me think of Commander Norrington, and Jack Davenport's remark about being all dressed up like an ice cream cone!

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The pink one now has a strip of gold bling stitched down the front and round the neck.  The blue has the same, pinned and waiting for stitching

Sunday Update:

What with one thing and another, Sunday was a bit fraught, but the blue and pink costumes were completed, and the green ready for trying on.  They were duly delivered to the hall, and Jacky was delighted with them.  Here are the two complete ones, each costume having a total of 41 buttons on it!

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And the green one ready for fitting:

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And Cornflake, trying to 'help'!

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Wednesday Lunchtime:

So it's Wednesday lunchtime, and Jacky should be here soon to collect the final green set, now with last run of bling and 41 buttons adorning it!  Here you go:

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I can't help feeling a little smug: they came out looking good, considering the time and budget, under budget, and three days before the deadline!  They will certainly stand up to the wear & tear, the kids love them, and the customer looks like coming back for more!