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National Sewing Month: Sewing Costumes for ‘The Help’ (Part 3): Mae Mobley and More

September 8, 2011 by AllFreeSewing 12 Comments

Dear Readers,

It’s National Sewing Month! To celebrate, AllFreeSewing.com is hosting a special blog series throughout the entire month. Check back daily for posts featuring our favorite projects, new sewing videos and tutorials, guest blogs from talented designers and more. We’re also giving away a HUGE sewing prize at the end of the month. You won’t believe how EASY it is to WIN!

Leave a comment on any of the blog posts with the headline “National Sewing Month”. Your comment will count as an entry into the giveaway. You are free to comment as often as once per blog post (for a total of 30 chances to win!). At the end of the month, we’ll pool all of the comments together and pick one lucky winner to win the mystery grand prize. And trust us; you want to win this one!

Whether you’re already a sewing enthusiast or new to the craft, our hope is that this September will encourage you to create wonderful sewn projects.


Here’s today’s post:

Kathleen Farris is a costumer from Memphis, Tennessee who has made costumes for hundreds of theater performances, concerts, ballets, operas, and films over the past two decades. I recently talked to her about her latest work sewing for the film The Help as part of costume designer Sharen Davis’ team. This week, I’ll show you a behind-the-scenes look at her work sewing costumes for several of the characters, including Mae Mobley Leefolt, Celia Foote, and Hilly Holbrook.

 

A copy of The Help signed by author Kathryn
Stockett with a scrap from Mae Mobley’s
dress as a bookmark

Over the past two weeks, I’ve given you an insider’s glance at film costumer Kathleen Farris’ work making costumes for the characters Elaine Stein and Elizabeth Leefolt. This week, I’ll talk about some of her other work for the film, as well as her impressions of working on a film set.

Kathleen sewed and altered the costumes for the character Mae Mobley Leefolt, Elizabeth’s daughter who is raised primarily by Elizabeth’s maid Aibileen. The toddler was played by three-year-old twins Emma and Eleanor “Ella” Henry. Kathleen loved working with them and still speaks of them fondly, calling them “cute little precocious girls.”

Aibileen holding Mae Mobley, who is wearing
a purchased dress that Kathleen
altered for the film

(image courtesy of DreamWorks Studios)

Costume designer Sharen Davis wanted Mae Mobley’s clothes to look as though she is growing out of them throughout the film, so Kathleen made her pajamas and dresses a little bit snug. One of the dresses she sewed for Mae Mobley was made of a pink and green checked fabric with miniature rick-rack.

 
Aibileen with Mae Mobley, who is putting
on one of the green checked dresses
that Kathleen made

(image courtesy of DreamWorks Studios)

Kathleen actually made four copies of this dress because each twin needed two dresses for different scenes. She also sewed chiffon nightgowns and changed purchased children’s clothing for the girls, altering them and making them unique. The final cut of the movie did not include several scenes in which Mae Mobley is shown growing over the course of one year; for those scenes, Kathleen made dresses that suggested the child was aging.

Kathleen also made a skirt for Jessica Chastain’s character, Celia Foote, a woman who is new to Jackson, Miss., and is ostracized by Hilly, played by Bryce Dallas Howard. The pencil skirt, made of pink, blue, and purple wool tweed, is meant to reflect Celia’s bright and ostentatious wardrobe style. In the film, Celia wears it with a purple-maroon sweater and a wide black belt belt when she attempts to bring a pie to one of Hilly’s social events.

 Celia Foote’s pink pencil skirt that
Kathleen made for the movie

In another scene, Celia accidentally tears the sleeve from Hilly’s green dress at a large charity auction. Kathleen was one of the costumers responsible for ensuring that the sleeve ripped properly. First, she lightly stitched the seam and clipped the stitches, which tore just fine in testing, but when it came to actually shooting the scene, the seam would not rip.

For the final scene, they lightly attached the sleeve with spray glue used for scrapbooking. Bryce Dallas Howard had to hold very still so that the seem would not fall apart too soon, and the sound editors had to add a more dramatic ripping noise afterward. The scene required about eight takes to shoot, so the costume team made one dress with twelve different bodices.

 

Hilly’s green dress:
Kathleen helped ensure that the sleeve
tore properly during the auction scene
(image courtesy of DreamWorks Studios)

Overall, Kathleen says working with the costume team was a great experience. “[Sharen Davis] was the glue that held our department together. She was respectful of everyone, and kind and compassionate toward everyone,” Kathleen says. She also enjoyed working with fellow costumer Julie Yrjanson, who made many dresses for Aibileen, played by Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis. Kathleen tells me that the entire cast was pleasant to work with, especially Allison Janney, who played Skeeter’s mother, and Leslie Jordan, who played Skeeter’s editor in Jackson and kept the costume studio entertained while they altered his costumes to make them more characteristic of the 1960s.

 Aibileen and Minnie, two of the film’s leading ladies;
costumer Julie Yrjanson made many of Aibileen’s costumes
(image courtesy of DreamWorks Studios)

Of course, this costume team is highly experienced. Sharen Davis won acclaim as the Costume Designer for the films Ray, Dreamgirls, and The Great Debaters, among others. Kathleen, the stitcher for The Help, has also made and altered costumes for The Notebook, Castaway, and A Painted House, among others. The costumes in The Help are unique because, instead of one overall costume theme, each character has her own unique style and color palette. I, for one, will be surprised and disappointed if Sharen Davis does not win the Academy Award for Best Costumes this coming awards season.

 

Thanks to Sharen Davis’ creative vision, each character in
The Help has a unique style and color palette
(image courtesy of DreamWorks Studios)

What do you think of these costumes? Do you think they will win awards this year? Would you enjoy working on films like Kathleen does? Have you designed or made any clothing based on those in films before?

If you like these costumes, try one of these great vintage sewing patterns from AllFreeSewing.com!

  1. Ruffled Collar Tutorial
  2. Vintage Embellished Bolero
  3. Petticoat Tutorial
  4. Retro Pincushion
  5. Vitnage Sewn Notecard

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Filed Under: Sewing Tagged With: costumes, fabric, help, kathleen farris, kathryn stockett, movies, National Sewing Month, Sewing, sharen davis, The Help, vintage clothing patterns, viola davis, wearable crafts

National Sewing Month: Sewing Costumes for ‘The Help’ (Part 2): Elizabeth Leefolt

September 2, 2011 by AllFreeSewing 23 Comments

Dear Readers,

It’s National Sewing Month! To celebrate, AllFreeSewing.com is hosting a special blog series throughout the entire month. Check back daily for posts featuring our favorite projects, new sewing videos and tutorials, guest blogs from talented designers and more. We’re also giving away a HUGE sewing prize at the end of the month. You won’t believe how EASY it is to WIN!

Leave a comment on any of the blog posts with the headline “National Sewing Month”. Your comment will count as an entry into the giveaway. You are free to comment as often as once per blog post (for a total of 30 chances to win!). At the end of the month, we’ll pool all of the comments together and pick one lucky winner to win the mystery grand prize. And trust us; you want to win this one!

Whether you’re already a sewing enthusiast or new to the craft, our hope is that this September will encourage you to create wonderful sewn projects.


Here’s today’s post:

Kathleen Farris is a costumer from Memphis, Tennessee who has made costumes for hundreds of theater performances, concerts, ballets, operas, and films over the past two decades. I recently talked to her about her latest work sewing for the film
The Help as part of costume designer Sharen Davis’ team. This week, I’ll show you a behind-the-scenes look at her work making costumes for the character Elizabeth Leefolt, played by Ahna O’Reilley.

 

Last week, I gave you an insider’s look at Kathleen Farris’ handiwork in The Help making costumes for the character Elaine Stein. Kathleen also made dresses for the character of Elizabeth Leefolt, one of the white residents of Jackson, Mississippi and a childhood friend of Skeeter and Hilly. Elizabeth’s daughter, a little girl named Mae Mobley, has been primarily raised by her black maid, Aibileen, while Elizabeth attends social functions.

In the movie and the book, Elizabeth desperately wants to be included in Jackson’s high class social circle, but she is not wealthy enough to buy the expensive, fashionable dresses of her peers. She compensates by making her own dresses, with limited success.

Kathleen sewed or altered most of Elizabeth’s costumes. In accordance with Elizabeth’s character in the book, Kathleen needed to make everything Elizabeth wore look homemade. The lavender dress pictured below was made using a 1950s Butterick pattern. Kathleen used a shiny, floral polyester and included a raw neckline, unfinished hems, and untrimmed threads hanging out at the seams.

 

Elizabeth’s lavender dress,
hanging in the studio

 


The less-finished version of the dress
in the film (image courtesy of
DreamWorks Studios)

Kathleen actually made two versions of this dress; the one pictured above is less completed than the one in the scene below, during which Elizabeth’s character is attending a bridge party.



The more finished version of the dress
in the film (image courtesy of
DreamWorks Studios)

The following photo shows Kathleen posing with another of Elizabeth’s dresses, a cotton cowl-collar dress with chenille dots and 3/4 pleats. The costume team dyed the fabric blue because white clothing often appears overly bright on camera.

Kathleen posing behind Elizabeth’s
blue dress on a mannequin

Some of Elizabeth’s clothes were pulled from a stock of vintage 1960s clothes ordered from a costume warehouse in Los Angeles. Kathleen altered and embellished many of them to fit Ahna O’Reilley and to complement her performance.

 ~*~

One of our readers, Pam Thompson, posed a couple of questions for Kathleen on last week’s post. Check out Kathleen’s answers below!

Pam: How much research did the costumers do to make the clothes seem authentic to the time period?

Kathleen: The costume designer [Sharen Davis] had a 1962 Montgomery Ward catalog that we referenced for design ideas, and we had a number of vintage patterns from that time period. Some of us were old enough to remember that era, and there are plenty of TV shows from then that we could access on YouTube.

Pam: How much influence did the descriptions from the book have on the choices of costumes (color etc.)?

Kathleen: There was an effort to stay true to the book; however, the costume designer gets hired for her interpretation of the story. For example, the maids’ uniforms are white in the book, but the designer chose gray for the movie. A few of the costumes on screen were actual vintage clothing from that era, so the colors and styles are true to that time.

 ~*~

So, have you seen the movie? What did you think? Which costume was your favorite? Post your questions and comments below, and Kathleen will answer them next week when I write about her work on Mae Mobley’s costumes and her contributions with the rest of the costume team!

In the meantime, look at these amazing vintage clothing patterns from AllFreeSewing.com!

  1. Dirndl Skirt
  2. Bow Belt
  3. Roxanne Retro Headband

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Filed Under: Sewing Tagged With: costumes, fabric, help, kathleen farris, kathryn stockett, movies, National Sewing Month, Sewing, sharen davis, The Help, vintage clothing patterns, wearable crafts

Blank Handmade Cards for Soldiers

August 24, 2011 by FaveCrafts 3 Comments

Generally when we think of sending cards to soldiers we imagine them filled with long and and loving notes, but what if soldiers want to send cards back to their loved ones? Unfortunately, most war zones are without cutesy card shops, and it’s a bit disheartening for a a supporting family member in the States to get a Christmas or Birthday card on plain paper. We R Memory Keepers, a major hobby and craft manufacturer, recognized this problem and set up a mission to gather greeting cards, and not just any old generic cards, rather unique handmade cards that would appeal to the receiver and the sender.

Check out We R Memory Keepers’ site here.

We R Memory Keepers, along with Better Homes and Garden’s Scrapbooks Ect magazine, Cruise and Crop, and Operation Write Home, managed to find 50 retailers to host the event. The operation was named “We R Grateful” and was launched in June. Retailers advertized to their customers about the need for handmade cards and set up “drop zones” for completed cards.

  Scrapbook Barn, Gilbert-AZ,  representatives with over 600 cards

August 17th was the last day for dropping off cards to the We R Memory Keepers’ warehouse, and the grand total was a staggering 46,774 handmade cards! Each card had it’s own special touch. Crafters had fantastic ideas for making handmade greeting cards and used all their stamps, stencils, rulers and paper to make a card truly meaningful.

A complete list of participants can be found here.

 

Though it is always thoughtful to send a card to a loved one, a handmade one demonstrates a little extra care and creativity. I found a number of cards on the FaveCrafts site that would be lovely to make for any coming occasion.

 

 

Birthday Card

They’ll know you care when they receive Birthday Wishes Card. It’s quick enough to make at home, but fancy enough to look like you paid for it.

 

 

Love You Card

Make a beautiful card for a special occasion using cardstock, ribbon, pearl embellishments and paper trimmer. This is great for a wedding or a special dinner date.

 

 

Thinking of You Card


This cute owl card is easy to make. It’s perfect for those who love owls. Send it to a friend and just say “I’m thinking of you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Party Invite  Card

Make a card and envelope for your next party invites. These are really pretty designs that you and your friends will love. You’ll love the pearl embellishments.

 

 

Any Occasion Card

Make this pretty card for for any occasion! It’s blank inside so you can write whatever you want. The sweet, delicate card will make anyone’s day.

 

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Filed Under: Cards Tagged With: Cards, Christmas Crafts, crafting, help, papercraft

Crafting For A Cure Donation Drive

August 4, 2011 by TheCrochetCrowd Leave a Comment

Crafting For A Cure is Looking For Crafting Donations
Crafting For A Cure, who services Hospitals globally, is looking for crafting goodies to give to prenatal units.

Crafting for a Cure , founded by Pamela Beliak, is back with The Crochet Crowd again this spring.

See a video interview with Pamela Beliak. You can see her mission and see her personality thrive at Creativ Festival.
Pamela and The Crochet Crowd are launching their 4th Donation Drive together. Together with The Crochet Crowd crafters, the viewers are asked to donate finished crafting peices of Pre-Natal Units for Crafting For A Cure.
Items they are looking for include:
  • Preemie & Regular Baby Hats
  • Blankets
  • Mittens
  • Sweaters

If you can think of something else to donate to this specific calling, you are most welcome.

Mikey, from The Crochet Crowd, is collecting donations and will be presenting items for display at Creativ Festival on April 27 & 28, 2012. Specific chosen products will be on display at their display at Creativ Festival.

If you would like to have your item auctioned off, they would love your permission to do so. It’s a great way to donate items and have your gift go extra further. One sweater last year was offered $300 but was never auctioned off because permission was not asked from the doner.

Items can be mailed to:

The Crochet Crowd

10 Mullen Drive, PO BOX 473

Walkerton, Ontario, Canada

NoG 2Vo

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Filed Under: Craft Charities Tagged With: CFC, crafting, Crafting For A Cure, Creativ, Cure, donations, Drive, event, festival, Fundraiser, help, hospitals, prenatal, The Crochet Crowd, units

Design Handmade Cards for Soldiers Overseas

March 17, 2011 by FaveCrafts 4 Comments

We just came across this awesome opportunity and thought we’d share it with all of you.  It’s a chance to do a good deed, possibly win an amazing prize, and be crafty… all at the same time!

A 10-year-old Arizona boy came up with the idea of sending a handmade thank-you card to every single U.S. troop overseas.  All 180,000 of them.  Needless to say, he could use some help.

If you’d like to contribute, all you have to do is make 5 cards and send them to Bazzill Basics Paper.  You can find the address here.  While you’re there, download an entry form to mail in with the cards and you’ll be entered into a  drawing to win two FREE tickets to Creative Escape, the ultimate scrapbook indulgence event, which will be held August 25-27 in Phoenix, Arizona (travel and hotel not included).  For every 5 cards you send, you’ll be entered into the drawing, and you can send as many cards as you like.  All cards must be received by July 1, 2011.

There’s nothing better than making a craft that makes someone smile.  And we’re guessing if you win the grand prize, you’ll have a pretty big smile on your face too!

If you’re looking for inspiration, here are some of our favorite greeting card projects:

Thank You Card
Hope and Faith Stamped Card
Bunch o’ Bugs Greeting Card
Cute Owl Card

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Filed Under: Craft Charities Tagged With: greeting cards, help, papercraft, thank you cards

How to: Learn Sewing Machine Basics

September 22, 2010 by FaveCrafts 2 Comments

Sewing machines are supposed to make your sewing endeavors easier, not harder. Sometimes though, the time spent wrestling with you machine would have been better spent hand stitching the dang thing. I admit that when I first got my machine I ended up threading it, trying it out, getting frustrated when it didn’t work, and then hand sewing the project I had wanted to make. Since then I’ve had countless similar experiences with the machine, usually culminating in my abandoning the project altogether and relegating my machine to the corner in disgust.

Knowing how to fix common sewing machine problems is very important for sewers of all levels, from novice to expert. Read this troubleshooting guide and hopefully your machine will dwell in the corner no more! Also check out our Sewing Tips & Tricks, Reference Information, and Basics & Tutorials on AllFreeSewing.com.

Problem: Stitches are uneven, puckered, or otherwise improperly formed.

Solution: Make sure the top thread is threaded correctly, the bobbin is inserted correctly, and the needle is the proper size for your machine. Try sewing on some scrap fabric and test different tension levels. Adjusting the tension should fix the stitch problem. Once you find the proper tension for your project, proceed.

Problem: Upper thread breaks.

Solution: Again, make sure your machine is threaded correctly and the bobbin and needle are properly inserted. There are a few different reasons why your thread might break. First, decrease the upper thread tension. If this doesn’t help, try pushing lighter on the pedal so that your machine will sew more slowly. Also check to make sure there are no knots in your thread. The problem could also be that your thread is old, poor quality, or not the correct thread for your project. Re-thread the machine with new thread and try again.

Problem: Fabric starts to pucker.

Solution:
Usually this happens when your stitch length is too long and/or your upper thread tension is too high. I have actually used this to my advantage when making ruffles, because I don’t have a ruffler foot. Try decreasing the tension and the stitch length. Also make sure that your top and bottom thread are the same type of thread and, of course, that the machine is threaded properly.

Problem: The needle breaks.

Solution: You may have inadvertently sewn over a pin. To prevent this from happening, make sure to remove your pins as you sew, before the needle has a chance to run into them. Other causes of broken needles include pulling on the fabric as you sew, using the wrong needle for the type of fabric you’re working with, and improperly inserting the needle into the machine.

Conclusion: If none of these solutions work, I have two more options for you. First, sometimes putting your machine in a time out really does work (hey, it works with kids, right?). Show it who’s boss by putting it away for a few days (and feel free to verbally abuse it too. It can’t hurt).

If it’s still malfunctioning, here’s option two: take it in to a sewing machine repair shop. It could be a simple maintenance issue, or you could need to replace a part. You’ll never know unless you ask a professional.

Have you ever experienced these infuriating sewing machine mishaps? What is your go-to troubleshooting action?

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Filed Under: Sewing Tagged With: Guides, help, machine, machine sewing

Help a Reader: Irish Doily, Patterns and More

September 1, 2010 by FaveCrafts 2 Comments

Here is this week’s Help a Reader request. If you can help or have a suggestion, please post your answer in the comments. Please try to supply instructions and/or links. Telling someone to google the answer is not particularly helpful. =)

Patricia asks,

Looking for Irish Doily with ruffles, designed in a square style, pineapple design wih 4 inch ruffle. Finished about 20″.

Jan asks,

I have been searching for a crochet purse pattern using rag strips.Can you help?

Yolanda asks,

I would like to find a free interlace scarf pattern. Thank you.

Dee asks,

Do you have a pattern for a crotchet or knit bikini bathing suit?

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Filed Under: Craft Tips and Tricks Tagged With: Crochet, help, Knitting

Help a Reader: Super Mario Crochet and Walker Bag

August 18, 2010 by FaveCrafts 11 Comments

Here is this week’s Help a Reader request. If you can help or have a suggestion, please post your answer in the comments. Please try to supply instructions and/or links. Telling someone to google the answer is not particularly helpful. =)

Paula is looking for a crochet pattern. She says,

Do you have the crochet pattern for princess peach from mario brothers? If so, could i please get it? I have been looking everywhere for it and can’t find it.

Martha is looking for a pattern. She asks,

Could you please get me a pattern for a walker bag? My mom is 92 and is need of these. Thanks!

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Filed Under: Craft Tips and Tricks Tagged With: Crochet, help, Sewing

Help A Reader: Golf Club Head Covers and Baby Feet

August 4, 2010 by FaveCrafts 13 Comments

Here is this week’s Help a Reader request. If you can help or have a suggestion, please post your answer in the comments. Please try to supply instructions and/or links. Telling someone to google the answer is not particularly helpful. =)

Janet is looking for a pattern. She says,

I just signed up for your site to find a pattern for golf club head covers, but find nothing. Do you have a pattern?

Gail is looking for a crochet pattern. She asks,

Would you have a crochet pattern for baby feet? I want to put them onto a blanket. Thank you.

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Filed Under: Craft Tips and Tricks Tagged With: Crochet, help

Help a Reader: Liquid Acrylic Decoration

July 28, 2010 by FaveCrafts 9 Comments

Here is this week’s Help a Reader request. If you can help or have a suggestion, please post your answer in the comments. Please try to supply instructions and/or links. Telling someone to google the answer is not particularly helpful. =)

Linda writes,

I am looking for a project i saw on the CAROL DUVALL SHOW a while back. The guest had a skillet and dropped liquid acrylic into the water. It turned into a solid decoration you could use for rings,or other. She used different colors for some of the projects. I think it was liquid acrylic but she used a little electric skillet. I would like to find the directions so i can buy and make them.

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Filed Under: Craft Tips and Tricks Tagged With: decoration, help

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