Help me stock a sewing room!?
Our theater is building a costume department, and we are starting to gather the supplies to go in the room. Can you help suggest items to stock? Everything from pins & needles to essential sewing or costuming books. I'm just trying to make sure we don't miss anything!
And here are my recommendations...
OK. First--build/buy a good cutting table. It should be at LEAST 4 x 8, and a cork board surface is ideal. You can fake it with cloth covered insulation board (which stinks!) but cork is the best. I recommend at least 2 inset shelves underneath the cutting table for bolt and roll fabric storage. Bins or drawers on the ends are useful as well--but give yourself a foot or so kick-space so you can pull stools up to the table to sit and work. It should be of a height to allow you to NOT have to bend over all day while you're cutting or drafting-ie, higher than the typical dining room table.
A BIG Bulletin board! Cubbys to store small items set aside for a particular actor or actress. Drawer storage for cut fabrics, shoes, and so forth. A couple of dressmaker forms--at least one adjustable. It's lovely to have a trouser form! Several common women's sizes are handy.
Sewing machines/sergers. I, personally, am sold on Berninas and Bernettes. I have a 20 year old Bernina Industrial and a Bernette 4 spool serger of about the same age. They're solid as rocks--real work horses. If you find a good Bernina dealer (mine is actually old order Mennonite and his shop is in his barn), the dealer can provide you with trade-in used models that I'd MUCH rather have than some new piece of trash. Make sure at least ONE machine has a free-arm, and make sure you get the attachment feet that allow things like automatic gathering, hemming, binding, zipperfeet, velvet or plush feet, the button attachment and so forth.
A good place to economically purchase sewing supplies is Newark Dressmaker's SUpply. www.newarkdress.com/ Their prices are good, and they have things like 3 dollar packs of 25 sewing machine needles in a variety of sizes, BIG boxes of pins, T pins, and safety pins. (I like using safety pins for fittings--you don't stab the actor, and the pins stay where they're put, but it takes a LOT of them).
Don't forget BIG cones of thread and Cone Stands for the machines. I always chose BIG cones of white, black, and some mid-range hues, and didn't spend much time directly matching cloth color.
Consider storage--clear plastic bins in various sizes on open, asjustable shelves are my preference! For items that should NOT be exposed to light, I go for the cheap, and pick up Banana Boxes at grocery stores, and basically block the holes. These work very well for pattern storage, too--three rows across. They're free, solid, and sturdy.
Some essential books? I'd start at Dover Press--they've got a BUNCH of great stuff, reasonably prices. I also recommend Theatrical Costume Pattern books--Janet Arnold's 3 "Patterns of Fashion" books are a must! Solid individual references on hats, shoes, accessories, jewelry are useful, too, and something like Milia Davenport's History of Fashion is a good single-volume reference. Fabric Painting and Dying for the Theatre is a source you should have, as is From the Neck Up, on hat-making. There's a terrific book--Corsets and Crinolines on underpinnings. That's an important one! Men's Garments (1832 to...?) Can't remember!) Stage Makeup (the standard textbook).
Start collecting --ESPECIALLY!!! long hair wigs, and you should have some basic hair-tools and some of those styrofoam stands.
Drama Books in NYC and Theatre Arts books http://www.dramabookshop.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp and http://www.theatrebooks.com/ are good solid industry-related sources, although I would CERTAINLY hit Alibris and ABEbooks, Strands 8 miles of books and Powells.com for used sources before I bought new.
A WASHER and DRYER!!! As well as one of those old galvanized tubs with the agitator, if you can find it, for dying. A stock of Rit dye in BULK is useful!
Hit thrift stores and yardsales for old dressmaker patterns and for trims and yardage. It's amazing how much stuff you can find for practically nothing there.
I'm assuming you also have costume storage! You'll need hanging storage, as well as bin storage, and storage for little stuff--collars and shoe laces and jewelry and buttons and so forth.
Buying buttons by the pound is useful. Bulk cloth ribbon is useful. Twill tape and bias binding and other edging stuff, too.
Good scissors--several pair! Button hole scissors, those little sharp-pointed fiskar trimming scissors are a must. One of those gadgets that automatically measures button/buttonhole placement is wonderful. Clear RUlers, olfa cutters and matts, drafting straight-edge and tri-squares are important, as is a roll of craft paper or newsprint for drafting, and a projector for easy transfer of miniature patterns to full-size. MUCH faster than point to point drafting!
Get to know your local antiquarian book dealer, and you can get all sorts of interesting things for reference.
Start collecting hats, glasses, handkerchiefs, men's shirts, men's suits, furs, "retro" clothes that you'll be able to re-shape into period garments, dark socks, fishnet stockings, fans, gloves and so fo
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