The Tipsy Thimble

Gowns are not all I do…

Although I love creating prom and wedding gowns, this is not all that I can do. I also LOVE costuming. Whether for a small theatre production or a huge comic book convention, costumes are just plain fun! The same skills that I use to translate your design ideas into workable patterns allow me to take a picture of a comic book or video game character and recreate their costumes for myself or others. It’s fun to see how closely I can manage to get the costumes to match the characters. I love it when I go to a convention and people instantly recognize my character!

Another form of costuming I enjoy is renaissance and medieval garb. I’m a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, which is a group of re-enactors focusing on the culture of pre-17th-century Europe. The costumes for this are similar to recent movies such as “Elizabeth”. These gowns are large and require a LOT of fabric, and the handling that much fabric at once is difficult, but loads of fun!

I have also done some quilting, as well as layettes and christening gowns for babies. This is tedious work, as the details are much smaller, but I enjoy the challenge, and the final results are just stunning. I’d love to do more of this kind of thing, so please think of me when you have a gift in mind for someone’s tiny bundle of joy!

Another thing I have a good amount of experience at is alterations. Especially shortening of all sorts of pants. (The women of my family are blessed with a short stature gene, so I have plenty of practice at this one!)

Basically, any sort of sewing that you need done, I can figure out how to do it. I work with a professional grade sewing machine, and it and I can handle just about anything. I also enjoy teaching others what I have learned about textile arts, so if you are interesting in learning more about sewing at any level, please contact me and we can work out a plan for some sewing lessons!