the Purple Tutu

Still working on recital costume repair/alteration/etc.
You see this tutu?

This tutu makes me sad. It's not constructed badly. It's made from a pretty standard pattern. There is a full underlining/flat lining. The basque and bodice are separate pieces. It's all as it should be. But the materials they chose to make it out of? They are awful. The acetate satin is bad but forgivable. But that skirt, regardless of the fact that it is constructed exactly the way a classical tutu should be constructed, is made with such limp and lifeless tulle (that has then been washed a hundred times, probably) that it just sort of... droops. It makes me sad because someone must have put so much time and effort in to it, and the result is so... just... sigh...
Oh, and it was closed all the way down the back with velcro. I don't know if you have ever accidentally caught tulle (or lace, or your pantyhose, or that beautiful silk chiffon blouse you just made...) on the scratchy side of a piece of velcro, but it's insanity. I couldn't even wear my wrist braces while working on this thing because the tiny edges of velcro that hold them closed kept catching on the tulle and shredding it. As you can imagine, the velcro closure has done horrible things down the back of this little guy.
My seamstress's heart. It aches for you.

Back In The Saddle

Getting back to ballet after approximately two whole weeks was great and also exhausting. My knees are holding out better than I thought, mostly because I make the shallowest little pliés on the planet. We have started some new stuff, including this sort of graceful swooping preparation for rond de jambe, which I am almost getting but it is taking some time. I feel a very definite sense of progressing, though, and that is lovely!

The hardest part, for me, is getting out there. I usually have a lot of fun while I am there, but the biggest problem for me, as an adult, is just overcoming my natural laziness and desire to sit around in front of the computer all night. I mean, I can find lots of ways to waste time. I am darn near an expert at procrastination and poodle-ing around. Anyway, after a break there is always a strong pull back towards home. The siren song of my couch. And I think "hmm... I sure could use to sit here and watch another episode of Start Trek TNG..." but NO. I could really use to go to class and dance.

***

Part one in an occasional series: ballet paintings that aren't Degas (not that I have anything against Degas. But, boy howdy is his work over-exposed. I have an umbrella and matching dance bag covered in Degas, and that is great, but let's check out some other stuff, too.)

"The Violet Butterfly" by John Garth c. 1930s

I love the colors in this one.