Never Volunteer!

摘要

For weeks my daughter had been searching for an appropriate fabric for a cat costume. The snag was, she knew just what she wanted: a streaky, tabby cat effect, in colours bright enough for the stage, not quite the same as street wear! And to suit my granddaughter, a tall thin stick of celery, a true definition of a straight line: length without breadth (is she a changeling??). So - of course - I said I'd have a go. Then I started thinking how to achieve the effect. The white crushed velvet lycra fabric was nylon, so it would take acid dyes, and the costume shop generously gave me a bundle of scraps to experiment with. I wanted the stripes and patches to come in the correct cat places - pale tummy, dark back and upper legs, maybe paler lower legs, and forearms, so I had to consider how the costume would be laid on the fabric, and try to make it easy for the dressmaker to see the pattern. And -of course - there was a deadline.