It's Mark Mitchell

It's Mark Mitchell online

2010-09-29T08:01:00.001-07:00

For lots of photographs of finished work, be sure to check out itsmarkmitchell.com. For inquiries, you can reach me at itsmarkmitchell@mac.com. Thanks for checking out the blog!

2010-08-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

It feels like Fall, and I've only gotten to wear the summer shirt I made about three times. I'm reaching for the woolies already.

"When Diane was in the group..."

2010-06-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled to be invited to the press tour of The Supremes costume exhibit that's currently at the EMP. Mary Wilson gave us a thorough tour and was exceedingly gracious in every way. I was excited to see those early Bob Mackie's, like these bias-cut sequinned gowns. I remember these dresses from my CHILDHOOD. Back in the 20TH CENTURY!

2010-06-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

I've been working on quilting and patchwork ideas. I picked up this project from a few years ago and made 24 more squares for it. I have a fairly good idea about how I'm going to put them together, but I'm trying to come up with an interesting plan for the quilt stitching that isn't just standard, traditional fare. Some African quilts have lovely symbols in their tradition that are quite different from the English/American florals and doves. Tattoo imagery comes to mind, too, but that seems so hackneyed at this point... Maybe text?

Anyway, these big striped squares I made will be set on point, then filled in with solid squares. The solids will be the part that need interesting stitch designs.

Stella Strides Again

2010-05-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from the THAW benefit fashion show that we did a couple of weeks ago. Stella and Paul looked amazing. The paper fans with the eyeholes say "itsmarkmitchell.com"

Hero Goddess

2010-05-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

Visqueen is on tour starting soon. If you have a chance to see this band, fronted by this amazing tornado of a woman, do it.

This is Rachel performing at a Patsy Cline tribute show. Wearing me.

THAW Fashion Show

2010-05-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

Bits and pieces from the show last night. Real photos to follow.

The butterfly dress is a nice Dynasty-style throw-the-bitch-in-the-pool kind of thing.

Mad for Plaid

2010-04-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

I need to get better pictures of these pieces, but for now, the iPhone shots will have to do.

Silk Stripes

2010-04-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

Some of my work is going to be featured at the Thaw Fashion Show on May 6th. The Swedish Housewife will be modeling five or six of the costumes I've made for her over the last couple of years. Pre-show, I'll have three models giving away it'smarkmitchell.com paper fans. I'm busy this week making three new outfits for the models to wear. Here's a sneak peak -- a silk dress and tulle stole.

Baby quilt

2010-04-12T08:43:00.001-07:00

Nearly finished with this small quilt for Olympia Meinert. It's the first iteration for my
upcoming quilt class. It's cotton, with a cotton batting inside.

Bow dress with panniers

2010-04-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

Here are two pre-production photos from Implied Violence of the bow dress designed by Anna Telcs that I built this Spring. It will be used in a performance in Vienna later this month.

Photos by Steven Miller

Adaptation

2010-02-26T09:18:00.000-08:00

I'm a lefty, but use scissors with my right hand. I didn't have lefty scissors when I was very young and adapted quickly-- I had a need to cut things out!

itsmarkmitchell.com is up and running. Go check it out and let me know what you think.

Thanks to Steven Miller for his great work designing and building the site.

An experiment in crochet...

2010-02-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

I learned to crochet when I had pneumonia in December 2006, and made this dress the next Spring. We're still adding rhinestones.

How to fill your gingham dress!

2010-02-24T12:27:00.000-08:00

With a baby! I took this at the Capitol Hill Block Party last summer. Olympia is here now, and a swell little girl.

A Wedding

2010-02-23T11:25:00.000-08:00

Coco Howard is an artist and an old friend, so when she asked me to design her wedding dress I was delighted. It was a great opportunity to spend quality time together, and she let me go a bit overboard, which I do enjoy. It's my reaction to too much active wear in this part of the world.

Tulle jackets

2010-02-22T13:40:00.001-08:00

I made a few of these little boleros. I love the huge collar.

I went crazy for tulle last year, and am hoping to get back to it. Lots of possibilities I haven't yet explored. Check the tulle cape in the last post. That's where we went wild.

With a cherry on top.

2010-02-22T13:27:00.000-08:00

This little number took about 2 and a half months. Lace over satin with silk velvet bows, covered in Swarovskis. We also whipped up a tulle cape, so she wouldn't catch a chill. Click pics for bigger views!

Stella's Tulle and Denim Playsuit

2010-02-21T12:11:00.000-08:00

Little denim shorts and wrap around top, tulle trim and tulle bolero jacket. Love it, and I love her.

A Little Cotton Gingham

2010-02-21T11:47:00.000-08:00

I was playing around with some summer dress ideas and made a few of these off-the-shoulder short ones. I gave the first to my pal Mandy, since it was this dress that was the starting off point. I didn't get to make as many of these as I would have liked, but my plan is to have a few for sale in the Spring.

The girl in the first pic is Stella Saint Claire, who was my intern for a year. Amazingly talented girl, who I miss having in the workroom!

Stripey Green Gown

2010-02-21T10:35:00.000-08:00

The fabulous Rachel Flotard, above photo by Christopher Nelson

I'm going to try to catch up on my postings here. It's been a while, and I've been doing a lot of work. Here's a dress I made for the wonderful Rachel Flotard of Visqueen. She was appearing at a Patsy Cline birthday tribute and wanted something special to sing in. It was a challenge to make because of the crazy stripe matching involved, but so worth it. I love a bias stripe.

More Visqueen -- They're just starting their North American tour. They'll be all over the place, so check your local listings. The record "Message to Garcia" is fantastic, with a great backstory. Fall in love with Visqueen!

Liz Renay floral bikini

2009-05-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

I made this for The Swedish Housewife to wear while hosting a program at the Seattle Erotic Art Festival. The cape, which is hard to see in the photo, is a garment that was given to her by Liz Renay, who was one of the great misfits and a bad ass stripper. If you don't know about her, get thee to a google.

Heather's wedding

2009-05-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

Grey wool crepe suit and hat.

Burlesque Caterpillar

2009-04-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

2009-04-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

Burlesque butterfly

2009-04-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

Mandy's Grammy dress

2009-02-14T09:21:00.000-08:00

It is a rayon knit with a full circle skirt, side inseam pockets, and low gathered bodice. Easy. The belt is covered in teal silk, then hand quilted in the same red as the dress. I don't have a good picture of that detail!

Random shots floating around...

2009-02-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

Skater

2009-01-01T17:01:00.000-08:00

I had to whip this one out with 4 days notice, in a blizzard, when I was already on deadline for that green costume. Luckily I had some black velveteen and yards of plaid taffeta lying around. Nothing super special about it, just a princess seamed jacket and double circle skating skirt, although I really like the leg-o-mutton sleeve. It's cool with the tall collar, and that inch of shoulder between the sleeve cap and the collar makes it pop.

A couple more of the green costume...

2009-01-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

Snow Queen onstage

2008-12-31T09:20:00.001-08:00

photo by Chris Blakeley

The green extravagance

2008-12-31T08:56:00.000-08:00

I 'finished for now' a complicated costume the day before Christmas. We had been planning it forever, and it was good to give it a weeks-long push and really make it happen. It's designed for overload -- too many rhinestones, too many feathers -- and we'll be adding more, especially to the gloves and the main dress.

Anyway, these are some not-too-good pictures of the main pieces.

Brie Bonnet details...

2008-12-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

Snow Queen crown

2008-12-01T15:11:00.000-08:00

I started with a circle of milliner's wire and a 2" buckram band. Then I wired the top and both sewed and glued the staves. Floral wire wasn't nearly strong enough, so I cut up a bunch of white wire clothes hangers.

I made a wire cross piece as well to help hold the crown in an oval shape.

Next, I bent the staves outward.

Then I added a gathered circle of brocade to make the "poof". I followed with a band of fur then lined the crown.

Then the easy part -- I wired and glued the glitter snowflakes to the staves.

Pretty.

The Swedish Housewife

2008-11-24T15:46:00.000-08:00

The dress and hat are gold satin, and I built the topaz jewelled straps and buckle from scratch.

This is the periwinkle silk taffeta jacket, trimmed heavily with ostrich boa. The boas were too skimpy so I quadrupled them. Glamtastic results. To get the right weight for the jacket, I interlined the taffeta body and china silk lining with some velveteen, so it feels substantial and warm. She looks pretty special.

Bastille Day costume

2008-11-23T21:37:00.001-08:00

Madame's bonnet started as the box a delicious French brie had come in. I reinforced it with styrofoam, muslin, and gesso. The ribbon ornaments were achieved using various antique millinery techniques. The big upstanding loops are kept airborne by plastic boning. On the underside of the box I cut an oval and hollowed it out a bit so to fit the top of Madame's head. Then I covered a buckram form with satin, stitched and glued it in place, then covered the seams with ruched ribbons. The balance was good, and she's able to keep it on with just a few bobby pins attached through the horsehair braid along the inner edge of the buckram cap.
We fit the hell out of the dress. The inspiration for the costume was something Madame had seen in the amazingly stylish "Our Man Flint". Ray Aghayan designed killer costumes for the various femmes fatale in that flick, and we borrowed heavily from one of them. You'll have to netflix it yourself to find out which.

The coat was a challenge in cutting. After I made the basic pattern (a raglan shouldered evening cape with puffed sleeves) I then divided each panel and sleeve in to three parts. The blue/white/red scheme ran all around the garment so the right side was colored opposite that of the left. Anyway, once it was cut, with interlining and linings, it was around fifty individual pieces. Once it was together, I decided to do the balloon hem. It took me awhile to do it, but I think it came out quite nicely.

First Post

2008-11-22T21:06:00.001-08:00

I'm starting this blog so I can show the work I do up in my little studio. I make costumes for performers and artists, and am a dressmaker for women (and a few gentleman) of style.

If you like what you see, let me know. Any questions? I'm a geek about it all.