Truffaldino is the name of the Jester in the Opera by Prokofiev - The Love for Three Oranges. Judith Khoudi brought his costume to show us during her talk at the Lytham St Annes Embroiderers Guild and here are a few photos that in no way show how fabulous it was but may give you an idea. You may want to book her to come speak to your group.
I really loved the little lights on the base of his coat that really did light up. You can just make them out (although the artificial lighting overhead in the hall did not help).
The base of his coat depicts an Italian town and he carries a felted satchel shown below.
The actor/student modelling the Truffaldino outfit had to suffer wearing authentic style 16th Century leggins in a heavy, itchy blanket type fabric that scratched. Judith cut them on the cross and made lace-ups at the bottom of each leg. I am sure that wearing his wonderful hat more than made up for any discomfort.
Details of the Jester's collar which was drawn on paper, scanned into a computer and then printed onto fabric. The swirly curls on the hem of each sleeve is knitted eye-cord also known as French Knitting using a Knitting Dolly ( those of us old enough will remember making eye-cord on a wooden cotton reel with 4 nails hammered into the top. Eye-cord can also be made on double-pointed knitting needles which is a little more tricky).
What wonderful ideas Judith has. We all thoroughly enjoyed her talk and looking at her fabulous garments and wish her well in her future costume making endeavors.
We certainly know where to go if we need a Ballroom gown or Ice Skating dress anytime soon.
For her final year at Uni, Judith chose to design and make costumes for 2 characters from an Opera by the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev called The Love for Three Oranges, in which a Prince has to go into the desert in search of 3 oranges from each of which spring a princess!
She took inspiration for costume shape from the 16th century but used modern textiles to make the pieces. Part of the bodice for Princess Ninetta was composed of the netting that holds oranges/tangerines!
Using orange bags for the costume is rather apt :-)
Above is the costume with a little head ornament but minus the cage which was attached below the skirt to form the 'orange'.
Hers is Judith's design which shows how the 'orange' part works.
Below are the cute orange slippers with bobbles on.
Looking at these lovely pieces makes one want to rush out and see the opera for one's self, but I doubt if the costumes could top these Judith has made.
Her second character from the opera was Truffaldino the Jolly Jester which you can view in the next post.
In the last post you will have seen some of the outfits made by Judith Khoudi whilst at Huddersfield University. In addition to bringing them along to show us, she very kindly explained how she made them.
Here Mrs Peacock from Clue has been given a makeover and new outfit courtesy of Judith's talent. Read on for a glimpse into the techniques she used to make it.
Notice the border on the hem of the dress. The fabric has been painted and a layering and cutaway technique used called Reverse Applique, along with free-machining.
Can you spot the Trapunto there too? (raising parts of the fabric by stuffing or using wadding). Trapunto was also used to outline the waist where beads added more embellishment. In addition to all this, the thread had to be hand-dyed to match the fabric.
A Twin Needle was used to add interest to the sleeves and a new-to-me technique called Furrowing was used to add another element to the skirt. Furrowing is scrunching the fabric up and tacking it down with a stitch, as shown below.
While it sounds simple enough to do, I'm not sure that holding down the fabric and keeping it scrunched up at the same time would be all that easy. It does look lovely though and we all enjoyed looking at the various elements/techniques used in the dress and on the design boards.
Next up - the Princess who jumped out of an orange.
Recently, we at the Lytham St Annes group of the Embroiderers Guild; were treated to a very interesting and exciting talk about Costume Design by Judith Khoudi.
Having worked in Management for 37 years and facing redundancy she took the bold step to 'go back to school' and study Costume and Textiles at Huddersfield University.
Having a background as a Ballroom Dancer/Dance Teacher ( in her spare time - how does she do it?), Judith has always made her own dresses and this certainly showed in the fabulous Design Boards and wonderful costumes that she brought in to show us.
Not able to do justice to everything here - I will stick to showing you one or two costumes in this and the next post.
In Year Two, Clue, (inspired by the board game and well known TV programme of the same) was one of the themes studied.
Here is Judith's Design Board for 6 Clue characters and their outfits. Notice Yvette on the right - she is a new character created by Judith.
Here is Yvette's Board showing a Monochrome outfit set off by sparkly blue accessories.
Don't you just love Mrs White's little pooch?
An outfit that was a favourite though was that of Mrs Peacock, not just for its beauty but the dress encompassed many different textile techniques.
A beautiful sample board in Peacock blues.
The photo does not do the dress justice at all (artificial lighting and camera flash altered the colours on the hemline somewhat). It was gorgeous.
Judith even made the hat, attending a Hat Making Workshop to learn how. Thats dedication for you.
You can read all about the techniques used in making Mrs Peacock's dress in the next post ( as this is getting a little long).
Until then - happy sewing.
