Interview with Allie Bock

How long have you worked at the costume shop?

I have worked here for two years, totaling four semesters.

When did you learn how to sew? Who taught you?

My grandma has sort of taught me my whole life. She was always giving me helpful hints on how to sew better. I didn't have tons of experience until I got a job working in the costume shop.

Why is working at the Costume Shop enjoyable?

It's fun to get the opportunity to be creative. Seeing the final product of our work is very satisfying. Also, I have made very good friends here and enjoy working with them every day.

What is your favorite part of the job?

My favorite part is making fun of the dancers.

What is your least favorite?

Making Latin pants. They are tedious and take forever. And it seems that we always have tons to do.

How many hours to you average a week?

I average 15 hours a week. I try to work 20 but with my school schedule it is difficult.

Do you get stressed when Extravadance comes? Why?

Yes, it means we have to work late nights and deal with more costumes and fittings.

Frequently Asked Questions

These are real questions I have been asked by friends, family and other costume shop visitors.

Do you guys do alterations?

Yes, the costume shop can alter just about anything. We try to stay away from wedding or prom dresses depending on our time schedule, but are still happy to do them when we have an open schedule. A typical day of alterations consists of hemming latin pants and mending holes.

How much does it cost to rent a costume?

It cost $7 for a five day rental for individual pieces. $20 for more elaborate pieces, such as latin dresses.

Can you rent shoes too?

Yes, you can rent shoes in the costume shop. We have a separate shoe closet for all our many pairs of shoes. They cost $7 to rent and can be held for up to five days.

Are costume shop employees students in a class, or is this a real job?

We get this question a lot. People are under the impression that our employment is for a class or an internship. Yes, we are real employees and it is a real job.

Do you guys sew here?

Seems like a dumb question, right? Believe it or not we have had to answer this question more than people would think. Walking in to costume shop you are immediately in view of four sewing machines, there kind of hard to miss. Still, with this obvious sighting people have still thought to ask this question.

Can I just come in and look at costumes whenever I want?

The costume shop is open from 8:00-4:30 every day. Customers can come in and take a peak in our costume closet any time between those hours.

Where do you keep all the costumes?

There is a costume closet two doors down from the shop. It is a huge closet with rotating racks to allow for more space. There is also an accessories closet located in the costume closet.

How many costumes do you have?

On average the costume shop has 2000 costumes in the costume closet.

On average how many costumes a year do you make?

On average the costume shop makes 350-400 dance costumes a year.

Do you make costumes for outside venues, or only BYU Idaho.

Along with BYU Idaho dance teams the costume shop also makes prom dresses, pageant dresses and also costumes for local dance studios.

The Process of Costuming

In order to design and construct a costume a certain amount of steps are taken. First, a dance teacher will bring a sketch to Cindy Guthrie, the Costume Shop Manager. Cindy will look over the design and decide with fabric to use.

Cindy will then make a sample costume using exiting fabric in the fabric closet. This is called a prototype. The prototype is completed and shown to the dance teacher for approval. Once the design is approved the costume shop gets to work on creating duplicates of the prototype.

The next step is a little complex. Since fabric supply in all of Idaho is low, the costume shop gets all the fabric shipped from the Garment District in Los Angeles, Ca. Cindy will take a trip to Los Angeles and personally pick out the needed fabric. The fabric is them shipped to the costume shop within one week.

When the costume shop gets the fabric they immediately go to work. They mostly use existing patterns to construct the garment, but sometimes Cindy and the other employees custom create a new pattern for the specific costume.

The fabric is laid on the cutting table and cut out to fit individual sizes. After all the pieces are cut out the employees get to work sewing the pieces together.

Once the costumes are put together a dance team will come in for a fitting. Additional alterations are made to ensure the costume fits just right. The dancers place a name tag in their costume and the process is complete.

Costume Shop Picture Tour

Welcome!

The Fabric Closet

The Costume Closet

Pattern Cabinets

The Cutting Table

The Shop

Dressing Room

Laundry Room

Employee Tools

Sewing Machine

Pin Set

Thread

Mannequin

Measuring Tape

Hand Scissors

Rotary Cutter

Seam Ripper

Meet the Costume Shop Employees

Cindy Guthrie: Cindy is the costume shop manager. She works an average of 60 hours a week and has been the manager for 7 years. She learned how to sew as a young girl and has been sewing every since.

Allie: Allie is a costume shop seamstress. She has worked in the shop for two years. She averages 15-20 hours a week.

Kristin: Kristin in a costume shop seamstress. She has been employed for one month.

Bethany: Bethany is a costume shop seamstress and also teachers her own clogging class. She switches between her costume shop hours and her dance teaching hours.

Niki: Niki has been working in the costume shop for almost two years. She learned how to sew when she was 10 but did not have true experience until she got a job in California working for a custom dance costume shop.

Introduction

When I tell people what I do for a living they seem somewhat amazed. I'm sure their shock and surprise comes from the image they get of me crouched over a sewing machine for 12 hours a day, packed in a tiny room with 5o other people...a sweatshop, in other words. But my experience as a seamstress has been everything but that. I have had the opportunity to work with incredible people and learn amazing life lessons.

Being a seamstress feels completely normal, nothing too extravagant or unbelievable about it. I started working for a company called Tericloth after my first semester at BYU Idaho. It was my first experience using industrial machines. They were a little intimidating at first but after about two weeks I fell in love. Because of deadlines I learned how to sew very quickly, laughing and enjoying time with my coworkers on the way. This is where I learned all the basic and complex areas of sewing. We mainly focused on dance costumes for local studios, but there was the occasional alteration. It was an amazing day when my boss handed me a set of costumes and I knew how to put it together from the picture only, no other direction required. My favorite part of the job was seeing the dance teams in the costumes I had made. Sadly, after a year of working I had to leave to return to school.

I was fortunate enough to get a job working for the BYU Idaho Dance Costume Shop. For the

last year I have worked 15-20 hours a week and gone to school full time. I love my job as a

seamstress and wish to share with my readers the different aspects of my job. My blog will

include pictures, videos, a step by step on basic sewing, interviews, events and costume shop

humor.

Right now the costume shop is getting ready for a huge performance called Extravadance.

Stay tuned and join me and my coworkers as we get ready for this big event.