My church asked us to create three wise man costumes for the Christmas Eve drama. I was excited to work on this project because (1) it helps share the message in a unique way; (2) the costumes will be used for many years; (3) we can experiment with sewing techniques. My goal was to create easy to care for garments that will fit many different sized people and express a regal look – different from the shepherds, the rulers, and the Pharisees.
The first costume is in navy and gold, with a turban styled hat. The tunic is a navy sanded satin. The vest is a beautiful batik cotton, with a center panel of a beautiful gold woven fabric found at the thrift store. The neck and arm edges are finished with bias binding from the batik.
The blue fabric was so lovely with a rich drape and sheen, that I didn’t do much to embellish it. On each sleeve, I added an embroidered, beaded, sequin lace applique, hand stitched to the sleeve.
This is the tunic base alone, with sash belt. I ended up not using the belt, but this is part of the design process. The other two magi have belts, but I wanted each man to look unique, like they were from different areas, and not matching triplets.
I found a neutral woven fabric at the thrift store for $1. I cut this fabric into a circle bigger than the cap base, then added a gathering stitch around the edge of the circle. (I’ll add another post with details for drafting this circle.) After pulling the gathering stitch, I machine stitched the big circle onto the base, which created this nice fullness and texture.
I made a long strip of tan velour and twisted it with a gold metallic gimp trim. As I wound the strip around the turban, I tacked it onto the base so it will not accidentally unravel.
We gathered and attached a rectangle of navy blue crystal organza to the back of the hat. The fabric left over from twisting around the turban we folded up, then tacked it together. So it still has the nice, thick twisted fabric feeling.
Chloe hand-embellished the turban with Czech glass beads, jewels, and tassel.
Here’s my original sketch. Pretty close to the end result!
