McGrew Studios

Specialty Costumes, Production Design and Fabrication for the Creative Industries

Specialty Design, Fabrication & Production for the Creative Industries

Tailoring

Custom Cheshire Cat Horse Costume

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A cat horse?
A horse cat?
Horses get nifty custom costumes from us, too!

This is a custom costume for “Fella”, a lovely palomino quarter horse in Midway, UT

It’s made with striped knit fabric plus zippers installed underneath and at all of his leg openings, for all around easy dressing.
Plus cat cheeks, cat whiskers and a big Cheshire grin!

October 2021

Deluxe Custom Velvet Santa Suit

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The incomparable William B, in his snazzy new, old-world-style Santa suit.

Custom Santa Suit build, 2019.

Plush burgundy velvet and fully lined in green satin. Velvet welt buttonholes and trim. Antique brass buttons. Full circle capelet. Custom Santa overalls. Plush fur trimming all around. Plus a big leather-bottomed toy bag to match:)

William’s boots and belt are by Spear’s Specialty- Springfield, Massachusetts.

Thank you Marc Reynolds for the terrific studio photo session and beautiful photos!

delux custom velvet santa suit
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delux_custom_velvet_santa_suit_welt_buttonholes
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Spears_Specialty_Springfield_Massachusetts_santa_boots
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William B. in custom made velveteen Santa overalls by McGrew Studios

Studio photos by: Marc Reynolds

Steampunk Halloween Wedding: Koleena & Eric

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Custom Victorian ensemble for a beautiful bride: A corset, skirt, apron and bolero. In incredible black and white stripes.

For the lovely Koleena. She and Eric had an amazing Halloween wedding! It’s always easy to remember their anniversary because of their unique date and event at Ogden’s historic Ben Lomond Hotel.

custom corset steampunk wedding
custom corset steampunk wedding

Look at the gorgeous bride and groom here!
Always excited to design for fantasy, sci-fi and steampunk weddings.
(Utah already has plenty of custom dressmakers for the usual sort:)

custom corset steampunk wedding

Wedding photography by Cat Palmer http://www.catpalmer.com/

B-3 Leather Bomber Jacket Alterations

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Some surprises revealed inside this WW II era B-3 bomber jacket while altering it for our famous military museum client.

 

 

Before and After: A size 48 B-3 bomber jacket shortened 4 inches.

A beautiful jacket in outstanding condition. I altered its length for a military museum client on the east coast.   The Heddels company provides a nice historical overview of jacket types created during WWII and other campaigns. Check it out. Good summary of various jacket designs and adaptations for particular uses.

 

General Patton in his B3 bomber jacket. Pic from the Heddels site.
And check out General Patton here in his B-3 bomber jacket! Pic from the Heddels site.

Before alterations: Our client taped the back, indicating the position where he wanted the horizontal top-stitched trim pieces to be moved. B-3 bomber jacket in really amazing condition. It’s rare to find vintage pieces this nice. A pleasure and an honor to work with such a cool piece of history. 

All the lower pieces needed to be removed, then carefully repositioned about 4″ higher and restitched through their existing holes. I ordered some specialty thread from Germany and waited about five weeks before it arrived to do all the new top-stitching.

The factory that originally made this bomber jacket ran 3/16″ green cotton cord under every top-stitched trim piece! Its color made me scratch my head a little- pretty interesting. Functionally, the cord fills in the ‘ditch’ created where separate pieces of sheepskin have been sewn together.

Map pocket on the lower front left also had to be removed, then repositioned 4″ higher and reattached.

A 1″ x 2″ leather tab is top-stitched for reinforcement at the base of each side of the zipper, next to its pull and stop. These tabs had to come off and also be repositioned and restitched 4″ higher.

The horizontal leather trim pieces now are repositioned and stitched directly under the tape line. The jacket’s almost ready for me to turn its lower edge up to top-stitch.

Vintage separating zipper in great shape. No rust or broken teeth. The whole zipper had to be removed and repositioned. I shortened it from the top, actually cutting it after removing several teeth. then prying off its top brass stops, then re-crimping those into their new positions. Some dicey surgery. I searched high and low for suitable, shorter replacement zippers, but alas. There were none I could buy anywhere online or in person. Superb that this original zipper was in such great shape!

Lower front left looks naked without its map pocket, now removed.

B3 bomber jacket before and after its alterations- shortened about 4" total.
B-3 bomber jacket before and after its alterations- shortened about 4″ total.

 

Meanwhile… over at the American Rust Company in Salt Lake City, another B-3 was there, longing to go home with a loving new owner! If that’s you and you’d like me to give it some love, I’d be thrilled to work on another of these jackets. I still have the matching specialty thread plus the industrial machines to sew it. This jacket below needs some good leather reconditioner, some stitched repairs plus a new zipper. Rust never sleeps!

 

Here’s another jacket I spotted around the same time- at the American Rust Company in Salt Lake City. It’s small- about a size 38.

Tattered map pocket needing some TLC and restitching. I reached inside and found a pack of vintage filterless cigarettes!

The American Rust Company features in-store items every day on their media sites! They accept credit card call in, PayPal and Venmo as well. They even do shipping and curbside pickup! Give them a call at (801) 671-3882.

 

Spendy spendy- but eager to go home with a loving collector! Let me know if you wind up as its proud owner and I’ll give it the repair and restoration attention it deserves:)

Mayflower Society Custom Pilgrim

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In his custom, colorful new attire,  the Wyoming’s Society of Mayflower Descendants’ Governor, Elwood M. Porter, II.  A delightful gentleman to work with and know.

Mayflower Society Wyoming Pilgrim, Governor Elwood Porter

Mayflower Society Descendants at #Rootstech 2020, Salt Lake City, Utah

Future trend predictions: Ancestor cosplay/re-enactment is gonna get huuuge! and it’ll blossom in some really interesting ways-

#Rootstech 2020 genealogy conference recently showcased these super cool Mayflower Society descendants, staging a big parade for them at the Salt Palace. The entire main hall audience viewed their procession plus were urged to attend a special session about the International Mayflower Society and its upcoming 400th year anniversary celebration this September in Plymouth.

Mayflower Pilgrim doublet front detail
Mayflower Pilgrim doublet front detail

Period costume drawings in John Peacock's The Chronicle of Western Costume
Period costume drawings in John Peacock’s The Chronicle of Western Costume

Mayflower pilgrim sleeve detail
Mayflower pilgrim sleeve detail

Illustrations from Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion
Illustrations from Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion

Find out more about our Mayflower history at https://www.themayflowersociety.org/