Alongside creating theatrical millinery and costume props, I am also a breakdown artist and dyer. Over the years I have dyed, broken down and applied special effects to literally hundreds of costumes, shoes and fabrics. This has ranged from dyeing fabrics, costumes and shoes, applying mud to costumes, adding holes, creating sweat stains, mixing blood and splattering onto costumes to working with textile paints to create patterns on fabrics and just about everything in between! It can be daunting to be presented with a pristine costume that has taken hours to sew and told to rip it to shreds but the effect on stage makes the costume come to life. Special effects have to be a bit more heavy handed for the stage so they can been seen from the back of an auditorium. Below is a small selection of my work over the years.