John deBoer Custom

This is the wedding dress I made for my friend Jill. It’s the only dress she owns! Unfortunately I couldn’t make it across the country to the wedding so I didn’t do the final alterations–I wish they’d cut the tulle a little shorter, but she looks so beautiful and happy and the dress survived the bounce house so it’s fine! I hand-embroidered the front and used a beautiful silk tulle for the top layer. I wish I could have made both dresses, but her wife Melia looks amazing too, doesn’t she?

A shirt I made for my brother. He insisted I crop his face out since he didn’t like the picture. Not well pressed, but I like the shirt.

A shirt I made for my brother. He insisted I crop his face out since he didn’t like the picture. Not well pressed, but I like the shirt.

These are costumes I made for a production of The Threepenny Opera at Wesleyan University. Costumes designed by Leslie Weinberg, photos by Nick Russell. I made the outerwear for both characters depicted here, Brown and Peachum. All the costumes were made from recycled materials donated by students. Mr. Brown’s jacket was especially challenging as it was made from three jackets of different styles and sizes. I did not make his incredible hat, which was by my excellent boss, Christian Milik, manager of the costume shop.

These are costumes I made for a production of The Threepenny Opera at Wesleyan University. Designed by Leslie Weinberg, photos by Nick Russell. All the costumes were made from recycled materials donated by students. I made all the outerwear for MacHeath’s gang out of donated jeans.

Designs I made for a play which didn’t end up getting used, but I like them.

Here’s a Halloween costume I made for a little girl named Claire who wanted to be a “Witch Princess”. Her parents wrote me: Thank you to John DeBoer for making Kyle and Claire’s custom Halloween costumes!! They were perfect! You really made their Halloween extra special. First you took the time to have them participate in the creative design of their very own costumes. Then the individual attention you gave them during the measurements and fittings really impressed all of us. The pride and excitement the kids felt while showing their custom made costumes to family and friends made this Halloween very memorable. Everyone was impressed with your work.

My favorite dress of all I’ve made. The idea was a mix between 18th Century, Fragonard kind of style and 30s Dust Bowl homemade dresses. Made of flannel; I deliberately mismatched the plaids and left the hem unfinished for a sort of homely Great Depression feeling.

Another shirt I’ve made for my brother.

A couple years ago I told my niece Aeris I would sew her whatever she wanted for Christmas, and she should draw me a picture. She sat down very seriously and drew what she wanted. She had every detail planned, down to the way the orange ribbon should change to purple in the skirt. The “NO” was her way of reminding me that she’d changed her mind and it shouldn’t be an orange circle but a red star on the front.

I think her design was great! We won a Best of Craftster award for it, which I am quite proud of.

This dress started life as the muslin for a wedding dress I was making. I decided to not let it go to waste and reworked it into this gothy dress out of fabric I had lying around.