Creating Movies One Stitch at a Time with Michelle Boucher
Between what is sure to be amazing special effects and historical characters, don’t forget to take a closer peek at the costumes in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Huner this week in theaters. Utah’s own, Michelle Boucher was a seamstress for the film, which is one of many movie sets she’s set foot on. This week she took some time to tell us a little about herself, including her sewing, styling and design skills!
Image Courtesy of La Boucherie Design and Styling
Fashion Utah: Tell us a little about yourself and what you do.
Michelle: Me? I’m a “tomboy” that learned to sew and to appreciate fashion What I do? I do so much within two industries.
For film: I’m a seamstress, a set costumer, and a costume designer. As a seamstress, I do alterations and build costumes. As a set costumer, I’m on set with the actors. Making sure they look the way they’re suppose to look. As a costume designer, I select the looks for the actors. Depending on the movie, I am typically one or the other, rarely all three.
For fashion: I’m a stylist and fashion designer. I have done numerous fashion shows and photo shoots. I specialize in custom design and one of a kind pieces.
Fashion Utah: How did you get started in the costume designer business?
Michelle: I’m still climbing that ladder. It started when I was in attending the Fashion Institute at SLCC. I was taking sewing classes and a friend was working on a movie. They needed a seamstress and I could sew, well at the time barely. From that experience I started getting referrals for more movies, then received an invitation to work on set as a costumer. For the title of “costume designer” I can only claim one feature, “Sal” directed by James Franco. I do have an opportunity to go back to Louisiana to costume design an action movie. Really excited about that one.
Fashion Utah: What do you enjoy most about working on period pieces/costumes?
Michelle: It’s a love/hate thing. They are beautiful and extremely detailed. The craftsmanship that goes into it is amazing. Depending on the period/era, you have to wonder how they created such fantastic works of wearable art without machines. The hate part: the amount of hand sewing. There’s a lot of hand sewing and bloody fingers, calluses, chapped hands, split nails…
Fashion Utah: Do you have a favorite stitch or fabric to work with?
Michelle: I love it all! Leather is becoming a new favorite. It can do things that regular knit or woven fabrics can’t do. You can almost sculpt it.
Image Courtesy of La Boucherie Design and Styling
Fashion Utah: Where do you find the materials to work on a period piece?
Michelle: That really depends on the period. For film it comes down to doing your research, budget, and what the director wants. There are ways to “cheat” period fabric.
Fashion Utah: What is one of your favorite projects you’ve worked on?
Michelle: Ooooh tough question. Film: 127 hours. It was brutal working on location. Long drives, long hikes with a 20 pound backpack, 18 hour days with 4 hours sleep each night, 1 day off in weeks. Tough! But I loved it. The film crew was great! The location, Moab is one of my favorites places. A lot of contacts came out of that experience.
Fashion: The “Post-it” shoot. Post-its was what I was given to create neckpieces. I never worked with paper that way. It was a challenge and I’m very pleased with the result.
Fashion Utah: What was it like to work on the costumes for Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter?
Michelle: Another awesome experience! I got to live and work in New Orleans for 3 months. Our department was huge! There were two costume designers, Carlo Poggioli and Varvara
Image Courtesy of La Boucherie Design and Styling
Avdyushko. I lost count of the all the costumers and supervisors. Including me, there was approximately 16 seamstresses working constantly to create the costumes. I learned so much from my coworkers. Some of them have been doing this for 30+ years. I took advantage of the wealth of information and knowledge around me.
Fashion Utah: Do you have any advice for those who are going into custom design?
Michelle: Don’t give up. Be persistant. Network like crazy. It will pay off, believe me. I am constantly juggling projects – sometimes two at a time. It’s all because I was persistent.
We’d like to thank Michelle for taking some time to speak to us. For more information, find Michelle on her website, IMDB or Facebook.
