In my last post I shared the photos of my completed Olive Dress. What I didn’t tell you was where I was when those photos were taken. I was actually an unpaid extra in a movie about the 1919 General strike in Winnipeg that became a very prominent event in the history of Canada. 30 thousand workers from many classes and ethnic groups came together and marched and basically shut down the whole city. The strike was so effective that the Canadian government (for fear that there would be sympathetic strikes across the country) became involved and the leaders were arrested.
The scenes I and the other extras were involved in were the street marches and the rush of deputized RCMP’s on horseback who were sent in to break up the strike. This resulted in several injuries and one death.
Three perks to the event…
- New life experience to add to my memories. Not a bucket list thing but pretty cool non the less. I wonder if this film will ever move beyond film festivals to a venue I might actually see it.
- I found a person that might actually buy some of my costumes off of me. I have about 3 that I’m not really in love with anymore and if I made something that I liked better, I’d be happy to part with them.
- I actually got offered a job. It is to work as a casual seamstress in the costume department. The deal is that if a production requires more costumes than the costume department can crank out, they will call on casuals to step in an help out. The money could be quite good, and according the person I spoke to, they always need help. Since I’ve never sewed for other people, this is a daunting thought! I’m curious enough to want to ask more questions but scared enough to believe that I wont go for it.
I wish I had some more photos to share with you but something went screwy with my camera and I lost all my photos.
Wanda B Victorian 
Re: #3: DOOO EEEEET!! 😀 I volunteered for a sewing session at Fort Edmonton Park a couple years ago when my friend was newly the costume director. She had a couple staffers but they needed some corsets made and she wanted people she didn’t have to hand-hold through the process, so she asked myself and a couple other historically inclined people. It was a lot of fun!
I will definitely think about it!
Sounds like fun. Sewing for others isn’t bad, except you don’t have much time to sew for yourself.
I have heard that it can be stressful because you have to sew according to their schedule. You can’t say “this isn’t working. I will put it aside for the next 3 years.” I have to ponder some more before I commit to anything.