Meet Your Board: Molly Cahill, Member at Large

Why costuming?  What brought you here?

I always loved Halloween, theater, going to renfaire, and things like that. As I got older I realized I didn’t need an excuse to ‘play dress-up’. That having fun was reason enough on it’s own. I found out about the guild through my best friend’s parents who told me they knew some people who were part of a local costuming group and I should check it out. Everything kind of snowballed from there.

What’s your costuming focus?

I’ve had fun with regency lately, but I’m not married to a particular era. My favorite part of the process, though, is researching fabric trends in whatever period I’m currently fixated on. Even if in practice I don’t get as hung up on being historically accurate as that interest probably implies. I just really love the research process, especially if it turns into an excuse to visit the library or a museum.

Do you do anything else crafty or artistic?

I’ve never met a craft I didn’t want to try, but my best is probably crochet and baking. I even made my best friend’s wedding cake a few years ago.

What’s your day job?

I work for DFCS in Santa Clara County as a Data Office Specialist and team lead. I act as support for several programs within the bureau of program audit and safety. Our supervisors are trying to get us to call it ‘BOPAS’, and yes there is a theme song, but don’t ask me to sing it.

What was the first costume you made?  Is there a picture?

The first costume I EVER made was a sleeveless suit (I hated sleeves even back then) for my favorite stuffed dog. I was a flower girl at a wedding and decided as my escort he was also required to dress up. The first costume I remember making for myself however, was the simplicity 8715 renaissance pattern. I don’t know if there are any pictures, but I still have the dog and the dress somewhere.

What’s on the sewing table now?

An in-progress straw bergère hat (don’t tell Lynn), along with a few other in-progress projects.

What was your first/most memorable costuming disaster/ learning moment?

In elementary school we had a ‘dress backwards’ day which I took to mean dress the opposite of how you normally would, not realizing they meant it directionally. So I came in wearing the previous Halloween’s Tinkerbell costume. Pretty embarrassing at the time, but it taught me that if you act like you know what you’re doing, everyone assumes you actually do.

Costume you’re most proud of?

It’s a dress I made for my first guild event, a 1940s tea, the fall before the pandemic hit. I had found a pattern on Etsy that was very much not my size, and completely redrafted the thing to fit. The math fried my brain, but I’m still pretty proud of how it turned out.

What’s your holy grail costuming project?  The one you dream of doing?

I’m sure most of us have a favorite Ever After dress. For me it is Marguerite’s pink velvet gown from both the chocolate scene at the market and the faafo scene at the end of the movie. It’s actually one of my current in-progress projects, though it’s more so based on the portrait that inspired the costume. I’m doing my best not to ‘good enough’ it, so it’ll be a while before I finish.

Tell us one (or two or three) things about you that others might not know.

Most people I talk to for more than five minutes have heard about my spoiled pet chickens; but not too many know I grew up camping, fishing, and riding dirt bikes. I have been to every US state, excepting Alaska. And In college a friend and I drove from Ohio to California by following old route 66 as accurately as we could via a tiny book of maps I found at Barnes and Noble.