others because you want everyone to look the same , so you do extra things to make sure everybody is put together the right way . All the pleats have to look the same , and it ’ s a custom fi t for each girl .”
Craver , Jones and Verhey also sew the costumes for the paiges , fl ower girls and Dutchesses . They work on these costumes before they ’ re able to begin sewing costumes for next year ’ s queen and court , which they begin before the current festival has concluded .
Besides sewing , hours of research go into creating Dutch costumes that are as authentic as possible .
“ I like being able to sew , but I really love getting online and doing research and trying to fi gure out what is right ,” Jones said . “ How can we make this costume authentic ? Is there a different one that we haven ’ t seen before , or a variation ?”
While the looks are authentic , Craver acknowledges that their techniques aren ’ t the same as Dutch women living in the 1900s , like using a Serger to prevent end threads from fraying over time . But Craver loves diving into the history of Dutch costumes .
“ When we ’ re working on something that they would ’ ve worn 100 years ago , you kind of start to think about that time , and then you think ‘ How did they live ? How did they do this technique when they didn ’ t have Sergers ?’” Craver said . “ They did so much hand stitching , and you think ‘ How in the world did they have that kind of time ?’ You start to think about women in the past and how much work they did .”
And in May , thousands will travel to Pella to experience the rich Dutch history Craver loves – Dutch costumes and all .
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