It’s tutu marvelous inside Madame Sharon’s studio

“La salle de couture de Madame Sharon” reads the sign outside a seemingly ordinary room, part of an eastside office suite.

But inside. Ah, inside Madame Sharon’s costume room. It’s the Arabian nights, Faberge’s workshop, a dressing area in Oz - the cluttered, exciting workroom of Sharon Jacobs, costume creator and wardrobe mistress for Petaluma’s O’Brien Center of the Arts.

Jacobs, 61, has been involved with ballet costumes for years. Her oldest daughter, Megan, now a professional dancer, studied at Petaluma School of Ballet.

“I learned a lot there,” Sharon Jacobs said. “I made costumes and helped fit and embellish.”

But it wasn’t until this past summer that Jacob’s wish came true. Tutu.com, an organization that makes costumes for professional ballet companies, also offers classes, and one was in San Mateo. “I was dying to go.”

Parents and students donated money so she could go to “tutu school.” Jacobs took a three-day tutu class, a two-day bodice class, a tiara class and an embellishing class.

Jacobs was a teacher of the deaf until she was hurt at work, injuring her back so badly she spent 2 1/2 years in bed. She now is employed by the ballet school to create costumes for its productions.

“This job has been a godsend, and Martha (O’Brien) gives me artistic license. She allows me to go crazy.”

With the craziness comes hours of work - one tutu can take between 15 and 20 hours, she said. That doesn’t include shopping.

“I can’t just go to Jo-Ann Fabrics to get the specialty fabrics and coutil (the woven cloth used as lining). Those must be ordered.”

A number of dancers’ mothers help, Jacobs said, and a fellow tutu maker who’s not currently working with a ballet company has pitched in.

Although Jacobs studied ballet, it was never a career path for her, she said, “but it’s something I’ve loved since I was little.”

For her, the best part of the job is the girls. “Each costume I make, I think of who’s going to wear it. A lot of my love for the girls goes into my work, to make them beautiful. They know how much time and love goes into each one.”

The ballet Jacobs is costuming is “The Holiday Gift,” a new one inspired by “Nutcracker” and “Frozen.” Her creations include poodles, flames, harlequins, snowflakes, ice skaters, cardinals and fairies.

Although Jacobs has been sewing much of her life, making a costume is different, she said.

“You’re making it to fit someone, but you’re also making it so it can fit someone else. You need to be able to alter it in the future. You may have to fit the girls many times and be prepared to take it out and put it back in.”

The craft requires patience and discipline, the Zen of costuming perhaps. And “it’s not something you finish quickly,” she said. “I’m dying to do the embellishing. That’s the best part. But I have to wait until everything else is done.”

Does the work become tedious?

“There were days,” she said, “that I kept thinking, ‘Can’t I get to the best part?’ But it’s exciting when the girls come in and see them in process. I think it helps them develop respect for their costumes: they see what goes into it, what it takes.”

A professionally made tutu and bodice can cost thousands of dollars, she said, depending on how it’s embellished and if it’s made in couture fashion. Jacobs can make one for $200 to $250, “depending on the bling factor.”

“You have to use good materials,” she said. “Too much work goes into making it to make it out of something that isn’t quality. We’re hoping these will last 10 years, depending on how they’re taken care of and how often they’re used.”

Are there more tutu classes in Jacobs future? She smiles.

“There are always more tutu classes. There’s a fairy tutu class. It’s very time-consuming, but I really want to take it.”

Jacobs’ costumes can be seen in “The Holiday Gift,” performed by O’Brien Center of the Arts students at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, at Spreckels Theater, 5409 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park. Tickets are $22-$35 at 588-3400.

Contact Petaluma Towns Correspondent Katie Watts at PetalumaTowns@gmail.com.