Sunday, November 1, 2009

Hooded cloak


Allison wanted to be her character from a fantasy role-playing game she plays. It was a very simple costume, requiring her to dress in earth-tones, have a hooded cloak, a sword, and a cat familiar. I had made the sword for her last Christmas -- since she uses it in the game, it has to be safe for hitting other kids with. It is a basic two-chambered broadsword consisting of a bamboo core covered with pipe insulation and duct tape, and some of my own decorative touches. The only thing we didn't already have was a hooded cloak, and since she wanted to be able to continue to wear it for the game, I wanted to make her a proper cloak, not just something that would make do for Halloween.

As it turns out, I have recently acquired a sewing machine, an old Singer picked up at a yard sale for $40. Since I've never used a sewing machine before, Google has been my friend, helping me figure out what the controls are, how to thread it, etc. This seemed like the perfect simple maiden project. Armed with 3 yards of fabric on sale at Joanns, and an online pattern (which I adapted somewhat because we wanted a somewhat shorter cloak than the adult size, and she also wanted it slightly fuller than the semicircular one in the pattern), and despite a few missteps w/ the sewing machine, I was able to turn out a respectable cloak in fairly short order for under $20 (for the fabric, thread, and frog closure that we use to fasten it). Of course, now the other two kids will want one too! Heck, if I had someplace to wear it, I'd want one too!

Ghost


OK, so a ghost is about the easiest, most stereotypical Halloween costume out there. But Trevor could not decide what he wanted to be, and rejected all my suggestions, so when it got to be the weekend before Halloween, it was going to have to be something easy. I didn't quite do just the traditional sheet with holes in it, but close. I'm not sure where we got it, but we had a fitted sheet made out of very coarse muslin -- too coarse to be used as an actual sheet, possibly it was supposed to cover a mattress protector. At any rate, I thought the elasticization along the edge of the sheet made for an interesting effect, so I stitched it up the front (leaving an open bit up top for an eerie-looking mouth, and then just tacked up the back so it wouldn't drag on the ground. Holes for eyes and arms, and a white turtleneck underneath completed the look.

Munchkin reprise


This year, Karen, following in her siblings' footsteps from last year, decided to be a Munchkin. She wanted to reuse Allison's Very Long Pike, and of course the Cute Shoulder Dragon. Her armor choice was Junk Mail, and she hung a Wishing Ring from a cord around her neck.