Our whole family has just been reading Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy. For those who aren't familiar with the title book, it describes a dystopian future in which each year two teenagers are chosen from each of twelve districts to compete in the Hunger Games -- a battle to the death (there can only be one survivor out of the 24 teens), played out on national television. The purpose of the Hunger Games is twofold: to entertain the masses (particularly those in the decadent Capitol), and to punish and cow the inhabitants of the subjugated districts. At any rate, the story follows sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers for the Hunger Games to take the place of her younger sister. Before the games start, she must take part in a parade to introduce her to the television audience, wearing an outfit designed by her new personal stylist. Because she comes from the coal-mining district, the costume that is designed for her has her in all black with a flaming cape, to represent burning coal. The outfit is a smashing success, and she is henceforth referred to by the tabloids as the Girl on Fire.
My girls actually weren't planning to do much for costumes for Halloween this year, and with Trevor reusing an old costume, I thought my costume-making days were pretty much over. When I casually suggested earlier this week that a Girl on Fire costume would be pretty cool and simple to put together, the girls were skeptical. It was only on Thursday evening, when we needed to get fabric for Trevor's pants anyway, that Karen decided she wanted to do it after all (I think she was still pretty skeptical that I could pull it off though).
We couldn't quite find the right fabric (the book says the cape was red, orange and yellow), but a shimmery black fabric with a shiny red flame pattern seemed like it would do the trick. I had neither the time nor the inclination to make a real cape -- we just used the unhemmed rectangle of material, and pinned it at the neck. I attached "flames" of orange and yellow streamers, using black duct tape, and used a red ribbon attached to more black duct tape as the supposedly matching headpiece.
The other important accessory was the gold Mockingjay pin, which Katniss is given by a friend back home and wears throughout the games, and which acquires layers of symbolic meaning as the trilogy progresses. A picture of the pin is on the cover of the first book. Because I was so busy with the rest of the cape and Trevor's costume, I didn't even start on this until after the kids had gone to bed Thursday night, so it came as a complete surprise for them in the morning. I cut the Mockingjay icon and the circle out of paper and thin cardboard, glued everything together, painted it with gold paint, and attached it to an old brooch of mine (actually I just tied it on with embroidery thread, so that I can reclaim the brooch again afterwards).
I thought everything turned out great, and Karen was very impressed and appreciative. She hadn't planned on dressing up for school on Friday, but with the costume completed just in time, I managed to persuade her to do so (I wanted her to show it off!). Then Allison had a Halloween party to attend today, so it was her turn to wear it (she'll wear something different to go trick-or-treating tomorrow though, since it's really Karen's costume). Personally, I'm very proud of this outfit -- it should be instantly recognizable to anyone who has read the book.
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