Costume Retrospective

I was thinking about all the costumes I've done over the years, as I sit here sewing more of them. Some were easy to the point of making me feel guilty (since I'm a mom-that-sews), some so complex I thought I'd never finish. Here are a few I've managed to find pictures of. Unfortunately, a lot of pictures are digital format and are saved on an old computer, and I'm just not up to hooking up an old computer just for a blog!

The photos above are of Sarah's Xena costume. Everything about this one was hard. First we

found a pattern online, from Todd's costumes. http://www.toddscostumes.com He also sells the hardware to make the costume, but we couldn't afford all the detailed ones. He has her breastplate, arm bands... the works, but they're not cheap! So we just bought the eyelets, rings for shoulder straps and the metal connectors for the skirt pieces.

Sarah didn't want the dress to be brown, so we used black. In hindsight, I should have used a heavier leather - the skirt would have been much better - but even with the lighter weight, I had already spent nearly $150. Next came the wig. It was tough to find a really dark brown, not black, that had bangs, but we did it. One of the most difficult things was finding the chakra (her metal throwing ring). We found a couple reproductions from the TV show, but again, they were really expensive. We finally found this one from Atlanta Cutlery http://www.atlantacutlery.com, then we ran into this problem: they wouldn't ship it to NY. My sister was nice enough to have it shipped to her place, then sent it on to us.

When finishing the back with the eyelets for the laces, I decided to take the dress up to work, and have the sample makers use the machine to place them. Well, they didn't punch a hole in the leather first, and it really messed up the back of the costume. So... back to the store for more leather, and more sewing. Finally, about two weeks and $250 later, it was done. (At this point, I told her never to ask me for another costume again!)

Matthew, in a Thomas the Tank Engine costume made from cardboard boxes, a foam disk from the craft store with a paper face glued on, a Tide cap, and acrylic paint. I used wide, adhesive velcro to attach the twill ribbon straps. The cap was from Oriental Trading. http://www.orientaltrading.com I had to buy a dozen of them, but still, they were only about $8.

This one wasn't too hard, but did take a bit of time to put together. We couldn't find a Thomas face online, so we ended up with a print of Percy, then we painted the eyebrows in a triangular shape. (And I still have blue acrylic paint on the pavers of the terrace - shhhh, don't tell the landlord!)

This one is Sarah's costume for this year; Poison Ivy. We cheated a little by using a corset I had made for her a couple years ago. I cut a new corset using the same pattern, but only the first layer, then I basted the 'cover' onto the old corset. I used a fabric glue to attach ivy leaves from the craft store.

Because she is in Wisconsin, she'll have to add ivy leaves to the bottom to extend the length on both the top and the bottom. I think she'll be adding some small vines as well. I bought a Jessica Rabbit wig for her to use, some mossy green leggings, and I finally finished her cape (that was supposed to be a Christmas gift from last year). It's a really pretty gray wool flannel, with just a hint of olive in it. Now she better be a good daughter and send me a picture (not just tell me to look at her Facebook).

Kelly in a princess costume that uses pink iridescent taffeta, a floral jacquard inset on the bodice, and organza for the sleeves and peplum. We found the crown at Gymboree, and she had sparkly pink ballet slippers from H&M that wouldn't stay on her feet. I found some pink stretch-velvet ribbon at M&J Trimming http://www.mjtrim.com and made straps with that.

This was one of the easy ones. Cheese cloth strips, and white and black pancake make-up. Along with a dose of attitude.

This was for a school play, rather than Halloween. Sarah was 'The Sun', so we made a skirt, cape and crown of gold lame to go over a gold bathing suit. I used the cardboard from a cereal box inside the crown to give it some shape.





Another easy one. An inexpensive witch hat, fake nose and nails, sheer greenish yellow liquid eyeshadow and a black eyebrow pencil, on top of a black dress and tights.

Two cats. The first one was so easy I still feel guilty every time I see this picture. We taped paper ears to a black headband, gave her a white T-shirt and black leggings. I don't think she even had a tail! At least the following year I managed to sew a white felt circle to a black sweatsuit and make a hat. Not to mention the cat nose. (She made me pay for this later.)

Here is Sarah, dressed as Zorak from the Space Ghost cartoon. This one was tough. It was hard to get the hood shaped the right way. I ended up using a wire hanger in the mouth. We got lucky with the color of the dye we used on the thermal underwear. Blue cotton makes up the chest band and wings, and yellow felt was used for the arms and legs. We found a pair of yellow gloves for the finishing touch.

Some people realized she was a praying mantis, but most didn't get it. One of the hazards of having a daughter slightly left of center. (I love you, Sar!) Only a group of teenage boys knew that she was Zorak. Their "look at that cool Zorak!" made her night.

So that's it. I wish I had the pictures of Sarah in her royal blue and navy, semi-Elizabethan dress, or of myself, pregnant with Kelly in a low-cut Renaissance number, but maybe they're better left to the imagination anyway!