Halloween Costumes

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays.

You get to dress up

You get to go door to door and come home with a grocery sack full of free candy!

What could be better than that?

Halloween costumes were mostly sold in the dime stores

(TG & Y -- Woolworths)

I'm sure they were no more than $1

But they were inexpensive and flimsy

I so wanted a homemade costume

And in the 6th grade, I talked my grandmother into making me one!

A pilgrim is what I decided.    So we picked fabric and I took an old pair of black shoes, got some cardboard an silver glitter and made big buckles for them.

I was in seventh heaven with my

homemade

Halloween costume

And I couldn't wait to show it off!

And then a few days before Halloween, I came down with the mumps.

I never got to wear it

For the next year I was in Junior High

And Junior High Schoolers wouldn't wear a "real" costume

No -- we were gypsies or hobos using our clothes (or our mother's or father's)

Then we had Sarah

And I was determined that she would only have so t

homemade 

costumes.

Not for her first but for her second Halloween,

I made her a clown costume

(in the 70s, clowns were okay)

I made it big so that she could wear it several years.    It was cute.   No mask for we used makeup and she had a matching hat!      The ladies I worked with said that she would never wear it again.    But I knew she would and she did until the bottom of the baggy pants (which weren't so baggy anymore) were at her knees and we had to have knee socks to cover her legs.

Then Grand Lucy came into our lives.     Her first Halloween when she was but a few months old, Daughter Sarah bought her a costume but the next year, Sarah said that I could make her one.     Sarah decided on Little Red Riding Hood.      The costume consisted of three pieces -- a dress with a vested bodice and trim, pantaloons, and a cape.

I had not sewn in 25 years or so except to make curtains.    But years ago, I did sew and sew quite a lot -- clothes for both me and Jim, clothes for Sarah and clothes for Sarah's dolls.      

We bought a pattern and all the fabrics and trims and as I recall all of that was probably at least 4 times what a $10 costume would have been at Wal Mart.

And so sewing began . . . sewing is like riding a bike.    You really do never forget.    But like riding a bike you "fall off" a lot!    I started with the cape (it was closest to sewing a curtain) and I think I ripped out every seam at least 3 times before I got it right.     But I was progressing and my "bike riding" was better for the pantaloons required only ripping out the seams 2 times before I got it right.      The dress -- which really was a complicated pattern -- I had my "bike legs" and I think I ripped out only a seam or two.

I must admit that I was very proud of the costume and so I boxed it up and sent it up north.     Sarah was pleased but what warmed my heart the most was seeing Lucy in the costume.

A good Little Red Riding Hood she was

And look at the expression when she realized that people actually gave you candy!!!!!

The next year, there was no doubt that "Nana" would make the Halloween costume.     And one became two as Piper was born in July.      Sarah decided that Alice in Wonderland would be a good costume for Lucy but told me not to worry about Piper because she'd get something for her.       But if I was making one costume, I could easily make two and so for a surprise for Sarah, I made The White Rabbit for Piper.

Alice in Wonderland and the White Rabbit -- complete with clock!

Ad helping to Trick or Treat was the Mad Hatter -- also known as Daddy -- and no, I did not make that costume!

The next year Lucy was old enough to decide on her own costume and she wanted to be a witch.   I was elated for I still had Sarah's second costume that I made her -- a witch costume.     I got it out, washed it, ironed it and noticed that over the years there were a few moth holes in the fabric.    So I got iron on orange fabric and made stars.     The pattern is no pattern, but everywhere you see a star was a hole!   A new hat and magic wand completed her costume.     It really touched my heart that Lucy could wear her mother's Halloween costume!      That black net above the costume is Piper's costume for I made a black net tutu for her, she wore black tights and had headband ears and went as the witch's black cat!

Lucy liked being the witch so much that the following year she decided that she wanted to wear the witch costume again!     And Piper who could decided what she wanted to be decided that she wanted to be a witch like big sister.    I still had the original witch pattern from long ago and so made Piper a witch costume that was a miniature of the her sister's.     Purple stars instead of orange but not to cover holes but because her sister had stars on hers.    And Piper is a purple kind of girl!

And that night in Excelsior, the witches were out on the street Halloween night!

I was tasked with making a Minnie Mouse costume and a Pink and Purple Princess costume.    The princess was not any of the Disney princess and we kept showing Lucy pictures of princesses and she would say "no, that's not right".      So I found a pattern and some pink and purple fabrics and just winged it.    It's the start of accessories for Lucy -- a glittery wand, purple necklaces and a crown.     And when she received her costume in the mail, she was super excited.      Nana nailed it!

Alas, you can't go out and buy a Minnie Mouse dress pattern either but that pattern from Lucy's first Halloween became the basis for a Minnie Mouse dress.     Thankfully, I found red fabric with white polka dots.

Piper was a perfect Minnie Mouse.      She loved that costume!

Last year Piper wanted to be Ariel the Princess (versus Ariel the mermaid) and so I sewed a pink Princess dress for her.

Lucy wanted to be a Rainbow Tooth Fairy.      A rainbow tutu was easy . . .  . 

But then there was all the accessories -- a bag for the coins, a bag for the teeth and of course, every fairy needs a wand.    The tooth fairy's would come with a tooth, of course!

Piper was excited with her costume.    I think it was the red wig that she liked the most but I do think she makes a fine Ariel the Princess (rather than Ariel the mermaid).

And now it is 2020.     We're not sure if there will be any trick or treating but there will be dress up at school and so costumes are needed.       Since last year, Piper has stated that this year she wanted to be Tinkerbell.     Lucy decided on Princess Celestia.   (And for those, like me, who didn't know who Princess Celestia is, she's a "My Little Pony" unicorn princess.    But I think she can and does become human at times.)

The girls tax my sewing skill (which like riding a bike, once you're continued to ride, you don't fall off all that much -- I rarely have to rip a seam out now) for you can't just buy a pattern to make a Tinkerbell costume  nor a Princess Celestia costume.

But there are two girls I wouldn't want to disappoint.    So I get creative.      And here, is my obligatory picture that I take every year -- the costumes (and accessories) just before I mail them.

Tinkerbell on the left.    Her mother does have proper Tinkerbell shoes for Piper as well as wings.   I am sending a roll of ribbon for her hair.      Princess Celestia on the right.     A white dress and a crown, unicorn horn and pony ears, a necklace and bracelets and a sun on the dress (for Princess Celestia is day -- her sister Princess Luna is night).    Lucy's mom has the rest of the accessories, real feather wings, a rainbow pony tail and a rainbow wig.

I just mailed them today, so I'm not sure of their reaction when they see them.     I hope they like them.   The last couple of weeks, Piper has called me to see her costume but I hadn't started on it yet.    I do know that Piper has her Halloween costumes decided on for the next four years and will tell you what she wants to be when.    Knowing Piper, I'm not sure that will change.       

And the very last costume I made Sarah . . . . 

 

Ronald McDonald.     It was totally created and I was very proud of it.    The only thing I didn't do was to make it big enough that she could wear it more than one year.      She was too big for it the next year.     Jim worked at McDonald's and we all thought it was a fitting costume.      I kept it too and then I loaned it to someone (never a borrower or a lender be Mother always said -- for I never got it back).      It's a shame because I could see both of the Grands in that costume.

I mailed the costumes today -- they'll get them Saturday and Sarah will give me a call when they open the package so I'll get to see their reaction.     I sure hope that I nailed them.     So far so good for I'm 11 and 0 in the costume department.