All Hallow's Eve, 2015

Kiddos!  Stand in the blinding sun!  And SMILE!

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We were supposed to visit relatives on Hallowe'en day, so I began making costumes the day BEFORE Hallowe'en.  For someone who has shamefully built a life around scrambling at the last minute, this was a big step. (But whaddya know, our visit was postponed, and I was still scrambling around at the last minute.)  Everybody except Piper changed their minds about costume choices a few days before Hallowe'en, though, so sometimes procrastination serves a purpose. 

Millie wanted to be Nausicaa (again).  I scrounged all the materials for making the costumes from what we had on hand (everyone who's given us their sewing castoffs will recognize materials!), but we had no blue fabric, so my mom pulled through at the last minute and purchased some for me.  It was slippery and stretchy, which was a pain to sew, but at $1.95/yard, it was exactly what I wanted.  The cost of their costumes was a grand total of under five dollars, so maybe this should be a Frugal Fancypants post.

If only I could have made an Ohmu, too.

Both Millie and I were completely relieved that I didn't ruin her costume.  She converted some of my earrings to clip-ons and painted them red, but I had to do the rest.  I made the pants from velour scraps, and they weren't too hard, but I held my breath for hours while sewing the dress.  There are no tutorials for Nausicaa dresses online-- what is this crazy world?-- so I had to wing the whole thing.  When I was done, the girls kept saying, "I just can't believe it!  I can't believe you were able to do it!"  Phew.  Having made all of one skirt in my life, I couldn't either.  (Providence was at work.)  I used one of Millie's t-shirts to make a bodice pattern, added the collar, and then attached a gathered skirt before making the belt.  This zipper tutorial was brilliant.  I would never have figured out how to sew on a zipper without it.

Annika was Robin of Locksley (again), which was a breeze compared to Nausicaa.  I made the shorts and the quiver, she made the arrows, and we were able to re-use a couple of pieces I made the last time she was Robin Hood, piecing together the rest of her costume from odds and ends.

I love these two pictures.  A schoolbus came up the road as I was about to take her picture, and she asked if she could show off for the children.  I gave my assent, and she struck the toughest Robin Hood pose she could while pale faces stared out the windows at her.  After they passed, she dissolved into a pile of giggles.

We're homeschoolers.  What can you do?

Brief interlude of a previously unrecorded battle between Nausicaa and Robin Hood.

I still don't know who won.







Susannah was Susan from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

 



 I made her a more refined quiver than Robin's, fit for a lady of Susan's quality.



 

She's a dead aim with her forsythia-branch bow, though, so beware.

 



 Piper was Lucy from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and she was so excited I nearly melted with love for her.

 



 As you can see by the nearly empty bottle of cordial, at this point she'd already healed many fallen comrades.

 



 When I called Luci over, she'd lost half her costume while climbing trees, so this is all you get! She was Maid Marian to Annika's Robin Hood.

 



Zeke was a pain in the neck...fireman.  He changed his mind a dozen times before we left, wailing all the while, before settling on fireman at the last possible moment as I was finishing up the quivers for the girls.  He's cute, though, and was so impressed by his magical facial hair that I forgave him.

 



 Also a last-minute decision, we turned this boy into a cowboy seconds before we left.  Bandanna. Moustache.  Easy-peasy pudding pie.

Until next year!