In case you hadn't guessed, Hayao Miyazaki is a favorite writer/director in this house full of children. I wish I had done a bit more justice to the costumes, but with the 3 oldest girls gone, we were swimming in a sea of extra chores. I sewed like a mad woman and still had to pull an all-nighter to even get these done, so maybe it's a good thing I didn't have more time for indulging The Crazy.
For Christmas 2021, John gave us the dvd set of Future Boy Conan. Watching it together brightened dark winter evenings, so it was understood that we would have to pay homage to these characters we grew to love. I really, REALLY wanted to be Captain Dyce, but there's no way I could have made the robot in time. Someday, maybe...
For Christmas 2021, John gave us the dvd set of Future Boy Conan. Watching it together brightened dark winter evenings, so it was understood that we would have to pay homage to these characters we grew to love. I really, REALLY wanted to be Captain Dyce, but there's no way I could have made the robot in time. Someday, maybe...
Ezekiel was Future Boy Conan himself, replete with multipurpose spear and super-heroic toes. (Cost: nothing)
Jimsy is first introduced into the storyline as a nearly feral child with a hot temper.
Hehehehe.
Ransom was Jimsy's piggy, who grows larger through the course of the story. He was super-cute and actually loved his costume this year! He wanted to wear it every day for a whole week afterward. (Cost: nothing)
I made a huge hem so I could lengthen the skirt after Hallowe'en, and I'm going to remove Ponyo's collar that sticks straight up and add a Peter Pan collar so Lark can use it this summer for a "real" dress. I also need to increase the elastic on those gloriously poofy bloomers because I made the legs too tight, and Skylark loves them. (Which makes me laugh, because they are RIDICULOUSLY poofy!)
Last summer, I cut Luci's hair into a bob, plus, she's about the same age as Millie was when I made her last Nausicaa costume. I only had to alter Millie's old costume slightly in order to fit her, so Luci was an easy choice for Nausicaa. Since we only had to paint the earrings red and convert them back to clip-ons, it was the easiest costume to pull together.
I wish we had a giant Ohmu to go with the costume, but, alas, Luci had no such luck. (Cost: nothing)
Next up! We actually based these costumes on the book instead of on Miyazaki's film adaptation, but it still fit in the Miyazaki theme even though our costumes don't look much like those in the movie. Millie and I both loved the book, and Millie identifies with Sophie so strongly that she says, "I AM Sophie!" :)
In the book, Howl is a dandy who, at times, wears a blue and silver suit (with one blue earring) and Sophie wears all gray. Calcifer is a fire being, so there you have it-- these three.
In the book, Howl is a dandy who, at times, wears a blue and silver suit (with one blue earring) and Sophie wears all gray. Calcifer is a fire being, so there you have it-- these three.
Millie's costume was a royal mess. She didn't have time to make a mock-up, and after she sewed a third of it, she discovered that the vintage pattern she was using didn't fit her properly, and she didn't have enough fabric to start over. She gave up in disappointed disgust because she had to leave for VA. In the middle of the night and on Hallowe'en afternoon before they arrived home, I tried to alter the pattern and piece scraps of fabric together to make something work. Bless Millie's heart. I couldn't fix the dress, I ran out of fabric, and it was unfinished when she got home, but she let me close the back of it with 15 safety pins and cover the whole thing with the cape Titi made her years ago, which, serendipitously, looks like something that book Sophie might wear! All for the sake of traipsing around exhausted for the sake of silly ol' me.
She said I'm not allowed to post a picture of the whole thing, but I had to include this picture. We were taking pictures all-in-a-rush before Annika left for work, and when the wind blew, I accidentally captured the iced coffee I didn't know Millie was hiding inside the cape. What a girl! (Cost: a few bucks for the remnant fabric Millie bought.)
Susannah was Howl, a fairly easy costume once I altered the vest and painted an earring blue. (Cost: nothing)
On to Annika! She dressed as No Face from Spirited Away:
I cut out a No Face mask from an old cutting board and painted it the day prior, but I made most of Annika's costume the day of Hallowe'en, while she was traveling back from VA, so I had a few moments of panic that it wouldn't work as I jerry-rigged a bike helmet, dowels, scrap fabric, and duct tape into an imposing costume. It was perfect, though. Little 5' 3" Annika towered over us at six feet tall, and it was easy to remove when she got into the car. (Cost: nothing)
I cut out a No Face mask from an old cutting board and painted it the day prior, but I made most of Annika's costume the day of Hallowe'en, while she was traveling back from VA, so I had a few moments of panic that it wouldn't work as I jerry-rigged a bike helmet, dowels, scrap fabric, and duct tape into an imposing costume. It was perfect, though. Little 5' 3" Annika towered over us at six feet tall, and it was easy to remove when she got into the car. (Cost: nothing)
She looked like the real thing until she pulled out the hang loose and peace signs. They're both dead giveaways that a Nixie is under there.
I ran completely out of time and thought that I wouldn't be able to trick-or-treat at all, which made me quite sad. Andrew and Corynn were here to witness my ten-minute frenzy in which I whipped something out of nothing and ended up getting out of the door in a passable imitation of Captain Dola from Castle in the Sky. (I may have traumatized them a bit as Abigail With Wild Eyes wearing her husband's pajama pants braided Millie's wool fiber into braids and stuffed my clothes with cotton batting.) I'm still a little sad that I couldn't squeeze more time out to do her justice. She needs real lace cuffs and a giant set of pistols!!!! Ah, well. One can't have everything one wants. Contentment and all that... (Cost: nothing, with thanks to Rebecca for the earrings!)
And that's that for Hallowe'en 2022! I'm hoping for one more with all of us, but, who knows-- this may have been our swan song. If so, at least we went out with a bang.
WoW. These are all so incredible. I am amazed. How can you possible go from almost not going to pink piggytailed Dola in mere minutes? Only YOU.
ReplyDeleteI thought for sure Millie's cape was part of it- it matched so perfectly. And the fact that it was blowing in the wind the very moment you snapped that picture of all three was very Miyazaki-ish.
And you are upping the ante on costumes considerably by sewing actual, bonafide, wear-throughout-the-year DRESSES for girls! (I LOVE those gorgeous bright red dresses. SO awesome.)
Andrew still talks about how amazing (and fast) your transformation was. Wish I could have been a fly on the wall.
(I am hoping for a future Captain Dyce... that needs to happen some day. And if it does- the perk could be reusing these costumes!)
The funny thing is that the tank top and shorts I sewed for Zeke's costume and the funny pants I sewed for Aidan's costume have gotten just as much or more use than the dresses have! It's super funny to see Aidan running around in red, ragged pants all the time, but he thinks they are "SO comfy!"
ReplyDeleteOh, I would love to make a Captain Dyce costume. Maybe I can start cosplaying at comic-cons when I'm 80 and make all the unmade costumes on my wish list.
And I transformed into Captain Dola so quickly through sheer panic and a near heart attack, a double whammy that I do not want to repeat next year! ;)
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