Motherhood and More: Don't lose your head over Mom-made costume*

I have a Halloween problem. Or, more specifically, I have a homemade Halloween costume problem.

You see, ever since the first time I sewed my oldest child his Halloween costume, I haven’t been able to go back to store-bought ones. I just have a problem paying upwards of $20-$40 for a costume that will be worn once, then fall apart.  That’s not to say that we’ve never rocked the premade ones, but this way makes us all happier.

Plus, as with everything I do as a parent, I have Mom Guilt. My mom made our Halloween costumes. They were always fun and awesome, especially that one year in high school where I made her sew me a sunset costume.

Yes, yes I did. And yes, yes she did.

So I feel it’s my duty to carry on the tradition because I have the capabilities. And it’s just fun. I like saying that I made it, and to me, Halloween should be all about creativity. You can be anything you want and should take full advantage of that.

So I’ve made ninja costumes, wizards, Batman, Harry Potter, an Elsa cape, and, though it wasn’t for Halloween, I’ve made a Luke Skywalker costume.

This year my son has been adamant that he will be the Headless Horseman. It took me awhile to figure that one out. We had a cape from last year’s Harry Potter costume, so that part was simple. But the pumpkin head has given me trouble. I’ve looked at Styrofoam pumpkins, plastic pumpkins and any other pumpkin I could find before dismissing them all as too small, too large, too difficult or too plastic-y. I finally realized that a Paper Mache pumpkin would be perfect. I could make it the size I wanted, easily cut a hole for his head, and it still would be light enough to sit on his shoulders without causing harm.

He wants it painted black with dripping blood, and he also wants to be able to throw it at people because of course he does.

He’s worrying a bit because it’s not quite finished yet.  Don’t worry, kid. I may be last minute but I always get it done.

I started the pumpkin head late because I’ve been fighting with my daughter’s fairy costume. This one was ridiculous. I’ve never sewn satin or organza, and never will again after this. Maybe if I’d done a bit of research before jumping in I wouldn’t have had such trouble, but if I had then I wouldn’t be me.

The costume has a dress and flowing skirt, plus a vest. And it was supposed to have handmade wings but I had to throw in the towel on that and use store-bought ones. There’s only so much torture I am willing to take in the name of homemade Halloween costumes and I had met my limit with all of the hand sewing required.

So I’m excited for Halloween because my kids are pumped about their costumes, which makes me feel good. And I hope that this is something they let me do for years and years to come.

I’ll even sew a sunset costume if that’s what they want.

Halloween 2012 can be found here and here. Sebastian's Luke costume can be found here. And Halloween 2013 is here. I don't have a post for Halloween 2014 because I got lazy, but I do have instagram photos! 

*This column originally published in The News-Enterprise on October 28, 2015.

A study abroad Halloween

Guys.  I kind of hate everything at the moment.

I have no reason, really, other than just a general, unexplainable discontent.

I hate that I have to cook everyday.  I hate that I have to clean up everyday.  I hate being responsible.  I hate that I have to go to the grocery this afternoon.  I hate that I'm 90 percent sure I was supposed to send in candy with Adele for a school Halloween party but didn't.  I hate that I haven't been sleeping.  And I especially hate that I'm not at home on the couch reading right now.

To make me feel better, please tell me in the comments everything that you currently hate.

Now let's try to emerge from the muck and gloom a bit, shall we?  When I was in Austria (12 years ago, holy hell) the people living in my dorm decided to have a Halloween party.  It was probably the best one I've ever attended, and also the one and only time I fell asleep with my head hanging over the toilet.

The thing about Halloween in Europe was that there wasn't nearly as much candy as now.  It was odd, honestly.  I kept expecting to see bowls of Reese cup ghosts, but instead there were only pretzels.  Sad face.

This entry is probably the longest in the history of ever, if only because I was determined to document everything that I did over there.  For posterity's sake.  And I have added new paragraph spacing that wasn't there before because, well, paragraphs are important.

(Also - these are totally pictures of pictures so excuse the quality...)

.............................................................................................................................

Gloria, me, Mette, Henrik

10/27/02 9:59 p.m.

I drank too much at the party last night & ended up falling asleep with my head over the toilet.  What an interesting story!  It was a Halloween party on the 4th floor & everyone had to dress up.  I was a gypsy.  I actually think I did a pretty good job w/it.  But of course once again I drank too much.  I had 2 glasses of wine, 2 beers, one glass of gin & sprite, one baby tequila shot, and I think that's all.  Oh, I did have a tiny bit of generic baileys.  I shouldn't have mixed everything like that.  But I danced a lot but not as much as before at past parties.  One time I decided to have a glass of wine & a glass of gin to take upstairs with me, but I couldn't walk up the stairs.  My skirt was too long & my hands were full so I couldn't hold it up so I tripped on it & stepped on it & I lost my gin.  But I think that was best.  I didn't need both drinks then.  I ended up putting pants on so that was better.  

Me, Lise

After awhile I got a little bored & decided to go to bed.  I just came down here & talked to Riitta about how crappy we felt.  This was about 4 in the morning I think.  But then all the sudden she leaves & goes to the bathroom in Lisa & Ingrid's kitchen & I decide that I should also go.  I think I was really drunk, but I think I could tell that I was going to be sick.  So I go & kneel in front of the toilet.  After a few minutes I puke a couple times.  I thought I should stay there because I might need to do it again.  So I put the lid down & flush & just lay my head on top.  And I passed out.  I woke up after maybe 30 minutes & peed & went out.  Mark & Denise were sitting there talking & just looked at me like where the fuck did you come from?  I just laughed & waved & said I think I fell asleep.  And then I went to bed.  I took a plastic bag with me just in case.  

Gloria, me, Lise

I woke up this morning around 9:30 or 10 & I had a horrible headache & I couldn't move very well at all.  I was so afraid I would puke.  I kept praying that I would just go back to sleep.  I finally did & woke up around 1 & went to the bathroom & took some aspirin & came & laid back down.  I felt okay after that.  I got back up around 2:30, well really 1:30 because the time changed.  Oh, I also hit my head on my shelf last night & I have a red mark on my forehead.  But today I didn't do much at all.  I did call Chris.  I miss him so very much.  But it won't be very much longer until I go back..  I didn't call my parents because I don't have the money.  My loan hasn't gotten here yet.  But I figured they would call but they didn't.  I wish they would have.  Maybe I'll call them later in the week.  Oh, everyone teased me today about sleeping in the bathroom.  It was funny.  

Back: Anne-Kristina, Ritta, Nicole
Front: me, Mette

Yesterday afternoon, me, Henrik, Riitta, Mark & Farag went to a military show thing.  It was Austria's national day & so lots of military equipment was set up at the Hofburg, I think & we just waked through.  It was actually a little boring, though.  After that we went to the Natural Historical Museum where I saw a bunch of rocks & dead animals.  After that we went to the Kunst historical Museum but I've already been there.  That's where the Ruben paintings are.  Then after that Farag met up with friends & the rest of us went to eat at the place where I ate calf brains a few months ago.  That's not what I had this time, though.  I had rindsrouladen.  It was really good.  We came back & I laid down for a little bit then got ready for the party.  

Ritta, Henrik, me, Vlad

But I guess I should catch up everything.  On Thursday the 24th I had children's lit class.  It was okay.  That night I went to the opera with Riitta & Noora.  Lise, Espen, Ingrid & her boyfriend also went but we didn't go together.  We saw Sparticus the ballet.  It was actually really good.  I didn't even get that tired of standing because we had breaks every 45 min.  But there was a big blue guy with a big blue penis.  It was huge!  But he was only on stage for a few minutes.  But it stood out!  I had a horrible coughing fit during it.  I think it was because there was an old man in front of me who actually smelled like death.  That's all I could think about.  

But there are so many rules there.  We had to check our jackets, which isn't really a problem, but we had to pay for it.  We tried to sneak & not do it but some lady behind us told on us.  Then Ingrid took a picture in the lobby & got into trouble - well just told not to do it anymore.  But it was only in the lobby & not during the performance so I don't understand.  Lise sat on the floor & she had to get up.  The rules didn't make any sense at all.  Oh well.  

On Friday I went to school to check my email then met everyone at the Secession for an exkursion.  It was really boring.  It was interesting to learn about the Klimt fresco but learning about the building was really boring.  I just didn't care too much.  I don't understand the art that's inside it.  It's too abstract for me.  

After that I came back here.  I ended up going to Zielpumkt 3 times.  First I went w/Mark to take back some empty beer bottles & do some shopping.  Well I was going to buy gin but I thought they took credit cards but they didn't so I had to put it back.  But I really want it so Mark & I found some more bottles & went back to Zielpunkt to get the money for the bottles.  It wasn't very much, though.  So we went to the ATM, then cam back & bought the gin.  So 3 times in about 1 hour.  That was funny.  The people must have thought we were crazy.  

Later Henrik, Mark, Riitta & I went to the movies & saw XXX with Vin Diesel.  It was so very bad.  The acting was terrible & it was filled w/one-liners.  But it was so corny that it was funny so we got some enjoyment!  And I think that's about all.

Homemade Friday: Spider hat! For sale!

I've been a bit lacking in the Homemade Friday posts.  I've been making tons of stuff but just haven't shown you any of it.  I am a bad blogger - but a pretty accomplished maker-of-stuff.

But most of what I've made has been to sell, or attempt to sell in my Etsy shop.  Which is the case with this cute little hat.

I got it in my head that I needed to knit another spider hat.  Remember this one?  I still love it and it's still for sale!

This new spider hat is knit using colorwork and a spider design.  It's not nearly as creepy as the first one, and actually is kind of adorable.  At least I think so.

It's knit in the same way as the deer hats. (Fornicating deer!  I have two for sale for $30 but not listed yet.  Anybody want one?)

I knit one side, then picked up stitches and knit the other side so it's reversible.  That makes it really thick because there's basically four layers of yarn.

These type of projects are really fun.  I'm relatively knew to colorwork (two years, maybe?) and it still amazes me that I can create a picture with a bit of yarn and time.

If you are interested - this hat will fit a child probable age 1 to 3.  My daughter, the model, is almost 4 but has a tiny head.  It costs $25.

Hopefully next week I'll have something else to show you!  Even though I still have a lot of sewing I'd like to do I've been thinking a lot about knitting recently.  It is August, which means time to start planning for winter!  And if this one is anything like the last one everybody needs more sweaters!  And hats!  Sebastian has already requested his very own spider hat.

Homemade Friday: Batman and The Wizard

I've sewn a lot lately - like a lot.  Like so much more than I ever have before.  And it's workable sewing, you know?  By that I mean that I can actually wear what I've made or put it on my children without being embarrassed to admit that I made it.

That doesn't always happen.

But since I've been having so much luck I thought I'd tackle sewing both of the kids' Halloween costumes this year.  Last year I only sewed Sebastian's - the Fierce Ninja.

And actually Sebastian picked out his costume months ago.  It wasn't exactly for Halloween.  He happened to be with me in the fabric store and saw a pattern and insisted that I buy it and make it right then.  I held him off for awhile as I was attempting to sew a quilt for him, which is so close to being finished but that I can't seem to find the time to work on now as I have a million other projects that need my attention.

But finally I couldn't put it off any longer because the boy needed to be Batman.  Plus we had a downtown Halloween Festival thing to go to that required a costume.  At least Sebastian required a costume.

The pattern he found was McCall's Costumes MP314 (Version B):

It isn't exactly Batman, but it was close enough for Sebastian and I improvised on the belt to make it more Batman-like. 

The costume is basically a jumpsuit with giant wings attached and a hood with ears.  And a mask.  And boot covers that I made but that no one really likes.  I made the belt bright yellow and found a picture of the Batman symbol online that I used to make the buckle.

It's not the commercial Batman, but Sebastian is satisfied.  He's worn it so much that a part of the wing is torn off and there's a hole in the costume.  I think that means it's loved.  And now, of course, he tells me that I have to sew him a grey one, too.

We'll see.

And I even sewed the zipper in myself, which is pretty awesome.  I'm not sure what happened or why it went so well, but I did it.  It may never happen again.

Sebastian's costume had so many parts, and so many different aspects to it, that when it came time to choose Adele's costume I searched for the easiest pattern I could find.  She honestly doesn't really care about costumes, not like her brother who lives in them.  She sees no need to put one on, has no joy in pretending to be someone else, so I didn't feel the need to consult her.  Bad Mama? 

The wizard costume - Simplicity 2571 (Version E) - only had two parts - a hat and a robe.  Easy enough.  And it was.  I even found blue fabric with gold stars on it like the pattern at 40 percent off, so I was happy about that.  I probably should have washed it first because I ended up with blue dust all over everything.  But other than that it was all pretty straightforward. 

The only ribbon I could find for the trim was wired, so I pulled the wire out before I sewed it on, which was surprisingly easy.  I also couldn't find packaged medium-weight interfacing so I made do with doubling up on the lightweight, which worked okay, but the hat could have been a little firmer.  Adele wasn't too keen on it anyway, so I don't think it mattered too much.

I did have a bit of trouble with my sewing machine, which I think may have been because I was sewing stretchy fabric and may have had the wrong needle.  My bobbin kept messing up and making these ridiculous knots in everything.  I cursed a lot and fiddled with the bobbin over and over again and eventually it worked itself out.

I bribed Adele with candy to get her to wear the costume but the hat didn't stay on too long.

Last night was a little tricky, as everyone was yelling about "The storms are a-comin'" but actually it was a bit anti-climactic.  We first decided to stick around our neighborhood - which is awesome for trick-or-treating.  There are lots of people out and everyone really gets into it.  But then we didn't see anyone else trick-or-treating, probably because of the supposed weather issues.  Se we decided to take the kids to the mall for indoor fun.  But when we got there all we could see was a giant line of people with no end or beginning in sight and very little actual trick-or-treating going on.  So then we went back home and there was only a little rain so Chris took the kids out while I waited on the porch for the few trick-or-treaters we had.  And I ate a bunch of candy because we didn't want it to go to waste, naturally.

So in the end the kids had fun and got lots of candy and came home damp but happy.

(Here's last year's Halloween post!)

We probably went a little heavy on the wine ...

I'm a little worn out, probably still hung over from a fall break and weekend that included camping and thorough house cleaning and soccer games and wine and a huge pot of chili and good friends and fancy vodka and zombies and pumpkin drops and fresh-squeezed, amazing lemonade and piles of laundry and cool nights and warm days and sewing costumes - batman and ghost with plans for a wizard - and more wine and cleaning the house again and playground time with Nana and wine and not nearly enough sleep.

And cookies.

It was one of the best weeks I've had.

(If you look closely, you can see Adele on the left
sticking her head out the side of the bucket.)

Homemade Friday: The Fierce Ninja Costume

I'd like to promise that this will be the total and final, for-real-this-time last time I discuss this costume.

But.  We'll see.

It's just that when it comes to sewing it never works out for me.  Seams will be wonky, hems will be uneven, and I have to rip out mistakes multiple times.

Do you know how many times I used the seam ripper on this entire costume?  Once.  Just once.  It's kind of a record.

I'd been playing with the idea of making Sebastian a ninja costume for a few weeks now.  Part (most) of it was mom guilt.  My mom made all of mine and my sister's costumes growing up, and it actually felt weird to buy a mass produced one.  But for the past few years that's what I've done because I didn't feel like I had the time to sew one myself.  Or the capability.  But mostly the time.

And I saw how much Sebastian loved to wear his costumes throughout the year.  He literally wore the pants off his bat costume from last year.  But I've never paid full price for costumes, mostly because I don't want to pay $20-$30 for something that's going to fall apart.  I may have spent the same amount for the costume I made, but it was custom-made and it'll hopefully last a lot longer.

The kids were gone last Saturday all day so I figured it was now or never.  I didn't tell Sebastian I was making it at first in case I completely screwed it up or ran out of time.  I didn't want him asking me over and over and over again when it was going to be finished.  Like he did when I finally told him two days before it was finished.  He literally lay at my feet while I sewed asking "Is it ready yet?  How about now?  It's ready now, right?"

Lesson learned, Sebastian.

The pattern I used was for a karate outfit, I think, but all the ninja costume patterns looked weird and complicated and awkward.  I just made the belt extra wide and tied it in the back instead of the front.  I started with the jacket and it all went relatively easy.  I used black and red flannel, which may be the only fabric I ever sew with because it worked great. 

I found this free pattern online for the ninja hood.  It was a little difficult at first, mostly because I couldn't believe that something so large (13 inches across!) would fit like it was supposed to.  But I trusted the directions and it worked out fine.  In case you ever need to make a ninja hood, I saved the picture and opened it up on my desktop and enlarged it until the measurements were the right size, then traced it onto some computer paper that had been taped together.  I'm sure there's a much more 'correct' way to do it, but this was the way that worked for me.

I finished the hood first because I knew he wanted something to wear and the jacket required hand sewing that I wasn't ready to work on yet.  He wore it all that day. 

At first he was still saying he wanted to wear his Spiderman costume I'd gotten him at a consignment sale that didn't have a mask, and I was okay with that.  I wasn't going to force him to wear the ninja one just because I made it, so I bought some face paint to put a Spiderman face on him if he wanted.  But I didn't need to as eventually he didn't even mention Spiderman.  (That means I win.  Suck it, Spiderman!)

And next year I'm thinking I may be able to tackle costumes for both kids.

Maybe.

(Look how stinkin' cute he is!)

Pretend it's still Halloween

I have to say that yesterday was one of the best Halloweens we've ever had.

Sebastian was old enough to be super excited about every part, including going home from trick-or-treating to hand out candy to all the other kids.  And Adele, once she figured that if she walked up to strangers' doors with her bag open people would just give her candy, she was all for it.

Look at the camera, Adele!

We're not ones for staying out all that long because none of us need as much candy as they get and plus, like I said, it's pretty fun just handing some out to all the other kids.

But everyone quit early this year since it was so cold so we didn't actually get to hand out that much.  Sebastian was a little disappointed and tried calling to various children who were across the street saying "Hey!  We've got candy here!"  Sometimes it worked and every time it embarrassed his father.

So we have a ton of candy left over, but most of it is milk duds which nobody likes because eating them hurts and kind of makes me nervous that one of my teeth will just pop out one day stuck to a piece of tough caramel.

But I'd already eaten about 3/4 of the good candy anyway, so no big deal.  Anybody want some milk duds?  Or whoppers?  We've got lots of those, too.

I had a great time.  The kids were relatively well behaved.  Adele fizzled out early so Chris took her back home and Sebastian kept walking for about 5 minutes more until we both decided that it was a good time to head home ourselves.

Sebastian takes after his father in that he can't get his
picture taken without making a face.

None of us got too cold ourselves because we all had layers on.  Adele was dressed in a full fleece outfit that I was a little jealous of, she looked so warm.  I also had a gnome outfit for her, but it came with a skirt and felt it wouldn't be good parenting to put her in it, even though it was much cuter than the butterfly she ended up with.  And really, we all would have been miserable if she was miserable, you know?

Sebastian had a ninja costume made out of flannel, complete with a hat that covered his face, and long johns on underneath so he was warm, too.  I'll ramble on more about it tomorrow because I MADE IT MYSELF.  (I know.  I CAN'T WAIT EITHER!)

So we had a good Halloween this year.  Especially Adele with her bouquet of suckers she kept taking out of our candy bowl, opening and licking.  Then repeating the process.

Sugared up, both of them.