Our neighbours have been great, showing us around and introducing us to the US holidays. For Halloween, they took us to a pumpkin farm where we could pick our own pumpkins for Halloween. The younger two came with me, choosing their own pumpkins.
It was a beautiful day with blue skies and spots of clouds. The kids had a ball.
The kids were really excited to experience Halloween here. The costumes were in planning for quite a while. My youngest’s costume was the trickiest, since she wanted to be Elsa from the moment she saw the movie. She had a Halloween parade at school the morning, then dress up for dancing before the evening’s trick-or-treating. We improvised, by making the white top a leotard she could wear to dancing.
The top I adapted from a pattern with lace-up at the back. She picked the glittered tulle that went over the top of the satin.
It gave the “Elsa”-look while she was dancing.
My sons both wanted to be Link from the game Zelda. One was blue and the other green. They were so chuffed about the swords we got them.
The parade at school was really cute, with the moms throwing the kids a party afterwards.
It got dark very quick, with a moon glowing through the misty evening. The mount of loot the kids brought home was huge!
The kids are already planning for next year.
One of our neighbours recommended Stevens Pass as one of the best places to see the fall colours, so I was really excited when we had the opportunity to visit up there. We did not get much notice, so I had to put together a costume real quick. I was glad I had been planning for a while.
We put together a headdress from autumn leaves and cream flowers. (ps glue gun + haste = burnt fingers) I had wanted to experiment with a black swan dress I had had for a while. I roped in my husband to play assistant. It rained intermittently, so we made use of the first break of the clouds. The clouds created awesome soft light.
Got going again on the Halloween costumes. Excuse the background, but I am cutting on the bedroom floor. With two and a half rooms still out of action, we are a little short on space!
The skirt is going to be a bit swishier than the one in the movie, we settled on a circle skirt. I am free-handing the cutting a little, but it seems to be working. (I am using bits from about 5 different patterns to build this dress!) I am adding a longer layer in white satin for extra warmth.
My daughter is using the left-over bits to make clothes for her dolls and ponies. The sewing lessons we did over the summer are paying off. I showed her how to cut patterns from paper and she took it from there (pony got a circle skirt too).
The cloak is nearly finished. I just need to finish off the hood inside and add a seam to the bottom. She loves it so far!
Oh, and she helped me make the snowflakes for her hair. I posted a pic over on Instagram
This year the kids were going to have a theme, the boys dressing up as Link from Zelda and my daughter would be the Fi from the same game. Then Frozen came out (the kids start planning their costumes right after Halloween!). So this year we are having a blue Link, a green Link and an Elsa. I have been buying fabrics over the year as I came across them. The kids had a LOT of input into the fabrics I chose. (Really, the boys went with to choose the tunic fabrics. The right texture was as important as the colour!) Elsa’s top is more of an “inspired by” than a perfect copy. Did not quite have the endurance (patience) to spend days cutting rectangles out of sequins or fabric.
I am starting with the dress and cloak first. Since it is a bit cooler around the end of October, we are adding a thick brocade cloak to the wispy one that is worn in the movie. My daughter got really excited when I suggested we add a bit of fur around the hood. Haven’t done that before, so will be an interesting experiment. I am lining the hood with some white satin (hiding the seams).
The bodice is going to be the trickiest I suspect. She picked this hard netting with silver glitter for the top, so I got some sparkly stiff satin for ‘lining’. I am hoping to make the back of the bodice a lace-up, will have to see how that goes. I think the ribbon I got might be too wide, but if it is, I will just sew it double so the bow can be big. The rest of the netting will make the thin cloak.
We chatted a lot about the skirt. She is only 7, so she wanted a skirt she could move in a bit more (and the high slit would not be comfortable for her). I am going to try a bit of a circle skirt, not sure though, trying to avoid putting in zippers! I really like the fabric I got, though for the life of me I can’t remember the name. It is very soft and is a bit crinkly, almost a kind of silk. (Found it between the dupioni and charmeuse if that helps.)
Oh, and Fi will be next year’s project! My younger son is going to be the wizard from the game Magicka 2, the oldest hasn’t decided yet.
I better get back to cutting… I will post some progress photos on Instagram as I progress as well.
