For the Love of the Child....: Costumes and Costumes....

I have just realized that Halloween is not so far away!! I don't know where the time goes; work, school, soccer, life....time sometimes just escapes me.... I have been so consumed with finishing Gabriel's bedroom that I completely overlooked the fact that I have TWO costumes to make this year. Yes, I am one of the crazy ones that choose to make homemade Halloween costumes and there is no talking me out of it. I guess I choose to make the costumes because my mom made our costumes when I was a kid and I feel the need to continue the tradition....you know, for the love of the child....this seems to be my motto. I do these crazy things hoping to please my kids, to create memories for them so that when they look back on their childhood they know how much they were loved, creating a nostalgia, if you will. At least, this is my hope.
The four year old had decided a while back that he wanted to be Iron Man this year. I was thinking about how to make an Iron Man costume and came up with NADA. I was starting to think that I may have to sit this year out sewing a homemade costume...I figured that I may just have to buy Iron Man. However, he had a change of heart when we had one of our 'dates' (yes, I date my child....as a working mom, I have always tried to make time for us to go out together, just the two of us, once a week). While we were out, I asked if we could stop at the fabric store and he could help me pick out a pattern for his baby brothers costume. So, we did and as he was perusing the costume section of the pattern book he stumbled across the Wizard of Oz patterns. He looks at me and says, "oh mommy....look!! Liam could be the scarecrow. Wouldn't that be cute? And, I could the the Tin Man. Chloe (our shih-tzu) could be Toto. Daddy could be the Wizard. And....you could be the wicked witch!!" Oh....well, thanks kiddo....couldn't I at least be the pretty witch?...I see where I rank. Well, anyway, yes, I also thought that this could be a really cute idea. So, I now have at least two costumes (the little ones are the most important, right?) to make before Halloween. With that said, Gabriel's bedroom project has once again been put on hold. I actually had to put the quilt away...out of sight, because I know I will be tempted to work on it before I get these costumes sewn.
I've made Gabriel's costume the last couple of years and actually, considering that I really am not a seamstress by any means, have been really proud of the way they turned out. As I mentioned in my last post, my husband and I don't always have the same ideas about things, but, when we are actually able to communicate, we collaborate really well. I always have the ideas and then he seems to have the vision that takes it to the next level. We have collaborated on several projects in the past, and they always turn out well. Last year we did a Ghostbuster costume that was pretty great, at least I think so. I was responsible for the jumpsuit and my husband, Craig, made the "proton pack" and ghost trap. Two years before was Elmo!! Elmo turned out cute, too. They have all been Simplicity patterns that I used. Elmo was a panda costume pattern that I did in all red shag sans the ears and the ghostbuster jumpsuit was just a racing jumpsuit pattern that I did in a brown flannel. I just tweaked the patterns to make them what I was looking for. I found the ghostbuster patches on Amazon. Neither of them are perfect, but, for that one day that they were worn, they were actually perfect!!
Well, I'm off to start the next era of costumes...hopefully, 2013 will not be a bust....I'll post again next week and we'll see what kind of progress I have made!! Wish me luck...