Finally, Some Grown-up Costumes

Every year or so I buy myself a new witch hat to wear around town on Halloween. This year I found this beauty at our drug store of all places. Isn't it divine?First of all I really dig the green olive color, and then there are all the great details, like the satin roses, the black feathers, the black veil complete with spiders, and the green net with olive teeny pompons. It's a millinery extravaganza! Here it is perched on my ceramic drum, which makes a great hat stand.

So far it has been free from cat attack although they have of course sniffed the feathers once or twice.

We're invited to a Halloween party (yippee!!), so I'm making a dress/costume to go with this fabulous hat. It may end up being something I can wear to non-costume parties, we'll see. I got some shiny olive green cotton sateen which looks like silk shantung, and dual color organza with some matching ribbon. I'm excited to get to make myself a costume for once, it has been many years! I bought some green hairspray, green fingernail polish and green skin glitter. Already have some green eye makeup and glow in the dark green lip gloss. So I guess I'm going as a poison green witch, better come up with a better back story than that, I'm sure I'll be asked.
Hopefully I got enough to make this (the shiny one on the left).
Or maybe this. The part I like best about this dress are the sleeves, but they're tie-on, which makes me think they'll not look very good on an actual person wearing them. So that's what I'm starting on today, the party is on Saturday night, hope I get it done in time!

For this party we're supposed to be our Dr.Jekyll/Mr. Hyde alter ego bad guys. Marc picked Snidely Whiplash. So I made him a black georgette/satin cape from this pattern (the upper right view, but in black with black satin lining). Just have to do a bit of handsewing and it is done. Then I have to find him a top hat somewhere, already got the fake Snidely mustache.

It will be fun to pretend to be baddies for just a little while.

The boys are almost out-growing the mom-make-me-a-costume stage (sniff, sniff), Alex is borrowing a gorilla costume from a friend, and Zach is planning to be an 80's nerd with some of his buddies. (some of whom are actually nerds, but *cool* nerds).

But I'm going to help out with the costumes for Alex's drama class production of Seussical to get my costume making fix for the year. They're re--re-using parts of former costumes, gotta love that recycling, so some of the work will involve dyeing, so stay tuned for news about that endeavour.