A read a little history on gnomes and was quite intrigued by these tiny under-dwellers who hold great powers, helping plants grow. It was said that they only came out at night and if they were caught out in daylight they turned to stone, thus the statues. They are known for their willingness to help in the garden which seemed quite fitting for my little farm hands. With a little inspiration courtesy of my sister via Pintrest we set out to make their costumes.
Like most of my projects, this one started with a little sketching to get an idea of what I wanted to do. I sat down with the girls and some colored pencils and we decided what we wanted them to look like. (Marinn drew circles all over her page so we went with polka dots.)
We headed out and found our fabrics and I got busy sewing. It took about 3 yards of fabric for the dresses and about a half yard of the felt for the hats. We opted for boots over shoe covers because they were excited about the new boots they had just gotten. Of course I can't keep it simple and use a standard trick-or-treat bag, that would be too easy! Instead I took pieces of felt that I had on hand and made costume appropriate bags in the shape of a mushroom and a potted plant. I know I'm biased, but I think they kind of make the costume! A few hours of sewing, ironing, etc and we were ready to show off our gnomes!
That sounds so much easier than it was when I type it out. Can I just tell you that sewing is never easy with/for children? Never. There were tears as I used straight pins to mark straps (as in screaming-crying tears, as if I had stuck one of them with a pin or something!) There were tears over who got which dress (which had already been determined pre-sewing) and tears when I made them put them on for pictures. (Not unlike last year when I was seriously concerned there would be no sunshine.) But in true Marinn fashion, she pulled it together long enough for a couple pictures (and came to me after and apologized for talking yucky as she pet my cheek and kissed me. I seriously have some sweet kids.) Despite the tears, both girls were pretty excited about their costumes and ready to show them off -especially when candy is on the line! Tears and all, I love these babes and I love making their costumes!
WARNING: 5 million pictures of my girls to follow
No comments:
Post a Comment